The Nurse & Spy

Years ago, my Mother and our relatives put together a book by the name of "The Seelys of New Brunswick".There are over 900 pages of information, stories taken from 1432 to the present day: War stories, love stories, stories about horse thieves, cattle rustlers, bathtub gin and prohibition stories. You get the picture. But one story has stayed in my mind forever, the story of Sarah Edmonds, my Great Great Aunt In the year of 1854 Emma left home, unhappy with her father's marriage plans for her.She trained for a time in Salisbury as a milliner. Then worked for a short time in in Fredricton and Saint John. Concerned that her father might find her, she changed her look to that of a young man, using the name of "Franklin Johnson".It was that disguise she used while selling bibles across NB and NS, Hartford Ct, and Flint Mi. With the start of the civil war, she enlisted in 1861in the Union Army, 2nd Infantry Regiment, as a male nurse.She was active in the Battles of Bull Run, F
redricksburg and Vicksburg. She acquired heroic status as a nurse, secret agent, and dispatch rider. Some of her missions would take her behind the enemy lines as a spy, disguised as a Negro woman, an Irish peddler, a rebel calvaryman , and a clerk. Her disguises were not revealed until she left the Army and wrote her book "Nurse and Spy".On July 7,1884, President Chester A Arthur signed a bill approved by congress , granting a pension to Mrs. Sarah E E Seelye, alias Franklin Thompson."Be it enacted that the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to place on the pension roll the name of Sarah E E Edmonds alias Franklin Thompson, who as a late private in Company F Second Regiment of Michigan Infantry Volunteers at the rate of $12.00 per month".Sarah was mustered into the into the George B McClellen Post number 9, thereby becoming the only woman member
of the Grand Army of the republic. She was buried with honors in Washington Cemetary, Houston, Texas A special bronze plaque recognized her heroism, and her marker reads Emma E Seelye, ' Army Nurse'. Many articles and stories have been published on the life of Sarah, aka Franklin Thompson.For reference, see:"Nurse and Spy" by S. Emma E. Edmonds, Hartford CT 1865"Girl Soldier ans Spy" by Hoelins New York"She Rode With the Generals" by Dannett, NY"The Adventures and Experiences of a woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battles" by Fields 1865"Amazons and Military Maids" by Wainwright, Winchester MA"The Bitter With the Sweet" by Mary Peck NSIn 1990 Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds Seelye was inducted into the New Brunswick's Women's Hall of Fame.

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