Sallie Ward
Sally Ward Lawrence Hunt Armstrong Downs | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1860 | |
| Born | Sally Ward September 29, 1827 Scott County, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 1896 (aged 68) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cave Hill Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Other names | Sallie Ward |
| Spouses | Timothy Bigelow Lawrence
(m. 1849; div. 1850)Robert P. Hunt
(m. 1852, died)
George F. Downs (m. 1885) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Richard Mentor Johnson (paternal great-great-uncle) Abbott Lawrence (father-in-law) |
Sally Ward Lawrence Hunt Armstrong Downs, also known as Sallie Ward, (September 29, 1827 – July 8, 1896) was a "Southern belle."[1] Born into the Southern aristocracy of Kentucky in the Antebellum South, she married four times. After a failed marriage into the Boston Brahmin elite, she married three more times and became a socialite in New Orleans and Louisville, Kentucky. She was one of the first women in the United States to wear cosmetics, and she wore daring outfits. She embodied "an old Kentucky way of life."[1]
Early life
Sally Ward was born on September 29, 1827, in Scott County, Kentucky.[2][3][4] Her father, Col. Robert Johnson Ward, was a planter and lawyer who served as the Speaker of the Assembly of Kentucky.[1][3] Her mother, Emily Flournoy, was a native of Georgetown, Kentucky.[2][3]
Her paternal grandfather, William Ward, married Sally Johnson, a sister of Vice President
Ward grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, with her seven siblings.[2][3] She was educated in a French finishing school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1844.[2]
Adult life
Ward was a Southern belle and socialite.[4] She spoke French and played several instruments.[2] She became one of the first women in the United States to wear cosmetics and wore daring outfits.[2] She organized one of the first proper-style dress balls in Kentucky.[4] She paved the way for wearing several types of dresses during a given society ball.[1] She married several times, a trend which later became widespread.[7]
Ward married her first husband, Timothy Bigelow Lawrence, the son of
Ward married Dr Robert P. Hunt, a Kentucky native, in 1852.
Ward married Vene P. Armstrong, a merchant, in the postbellum era.[1][4] After his death, she married her fourth husband, Major George F. Downs, a Kentucky native.[1] They resided at the Galt House, a hotel in Louisville.[3]
Her portrait was done by George Peter Alexander Healy.[8] It is now at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.[8]
Death
Ward died of a ruptured
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Clark, Thomas D. (2015). The Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 238โ255.
- ^ OCLC 724674667. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ JSTOR 23368465.
- ^ OCLC 42726130. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ JSTOR 23366291.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Clark, Thomas D. (2015). Bluegrass Cavalcade. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 157โ161.
- ^ a b "Sally Ward Lawrence Hunt (1830-1896), (painting)". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
