Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1907-06-14
THE VOLUNTEERS WIFE.


Was the Real Hero and Martyr or
the Civil War.
II knew by the light in his deep dark
When he heard the roll of the muster
ing drum,
That he never would fold his hands and,
sigh
over the evil that was to come
I knew that the blood of his patriot sire
Ran through his veins like stream Of
fire,
SO 1 took his hand, and I bade him co..
And he never dreamed that II grievodl
me SOL!
This verse of an old song, "The Vol.
unteer's Wife," heard, but not under
stood, by my childish ears in the war
days of The sixties, often comes back
to me when think of those who we're
the most real and suffering martyrs
of the civil war-the soldiers wives$
The soldier who marched away from
home and his dear ones had still one
thing to be thankful for. He was
"cn the move" and he was where
duty called him in an hour of SUI
preme need. But to stay at home, to-
wait, in fear and anxiety, to save and
scrimp to keep things together, as did
so many of the wives of soldiers for
long three, and sometimes four
years, that was a bitter lot.
But how bravely, for the most part.
did American women bear the bur-
dens laid upon them by merciless war
Without the loyal devotion of Amer
ican women the war for the union
would indeed have been the failure"
which many people wanted it to be-
The women who lived out the days.
of the war have, many of them, goner
to their reward. Many Of them II
knew, struggling women who, left wild
owed, with children to bring up andl
educate, had taken up the responsible.
ity and courageously carried through
the task.
I remember one little woman who.
used to draw, at the Chicago pensions
agency, her small pension for herself
and three children under the age of
16 years. Left with no means of sup
port, her husband having been killed,
in one of the latest battles of the war;.
this woman looked around for some
way by which she could care for her
self and little ones.
1t was before many avenues Of
earning a livelihood had been opened
to women. This one, being a good
cook, chose to perfect herself as a.
maker of fine pastry. She soon Sc.
cured a placesas pastry cook in a.
Chicago hotel, and in that way she.
earned enough to support and edu-
cate her children. One of her boys
is now well-established man of prop.
erty and influence here in Chicago.
The widows of soldiers went into.
stores as clerks, and into Offices and
factories, and soon the great woman
movement" for industrial activity, a.
chance to earn a living, became a
recognized thing.
Nothing ever seen in the world was,
more fine and good than this making
the best of sad fate by the widow
ed thousands of the great armies of
north and south.
In the country women managed and
worked on farms, sold and bought and
traded and made for themselves and
their children homes in the desolate-
world.
| hope that no one will ever forget
the womanhood of American life in
the sixties any more than can be-
forgotten the splendid manhood which
sprang to arms at the call of patriot
ism.
Let us remind ourselves sometimes
of the mothers of '61 and their great
sacrifices, urges Ada C. Sweet, in Chi
cago Journal, for they, as well as the,
fathers, deserved well of their coun--
try.