On this day in Alabama history: Mobile socialite Octavia Walton Le Vert died

March 12, 1877

Octavia Walton Le Vert, whose high society gatherings were the talk of middle 19^th century Mobile, died in her hometown of Belle Vue, Georgia, at the age of 65. The granddaughter of George Walton Sr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and daughter of Georgia state legislator George Walton Jr., her family ties brought her in contact with the powerful and influential. After the family moved to Mobile in 1834, she married Dr. Henry Strachey Le Vert and became known as Madame Le Vert. Her parties were attended by the leading politicians, artists and business leaders of the day. She also traveled widely and wrote the book “Souvenirs of Travel.”

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

An 1851 sketch of Octavia Walton Le Vert by Swedish feminist and writer Fredrika Bremer, who befriended Le Vert during her European travels. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Octavia Walton Le Vert was the center of a literary and artistic circle in Mobile society that included artists, politicians, writers and musicians. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives and History)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.