Mehitable Ellis Woods

Union Civil War Nurse from Iowa During the Civil War, Mehitable Ellis Woods worked for the Ladies’ Aid Society of Fairfield, Iowa, delivering supplies to hospitals and the front lines, and nursing the sick and wounded wherever she was needed. In 1863 this brave lady made her first trip down the Mississippi into the heart of the Confederacy and returned many times. She was twice under fire, but escaped uninjured and lived for many years after the war. Mehitable Owen was born on the banks of Lake Champlain in Chittendon County, Vermont, on September 28, 1813, the youngest of five children born to Julius and Hettie Cassel Owen. Her father was a native of Salisbury, Connecticut, and an uncle of…

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Andrew Pickens

Rebecca Calhoun Pickens

Wife of Patriot Militia General Andrew Pickens Rebecca Floride Calhoun was born on November 18, 1745, at Long Canes Creek, Abbeville, South Carolina. She was the daughter of Ezekiel and Jane Ewing Calhoun. According to 800 Years of Calhouns, at the age of 15, during the Long Canes Massacre, Rebecca hid for three days in the long canes to escape the Cherokee who killed her grandmother, Catherine Montgomery Calhoun, on February 1, 1760.

Hannah Adams

First American Female Professional Writer Hannah Adams was born on October 2, 1755, in Medfield, Massachusetts, the second of five children born to Thomas Adams and Elizabeth Clark Adams. Her grandfather Thomas Mason built the house in which Hannah was born, which is still standing. Her mother died when Hannah was 12 years old. Image: Hannah Adams Portrait by Chester Harding As a child, Hannah was frail and timid. Afflicted by chronic ill health, to accompany her sister to school was a hardship. Finally allowed to stay at home, Hannah was taught by her father. She enjoyed the lessons because her father did not confine her to just the Bible, as was the custom in school at that time, but…

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William Clarke Quantrill and Sarah Quantrill

Sarah Quantrill

Wife of Confederate Guerrilla William Clarke Quantrill Sarah Quantrill (1848-1930) was the wife of William Quantrill, Confederate guerrilla leader during the Civil War. At age 14 Sarah King ran off with Quantrill and soon married him, spending most of their short marriage living in tents with him. In the summer of 1863, his most infamous action was perpretated on the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas in the Lawrence Raid. In four hours Quantrill’s Raiders murdered 200 old men and young boys. In May 1865 Quantrill was finally killed trying to escape Union forces in Kentucky. Sarah Katherine King was born in 1848, the daughter of Robert and Malinda King whose farm was near Blue Springs, Missouri. William Clarke Quantrill was born…

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Ann Eliza Bleecker

American Author and Poet Ann Eliza Schuyler was born in New York City in October 1752, the youngest child of Brandt Margareta Van Wyck Schuyler, successful merchants and members of the American Dutch aristocracy. After a long illness, Ann Schuyler’s father died just before she was born. Ann’s mother remarried in 1760 to Anthony TenEyck, also part of the Dutch elite. They had one daughter, Susanna TenEyck. Raised among the aristocracy of New York City, Ann was passionately fond of books, and was known for her precocious writing ability. She wrote verses which were shown to none but her most intimate friends, and was often asked to recite her poems, which ranged from sentimental or humorous to sophisticated or satirical….

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Salisbury Bread Riot

Civilian Women Protest During the Civil War In the western Piedmont of North Carolina, residents of the town of Salisbury and Rowan County developed a work ethic and political values that were consciously in opposition to the perceived life of leisure practiced by the eastern planter class. Westerners valued hard labor and self-sufficiency. In the predominantly yeoman countryside, this self-reliant attitude meant that the bulk of labor was done not by slaves but by family members. Image: Salisbury Train Depot Rowan County nurtured small farms that grew subsistence crops – wheat, corn, tobacco and vegetables. Industry complemented agriculture; wealthy planters operated grain mills for profit, while hundreds of British immigrants mined Rowan’s gold fields at the ramshackle settlement of Gold…

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Mary Norris Dickinson

Wife of Founding Father John Dickinson Image: Portrait of Mary Norris Dickinson First Lady of Pennsylvania and Delaware By Charles Willson Peale, 1772 Mary Norris was born July 19, 1740, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daugther of wealthy Philadelphia Quakers, Isaac Norris and Sarah Logan Norris. Her father was Speaker of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. John Dickinson was born in Talbot County, Maryland, on November 2, 1732, into the family of Judge Samuel Dickinson, his second wife Mary Cadwalader and assorted step-brothers and sisters. The family moved to Poplar Hall, an elegant brick mansion in Delaware a few years later. John Dickinson elected to follow his father into the law. At eighteen, he began to study law in Philadelphia, and in…

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George Spangler Farm

Site of a Union Field Hospital On July 1, 1863, the George Spangler farm buildings were seized – the main house, summer kitchen and Pennsylvania bank barn. Based on the size of the buildings on the property, the farm’s relatively protected position from enemy artillery fire, its supply of well water, the large and accessible farm fields and its promixity to Baltimore Pike, it was chosen as the site of the field hospital for the Union XI Corps with at least seven Federal surgeons. Image: The George Spangler Farm, circa 1890, shows the house, barn and small outbuildings such as the smokehouse and summer kitchen. It is the best surviving example of a farm used as a corps field hospital…

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Susanna Boylston Adams

Mother of Second U.S. President John Adams Image: John Adams Birthplace Susanna Boylston born March 5, 1708, in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Peter and Ann White Boylston, was an early-American socialite, who came from a prominent family of scientists and medical doctors. She is among the least well known of the famous Adams family, for her name appears infrequently in the large body of Adams writings. However, her son’s diary reveals that she had a fiery temper. In 1720, Adams, Sr. purchased a farm in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, and lived there until his death. The future President lived here with his parents until 1764, when he married Abigail Smith. This saltbox house, characterized by the sloping roof, is where the…

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Anna Wells

Wife of Union General William Wells After his distinguished service in the Battle of Gettysburg, cavalryman William Wells began corresponding with 18-year-old Anna Richardson, his sister’s roommate. He shared his experiences in the war, and she wrote about news from the home front. From this simple beginning, a romance blossomed, and on a furlough home in January 1865, William and Anna became engaged during a sleigh ride – the only time they had been together since their correspondence began. Arahanna ‘Anna’ Richardson was born on July 20, 1845. William Wells was born in Waterbury, Vermont, on December 14, 1837. After attending the Barre Academy and Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, NH), Wells worked in his father’s wholesale flour and grain business….

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