Category: Civil War Women

Civil War Women
Civil War Women, Civil War Women Working

Exile of the Roswell Mill Women

• Maggie

General Sherman Deported Women from the South In July 1864, approximately 400 mill workers in Georgia – nearly all women, were taken prisoner by the Union Army. They were then put on trains headed North, and few of them ever made their way back home. They would be referred to as Factory Hands or Roswell Women in the Official Records. Image: Roswell Mill Women Backstory During the summer of 1864, the Union Army under the leadership of General William Tecumseh Sherman advanced toward Atlanta, Georgia. The two armies faced off at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864). Sherman discovered that the Confederate forces were too well entrenched so he cut his losses and continue toward Atlanta. The Chattahoochee…

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Civil War Women, Famous Wives

Elizabeth Shaw Melville

• Maggie

Wife of Author Herman Melville Elizabeth Shaw Melville copied her husband’s works and edited his manuscripts when asked, before and after his death. She was devoted to the author, even when his behavior was erratic. Elizabeth Shaw was born June 13, 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Knapp Shaw and Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court and an old friend of the Melville family. It seems that everyone called her Lizzie. Her siblings were all boys, John Oakes, Lemuel and Samuel Savage Shaw. Herman Melville (1819-1891) was not only a novelist and a poet, he was also an adventurer. In 1841, he signed on the whaler Acushnet, on a three-year whaling voyage. He…

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Civil War Women, Civil War Women Working, Women in Theater

Laura Keene

• Maggie

Performing at Ford’s Theatre When Lincoln Was Shot Laura Keene was a British-American stage actress who became known was the first powerful female theater manager and is credited with establishing New York City as the leading theatrical center in the United States. She was the featured actress in the production of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre, during which John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln. Early Years She was born Mary Frances Moss July 20, 1826 in Winchester, England to Jane Moss and Tomas King. In 1844, she married British Army officer John Taylor. They had two daughters, Emma (in 1846) and Clara Marie Stella (in 1849). After being discharged from the army, Taylor opened his own tavern. He…

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Civil War Women, Civil War Women Working

Allegheny Arsenal Explosion

• Maggie

Civil War Women in the Arsenals On September 17, 1862, seventy-eight girls and young women were killed in an explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – the worst civilian disaster of the Civil War. The deaths of these young women were given little press coverage because the Battle of Antietam was fought the same day. This post is dedicated to their memory. Image: Allegheny Arsenal Laboratory Building (circa 1870) and the Stone Road Employment at the arsenal enticed young girls, widows, mothers and wives who were struggling to support their families while their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons were fighting in the Union Army. Most relied on community members such as physicians and clergyman…

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Civil War Women, Gettysburg

Trostle Farm

• Maggie

Heroism and Sacrifice at Trostle Farm In July 1863, the Trostle Farm south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was owned by Peter Trostle, but it was occupied by his daughter-in-law Catherine and her nine children. Her husband Abraham was incarcerated in the lunatic asylum. The Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners stated that: “Abraham Trostle has been confined and chained to his room for five years.” Image: Dead horses at Trostle Farm This photo of the Catherine Trostle house was taken on July 6, four days after the fighting raged around her farm. The 134 acre farm was described as having: a newly built wood-frame house, a spring house, a large Pennsylvania style bank barn, a wagon shed addition, a corn…

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Abolitionists, African Americans, Civil War Women, Educators

Port Royal Experiment

• Maggie

The U.S. Government and the Sea Island Slaves Backstory In August 1861, at Fortress Monroe in Virginia, Union General Benjamin Butler declared that the slaves who escaped and came into his lines for protection were contraband of war, a term commonly used thereafter to describe this new status of slaves, which meant that the Army would not return escaped slaves to their masters. This would set the stage for a much larger undertaking at Port Royal a few months later. Image: The Sea Islands during the Civil War The Military On November 7, 1861, just seven months after the Civil War began, the largest fleet ever assembled by the U. S. Navy, under the command of Commodore Samuel Du Pont,…

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African Americans, Civil War Women, Women Artists

Harriet Powers

• Maggie

African American Folk Artist in the South Harriet Powers is one of the best African American quilt makers in the South in the Civil War era. Although only two of her older quilts have survived, she is now nationally recognized. Using the applique technique, Powers told stories with her quilts, depicting scenes from the Bible and events in American history. Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt (1886) Eleven scenes from Bible stories Patchwork and applique Early Years Harriet Powers was born a slave on October 29, 1837 near Athens, Georgia, and was raised as a slave. For most of her life she lived in Clarke County, primarily in Sandy Creek and Buck Branch. Harriet was initially believed to be illiterate, but a…

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Civil War Women, Women Artists

Fanny Palmer

• Maggie

First Woman to Work as a Professional Artist Fanny Palmer (1812-1876) was the first woman in the United States to work as a professional artist, and to make a living with her art. She produced more Currier and Ives’ prints than any other artist, and she was the only female in a business that was dominated by men. Painting was not considered a suitable occupation for a woman. Image: A small, frail woman, Fanny Palmer stood bent over her work for so many years in the same position that she developed a widow’s hump in her later years. Early Life Frances (Fanny) Flora Bond, the daughter of an attorney, was born in 1812 in Leicester, England, and she received an…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Elizabeth Mendenhall

• Maggie

Civil War Nurse from Ohio Elizabeth Mendenhall was one of the managers of the Soldiers Aid Society of Cincinnati, Ohio, which was financed mainly by monetary gifts from private citizens. When donations slowed to a trickle, Mendenhall helped organize a sanitary fair in 1863 to raise funds to care for the soldiers. Image: Soldiers Aid Society like the one established by Elizabeth Mendenhall Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) was born in Philadelphia in 1819, but her childhood and youth were spent in Richmond, Virginia, at the home of her sister, her only close relative. Her relatives belonged to the Society of Friends (Quakers), who were also abolitionists, and she grew up with a strong dislike of slavery. After her marrige in…

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African Americans, Civil War Women

African American Women in the Civil War

• Maggie

Black Heroines of the Civil War Susie King Taylor Born a slave in Savannah, Georgia in 1848, Susie King Taylor was 14 years old when the Union Army attacked nearby Fort Pulaski (April 1862). Taylor fled with her uncle’s family and other blacks to St. Simons Island, Georgia, where slaves were being liberated by the army. Since most blacks were illiterate, it was soon discovered that Taylor could read and write. Susie King Taylor Five days after her arrival, Commodore Louis Goldsborough offered Taylor books and supplies if she would establish a school on the island. She accepted the offer and became the first black teacher to openly instruct African Americans in Georgia. By day she taught children and at…

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