thy pride among her treasures.
MRS. JAMES HARLAN.
There have been numerous instances of ladies of high social position,
the wives and daughters of generals of high rank, and commanding large
bodies of troops, of Governors of States, of Senators and
Representatives in Congress, of Members of the Cabinet, or of other
Government officials, who have felt it an honor to minister to the
defenders of their country, or to aid in such ways as were possible the
blessed work of relieving pain and suffering, of raising up the
down-trodden, or of bringing the light of hope and intelligence back to
the dull and glazed eyes of the loyal whites who escaped from cruel
oppression and outrages worse than death to the Union lines. Among these
will be readily recalled, Mrs. John C. Fremont, Mrs. General W. H. L.
Wallace, Mrs. Harvey, Mrs. Governor Salomon, Mrs. William H. Seward,
Mrs. Ira Harris, Mrs. Samuel C. Pomeroy, Mrs. L. E. Chittenden, Mrs.
John S. Phelps, and, though last named, by no means the least efficient,
Mrs. James Harlan.
Mrs. Harlan is a native of Kentucky, but removed to Indiana in her
childhood. Here she became acquainted with Mr. Harlan to whom she was
married in 1845 or 1846. In the rapid succession of positions of honor
and trust to which her husband was elevated by the people, as
Superintendent of Public Instruction, President of Mount Pleasant
University, United States Senator, Secretary of the Interior, and again
United States Senator, Mrs. Harlan proved herself worthy of a position
by his side. Possessing great energy and resolution and a highly
cultivated intellect, she acquitted herself at all times with dignity
and honor. When the nominal became the actual war, and great battles
were fought, she was among the first to go to the bloody battle-fields
and minister to the wounded and dying. After the battle of Shiloh she
was one of the first ladies on the field, and her labors were incessant
and accomplished great good. Her position as the wife of a distinguished
senator, and her energy and decision of character were used with effect,
and she was enabled to wring from General Halleck the permission
previously refused to all applicants to remove the wounded to hospitals
at Mound City, St. Louis, Keokuk, and elsewhere, where their chances of
recovery were greatly improved. At Washington where she subsequently
spent much of her time, she devoted her energies first to caring for the
Iowa soldiers, but she
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