Category: US History

Sherman & the Smithsonian

Post author By rachelsp
Post date February 16, 2026
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The Smithsonian ‘the castle’ built 1847 (image in public domain), featured image Grant and his Generals, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.

Recently, I visited the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. What started as a repository of collectables of researchers in the 19th century is now a behemoth institution of several museums. Presumably, the most interesting of its collections are in monumental buildings along the Washington Mall. But the entire holding of items not on exhibit is in several locations.

There are different ways to think about museums. They’re a mirror of sorts of what the people who collect artifacts and other objects think is important enough to pass on to another generation. There are words accompanying the objects. These short paragraphs are as simple as a description or elaborate as a plotline in an epic drama production. Interpretations and narratives explaining the object shift and evolve. But the artifact remains the same.

The Smithsonian is a managerie of all sorts of things in our world. It’s the memory keeper of our nation’s history and of the stories we tell.

In the age of instant information and digital derivations of reality served up on our handheld screens, we might ask if it is even necessary to keep ‘the real thing’. We can access endless information about the holdings of the Smithsonian much more than what is exhibited in the galleries. Why make a trip to see the actual ‘thing in itself’? Before the world wide web,people had to rely on libraries, encyclopedias, and museums. In fact, libraries and museums have preserved the memory and knowledge of civilizations and cultures for millennia. It’s convenient to have access to the information these repositories have. Yet, physical museums are still relevant since they typically contain real, tactile things, not just digital derivations of them. Museums provide physical space where viewers can engage with real things of the past. The Smithsonian in particular exemplifies this by offering a diverse range of exhibits that describe or explain much of what we find in our world. With rapid advancement of AI and the trends of generated deep fakes gone viral, I, for one, am grateful for opportunities to experience tangible, clear, and definite reality museums still provide.

Additionally, the Smithsonian provides an accessible alternative for self-directed learning. In an era where higher education is prohibitively expensive and exclusive, by leveraging the vast resources of the Smithsonian and the expertise of the curators, a young person can gain valuable knowledge and skills at a fraction of the cost of higher education.

Indeed, an enterprising student could probably learn twice as much in half the time. Probably throughout the two hundred years of the museum’s existence, many have done just that.

The formation of the Smithsonian and its first building coincide with the recent rise of the United States, a sovereign nation fairly optimistic if not hell-bent determined in its capacity to scale progress through knowledge, technology, and commerce. Sherman grew up in this environment. It was the air he breathed. Young Sherman, like many of his contemporaries, believed that progress was the result of education and hard work. Enlightenment beliefs followed by rapid industrialization and scientific advancement fueled the conviction that economic stability for all was just around the corner.Young Sherman presumed that economic prosperity and peace would be the inevitable consequence of progress. Perhaps an older, wiser Sherman came to realize the naivety of such a belief.

Many of Sherman’s friends contributed to the formation of the Smithsonian. Sherman undoubtedly enjoyed visiting the original museum when he lived in Washington. Just about all of his life’s work and some personal belongings are housed in the network of the Smithsonian. Curious and interested in almost everything the Smithsonian has to offer but short on time,I needed to strategize and adjust the ‘what to see list’. I selected three exhibits in three museums, reluctantly excluding all others as well as everything around them, including the Mall, Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, and the White House to name a few.

First on my list was National Portrait Gallery or NPG, showcasing paintings of familiar ‘founding fathers’—George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the like. There were others, men and women, who have shaped US history and the collective imagination of a still naively young but already demographically complex developing country.

I was curious about the several First Nations leaders that have factored into US history, Pocahontas, Red Jacket, and Sequoia to name a few.

Nearby were the ‘frontiersman’ Zachary Taylor, Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson. The portraits reflect a paradoxical juxtaposition of the ageless and universal complexity of ‘frontier expansion’.

Finally, I entered the gallery with the portraits of Grant and Sherman. Centered in this small gallery is a near-life-size sculpture of Lincoln and Edward Stanton, with Ulysses Grant, pivotal in getting the Emancipation Proclamation ‘proclamated’ in 1863 and. It was Grant and Sherman’s responsibility to force the rebel opposition to accept it.

After a brief cursory visit through the rest of the NPG and a viewing of the mineral exhibit and star show at the Natural History Museum, I visited the Museum of the American Indian. Prominent in this museum is the Nation to Nation exhibit chronicling treaties the British colonies, and later the US government made with First Nations from the 17th through mid-19th century.

The treaty with the Navajo is the last one to be formally ratified by Congress. This exhibit includes Sherman’s role in negotiations with Navajo leaders in Bosque Redondo in 1868. The accompanying photo of a scowling Sherman (the actual photo taken at another time and place) suggests that he reluctantly acquiesced to the Navajo leaders’ insistence to return to their homelands.

Accounts of the negotiations, and correspondence from that time show otherwise: While remaining skeptical of a successful outcome, Sherman saw a possible path forward for people living alongside each other while maintaining their own culture and forms of life. If the treaty contents were honored by both parties— the US government on one hand and the Indians who did not consider it in their people’s best interests to forfeit their homelands and assimilate into the US experiment on the other— then a coexistence might be wrought albeit with difficulty through compromise. An optimal outcome may not be certain or permanent, but it was more preferable than war. Sherman knew from experience that peace is fragile as it is valuable. It’s worth striving for. A first step in this direction is trying to understand the other’s deeply held beliefs.

— “the world is big enough for all the people it contains, and all should live at peace with their neighbors. All people love the country where they were born and raised.”

The dialogue with Barboncito, the leader representing the Navajo in the negotiations, shows that much. “You are right,Sherman observed— the world is big enough for all the people it contains, and all should live at peace with their neighbors. All people love the country where they were born and raised.” (Council preliminary proceedings of the Navajo Peace Treaty, May 28th, 1868). Substitute land for country, and the context shifts in ways that give the sentiment new focus and depth of meaning.

