Georgia Magazine - September 2017 - 38

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fantry Regiment trains paratroopers,
jumpmasters and pathfinders for the
military at Fort Benning in Georgia.

The Duchess of Parma's
amethysts

Andrew Low House, Savannah
You would expect to see fine furnishings in the mansion of Andrew
Low II in Savannah. As the city's
richest cotton merchant in 1857, he
could afford the best.
"What is unexpected is a set of
amethyst jewelry given by Napoleon
to his second wife, Marie Louise,"
says Andrew Low House director
Stephen Bohlin.
Marie Louise, a member of the
Habsburg royal family in Austria, became the second wife of Napoleon
in an arranged marriage on March
11, 1810. It made her Empress of
France and gave him an heir, but the
two spent little time together. After
he was imprisoned on Elba, she was
made the Duchess of Parma.
38

"We recently had them appraised
and found that they were worth considerably more [$43,000] than we
thought," Bohlin says. "Unfortunately,
we don't know who made them."
However, in researching court
jewels, Bohlin has identified about
20 similar sets. "They were all given
by Napoleon to mistresses, wives and
sisters. It would seem he was partial
to the style."

Dr. Crawford Long's
medicine bag

Crawford W. Long Museum, Jefferson
"If there was a fire and I had to
grab one thing, it would be Dr. Long's
medicine bag. It's my favorite object
in the whole museum," says Vicki
Starnes, manager of the museum
that honors the medical pioneer and
Georgia native. "He would take this
bag with him on house calls. When
the doctor arrived, you also got a
pharmacist."
Doctors often made their own
medicines in the 1800s, she explains.
The sides of the bag fold down from
the center to reveal spaces for vials
and bottles.
"This bag still holds three foldedover envelopes with powders that are
labeled in his handwriting," she says.
Long, who was born in 1815 in
Danielsville and died in 1878 in Athens, was ahead of his time in many
ways. While many doctors practiced
with little formal training, Long attended Franklin College (which became the University of Georgia) as a
14-year-old. He studied
medicine at Transylvania College in Lexington, Ky., and earned his
medical degree from
the Medical School of
the University of Pennsylvania in 1839. He
learned surgery at a
New York City hospital
before settling down to
practice in Georgia.
His great contribuThis bag, housed at the Crawford W. Long Museum in Jeffer- tion to medicine was
son, belonged to the medical pioneer and contains medicines to perform the first
COURTESY THE CRAWFORD LONG MUSEUM

COURTESY NSCOA IN GEORGIA

This jewelry set-given by Napoleon
Bonaparte to his second wife, Marie Louise
of Austria-is part of the collection at the
Andrew Low House in Savannah.

"She was a popular ruler and
is still admired by citizens there,"
Bohlin says.
Her set of amethysts-consisting of a necklace, two bracelets, earrings (now lost) and a comb that can
be converted to a tiara-have traveled far.
President James Polk appointed
William H. Stiles of Cass County in
Georgia to serve as chargé d'affaires
(a diplomat who serves as a substitute for an absent ambassador or
minister) to the Habsburg Court in
Vienna, Austria.
"He and his wife, Eliza Mackay,
were required to attend court functions, but she did not have suitable
jewels and was in mourning for several family members," Bohlin says.
So Stiles went shopping-at the
estate sale of the Duchess of Parma-and purchased her amethysts
for his wife.
"It was called a half-mourning
set, so it was appropriate for his wife
to wear at the time," Bohlin says.
The jewels came to the Low family through Eliza Mackay's daughter,
Mary, who became Andrew Low's
second wife in 1854. They passed
down through the family and ended
up in South Africa. The family offered
them to the National Society of the
Colonial Dames in the State of Georgia, an organization that promotes
historic preservation, patriotism and
educational projects. The organization purchased them with other family pieces for the Low House.

he concocted in the 1800s.
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - September 2017