he Brooklyn Woman's
Relief Association, of which she was the head:

"Knowing Mrs. Stranahan only in her official character, as head of the
noble band of women who through the war, by their admirable organization
and efficient, patient working, made Brooklyn a shining example for all
other cities--I wonder that she should have left so deep a _personal_
impression upon my heart; and that from a dozen interviews confined
wholly to one subject, I should have conceived a friendship for her
which it commonly takes a life of various intercourse and intimate or
familiar relations to establish. And this is the more remarkable,
because her directness, clearness of intention, and precision of purpose
always kept her confined, in the conversations I held with her, to the
special subject on which we met to take counsel. She had so admirably
ordered an understanding, was so business-like and clear in her habits
of mind, that not a minute was lost with her in beating the bush. With
mild determination, and in a gentle distinctness of tone, she laid her
views or wishes before me, in a way that never needed any other
explanation or enforcement than her simple statement carried with it. In
few, precise, and transparent words, she made known her business, or
gave her opinion, and wasted not a precious minute in generalities, or
on matters aside from our common object. This rendered my official
intercourse with her peculiarly satisfactory. She always knew just what
she wanted to say, and left no uncertainty as to what she had said; and
what she said, had always been so carefully considered, that her wishes
were full of reason, and her advice full of persuasion. She seemed to me
to unite the greatest discretion with the finest enthusiasm. As earnest,
large, and noble in her views of what was due to the National cause, as
the most zealous could be, she was yet so practical, judicious, and
sober in her judgment, that what she planned, I learned to regard as
certain of success. No one could see her presiding with mingled modesty
and dignity over one of the meetings of the Women's Relief Association,
without admiration for her self-possession, propriety of utterance, and
skill in furthering the objects in view. I have always supposed that her
wisdom, resolution, and perseverance, had a controlling influence in the
glorious success of the Brooklyn Relief Association--the most marked and
memorable fellowship of women, united from all sects and orde