I began this musing noting that museums have more than one purpose. I continued by noting that while access to digital derivatives of reality enhances our knowledge of the world around us, it can’t replace our experience of the world itself. I value museums because they spark new ideas, challenge previously held beliefs, stir memories, and open up horizons of wonder. The visit to the Smithsonian crystallized those thoughts. Museums give us an opportunity to walk through the past, reflecting on events through time. We need not be irritated by the cognitive biases of collectors, curators, and ‘interpreters’ of the artifacts we see. Instead, we can try to understand what they see, reflect on what we see, and then ‘see beyond’.

What does that mean—to see beyond? To me, it means to choose wisely; learning from others and reflecting on our response to today’s realities and tomorrow’s possibilities. What I think, say, or do today really does shape the future for those who come after us.

Seven sisters of the Pleiades star cluster, SI Natural History Museum, January 2026

Tags Education, museums, Sherman, Smithsonian, W.T. Sherman, William Tecumseh Sherman

US History

Ely Samuel Parker

Post author By rachelsp
Post date November 26, 2025
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Seneca Sachem, Lawyer, Brigadier General

Recently, the New York State Bar Association admitted a lawyer who was not permitted to practice law in the courts during his lifetime. Hasanoanda, later named Ely Samuel Parker, Tonawanda Seneca, was born in 1828 in western New York. His parents were of prominent families, both descendants of spiritual and military leaders of the Tonawanda band of Seneca nation. Ely received a classical education at a missionary school. He excelled in his studies, went on to college and eventually studied law through apprenticeships with established lawyers. However, Parker was denied admittance to the New York State bar. Why? Because he was not a US citizen. Ironically, while born in what comprises the United States, Native Americans were not recognized as Americans by the US government until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

Parker was disappointed, but undeterred. He used his legal expertise to represent Tonawanda treaty claims in front of the United States Congress and Supreme Court. While gaining some support, the case was defeated. Since Parker was barred the legal profession, he studied engineering instead. Eventually, he landed a project with the U.S. Treasury Department. He was sent to Galena, Illinois, to oversee the construction of a customs house. There, he met Ulysses S. Grant and they formed a strong friendship. Soon after the American Civil War began, Parker offered to form a regiment of Iroquois volunteers and to serve in the engineering corps. Both offers were refused by the officials in Washington. However, during the siege of Vicksburg in 1863, Grant’s forces were in need of experienced engineers. He made arrangements for a commissioned military position for his friend and requested that he join his army there to oversee projects during the campaign against Confederate’s stronghold on the Mississippi.

By the final stages of the war Grant was named head of the Military Division of the Mississippi. He appointed Parker his adjunct and secretary. He became Grant’s trusted advisor, accompanying him in the most important stages of the latter half of the Civil War. He eventually had the rank of Brigadier General, which awarded some status but of little consequence. Soon after Grant was elected president, he appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs tasking him with developing a policy establishing relationships with the several tribes throughout the United States.

The Mississippi NPS photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Parker and Sherman

There’s a similarity in the career trajectory of Parker and Sherman. Both were faced with professional disappointments and uncertainty in their professions until the throes of the Civil War put them in situations where they brilliantly applied their knowledge and skills to the crisis. Grant saw the potential of both men and relied on them to launch and carry out the siege on Vicksburg.

Images, in public domain and accessed through Wikimedia commons

Both Parker and Sherman made singular contributions, defeating the Confederate armies and together with Grant developed the terms of surrender for the Confederate armies in April of 1865 that were originally outlined by Lincoln.

The Battle of Big Black River Bridge By Harper’s Weekly –

Parker prepared the drafts and final ink copy of the terms of surrender of General Lee’s armies at Appomattox. Undoubtedly, Parker’s studies of law prepared him for that task. But he also had the cultural knowledge of his own people, the Onondaga (Seneca) who formed part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederation. Formed by five nations of Indigenous peoples as early as the late 16th century, the confederacy had had a long history of negotiations and decision-making in common council to avert violent conflicts against each other and later British and French advancing into their territories. Parker’s own ancestors had helped form the confederacy and were sachems that voted in these councils on behalf of their people. As a child, Parker gleaned practical wisdom from the stories and wisdom of his relatives.

Family Legacy

Parker and Sherman also share similar family legacies. Both are descendants of prominent leaders that contributed to the outcome of the Revolutionary War; the War of Independence. Sherman’s very distant relative was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Parker was related to Red Jacket a Seneca sachem known for his oratory skill. He was a leading figure in future relations with the newly formed US government and was presented with a ‘peace medal’ by George Washington.

Red JacketChromolithograph by Corbould from a painting by C.B. King; printed by C. Hallmandel,

^{Images in public domain and accessed through Wikimedia commons}

Both Sherman’s and Parker’s fathers were involved in of the War of 1812. Sherman’s father named his son Tecumseh, after the Shawnee leader of the Ohio territories was killed at the close of that war. Why Charles Sherman chose to name his third son after an Indian warrior allied with the British “remains unclear” to biographers. According to family accounts, Sherman’s father, a lawyer, named his infant son after the great Shawnee leader, because he was well known for his oratory skills and early efforts to achieve peace through diplomacy. Maybe C.T. Sherman had dreams that his son would eventually become a man who seeking to create conditions for peace in an emerging yet fragile country of many peoples and cultures. Interestingly, before Parker was born his mother had a dream that her son, who eventually was known as Donehogawa/Open Door would be a a leader who walking two worlds opening doors of understanding and dialogue in both of them.

Shortly after the Civil War both Parker and Sherman were tasked to with the management of Indian affairs. To what extent did Sherman and Parker collaborate? Did they meet in person? How often? What were the outcomes? I’m curious, but will need to look for those answers at another time. Here I return to the close of the years of the Civil War.

Sherman and Parker became acquainted with each other through their mutual friend, Grant. Even after the Vicksburg Campaign Sherman met with Grant to discuss their campaign strategies. It’s possible that Grant introduced Parker to Sherman as early as July of 1863. Perhaps Grant pointed out Parker’s engineering experience. Sherman would have appreciated that since roads, tracks, and bridges were critical for supply lines to assure successful military strategy. Sherman sought advice from reliable sources regardless of skin color or social status, and he would have had reasons and opportunity to consult Parker about such matters.

