First Women, Women in Science

First American Women in Science I

• Maggie

Female Scientists Who Inspired Others to Follow Maria Mitchell Astronomer (1818-1889) After she discovered a comet in 1847, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the most prestigious honorary societies, elected Maria Mitchell as its first woman member. The Academy was founded during the American Revolution by Founding Fathers John Adams, John Hancock, and other patriots. Image: Maria Mitchell and her brass telescope Mitchell and her students used this telescope; now more than 150 years old, it remains among Vassar’s treasures. Matthew Vassar founded Vassar College in 1861, the second of the Seven Sisters schools to offer higher education strictly for women. In 1865, he appointed Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) the first person on the Vassar faculty. The well-known…

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Civil War Women, Uncategorized

Sallie Holley

• Maggie

She Found Her Place Among the Lowly Image: Sallie Holley (left) and her lifetime companion Caroline Putnam Sallie Howland and the Civil War Sallie Holley, abolitionist and educator, spent her entire adult life working to free African Americans from bondage, and then teaching the former slaves how to improve their lives. Early Years Sarah Holley was born February 17, 1818 in Canandaigua, New York. Sallie, as she was called, was one of twelve children born to Myron and Sally House Holley. Her father was a minister and a Canal Commissioner, who worked to create the Erie Canal. His antislavery beliefs greatly influenced Sallie. After her father’s death in 1841, Holley taught school in Rochester for a short time. While visiting…

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Slavery in America, Underground Railroad

Edmonson Sisters

• Maggie

Slave Girls Searching for Freedom In the seventeenth century, all slave states passed laws declaring that the children of an enslaved mother inherited her legal status. Mary and Emily Edmonson were two of fourteen children who survived to adulthood, all of whom were born into slavery in Maryland. In the late 1840s they became icons in the abolitionist movement. Image: Mary Edmonson (standing) and Emily Edmonson (seated), shortly after they were freed Credit: Ipernity.com Early Years The Edmonson sisters were the daughters of Paul and Amelia Edmonson, a free black man and an enslaved woman. They were described as “two respectable young women of light complexion.” At the ages of 15 and 13, Mary (1832–1853) and Emily (1835–1895) were hired…

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Antietam, Civil War Women

Mumma Farm at Antietam

• Maggie

The Mumma Family Lost Their Home at Antietam Image: Mumma Farm today No one in the community around Sharpsburg, Maryland suffered more during the Battle of Antietam than the Mumma family. They escaped the battle, only to return to find their farm totally destroyed by a fire set by Confederate soldiers. Backstory Straddling the opposing sides both politically and geographically was the border state of Maryland. Despite the legislative efforts of the powerful slave holding minority, the majority of Maryland’s population was less committed to the institution of slavery. The farms around Sharpsburg were typical of the region where the primary crop was wheat, supplemented with corn, oats, and rye. Seasonal crops like wheat and corn did not require the…

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Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad in Washington DC

• Maggie

Slaves Find Freedom in the Nation’s Capital The Underground Railroad refers to the effort of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape. In the 1840s, a group of people came together to support the Underground Railroad in the District of Columbia. Despite the illegality of their actions, and with little regard for their own personal safety, people of all races, classes and genders participated in this widespread form of civil disobedience. Image: Ann Marie Weems Dressed as a male carriage driver, she successfully fled slavery in Rockville, Maryland via Washington DC in 1855. People of both races and various class backgrounds assisted in her escape, demonstrating the diversity of the underground railroad…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Annie Adams McFadden Hays

• Maggie

Wife of Union General Alexander Hays Annie Hays suffered the long separations from her husband that all wives of Civil War generals endured. However, letters from the front inspired these women to continue raising children, caring for homes, running farms, and operating businesses. Unfortunately, Annie’s husband never made it home. He was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. Image: Into the Wilderness by Keith Rocco Annie Adams Farrelly was born March 15, 1826 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two months earlier, her father, U. S. Representative Patrick Farrelly, died while en route to Washington to attend Congress. In 1835 her mother married John Birch McFadden, a Market Street jeweler in Pittsburgh. Alexander Hays was born July 8,…

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First Women, Women Inventors

First Women Inventors

• Maggie

First American Women Inventors Before the 1970s, the topic of women’s history was largely ignored by the general public. Women have probably been inventing since the dawn of time without recognition. Many women faced prejudice and ridicule when they sought help from men to implement their ideas. Property laws also made it difficult for women to acquire patents for their inventions. By 1850 only thirty-two patents had been issued to women. Image: Sybilla Masters Corn Refiner Sybilla Masters (1715) Sybilla Masters invented a way to clean and refine the Indian corn that the colonists grew in early America and received the first patent issued to man or woman in recorded American history in 1715. Masters’ innovation processed the corn into…

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Civil War Spies, Civil War Women

Charlotte Sprowles Webster

• Maggie

Wife of Union Spy Timothy Webster Charlotte’s husband Timothy Webster was an agent of the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency and a spy for the Union during the Civil War. Timothy Webster was Allan Pinkerton’s most trusted agent during the Civil War, and he was partially responsible for stopping an assassination attempt on president-elect Abraham Lincoln. Webster was later captured by Confederate forces and sentenced to death. Marriage and Family Timothy Webster was born in England in 1822, and his family immigrated to Princeton, New Jersey in the 1830s. Charlotte Sprowles married Webster on October 23, 1841 in Princeton, New Jersey. They had four children. As a young man, Webster learned the machinist trade. Sometime in the 1840s the Websters moved…

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Civil War Women, Uncategorized

December Hiatus

• Maggie

Since the month of December is taken up with holidays and travel, I have decided to go on hiatus for the rest of this month. I won’t be slacking off, however; I will be doing some much needed cleanup and updating on my blogs. Unfortunately, I will also be doing that dreaded activity that constantly tries to lure me away from my writing: HOUSEWORK. I wish you the happiest of holidays, and I hope the gifts you receive are exactly what you wanted. I will be praying for peace on earth for all people – from my fingers to God’s ear. Thank you for reading my blogs, Maggie
First Women, Women in Leadership

Mary Ann Brown Patten

• Maggie

First Woman Clipper Ship Commander Mary Ann Brown Patten was the first woman commander of an American Merchant Vessel at the age of nineteen. Her husband, the ship’s captain, was severely ill with fever, and the first mate was attempting to incite a mutiny among the crewmen. Her clipper ship Neptune’s Car was ten thousand miles away from its starting point at New York when she faced the unforgiving winds of Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America. And then on to San Francisco, where clients were waiting for her cargo. Image: Mary Ann Brown Patten Mary Ann Brown married sea captain Joshua Patten in 1853 when she was 16. He was 25, and was ferrying cargo and…

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