Elizabeth Salome (Sally) Myers married Henry F Stewart, 1st cousin 4 times removed, in about 1867. In the midst of the Civil War, Sally was a teacher in Gettysburg, PA. Most in Gettysburg understood the war could come closer to their homes, the Confederate Army was close by at Antietam. On July 1 of 1863  school was out for the summer and the battles began in Gettysburg. Sally was 21 and instantly became a nurse to the wounded and dying soldiers.

Alexander Stewart of the 109th Pennsylvania Volunteers was Sally’s first patient. She asked the soldier what he needed, he answered nothing. He understood he was going to die. Maybe Sally helped Alexander write a last letter to his family, she did this for many soldiers. Alexander’s family met Sally when they came to Gettysburg to pick up their son’s corpse. The Stewart family thanked Sally for all she had done. Later that summer Sally had a letter form Alexander’s brother Henry. Henry Stewart was a minister, he and Sally kept in touch. Eventually Henry and his mom moved to Gettysburg. Henry and Sally continued their friendship and then married.

Parts of Sally’s story are here at Civil War Sources and here at GettysburgTimes.com. I’ve just ordered Sally’s Gettysburg diary The Ties of the Past, on Ebay, thank you SeattleGoodwillBooks.

Stewart, Salome M, and Sarah S. Rodgers. The Ties of the Past: The Gettysburg Diaries of Salome Myers Stewart, 1854-1922. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1996. Print.