The Peace Keepers https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Peacemakers_1868.jpg

Several of the communiqués Sherman received from Grant were prepared and signed by Parker. Although not depicted in the artist rendition of the event, Parker was present at the meetings of Grant and Sherman with President Lincoln aboard the USS River Queen. In that meeting on March 27, 1865, Lincoln outlined possible peace settlement terms for the inevitable surrender of the Confederate armies. Parker would have been tasked with transcribing the matters discussed using those notes to draft the peace settlement terms signed by Grant and presented to Lee at the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox several days later. The NPS at Appomattox records: “Seeing that Parker was an American Indian, General Lee remarked to Parker, “I am glad to see one real American here.’ Parker later stated, ‘I shook his hand and said, ‘We are all Americans.’”

Lee Surrenders to Grant at Appomattox (E.L.P. third standing from rt), Lithograph National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Tags Civil War, Ely Samuel Parker, Native American History, US history, W.T. Sherman

Culture and Value Uncategorized US History

Women Who Inspire:Ellen Ewing Sherman

Post author By rachelsp
Post date March 22, 2025
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Elizabeth Catlett 1990 Payne Gallery, Moravian University, Bethlehem, PA

March, the month that transitions from winter to spring in the northern hemisphere, is often associated with the proverbial saying, “March roars in like a lion rolls out like a lamb.” This observation can also be applied to the lives of individuals. As March is celebrated as “Women’s History Month,” I decided to delve into the life of my grandmother’s grandmother, Ellen Ewing Sherman.

Understanding the lives of historical figures often requires examining the women who supported them. W.T. Sherman remains an enigma to historians, but a closer examination of his relationship with his foster sister, best friend, and eventual wife, Ellen Ewing, provides valuable insights into his life and personality. Fortunately, numerous letters and other missives between Ellen and Sherman have been preserved, along with early biographies that recount the recollections and shared experiences of their relatives, friends, and colleagues. Anna McAllister’s book, Ellen Ewing: Wife of General Sherman, was published in 1936, four decades after Ellen’s passing. It’s full of recollections of Ellen’s family and friends as well as a contextual description of their times even if thinly referenced. I’ve shared some of my thoughts from reading this book in a previous post which you can read here.

Recently, I participated in a conversation about women of Lancaster, Ohio, our ancestors who not only shaped their families but also their communities. Their impact continues to resonate in Fairfield County and beyond. This shouldn’t surprise us, yet we rarely reflect on how and why this is so. These women placed great emphasis on creating a welcoming home and raising children in a manner that allowed them to chart their own course in life. My two-times grandmother and others cultivated connections among relatives and friends by providing care and support. In essence, they focused on what strengthens communities within their towns and organizations, ultimately making the world a better place.

In addition to raising her six surviving children, Ellen dedicated time to other pursuits. She championed causes she cared about and found ways to express her concerns through advocacy and action. She initiated fundraising campaigns in response to Ireland’s Great Hunger, also known as the Potato Famine (1845-1852). When wounded Union soldiers required nursing care, she opened the family home in Lancaster. She also provided foster care for other children in need.

Ellen firmly believed that education was essential for active participation in the democratic process. She advocated for comprehensive education that encompassed practical skills such as agriculture, crafts, and commerce. This education would empower children and adults to contribute positively to their communities, which, in turn, fostered the nation’s growth. Consequently, she supported early initiatives by both public schools and religious institutions that established schools for formerly enslaved and Native American children.

Ellen had numerous contacts with religious and clergy figures of the 19th century. McAllister highlights her friendship with the renowned Belgian missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet SJ. Their correspondence reveals Ellen’s deep concern for the Native Americans who had recently been forcibly relocated onto reservations due to US expansion. She frequently drew her husband’s attention to the mistreatment of the Indians by white settlers and diligently worked through her family networks to urge Washington authorities to take action. However, her efforts appear to have been unsuccessful. While her husband shared her observations and sentiments, even as the head of the ‘army of the West,’ he was unable to prevent the rapid influx of settlers into territories still rightfully held by the various Indigenous peoples of the Northern Plains. Corrupt Washington bureaucrats and unscrupulous Indian agents only exacerbated the chaotic and violent events that followed. Nevertheless, Ellen did everything she could do. McAllister concisely summarizes her observation:
“She served as Father DeSmet’s special advocate with General Sherman, ensuring that his requests received attention and that her husband’s promises on behalf of the Indians were not forgotten. Regrettably, Father DeSmet’s wise and patient work among the hostile tribes was not followed by equally prudent and equitable measures from our government. Had it been, many decades of unnecessary and cruel warfare would have been averted.”

Ellen also relied on her intelligence and social connections to secure funding for various projects, including a trade school for women and relief programs for the poor, hungry, and destitute throughout the nation’s capital. At the time, there were no government-funded welfare programs to address dire needs of impoverished populations. These social support initiatives were the result of the dedication and commitment of religious congregations, faith-based organizations and individuals who supported them.

In the mid-19th century, a wave of anti-Catholic prejudice swept across the country, including in San Francisco, where her husband was residing at the time. Despite not sharing her religious beliefs, Ellen persuaded Sherman, who was a prominent figure in the city, to take action against the abuse by running for local political office. He kindly but firmly declined her request. Nevertheless, he managed to convince some of his contemporaries in the newly established Golden State of the absurdity of such prejudices. For much of California’s infrastructure, including roads, agriculture, and towns that they now benefit from, had been established by individuals and institutions associated with the despised religion.

Years later, in 1870, Ellen, now the renowned wife of a decorated war hero, residing in Washington D.C., took an extraordinary step to protest the Republic of Italy’s appropriation of lands that had previously belonged to the Vatican. She placed a crepe on the Vatican flag and hung it on the street view of their stately home, expressing her deep concern about this injustice. The Pope himself was considered a ‘prisoner of the Vatican,’ barred from leaving his residence. Ellen’s actions were a clear expression of her unwavering opinion and a testament to her courage and conviction.

At the time, the ambassador of Italy was in Washington D.C., and he remarked to Sherman that it was unbecoming for a ranking official at the War Department, such as the General, to allow his home to display such ‘papist sentiment.’ Sherman responded that while he lived there and maintained the house, it was Mrs. Sherman’s home, and he would not interfere.

