RIPLEY, Eliza Moore Chinn McHatton, author. Born, Lexington, Ky., February 1, 1832; tenth of twelve children of Judge Richard Henry Chinn and Betsy Holmes. At the age of three, removed with family to New Orleans, where father continued his law practice until his death in 1847. Religion: attended the Reverend Theodore Clapp's First Church, a Presbyterian affiliated group, of which her father was a prominent member. Married (1) James Alexander McHatton in Lexington, Ky., August 24, 1852. Lived the life of a Southern planter's wife at Arlington Plantation on the Mississippi River a few miles below Baton Rouge for ten years. In 1862, after the appearance of Union gunboats, fled with her husband and a consignment of cotton across Texas and into Mexico. Made this journey in converted army ambulances. Of two sons and a daughter later mentioned in From Flag to Flag (her memoirs of this period published in 1889) one son died and was buried in Houston and the daughter was born in Mexico during this difficult odyssey. In February, 1865, sailed from Mexico to Cuba where her husband owned and operated a large sugar plantation "Desengano." Although accepted into the social elite of Cuba, returned to the U. S. after the death of her husband. Married (2), July 9, 1873, Dwight Ripley of Norwich, Conn., and New York City, N.Y. Lived the remainder of her life in the North. Wrote two books which recounted her life experiences: From Flag to Flag (1889), and Social Life in Old New Orleans (1912). The former covered the Civil War years and described her hasty departure from Arlington and the arduous wanderings which ended in Cuba. The latter recalled her childhood in New Orleans. It contains priceless portraits of early Canal Street, the French Market, early Protestant church activities, the French Opera, and Southern "mammies" as she remembered them. The manners and social amenities of New Orleans gentlewomen are captured with powerful clarity in this book. Negotiations for publication of this work were only completed the day before her death. Died, Brooklyn, New York, July 13, 1912; interred Lexington, Ky. J.J.J. Sources: Lina Mainiero, ed., American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (1979); Eliza Ripley, From Flag to Flag (1889); Social Life in Old New Orleans (1912); New Orleans City Guide (1938); New York Times, July 14, 1912.
