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Women and the Civil War (Part 7)
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 19, 2016
Women and the Civil War” is an exhibit of photographs and stories of women who had family connections with soldiers of that war. It was first displayed at the Gratz Fair in September 2013, where it received “first place” in a non-profit division. Afterward, it was displayed in 2014 at the Williamtown-Williams Township Historical Society; in 2015 at the Pillow Historical Society; and in 2016 at the Elizabethville Area Historical Society. With the “retiring” of the actual exhibit, the photographs and stories are now presented here on The Civil War Blog in a thirteen part series.
For each of the thirteen series parts, one woman is featured first along with a brief description of her connection to a Civil War soldier. For the other women who are pictured in each part, a brief story is not provided, but blog readers are invited to add their own stories as comments to the blog post. In some cases, the women or the soldiers have been previously featured on this blog and links are provided to those posts.
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION
Portraits and Stories. This portrait gallery is of women from the Lykens Valley and beyond who were influenced by or had an influence on the Civil War. It includes mothers, wives and daughters of men of the Civil War generation. A few of their stories have been briefly told here [in the exhibit]. As part of the Civil War Research Project, photographs and stories of these remarkable women are being collected and preserved for future generations. Over time, much of this history has been lost because it has not been recorded and saved. For the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, it has been a priority to collect, record and preserve this valuable part of our heritage.
Mary [Kilraine] Craven Comaskey
wife of
Patrick Craven and Patrick Comaskey
When her husband, Patrick Craven, enlisted in the U.S. Infantry, she decided to follow his regiment and do wash for the soldiers. She left two small children in the care of family members in Williamstown. When the war concluded, her husband was sent to guard prisoners at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, and she followed him there. During a yellow fever outbreak at the fort, her husband took ill and was tended to by Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of the convicted Lincoln assassination conspirators, who was imprisoned there. Patrick Craven died and Mary decided to marry another soldier at the fort, Patrick Comaskey. When his term of duty concluded, they settled in Williamstown where he worked in the mines and they raised children from both marriages. She died in 1906. The photograph is from the Library of Congress and shows one woman who actually took her children with her to the war front.
Malinda [Lutz] Weber
wife of
Solomon Weber
Harriet [Workman] Holland
wife of
Mary Umholtz
daughter of
Katharine S. [Alkire] Chubb
wife of
Jeremiah Chubb
Elizabeth [Zerby] Seagrist
wife of
John Henry Seagrist
Catharine [Stutzman] Otto
wife of
Peter Otto
Alice S. Schminky
daughter-in-law of
Nancy [Hanks] Lincoln
mother of
Amanda [Gise] Hoffman
wife of
Susan [Rickert] Rettinger
sister-in-law of
Jennie Welker
daughter of
Ellen V. [Keiser] Dilfield
wife of
Elias Dilfield
All currently posted parts of this series may be accessed by clicking on Women&CivilWar. Photographs are scaled for printing on 4 x 6 photo paper without further adjustment.