Throughout her later years, Ellen continued to dedicate herself to her home, her children, and the communities she had helped establish or assist. In her childhood and youth, she possessed a lively and energetic disposition, despite her relatively weak physical constitution. However, by the time she and her husband had settled in New York, her energy began to decline rapidly. Within weeks, she succumbed to a cardiac arrest. Perhaps it could be said that Ellen, in the spirit of the month of March, arrived with great vigor and departed with gentle grace.

Woman with a Parasol in a Garden
Pierre-Auguste Renoir1875

Links to 19th c learning aids:
alphabet blocks:https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/197083/ child’s scrapbook: https://www.histchild.org/resources/a-timeline-child-art-in-the-historical-recor
arithmetic slate: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_694615

Three Women of America Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/elizabeth-catlett/m09hhlm?categoryid=artist

Tags Ellen Ewing Sherman, US HIstory 19th c, women, WomensHistoryMonth

Culture and Value Uncategorized US History

Sherman’s Stuff

Post author By rachelsp
Post date May 11, 2024

Sherman's Tent, Sherman House Mluseum, Lancaster OH

Lost and Found

Sherman’s Hat– Smithsonian Museum of American History

It’s that time of year when people are spring-cleaning. Garage sales, flea markets and EBay will be selling whatever is not tossed or given away. The proverbial one “person’s junk is another’s treasure” is the operative phrase of this time honored practice. And while looking at this ‘stuff’, we do well us to remember that “all that glitters is not gold” before we click to purchase or pull out our wallets.

I have nothing that would engross profits.
Sherman Family Letters, 1865

Spring-cleaning implies the gargantuan task of sorting; what is kept and what is to find a new place. For the environmentally conscious dumping is the option of last resort. De-cluttering attics, basements, garages and large barns or storage units is not for the faint of heart. But I digress, that’s another topic emotionally charged and too big to include here. More relevant are those items that are kept carefully so as to pass along to future generations as a witness to the past and a legacy for the future.

Sherman’s Sword Smithsonian Museum of American History

Recently I learned of Sherman memorabilia to sold at auction. After the initial shock of noting that these items of prominence (at least in my view) are not within the confines of a museum or library -I sent an email blast to my immediate cousins. “Where did these items come from? “-I asked. They didn’t know. The lot to be auctioned includes the Sherman family Bible. Bibles, I note were often the repository of family events and memories, and in some cases pious commentary. Family trees were also recorded in them. I’m curious if the said Sherman Bible might include his own commentary providing a keyhole into his inner thought. Then again, maybe he never opened it. Also in this collection is another sword, personal correspondence and war memorabilia. My cousins also presumed that such items were safely guarded in museums like the Smithsonian and the Sherman House in Lancaster Ohio and a few universities. This is where our aunts, grandmother and great-grandmother bequeathed most of the items in their possession. A few items remained in their childhood home of my mother and her sisters. But perhaps after some mishaps, like my mother taking Sherman’s rifle (so the story goes) when she was 7 and losing it someplace deep in the autumn New England woods of fallen leaves behind the their house, it probably was decided that family heirlooms would be better suited for museums and centers of learning. At least they wouldn’t be lost.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s illustration Conversation with Smaug
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smaug

Malcolm Gladwell notes in a podcast Revisionist History; Dragon Psychology 101 that there’s a difference between hoarding and collecting. This distinction helps to explain what we keep and sort and why. Collecting and curating objects require some rationale or rubric. While Gladwell defines hoarding as indiscriminate collecting; he observes that there’s still some sort of rational but for different reasons. This would be another instance of “one person’s junk is another’s treasure” as it were. Gladwell notes that hoarders know what they’re keeping for reasons, sometime visceral that the rest of us don’t understand. In this episode Gladwell also cites Smaug the fire belting dragon of J.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and poem The Hoard. The poem tells of a beast that jealously keeps treasures for his pleasure only. Gladwell observes that in addition to some individuals, some large art museums with holdings buried in warehouses that seldom can be seen in the light of day are like Smaug [that] to his belly’s slime gems stuck’. The Hoard J.R.R. Tolkien.

It makes perfect sense that other Sherman descendants come to the conclusion that now is the time to off load memorabilia of our mutual grandfather x 3 in their possession. Keeping artifacts in an attic and saving them for the future generations when they don’t even want our stuff doesn’t make sense. Thus, I respect my relatives decision to sell these items. Admittedly though there’s a part of me that worries that they could be condemned to a futile existence tucked away in someone else’s basement or private collection where no one but a Smaug is sitting on them. Stories these items could someday convey will no longer be accessible nor remembered.

Sherman’s wife Ellen was the collector (if not all out hoarder) and memory keeper of the family. Sherman seems to have just been interested in keeping what was useful and most memorable to him. He was willing to part with some of his private collection of books and maps giving them to the Louisiana Military School since much of their holdings were destroyed during the Civil War. For Sherman it was personal—he was the school’s first superintendent resigning from the school when the state voted to secede from the Union. There were other items he also freely parted with: While he was in the last stage of his military campaign and was already celebrated as a war hero, Ellen wrote to him asking if he had anything he could send her that she could sell at a charity fundraiser for wounded soldiers. He responded;

“I have nothing that would engross profits —my saddlebags a few old traps, etc. I could collect plenty of trophies [presumably he means war booty and stolen goods], but have always refrained and think it best I should. Others do collect trophies and send [them] home but I prefer not to do it.”
Sherman Family Letters, 1865

A traditional Navajo blanket once belonging to Sherman is at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. Could it have been gifted to him during the signing of the 1868 Navajo Peace treaty? Did he use it as a saddle blanket or on his camping trips? How it came to his possession remains unknown to me. For now I’m grateful it’s at the Smithsonian accessible for the time when I or others can unravel that story nestled in the weave.

