Search results

Martha Schofield met Sadie Brouwer in 1859 while teaching at a school in Harrison, New York, and the two remained close friends. She discusses the war and says that even though the "enemy" is approaching where she lives, she is not afraid because it is a noble cause, and she is willing to suffer for it. She adds that nearly all of her closest friends have gone to war or expect to, including Oldden Ridgeway, and she feels that the women must do everything they can to help as well. She expresses contempt for the Copperheads, Northerners who opposed the Civil War and advocated for political compromise. She tells Brouwer that she currently has no prospects for marriage and shares that her sister Sarah Ash has just given birth to a boy and is doing well.

Mary "Polly" Ash Jenkins was Martha Schofield's niece. Schofield indicates that a hardship has fallen upon her sister Sarah Ash and her husband Samuel Ash, who are Mary's parents. She tells Mary to stay strong and positive and to not worry about what other people may think. She writes about her own mother's struggles after the death of her father.

Two photograph versions of Martha Schofield greeting her family in front of her home (Oakwald), taken by an unknown photographer. Note on the back of the second photograph written by Sarah Jane Ash to her son Henry C. Ash. Carriage occupants front row: William Rodenbach, Samuel Earl Ash, Jr., Eliza H. Schofield. Back row: Samuel Shinn Ash, Sarah Jane Ash, Mary Ash Jenkins. Martha Schofield stands by the carriage. Her butler Warren Smallwood leads the horses.

Discusses the upcoming marriage of her sister Sarah Jane Ash. Wishes she was still working as a teacher in Harrison, New York (Brouwer was one of her students); looks forward to Brouwer coming to visit her next spring. Will send a paper about the beached whale she recently saw.