Category: Civil War Women

Civil War Women
Civil War Women, Women Artists

Clover Adams

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Washington DC Socialite and Photographer Clover Adams was a socialite, an active hostess in Washington, DC society, an accomplished amateur photographer, and one of the earliest portrait photographers in the United States. Her work was widely admired, but her husband, historian Henry Adams, would not allow her to become a professional and discouraged any publication of her work. Image: Clover Adams on horseback at Beverly Farms, October 1869 The photo shown here is the only known adult photograph of Clover; no close–up picture of her face exists. After her death, Henry Adams destroyed all of her photos in their home, and neither her father nor her family had ever received a picture of Clover’s face. (Marian) Clover Hooper was born…

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Civil War Women, Diaries and Letters

Caroline Cowles Richards

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Civil War Civilian and Diarist The journal Caroline Richards started when she was 10, parallels a young girl growing up as the nation did too. Although raised by a Puritan grandmother, she was blessed with both humor and the intelligence to think for herself. When Richards heard Susan B. Anthony speak, she signed a pledge to help bring about equal rights for women. And during the Civil War, she sent a letter of support to General McClellan when he was criticized. Image: Caroline Cowles Richards in 1860 Caroline Cowles Richards was born in a small town in upstate New York in 1842 and was raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother, a very religious woman, held true to her Puritan family…

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Authors, Civil War Women

Harriet Beecher Stowe

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American Abolitionist and Author Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African American slaves in the mid-nineteenth century, which energized anti-slavery forces in the North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. She wrote more than 20 books, and was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day. Harriet Elisabeth Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811. She was the second daughter the sixth of eleven children born to outspoken religious leader Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote Beecher, who died when Stowe was only four years old. Harriet’s oldest sister, Catherine Beecher, then took over care of…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Susan Landon Vaughan

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Founder of Decoration Day Image: Confederate Monument This monument on the grounds of the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi sits about 60 feet high with a life-sized statue of a Confederate soldier on top of it. Inside the monument is a plaque that reads: It reeks not where their bodies lie By bloody hillside, plains or cave; Their names are bright on famous skies, Their deeds of valor live forever. Decoration Day Originated in Jackson, Mississippi, April 26, 1865 By Sue Landon Vaughn Susan Hutchinson Adams was born on October 12, 1835, in St. Charles, Missouri, on the Missouri River northwest of St Louis. She and her sister Sallie were the daughters of John and Margaret Ann Gill Adams….

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Civil War Women

Bennett Place

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Confederate Surrender in North Carolina In 1846 at age 40, James Bennett, his wife Nancy and their three children settled on a 325-acre farm in north-central North Carolina that came to be known as Bennett Place. The family grew corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes, and raised hogs. James was also a tailor, cobbler, and sold horse feed, tobacco plugs and distilled liquor. Image: The First Meeting At Bennett Place Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston (left center) and Union General William Tecumseh Sherman (right center) met in the waning days of the Civil War to formally end hostilities. On April 15, 2010, Bennett Place State Historic Site unveiled this 44″ X 64″ oil painting by Civil War artist Dan Nance, which…

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Abolitionists, Activists, Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Hannah Ropes

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Head Matron at Union Hotel Hospital When her husband abandoned her, Hannah Ropes did not despair. She raised her two children, became an abolitionist and activist for social reform. She volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War and used her prominent social position to obtain enormous amounts of supplies for ill and wounded soldiers. Early Years Hannah Anderson Chandler was born June 13, 1809, in New Gloucester, Maine, the daughter and sister of prominent Maine lawyers. Hannah developed strong beliefs during her early years. Her religious faith was very strong, and she was passionately opposed to slavery. Hannah married educator William Ropes in 1834; they lived in Waltham, Massachusetts. Hannah gave birth to four children, two of whom lived…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Laura Jackson Arnold

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Sister of General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson Laura Jackson Arnold and her famous older brother were very close until the Civil War intruded in their lives. Laura was a staunch and unapoligetic supporter of the Union, while her brother became one of the most beloved generals in the Confederate Army. Their relationship was destroyed by the war, and they never saw each other again. General Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. Laura Ann Jackson was born March 27, 1826, in Clarksburg, [West] Virginia, along with her sister Elizabeth (1819), brother Warren (1821) and brother Thomas Jonathan (1824). Their parents were attorney Jonathan Jackson and Julia Beckwith Neale Jackson. Elizabeth (age 6) and Jonathan Jackson…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Marion Lumpkin Cobb

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Wife of General Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb was born April 10, 1823. at Cherry Hill, the family plantation in Jefferson County, Georgia. His parents were John and Sarah Rootes Cobb, who were married at Fredericksburg, Virginia. His family moved to Athens, Georgia, while he was still a child, and he lived there for the rest of his life. Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb Confederate Politician Brigadier General in the Confederate Army Horace Bradley, Artist Thomas R. R. Cobb graduated from the University of Georgia first in his class in 1841, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1842. During the 1840s and 1850s, Cobb and his older brother Howell Cobb – future Congressman and Secretary…

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Civil War Women

Lucy Lambert Hale

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Fiancee of Lincoln Assassin John Wilkes Booth In 1862, Lucy Lambert Hale began a romantic relationship with famous stage actor John Wilkes Booth. Another of her admirers was Robert Todd Lincoln, eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln. Lucy Lambert Hale was born January 1, 1841, in Dover, New Hampshire, the second eldest daughter of John Parker Hale and Lucy Hill Lambert Hale. John Parker Hale served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the U.S. Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again from 1855 to 1865. Lucy was described as pretty, precocious, sweet and good. Lucy attended a boarding school in Boston. At the age of 12, she was receiving poems from William Chandler, a…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Elizabeth Saunders Taylor

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Wife of Lt. Colonel Walter Herron Taylor: Aide to General Robert E. Lee Elizabeth Selden Saunders was the daughter of United States Navy Captain John L. Saunders and Martha Bland Selden Saunders During the Civil War, she lived during the war with the family of Lewis Crenshaw in Richmond, Virginia, where she worked at the Confederate Mint and the Confederate Medical Department. Image: A week after Appomattox, a series of photographs were taken on the back porch at General Robert E. Lee’s home in Richmond by Mathew Brady’s firm. As General Lee wore his uniform for the last time, he posed with his oldest son Major General George Washington Custis Lee and Colonel Walter Taylor (right), husband of Elizabeth Saunders…

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