Returning to the upcoming auction, I can only hope that some advocate of history will want to rescue these items from a doomed existence of a private –never to be seen again collection in a place like Smaug’s lair. It’s my hope that the collections finds a new home in a museum, library or place of learning, that is the memory keepers of culture. That way the commentators of our time and indeed all who are curious can delve into the past as to make sense the present world around us. In Tolkien’s words “all that is gold does not glitter”.

You can view the Sherman items to be auctioned on May 14, 2024 here and listed to the Gladwell’s episode Dragon Psychology 101 here. You can listen to J.R. R. Tolkien reading his poem The Hoard here. You can read my previous post about Navajo Peace Treaty here. And if you’re ever in Fairfield County Ohio visit the W.T. Sherman House Museum A thoughtful visit through the house and gardens will transport you to earlier times of our country and the world most familiar to Sherman and his family.

Tags Civil War, Memorabilia, W.T. Sherman, Wm. T. Sherman Collection Auction

Art of Living Culture and Value US History

Ellen Ewing Sherman

Post author By rachelsp
Post date November 23, 2022
3 Comments on Ellen Ewing Sherman
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Who is Ellen Boyle Ewing Sherman?

Childhood playmate, foster sister, friend, confidante, advisor and wife of William Tecumseh Sherman. Like her husband she was intelligent, vivacious, opinionated and strong willed. Together they had 8 children, two died –one in infancy– both during the Civil War. Theirs were no ordinary friendship and marriage. It’s a wonder how their lifelong marriage flourished despite differences of opinion, preferences and tastes as well matters of deeply held beliefs. Biographers offer explanations; useful but insufficient. Most agree that Sherman, would not be the person he was without her. Few women would have so many roles as Ellen. That fact alone makes for an interesting story. The complexity of Ellen and Sherman’s interwoven lives created a dynamic force that shaped not only their family but also the destiny of our nation.

Possibly Young Ellen c.1850 (family archives)

Eleanor Boyle Ewing was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1824. The daughter of Thomas Ewing a prominent figure in Ohio-Washington politics and his wife Maria Boyle also from an influential family of Irish descent and unabashedly Roman Catholic in times when there was no small prejudice against the ‘papist’ religion. The Ewings and Shermans were family friends and neighbors. When Sherman’s father died suddenly, his mother unable to provide for her eleven growing children alone, gratefully sent her nine year old son ‘Cump’ (as he was called by his family and close friends) to be part of the Ewing household. The Ewings welcomed him warmly and provided for young Sherman in the same way they raised their own children. There were high expectations in education and work ethics but also an abundance of love and affection. Maria Ewing insisted that Cump not only received the same Catholic religious instruction as her children but also be baptized. Sherman later wrote that he was already Christened in infancy and given the name William by his own parents –in addition to name originally given to him by his father in honor of the locally famed Shawnee leader Tecumseh. But Mrs. Ewing leaving nothing to chance arranged to have a traveling priest baptize nine-year-old Cump on the feast of St. William.

Ellen, and her siblings and eventually her children also inherited Mrs. Ewing’s religious views. Interestingly it seems that while family members were relentless in their efforts to persuade Sherman to join their religious ranks he with the same stubbornness refused, preferring to adhere to his own belief compass. And yet their loyalty, and endearing affection for one another held fast. “All is fair in love and war” as the saying goes.

Ellen Ewing Sherman 1868
Portraits by G.P.A. Healy (Wikimedia-Public Domain)

Ellen’s and Cump’s different faith perspectives shaped their outlook and approaches to life. Perhaps their lives together were like navigating a canoe in different wind and water currents each paddling with the stronger stroke at different times; often steering in different directions but occasionally working in unison. Ironically adversity was the force that brought these two closer together. Prominent among these was the sudden death of their eldest son Willie who contracted yellow fever after Ellen had brought four of their young children to visit Sherman’s encampment in Mississippi in the summer of 1863 during a depressingly low point of Sherman and his army Vicksburg campaign. She had hoped that the visit would revise her husband’s spirit. Indeed it did; nine year old Willie and his father enjoyed the time together riding horseback through the camp and inspecting the troops. All seemed to have gone well until the return trip home via a river steamboat when sickness was spreading among the passengers. Young Willie was dead in two days. Neither of the parents fully recovered from the loss of their son and deep grief remained with them throughout their lives.

“She has opened her hand to the needy and stretched out her hand to the poor.”

Ellen and her husband were often apart; first as he worked to establish a way of supporting his family and then due to his military career. Finally in retirement they moved to a townhouse in New York City but by then Ellen’s health rapidly declined in the weeks after the move. It seems that Sherman was in disbelief that his wife’s end of life was near. But when a doctor was consulted he accepted the prognosis of congestive heart failure. Then on the morning of November 28 of 1888 while he was in his study he heard the nurse beckon him; his lifelong companion was breathing her last. He ran up the stairs crying out “Wait for me Ellen-no one has ever loved you more”.

There’s still much to glean from their yin-yang fiery relationship. Maybe I’ll do so on further musings. Here I’ll let their youngest son– my great-grandmother’s brother have the last word:

“Between my father and mother there were, of course many differences; but never did their differences interfere with unwavering mutual respect, consideration and affection. With my mother’s faith and its transmissions to their children, my father was always content. And her judgment and advice were always respected by him and frequently deferred to with consequences that entitled her to much of the credit for his successful career.
P. Tecumseh Sherman 1935, Introduction to Ellen Ewing Sherman by Anna McAllister

“Her children rise up and call her blessed and her husband praiseth her”

Tags Calvary Cemetery St. Louis, Ellen Ewing Sherman, Family, Lancaster Ohio, W.T. Sherman, Women of Faith

Art of Living Culture and Value US History

New Year’s Eve in Monterey

Post author By rachelsp
Post date December 31, 2021

This is the season of dancing and there has been a good deal of it, in fact one is looked for every Sunday night.
February 3, 1848, Sherman’s Family Letters

Writes Sherman to his family from Monterey California. More than a year earlier, that is New Year’s eve of 1846 he was still en-route by ship to his new assignment. The voyage lasted close to one year. And the new year celebration of 1846-1847 was marked by a pleasant stretch of “fair wind and truly Pacific sea crossing the equator in Longitude 117 West”.

