Hetty Cary

Hetty Cary
Hetty Cary[1]
Born
Hetty Carr Cary

(1836-05-15)May 15, 1836
Baltimore, Maryland, US
DiedSeptember 27, 1892(1892-09-27) (aged 56)
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Spouses
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(m. 1865; died 1865)​
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(m. 1879)​

Hetty Carr Cary (May 15, 1836 – September 27, 1892) was the wife of Confederate General John Pegram and, later, of pioneer physiologist H. Newell Martin. She is best remembered for making the first three battle flags of the Confederacy (along with her sister and cousin). Hetty was related to two of Virginia's most influential families, the Jeffersons (through her mother's family) and the Randolphs (through her paternal grandmother, Virginia Randolph Cary). She was also a lineal descendant of Pocahontas.[2]

Henry Kyd Douglas, in I Rode With Stonewall, described Hetty as "the most beautiful woman of her day and generation"[3] and "the handsomest woman in the Southland -- with her classic face, her pure complexion, her auburn hair. her perfect figure and her carriage, altogether the most beautiful woman I ever saw in any land."[4]

  1. ^ Public domain picture from http://richmondthenandnow.com/Famous-People-Richmond-12.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Louise Pecquet du Bellet, Some Prominent Virginia Families, p. 161
  3. ^ Douglas, p 271
  4. ^ Douglas, p 325