Part of the American History & Genealogy Project

Eleanor Boyle (Ewing) Sherman 1814 ~ 1888

Eleanor Boyle Ewing Sherman

Mrs. Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, October 24, 1814. She was descended from a long line of Scotch and Irish ancestors. Her father, Thomas Ewing, was one of the most eminent lawyers of his day and was twice a Senator of the United States and twice a member of a President's Cabinet. Her mother, Maria Boyle, was a woman of strong character and gentle mien. When a boy of nine years, William Tecumseh Sherman was adopted by Mr. Ewing on account of the strong affection he bore his family, and at the age of seventeen Eleanor Ewing became engaged to young Sherman. They were married May 1, 1850, in Washington, her father, at that time, being a member of President Taylor's Cabinet. Her husband resigned from the army in 1853 to accept a position in a bank in California, and there they went to reside, returning east again in 1857. During the Civil War, not only was Mrs. Sherman's husband fighting for the Union, but her brothers were also in the army.

When grave charges and newspaper criticism were brought upon her husband she went personally to Washington and saw President Lincoln and convinced him that matters had been misrepresented to him. She again rose to her husband's defense at the close of the war when he was severely criticized for his part in the terms of the Johnson Treaty. After the war the family resided in St Louis, where Mrs. Sherman was most conspicuous in her charitable work for the Roman Catholic Church, of which she was a devoted member. In 1869 her husband's promotion to the command of the United States army took the family to Washington, and here they resided until his retirement Mrs. Sherman organized the Aloysius Aid Society and inaugurated this by a great charity fair held in Washington. She was very sympathetic to those persons with-out friends in the Capital city. Their family consisted of seven children, two of whom died when quite young. The eldest daughter, Minnie, was married in 1874 to Lieutenant Thomas William Fitch, Assistant Engineer, U. S. N. On May 18 1879, their youngest son, Thomas Ewing Sherman, entered the Order of Jesuits, and was ordained in July, 1889. Their daughter Eleanor became the wife of Lieutenant Alexander Montgomery Thackara, U. S. N., in 1880. Lieutenant Thackara resigned from the navy and later entered the consular service of the United States and is now Consul General at Berlin. Philemon Tecumseh Sherman, another son, was a member of the New York bar. Rachel Ewing Sherman married in December, 1891, Dr. Paul Thorndyke. Mrs. Sherman died in New York City November 28, 1888, and was buried in St Louis, where General Sherman now rests beside her.

Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.