Nautical Clock 1759, By Tatters ❀ from Brisbane, Australia – Wikimedia Commons

While the passage to California provided enough adventures to satisfy anyone looking for them, the tasks that lay ahead at first seemed to young Sherman dull with little prospects of career advancement which he deemed essential to eventually supporting a family. The war with Mexico including the battle of Monterey in July 1846 ended by the time Sherman arrived six months later. Thus, instead of participating in combat, he was assigned tedious duties of managing military affairs in an outpost that also served as the port of entry of foreign goods in Alta California.

The young lieutenant’s reaction to his assignment in California was ambivalent. Letters to his family and future wife reflect his mixed feelings. On the one hand he lamented that there’s no hope for military promotion and more pay now that the Mexican war had ended. On the other, he was clearly enjoying hist post in a bustling port town still heavily dominated by Spanish and Mexican customs and ways of life. At that time it seems that theater productions, dances and horse racing far surpass church activity despite the cathedral being one of the oldest and most prominent building of the town. And so, after complaining of the scant career opportunities he reports on the party life and leisure activities even as he critiques the frivolity with his typical ironic humor.

“The officers gave the ‘great ball’ of the season on New Year’s Eve – wrote young Sherman. ‘You have no doubt heard of the Mexican custom of filling eggshells with cologne and other fragrant water to break upon passers by. Here it is carried to a great extent but confined to the house and chiefly at balls and dances.The shells are mostly filled with gilt and colored paper cut very fine, which broken overhead leave it covered with spangles. The ladies break over the gentlemen’s heads and the reverse, and so great are the liberties taken to accomplish the feat that some from behind will clasp your arms tight whilst others shower on the Cascarones’ (filled eggshells). They do not like the shell filled with perfumed water as it produces stains on the dresses and also causes colds to which these people are very subject. It is polite to avoid a Cascacron and even to grasp a lady’s hand to crush the shell in it, if she be in the act of breaking it, but when a gentleman gets a Cascaron on his head he is bound to return it which is sometimes quite difficult when the ladies are skilled in dodging. You can scarcely imagine the extent to which this is carried [out]. At a small party a few nights ago, there were upwards of four hundred Cascarones broken among a party of not over twenty-five persons. “
February 3, 1848, Sherman Family Letters

Women’s Evening Dress c. 1842 By MET Museum –

He continues describing how ‘the ladies’ can spend the whole day preparing the cascarones, which apparently are still in use today in Mexico to mark various celebrations. And he concludes:

I have often laughed to see a whole party of grown men, myself included sitting round a table clipping this stuff in preparation for a coming dance, but the customs of Monterey are as sensible as the customs of other places, and must be respected.
Sherman Family Letters 1848

While cracking egg shells on the heads of our family, friends and neighbors may not be our thing, may our own welcoming the New Year be as festive and safe as Sherman’s in Monterey.

Tags California History, Cascaron, Monterey, New Year's Eve, W.T. Sherman

History of the West US History

Sutter’s Fort July 4, 1848

Post author By rachelsp
Post date July 6, 2021

Sherman writes of celebrating Independence Day during his first stay in California. At that time the country was rapidly expanding and yet it hadn’t even reached its centennial. He along with other military personnel stationed in Monterey were en route to the American River to inspect and report on the recent findings of gold which had already radically changed the flow of history in ways that merit attention in some future musings. Here I just focus on Sherman’s journey, from Monterey by sailing vessel, dugouts, horseback and foot (which will also warrant a separate entry) to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range some 200 miles north east. Along the way they stopped at Sutter’s Fort built by Swiss John Augustus Sutter a self proclaimed ruler who had established a plantation/colony of sorts under nefarious conditions and circumstances. Sherman makes no mention of this. Instead he writes only of the visit en route towards the goldfields along the riverbeds.

Sherman writes:

The fort itself was one of adobe-walls, about twenty feed high, rectangular in form with two-story block-houses at diagonal corners the entrance was bay a large gate, open by day and closed at night, with two iron ship’s guns near at hand. Inside there was a large house with a good shingle-roof, used as a storehouse, and all around the walls were ranged rooms, the fort-wall being the outer wall of the house. The inner wall was of adobe. These rooms were used by Captain Sutter himself and by his people. He had a blacksmith’s shop, carpenter’s shop, etc., and other rooms where the women made blankets.

We found preparations in progress for celebrating the Fourth of July, then close at hand and we agreed to remain over to assist on the occasion; of course, being the high officials, we were the honored guests. People came from a great distance to attend this celebration of the Fourth of July and the tables were laid in the large room inside the storehouse of the fort. A man of some note, named Sinclair, presided, and after a substantial mean and a reasonable supply of aguardiente we began the toasts. All that I remember is that Folsom and I spoke for our party; others, Captain Sutter included, made speeches, and before the celebration was over Sutter was very “tight,” and many others showed the effects of the aguardiente.

Gold Regions of California James Wyld 1849 www.wdl.org

The next day (namely July 5, 1848) we resumed our journey toward the mines, and, in twenty-five miles of as hot and dusty a ride as possible we reached Mormon Island”
W.T. Sherman Memoirs Vol I

(L)US Flag 1851 (California’s entry into the Union),(R) California State Flag

Sherman’s eye witness account of the discovery of gold in California and its rapid chaotic transformation offers perspectives that deserve more attention. Perhaps though the July 4th at Sutter’s Fort was one of the first commemoration of a still very newly formed democratic republic committed –however inconsistently and imperfectly– to the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Tags 4th of July, California History, Gold Rush, Independence Day, Sherman in California, Sutter's Fort

Culture and Value Uncategorized US History

Sherman and the Navajo

Post author By rachelsp
Post date May 30, 2021
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Signing of the Navajo Treaty, June 1, 1868

“I want peace and believe it can only be achieved through union.”
W.T. Sherman

This conviction permeated Sherman’s thought during and after the Civil War. It also influenced his thinking and tasks as U.S. Army Lieutenant General in the years that followed. Peace is a fragile reality when it exists at all and often comes at the cost of war. As the westward expansion exploded Sherman had to grapple with responsibility of protecting both the settlers moving westward and the people who were being forcibly moved off of their ancestral homelands to accommodate this expansion. It was anything but peaceful.

