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Mary Love Stringfield Wulbern |
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"On her mother's side Mrs. Wulbern was a direct descendant of the
late Col. Robert Love, the founder of Waynesville, one of the pioneers of
western North Carolina, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, one of the
founders of the Watauga settlement in Tennessee and for thirty years a
presidential elector....James Robert Love...was the father of Mrs.
Wulbern's mother, Maria M. Love. [Mary Love] was born and reared to
beautiful womanhood at the old Love homestead, since known as the Haywood
White Sulphur Springs Hotel. (1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical
History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p. 505.)
"Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Wulbern graduated from the Asheville Female College, and was recognized as one of its most exemplary and intellectual pupils. For three years she was a teacher in the graded schools of Waynesville.... She was a great student of the colonial, revolutionary, and post-revolutionary history of the country generally and of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, in particular. She founded the Dorcas Bell Love chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she was for many years the regent, and was largely instrumental in erecting in the county court house at Waynesville, Aug. 23, 1902, a bronze tablet in memory of Robert Love. (1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p. 506.) "Such was her knowledge of the almost forgotten annuals of colonial and revolutionary history that the North Carolina state organization of the D. A. R. elected her as regent, a position she held four years. She was the first regent to develop the Society into a state organization....Her addresses as a member of Continental Hall committee of the National Society were replete with historical facts and traditions, and to her untiring devotion is due the rescue from oblivion of many a deserving name and several of the important minor facts of history....(1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, pp. 506, 507.) "She was one of the originators of the Waynesville Library Association, a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a leader in many of the benevolent and social movements of the community in which she lived and a universal favorite with all classes...For to do good was literally her religion, and she lived up to the exactions of her high ideals. (1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p.507.) "She became a member of the North Carolina Society of the Colonial Dames on Feb. 7, 1905 and was a delegate to Washington in March 1907. (1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p 508.) "On June 15, 1904 she was married to Mr. John H. Carsten Wulbern...a merchant of Charleston, S. C. Mr. Wulbern is a member of the firm of C. Wulbern & Co., wholesale grocers, of which his father was the founder. Mrs. Wulbern moved to Charleston immediately after her marriage. In May...['07] she was re-elected to the position of secretary of the Woman's Exchange of Charleston, SC...and was one of the board of managers of this body of noble women organized for the purpose of helping deserving women in reduced circumstances. She continued to reside there till the summer of 1907, when she returned to Waynesville, where after a brief illness at her childhood's home, she died Aug. 23, 1907, leaving a son, William Carsten, aged twenty-two months. Her remains are interred in Bethany Cemetery, Charleston, SC....her memory will be cherished as a precious heritage by all who knew and loved her. (1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, pp. 507, 508.) |
| "...If you will turn to the minutes of
the first, second, third and fourth conferences of the North Carolina D.
A. R., you will find the organizer, source and inspiration of this
branch of the national society was Miss Mary Love Stringfield of
Waynesville, N.C., who was appointed state regent of North Carolina in
February 1901...The following fourth of July...the first state
convention of the North Carolina D. A. R. assembled at
Waynesville. On that date united effort in this State had its
birth. She had carefully selected all names of chapters and of
members at large in the State, and to each she wrote, asking them to
attend and come prepared to make suggestions as to possible work in
their locality, ...(Mrs. Van Noppen, state historian of the D.A.R. of
North Carolina, in her 1907 report as quoted in 1917. Ashe, Samuel
et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII,
p.507.)
"Never shall any of us who responded to that call forget the assembling in the Haywood White Sulphur pavilion. About the room could be seen the hornet's nest, flags...showing that no source of state pride had been forgotten." (Mrs. Van Noppen, state historian of the D.A.R. of North Carolina, in her 1907 report as quoted in 1917. Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p.507.) |
| Bibliography:
Ashe, Samuel et al. Biographical History of North Carolina, Vol. VIII, p.507.) |