Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Rebecca Hollingsworth Humphreys

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Wife of Union General Andrew Atkinson Humphreys Andrew Atkinson Humphreys was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 2, 1810, to a family prominent in naval architecture. Humphreys was descended from the distinguished naval architects who designed Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, and her five sister frigates during the War of 1812, Constellation and many other ships of the Old Navy. Humphreys was born to privilege. As a teenager, he was wild and uncontrollable; he played truant and ran away from his tutors. General Andrew Humphreys In an effort to steer his son in a stable direction, his father secured the sixteen-year-old Andrew a place at West Point in 1827. Young Humphreys wasn’t ready for discipline. He earned demerits for not…

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Famous Wives, First Ladies

Dorothy Hancock

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Wife of Declaration Signer John Hancock Dorothy Quincy Hancock Portrait John Singleton Copley, Artist, 1772 Copley posed Dorothy with a hand to her face in a thoughtful pose. Her silk pink robe and matching stomacher are decorated by a large bow, and the sleeves end in triple ruffles. Her sheer apron is embroidered with large floral sprays. Her hair was probably combed over a roll, and atop this hairdo she wore a dress cap of lace, gauze and ribbon. Dorothy Quincy, born in Boston on May 10, 1747, was the youngest of ten children of Judge Edmund Quincy and Elizabeth Wendell Quincy. Dorothy spent most of her early years in Braintree, Massachusetts, in a lively household, where John and Samuel…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Mary Couch

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Wife of Union General Darius Nash Couch Mary Caroline Crocker was born on March 18, 1829, at Taunton, Massachusetts. She was a direct descendant of the distinguished Crocker and Leonard families of Taunton. Darius Nash Couch was born on July 23, 1822, on a farm in the village of South East in Putnam County, New York. Couch, who pronounced his name Coach, was educated at the local schools there. Image: General Darius Couch Civil War Photographic Collection, Library of Congress In 1842, Couch entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, less than 50 miles west of his family’s home, graduating in 1846, 13th out of 59 cadets. Couch’s illustrious classmates included several future Civil War generals: Thomas (Stonewall)…

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Famous Wives

Mary White Morris

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Wife of Declaration of Independence Signer Robert Morris Mary White Morris Gilbert Stuart, Artist Mary White was born in 1749. Her parents, Colonel Thomas and Esther White, were described by one historian as “people of the highest character,” who were much respected and socially important members of the Philadelphia community. Her father came to this country from London in early life and settled on the eastern shore of Maryland. After his first wife died, he moved to Philadelphia, and married a widow named Newman. With her he had two children: Mary and her brother William. Robert Morris was born on January 20, 1734, to Robert Morris, Sr. and Elizebeth Murphet in Liverpool, England. At the age of thirteen, Robert moved…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Josephine Shaw Lowell

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Wife of Union General Charles Russell Lowell Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843-1905) was a social reformer who is best known for creating the New York Consumers League in 1890. She recognized that low wages and unemployment were primary causes of poverty, and began to support organized labor and binding arbitration. Lowell raised money for striking garment workers and boycotted stores that underpaid and overworked their salesgirls. Image: Josephine Shaw Lowell in 1869 Josephine Shaw was born on December 16, 1843, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, into a wealthy New England family. Her parents, Francis George and Sarah Blake Shaw, were philanthropists and intellectuals who encouraged their five children to study, learn and become involved in their communities. The Shaws were wealthy Bostonians…

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Famous Wives

Julia Stockton Rush

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Wife of Declaration of Independence Signer Benjamin Rush Julia Stockton was born March 2, 1759, at Morven, the family estate near Princeton, New Jersey. She was the eldest daughter of signer Richard Stockton and poet Annis Boudinot Stockton. Julia received as liberal an education as was open to women of her day, supplemented by her association with the cultivated people whom her father and mother gathered in their home. The daughter of a lawyer and trustee of the College of New Jersey, Julia grew up in a home where her father’s library was reputed to be among the best in the colonies. Julia Stockton Rush Painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1776, around the time of her marriage, the portrait…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Harriet Porter

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Wife of Union General Fitz John Porter Fitz John Porter was a career U.S. Army officer and a Union General during the Civil War. He is most known for his performance at the Second Battle of Bull Run and his subsequent court martial, caused by his political rivals. After the war, he worked for almost 25 years to reclaim his reputation and restore his name to the army’s roll. Image: General Fitz John Porter Harriet Pierson Cook was born in New York in May 1833. Fitz John Porter was born on August 31, 1822, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He came from a family prominent in American naval service; his cousins were Admirals David Dixon Porter, and David Glasgow Farragut. Nevertheless,…

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Famous Wives

Rachel Wilson

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Wife of Declaration of Independence Signer James Wilson Justice James Wilson The official Supreme Court portrait Rachael Bird was born in 1750, the youngest daughter of William Bird of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, proprietor of the fine country seat and iron works on the Schuylkill River, known as Birdsborough. Through her mother, Brigetta Huling Bird, Rachel was a descendant of the Marquis Jean Paul Frederick de Hulingues, a Huguenot nobleman attached to the court of Henry of Navarre. Rachel’s brother, Mark Bird, married Mary Ross, the sister of George Ross, a future signer of the Declaration of Independence. James Wilson was born on September 14, 1742, in Carskerdo, Scotland, the son of William Wilson and Aleson Lansdale Wilson. His father was…

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Famous Wives

Anne Lee

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Wife of Declaration Signer Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee Charles Willson Peale, Artist National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution Richard Henry Lee was born on January 20, 1733, at his family’s plantation, Stratford Hall, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the seventh of eleven children. Perhaps the most wealthy and powerful individual in Virginia, his father, Thomas Lee, was president of the Virginia Council of State and the principal founder of the Ohio Company. The Lees were a Revolutionary dynasty that included not only Richard Henry, but his brothers Arthur, William, and Francis Lightfoot Lee. Richard was educated early on in life by private tutoring at home. In 1748, his father sent him to England to be educated. There he attended Wakefield…

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Famous Wives

Susannah Lyme Penn

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Wife of Declaration of Independence Signer John Penn John Penn was born on May 17, 1741, in Caroline County, Virginia. He was the only child of Moses Penn, a moderately successful plantation owner, and Catherine Taylor Penn. He was educated at home with only a few years of formal schooling, although his parents could well afford to pay for his tuition. Penn was distant relative of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. John Penn Moses Penn died in 1759, and John inherited an ample estate, but he was dissatisfied with the prospects it offered, and decided to continue his education. He began to study law under his cousin and neighbor, Edmund Pendleton, a lawyer, a Patriot, and one of the most…

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