Officials in Washington hoped for a peaceful transition, even if was just little more than wishful thinking. Opinions varied to what degree they thought it possible. Nevertheless a “Peace Commission” was formed in 1867 comprised of military personal and civilians who had some knowledge of or sympathies with the Native Americans of the great plains. Ironically Sherman was made the head. The Commission’s task was to negotiate with peoples inhabiting the land between the states whose culture and histories were as different as the languages they spoke and the territories they claimed. Land mass west of the Mississippi through the Rockies was equal or greater than all existing states combined.

How did Sherman accept this new assignment? Perhaps he considered it little more than his job, one that enabled him to feed his family. Or perhaps as in the years of the Civil War, he thought it was his duty to do his best in securing peace for the diversity of peoples in the U.S. and its claimed territories. In either case the Peace Commission’s preliminary meetings and final treaties were layered with complexities. Further, there has never been any agreement on whether or not they even succeeded. Meetings involved several peoples inhabiting vastly disputed territories. This combined with inadequate resources, poor communication and bureaucratic corruption in Washington DC were just some of the obstacles that continuously worked against making any negotiations relevant or binding. Sherman foresaw these difficulties even before beginning his assignment. His skepticism was well grounded. Nevertheless he accepted the challenge, hoping for the best. In less than three years after the close of the Civil War he gladly left Washington and relocated his family to St. Louis. Soon afterwards he met with the Commission and began their travels west of the Missouri.

I hope to God you will not ask me to go to any other country except my own.
Barboncito, Navajo Chief, 1868

After meeting with leaders of several tribes in the northern plains, Sherman and Samuel F. Tappan set out towards the end of May traveling to Fort Sumner to meet with the Navajo interned at Bosque Redondo. They had been held for close to four years as prisoners by the U.S. government in lands that were desolate and close to uninhabitable. Several bands totaling by some counts 9,000 persons had been forcibly removed from their homelands and marched 300 miles to the east. Known as the Long Walk hundreds died along the way or soon afterwards. The relocation was a financial disaster and was costing the U.S. government thousands of dollars a day. It was a national embarrassment and disgrace.

What Sherman saw when he arrived at the end of May 1868 must have shocked him and angered him. Hundreds of families lived in squalid conditions, ordered by his government to ranch and farm in an area that was suitable for neither. Many were starving. Some claim that Sherman was indifferent or even antithetical to peaceful resolutions of conflict and negotiations. However, a close read of the preliminary proceedings and negotiations as in those with the Navajo indicate otherwise.

Meetings began with Navajo leaders began on May 28^th. Sherman asked them to select their representatives and a spokesperson. Three days of talks followed. He listened through two translators to Barboncito, Manuelito and others. Sherman sought to resolve not only the main concern-where they wished to relocate but also additional grievances, which included the fact that Mexican and American settlers throughout the South West and Mexico held hundreds of Navajo women and children in bondage. Sherman just fought and won a war to secure the freedom of enslaved people. Thus it was his sincere belief that the US government would indeed prosecute and punish anyone holding anyone in bondage. And he promised this to the Navajo. As a man who tried to keep true to his word. Sherman experienced repeated disappointments when his own government could not or would not follow through on what were necessary conditions of justice and peace.

When the Navajos were first created four mountains and four rivers were pointed out to us inside of which we should, live, that was to be our country and was given to us by [God]
Barboncito

https://www.discovernavajo.com/discover-the-navajo-nation/monuments/

Probably in his impatience to resolve a complicated matter or more aptly put, a government induced disaster, Sherman proposed that the Navajos move to designated ‘Indian Country’ that is, the territories south of the Arkansas River. These lands were then being used to relocate several tribes resisting assimilation. He supposed it would be a favorable option because land was suitable for farming and ranching. It was also off limits to white settlers. But the Navajos rejected that proposition and their will prevailed. Sherman soon agreed that it was to their advantage and the US government’s best interest that the Navajo return to their ancestral homelands and for the reasons that the Navajos themselves had determined.

Pages from the Navajo Treaty https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/02/22/treaty-that-reversed-a-removal-navajo-treaty-1868-goes-on-view/

The talks and negotiations concluded with the signing of the treaty, early in the morning of June 1, 1868. I was ratified by Congress on July 25^th and signed by President Andrew Johnson on August 12^th. Shortly afterwards approximately 8,000 Navajo men, women, elders and children gathered their horses, mules, sheep and goats and together began their long walk home to their four sacred mountains. In his formal greeting to Sherman when he arrived to Fort Sumner, Barboncito declared he had made three pairs of moccasins for the occasion. He had already worn two for the meetings. The third pair he undoubtedly was saving for the journey home with a dream and destiny for the people:

After we get back to our country, it will brighten up again and the Navajos will be as happy as the land, black clouds will rise and there will be plenty of rain. Corn will grow in abundance and everything will look happy.
Barboncito, June 1, 1868

Tags Navajo Peace Treaty, Navajo Treaty Day, W.T. Sherman

Culture and Value History of the West US History

Round the Horn to California: Sherman’s first voyage, Part 3

Post author By rachelsp
Post date April 23, 2021
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A few weeks ago, after a few days in Carmel I made my return trip by way of Highway One from Salinas to Half Moon Bay a drive of 100 miles and much of that on the proverbial ‘ribbon of highway’ with open fields on the east and the Pacific on the west. It was a beautiful spring day and some fields were speckled with California poppies now in bloom. In less than two hours even despite the traffic congestion in Santa Cruz I arrived to my destination. Having read Sherman’s memories of his days in Monterey, it was easy for me to imagine what it was like for him to travel along the coast in a small sailing vessel to San Francisco or Bolinas or by horseback on the inland route across Salinas valley to get to the neighboring mission towns of San Juan Bautista and further north San Jose and Santa Clara. While driving the coastal route past Año Nuevo and Pigeon Point, I eventually arrived to Half Moon Bay, a small farming, fishing and tourist town. In Sherman’s time the area, was known as Rancho San Benito and it was little more than a collection of farms and ranches on or near the former settlement sites of the Ohlone. The afternoon commute, enabled me to imagine the youthful enthusiasm of Sherman as he first landed on the western coast of the northern continent.

