Douschka Pickens
Francis Eugenia Olga Neva "Douschka" Pickens was the daughter of Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens and Lucy Holcombe Pickens. She was born in 1859 in Russia and rumour was that she was actually Tzar Alexander II's daughter. After the Civil War she was the dashing female leader in Edgefield County, South Carolina in the Red Shirts (Southern United States) movement. Douschka often wore a red cape and a red feathered plume in her hair. The Red Shirts blocked the polls to overide the newly freed slaves votes in South Carolina to elect General Wade Hampton III in the 1876 governor election. She was nicknamed the "Joan of Arc of Carolina" for her leadership in the elections.
-
Douschka in her mid 20s
-
Douschka with her daughter, Adrienne Dorothea Rebecca Dugas, 1887
Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens and his third wife, Lucy Holcombe, were married just before he left the United States as Minister to Russia in 1858. Francis W. Pickens and his wife were both very popular at the court of the Tzar of Russia. While at Saint Petersburg, their only child, a daughter, was born, and she has always been known as Douschka Pickens. It is said that Douschka is the Russian language means "little darling" and was only a pet name, her real name is Francis Eugenia, along with Olga and Neva, which the Tzarina gave her at her christening. Douschka died in 1893 after a sudden illness.