Ellen Ewing Sherman (1824-1888)

The wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, she was also a prominent figure of the times in her own right. She was the daughter of Ohio Senator Thomas Ewing. Ellen’s parents also raised her future husband after the 1829 death of his own father. She married Sherman in Washington, D.C., in 1850. They had eight children together. Ellen was fierce in her pro-Union sentiment. During the Civil War, three of her four brothers became Union generals. Ellen was a devout Catholic and often at odds with her husband over religious topics. One of their sons, Thomas Ewing Sherman, became a Catholic priest. She also took an ongoing interest in Indian missions. In “the most absorbing and monumental work of her life,” Ellen played an active role in U.S. observances of the Golden Jubilee of Pope Pius IX (May 21, 1877) for which she later received the personal thanks of the Pope. Ellen Sherman died in New York City on November 28, 1888, survived by her husband and six of their children. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
(From Wikipedia)