While still en-voyage to his destination, Sherman was delighted with his one-week stay in Rio de Janeiro as the ship Lexington collected supplies and new cargo to begin the last stretch of their voyage to Monterey, California. He enjoyed the cuisine, the topography and learning how water was delivered to the city from the surrounding majestic mountains:

“Mr. Wise enlarged on the fact that Rio was supplied from the “dews of heaven,” for in the dry season the water comes from the mists and fogs which hand around the Corcovado, drips from the leaves of the trees, and is conducted to the Madre fountain by miles of tile gutters.”
W. T. Sherman Memoirs-Volume I

He arrived in Monterey the end of January after close to five months at sea. The last stretch of the voyage which resumed after a brief stay in Brazil and later Chile included passing through the waters of Cape Horn and then northward in the Pacific waters.

The ship resumed its voyage around Cape Horn an island, which according to Sherman resembled an oven hence its name in Spanish Ornos/oven. “Rounding the Horn” was the expression to describe the difficult and often perilous task of navigating the ever swelling seas and converging currents of the Atlantic and the Pacific. It took them another sixty days to navigate the waters and make way for Valparaiso, a coastal town of Chile. While the name denotes “Valley of Paradise”, Sherman thought it unimpressive, “nothing more –he writes– than a few tiled cottages along a beach”. Located south of the equator, the season of spring was just beginning and while Sherman didn’t consider the landscape to be anything worth noting, he enjoyed the pleasant climate and the fresh strawberries then in season.

“All the necessary supplies being renewed in Valparaiso, the voyage was resumed. For nearly forty days we had uninterrupted favorable winds being in the “trades” and having settled down to sailor habits, time passed without notice. ”
W.T. Sherman Memoirs – Volume I

Along the way they encountered other ships and learned of news of their destination of California. Mexico recently ceded their territories and the U.S. navy had already taken possession of the ports. John C. Fremont and his exploration party were scouting the area and General Kearney was en route by overland. The news coupled by avid reading of books stoking everyone’s imagination of what they would find in this new land, made Sherman and his colleagues ever more eager to press on to their military or peace keeping assignments (they didn’t know which) in Monterey.

Sherman reports that they arrived to the coast of California by the end of January. But while both the Spanish and English maps concurred on the currents alongside the coast they did not agree on the longitude. This coupled with a fierce storm, typical in January caused them to overshoot the Monterey port and they weren’t able to make a correction southward for several days. Once the storm subsided Sherman writes;

“Slowly the land came out of the water, the high mountains about Santa Cruz, the low beach of the Salinas, and the strongly-marked ridge terminating in the sea in a point of dark pine trees, marking out the Monterey Bay.”
W. T. Sherman Memoirs-Volume I

Tags California, Half Moon Bay, Monterey, W.T. Sherman

Culture and Value History of the West US History

Round the Horn to California, Sherman’s First Voyage, Part 2

Post author By rachelsp
Post date March 12, 2021
2 Comments on Round the Horn to California, Sherman’s First Voyage, Part 2
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Continuation of W.T. Sherman’s voyage to California in 1846 based on his letters home.

This day is usually among sailors a species of April Fools Day when all sorts of practical jokes are enacted upon the persons of those who have never crossed the line….
Letter dated “At Sea” August 28 1846

Writes Sherman as the USS Lexington crossed the equator heading southward to Rio de Janeiro. He continues his description of the rite of initiation or hazing depending on your perspective or experience of the practices on board sailing vessels traversing the equator–the imaginary line dividing the northern and southern hemispheres of planet earth.

19th century etching of “crossing the line” initiation aboard the *Medusse* (public domain)

Old Neptune usually mounts the bow of the ship, dripping with his brine and accompanied by his beautiful wife. They then proceed to initiate the novices. Our ship is a war vessel and such irregularities are not permitted and it was forbidden to our men for the simple reason that those that have been south of the equator bear too small a proportion to the fresh men that Old Neptune’s decrees might not be enforced by his accepted children. The ship was pronounced on the equator at eight this forenoon…. I was summoned to the Captain’s cabin where a holy stone; [in reality] a piece of hard stone used for cleaning decks–was presented for me to rest my hand for an oath…”
At Sea, August 28, 1846

The solemn moment included a list of prohibitions unless of course one preferred them. The pledge ended with:

so help you salt water–a dash of which was sprinkled on my face and I was then duly initiated.
At Sea, August 28, 1846

In turn, Sherman ‘baptized’ his fellow officers, with salt water as he administered the oath. My guess is Sherman added this last detail to amuse or annoy the more pious readers of his letters, his future wife included.

This is the only ceremony which distinguishes this day from any other, and now as we consult the charts and maps there appears a dark magic line separating us from our friends and homes. This must again be crossed after weeks of sailing around Cape Horn
At Sea, August 28, 1846

He sent his letter with a small French sailing vessel calculating that his sister would receive it by mid September about the time he would arrive to the colorful tropical city of Rio de Janeiro a welcome reprieve from the monotony of water travel of the first several weeks.

“Forty-six days have now passed since our departure and looking back upon them nothing is seen that will leave an impression save the monotonous flight of time.”
At Sea, August 28, 1846

The observant Sherman took note of his explorations of the cultural and natural beauty in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso while their ship restocked en-route to California. But by mid November the endless days and nights at sea and under its mercy and vengeance as the case may be exasperated him. His frank reassessment of the voyage reveals his overall impression of sea travel. As the ship was about to head due north through the Pacific Sherman hints at his budding dream which would become his life long passion; safe and efficient transportation across the continent of the northern hemisphere.

If you hear of a subscription opening to dig a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, you may put me down any amount for really I do not fancy a voyage of twenty-four thousand miles to accomplish a distance of less than two thousand.”
November, 1846

Tags California, Crossing the Line, History of the West, LettersHome, Maritime History, US history, W.T. Sherman