Ellen Ewing Sherman

Ellen Ewing Sherman (October 4 1824 – November 28 1888), was the wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, a leading Union general in the American Civil War; she was also a prominent figure of the times in her own right.

She was born Eleanor Boyle Ewing in Lancaster, Ohio, the daughter of prominent Whig politician Thomas Ewing and Maria Boyle Ewing, who also raised Ellen's future husband, "Cump" Sherman, after the 1829 death of his father.

Ellen Sherman died in New York City on November 28, 1888, survived by her husband and six of their children. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri; her tombstone there identifies her as Eleanor Boyle Ewing Sherman [ [http://hecker.ilcivilwar.org/hecker_anc_sherman_02.htm Illinois in the Civil War] ] .

Accomplishments

Ellen was educated in Lancaster and Washington, D.C. She married "Cump" Sherman in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1850, in a ceremony attended by President Zachary Taylor and other political luminaries. [Burton, 75-78; Kerr, 37.] The Shermans, who often lived apart even before the Civil War, had eight children together, two of whom (Willie and Charles) died during the war. [Kerr, 103-105.]

Although women did not have the vote in her day, Ellen declared herself to favor Abraham Lincoln in advance of the 1860 elections and was fierce in her pro-Union sentiment. [EES letters to WTS, July 3, 10, 17 & Dec. 31, 1860, Jan. 25, 29, Feb. 6 & Oct. 4, 1861, April 23 & Aug. 9, 30, 1862, Sept. 17, 1864, Sherman Family Papers, Notre Dame Archives.] During the Civil War, in addition to her husband, three of her four then-living brothers became Union generals—Hugh Boyle Ewing, Thomas Ewing, Jr., and Charles Ewing (General). In addition, Ellen worked to protect her husband's military standing during the war, especially in a January 1862 Washington meeting with Lincoln at a time when General Sherman's reputation was under a cloud due to newspaper charges of insanity. [Burton, 138-40; EES letter to WTS, Jan. 29, 1862, Sherman Family Papers, Notre Dame Archives.]

Ellen was a devout Catholic and often at odds with her husband over religious topics. One of her sons, Thomas Ewing Sherman, became a Catholic priest. She also took an ongoing interest in Indian missions. In "the most absorbing and monumental work of her life," Ellen played an active role in U.S. observances of the Golden Jubilee of Pope Pius IX (May 21, 1877) for which she later received the personal thanks of the Pope. [Carey, 51; McAllister,346-48.]

Writings

*"Memorial of Thomas Ewing, of Ohio" (New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1873).
*"The William Tecumseh Sherman Family Letters" (posthumous, 1967). Microfilm collection prepared by the Archives of the University of Notre Dame contains letters, etc. from Ellen Sherman, her husband, and others.

Notes

References

*Burton, Katherine, "Three Generations: Maria Boyle Ewing - Ellen Ewing Sherman - Minnie Sherman Fitch", Longmans, Green & Co., 1947.
*Carey, Patrick W., "Catholics in America: A History", Praeger, 2004.
*Ferraro, William M., "More Than a General's Wife: Ellen Ewing Sherman," Timeline", vol. 17, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb, 2000).
*Kerr, Laura E., "William Tecumseh Sherman: A Family Chronicle", Fairfield Heritage Ass'n, 1894.
*McAllister, Anna, "Ellen Ewing: Wife of General Sherman", Benzinger Bros., 1936.
*Marszalek, John F., “General and Mrs. William T. Sherman, A Contentious Union,” in "Intimate Strategies of the Civil War: Military Commanders and Their Wives," ed. Carol K. Bleser and Lesley J. Gordon (New York:Oxford Univ. Press, 2001), 38–56.

External links

* [http://www.thelincolnlog.org/view/1862/1/29 The Lincoln Log: Jan. 29, 1862 meeting of Lincoln, Ellen Sherman, and Thomas Ewing]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0CE3DC1330E633A2575AC2A9679D94699FD7CF N.Y. Times obituary, Nov. 29, 1888]
* [http://www.archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/html/SHR.htm William T. Sherman Family Papers from the University of Notre Dame]
* [http://www.archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/html/EWI.htm Thomas Ewing Family Papers from the University of Notre Dame]
* [http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Sherman%20Thackara%20Collection/ Sherman Thackara Collection at the Digital Library @ Villanova University]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05672b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia information]
* [http://www.shermanhouse.org/ Sherman House Museum] , in Lancaster, Ohio, birthplace of Ellen Ewing Sherman and William Tecumseh Sherman