Patrick Purdy Hull
The life and character of Lola Montez (aka: Eliza Gilbert), that celebrated danseuse, who half a century ago set Europe wild by her dancing, her beauty and the power of her fascinating personality, causing a revolution in Bavaria, reaching a high point of favor in Paris and other cities of Europe and later repeating her success as a dancer, in this country, possesses great interest and fascination to the average person who enjoys reading of remarkable people who have exercised great power, ephemeral though it may have been, among nations, classes and individuals. Lola Montez has been compared to Aspasia, Milton, Lady Hamilton and other great women, who have risen from obscurity to prominence and have exercised remarkable influence over the sterner sex as well as over their own sex. Her life is read with all the more interest since she was the wife of a Mansfield man of former days, who was well known to many of the older men now living in this city, who have resided here for many years. Patrick Purdy Hull, who married Lola Montez, in California, whither he had gone from this city, was born and raised here and spent the greater part of his life in Mansfield. He was the son of Mrs. Esther Hull, a widow and lived with his mother at the corner of Third and Mulberry Streets, where Dr. William Bushnell's residence now is. His mother was a sister of the Hon. James Purdy, who died a few years ago. Patrick Purdy Hull was one of a family of four children. His brother George Hull died in Cleveland and his sister, Fannie, the wife of Dr. Fuller, of Bellefontaine, is also dead. His other sister, Mrs. Sarah J. Neal, is still living and resides in Washington, D.C. where she is employed in the United States Pension Department. His grandfather was Patrick Purdy, a soldier of the war of 1812, who resided near this city and is buried in the Mansfield Cemetery. P.P. Hull went to school at a school house, which stood near where the Memorial library now stands. Thomas Bushnell, of 68 Wood Street, attended school in this city during the winter of 1848, and he states that he remembers well about Purdy Hull who was a boy about 11 or 12 years of age and was in the school at the same time Mr. Bushnell was. Some of the other pupils in the school at that time were Robert M. Bowland, Francis and Harriett Elliott, and others. P.P. Hull studied law with his uncle the Hon. James Purdy, was admitted to the bar, and afterward, it is stated, entered into partnership with his uncle somewhere about 1842. In the latter part of the "forties" he was in partnership in the law business with Gen. Thomas H. Ford, afterward governor of Ohio. P.P. Ford, of Wood Street, is a son of Governor Ford and it was in honor of his father's partner that P.P. Ford was named. There are numerous reminiscences of Patrick P. Hull's life about this time. He was interested in military matters and it is related of him that he had a gun squad which was noted for its marksmanship. He was a member of one of the first fire companies organized in Mansfield and in 1848 was appointed by the town council to be the engineer of the fire engine, he having been instructed by the council in February of that year to purchase a suitable engine and 600 feet of hose. There had been an apology for an engine used some years before that in the work of extinguishing fires, but this latter was a more complete hand engine. In 1849 he was mayor of Mansfield and in 1850 he went to California. His mother resided for some years afterward in this city, then went to Bellefontaine (OH) and lived with her daughter, Mrs. Fuller, an afterward went to live with her other daughter, Mrs. Neal in Washington, where she died and her body was brought here and reposes in the Mansfield cemetery. Of Lola Montez much has been written, and much, no doubt, will yet be written, of her, for she was truly a remarkable character. Born in Limerick, Ireland, about 1818, of humble parentage, there was nothing about her apparently which gave promise of the success which came later. It was no doubt from her mother, a Spanish Creole, that the tendency for dancing came. Her real name was Maria Delores Gilbert. Before she was 19 years old she had won great favor by her dancing and her good looks. Beautiful she must have been and possessed of culture and the finer arts obtained from books else she could scarcely have continued so long in general favor. In 1837 she was married in England to a Capt. James who took his beautiful young wife with him to India. She is described as being of medium height, beautifully formed, had long, thick, silky, black hair and bluish grey yes. Her flirtations in India among the men became known, she left India, went to Paris, as a Spanish dancer, and there obtained great success. She adopted the name Lois Montez, and by that name she is now known. Stories of the great sums she received for her dancing, surpass those which are told of Yvette Guilbert's salary in those days. How, when from Paris, Lola Montez went to Bavaria, the King of Bavaria become so infatuated with her that opposition was aroused and in 1848 he was forced to abdicate his throne while she was compelled to depart from the country is well known. The king conferred on her the title of Countess of Lansfeld. After marrying George T. Heald, in London, she went to Madrid, and later came to this country, where she met and married Patrick Purdy Hull. Thomas Bushnell, of this city, met Purdy Hull and Lola Montez in New York City, May 4, 1850, and was on the same vessel with them on the trip from New York to Chagres, Isthmus of Panama, when they were on their way to California. Hull went to California, it is stated, for the purpose of taking the census of that state, under appointment of the president. Mr. Bushnell, who was then living near Hayesville, had met Hull in this city about a month before the meeting in New York and they had arranged to make the trip to California on the same steamer. During the voyage on the steamship "Philadelphia" from New York to Chagres, Mr. Bushnell saw both Hull and Lola Montez frequently and he relates many reminiscences of the trip. Mr. Bushnell describes Lola Montez has having been the most beautiful woman he ever saw. She was charming in manner, well educated and a fine talker. The journey across the Isthmus of Panama was fraught with various incidents. For 72 miles the journey was made in boats and the rest of the way was made on horse back by Hull and Lola Montez. Some of the travelers walked across the mountains. At Panama Mr. Bushnell concluded not to go on to California. Hull and Lola Montez went on to San Francisco in the ship Tennessee. Later, Hull and Lola Montez were married in San Francisco. Whether she thought that he was wealthy or not is not apparent but that the marriage was not a happy one was evident within a few months after they were married. Hull practiced law for awhile and was also engaged in newspaper work. They lived for a time at Grass Valley, Cal., and of their life at that place articles have appeared from time to time in var8ious papers. Eventually they separated and Lola danced in the theaters and her popularity with the people knew no bounds. She visited Australia, was at New Orleans and the last years of her eventful life were spent in New York. She died at Astoria, Long Island, Jan. 17, 1861, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Hull remained in California and died there a few years later and is buried in that state. Hull was infatuated with Lola Montez, but they apparently lacked congeniality and though Hull was an intelligent man of much ability and prominence for the future the attachment between them was not a lasting one and Lola lived no more happily with Hull than she had previously with Capt. James or George T. Heald, and a continent intervenes between the last resting place of Lola Montez and Patrick Purdy Hull. The cut of Hull which appears in this issue is from a picture made from an ambrotype taken in Mansfield before Hull went to California. The picture was obtained through the courtesy of Mrs. M.E. Purdy, of Wood Street, whose husband was a cousin of P.P. Hull. Hull is spoken of as having been a man of much ability as speaker and had gained quite a reputation in that line. He also was an inimitable story teller, had effervescent wit and jollity which made him the life of any coterie of friends he might be with and possibility that was the secret of the affection which at first the vivacious Lola had for him.
From The Richland Semi-Weekly News: March 2, 1897, Vol. 13, No. 18
