The O'Neal Genealogy Association Newsletter

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TOGA NEWS Volume III, Issue 11, November, 2003

Many sources note the beauty of Adele.  In The Washington Post in 1910, we even find a reference to her, written by her grandaughter, Adele Cutts Patton.

Washington Post, May 15, 1910
Dear Aunt Anna:
I was so much interested in the article written by you in last week's paper.  My great-grandfather was the Madison Cutts mentioned by you. When he was married to my  great-grandmother he spent his honeymoon in Montpelier. My grandmother, who was Miss Adele  Cutts was born in the old house now occupied by the Cosmos Club, which was the home of Mrs.  Madison. My grandmother when a little girl, was once playing in Lafeyette Square (which was  where the children used to play in those days, too), when Aunt Madison saw her, and pulling  her close said;  "My little Adele, you should get your mother to sew your sunbonnet to those curls to shade  your compexion, for one of these days you will be a beauty." Aunt Madison was right, Years afterward my grandmother became one of Washington's greatest  beauties.....
 

But, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll include a photo of Adele here and let the reader decide the question.

An image of Adele can also be found at St. Aloysius Church at 900 North Capitol St., NW, in Washington, D.C. This church has been in use since 1859 under the sponsorship of the Jesuit order. It is named after St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a young Italian Jesuit, who gave his life at the age of 23 caring for victims of the plague in Rome in 1581.
The New York Times, in describing the dedication of the Church mentions that President James Buchanan and several Cabinet members were present.  Jesuit Father Benedict Sestini, who taught Mathematics at Georgetown University at the time, was the church’s architect. The brilliant painting above the main altar,
showing Aloysius Gonzaga receiving his first Holy Communion from the hands of Cardinal (St.) Charles Borromeo, was the work of the noted Constantine            Brumidi, painter of the frescoes on the inside of the U.S. Capitol dome.
Brumidi was a personal friend of Father Sestini and painted him and the pastor, Father Bernadine Wiget, as kneeling in the Communion scene. The model for St. Aloysius’ mother was parishioner Adele Cutts Douglas, wife of Stephen A. Douglas, the “Little Giant” who was Abraham Lincoln’s rival in the historic debates of 1858 and the presidential campaign of 1860.