Maybelle Picard, née Merriwether (1840s) is an acquaintance and neighbour of Scarlett O'Hara in Clayton County. She is the proud daughter of Atlanta socialite Dolly Merriwether.
Biography[]
Maybelle was one of the girls present at the Wilkes' barbecue in 1861, when Scarlett O'Hara became engaged to Charles Hamilton. Shortly afterwards, the war started.
At a bazaar thrown to raise money for the Confederate Army, Maybelle met the French officer René Picard, from Louisiana. He enthusiastically bid twenty dollars to dance with Maybelle in a charity dance auction. Shortly afterwards, they became engaged and married the next year.
As the war continued and the Merriwethers suffered financial loss, Maybelle and her mother Dolly started a pie business to make ends meet, even selling pies and other baked goods to Yankee soldiers. In 1863, Maybelle gives birth to a son named Napoleon. In 1864, Maybelle had a stillbirth during Sherman's attack on Atlanta.
After the Battle of Gettysburg, Maybelle is relieved that her husband and father to her infant son is alright and unharmed. For the remainder of the war, Maybelle works at the bakery while also supporting her mother who has started a volunteer hospital for wounded soldiers.
When the war ends in 1865, René returns to work at the bakery with Maybelle and his mother-in-law and they take care of their son Napoleon. A year later, their son Raoul Picard is born.