or resided too far from the city to attend the evening
meetings, and her name does not appear in the accounts of such
gatherings, she was one of the first members of the Ladies' Union
Aid Society of St. Louis, and took part in the meeting of loyal
women called and presided over by Gen. Curtis. Having an orchard
and dairy on her place, she furnished the hospital with milk and
fruit, and for more than two years, sent a supply every day to
the soldiers in camp at Benton barracks. When the news came that
the army around Vicksburg was suffering with scurvy, she took her
carriage and drove through the country soliciting fruit, and in
one week she canned with her own hands, a wagon-load of cherries,
the sanitary commission finding the cans and sugar, and from time
to time she continued the work until the end of the war. When the
great fair was held under the auspices of the Western Sanitary
Commission, she was a member of the floral department, and
worked with her accustomed energy. The sanitary commission,
feeling that she had done so much, wrote her a letter of thanks,
and enclosed her a check for a liberal amount; but she returned
the check, saying that hers was a work of love, and not for
money. Although the official letter of the commission thanking
Mrs. Minor for her most valuable services, is lost, the following
to Mr. Minor may fairly be considered as including her also:

ROOMS WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION, St. Louis, Oct. 7, 1863.

FRANCIS MINOR, Esq.--_My Dear Sir_: I am directed by our
board to return you their thanks in behalf of the soldiers
in the hospitals, for your long-continued remembrance of
them, and for the daily supply of fresh fruits, vegetables
and milk, which you have furnished for the sick, now more
than two years. Your garner and sympathy have been like the
widow's cruse, and may they ever continue to be so. What you
have done has been in the most quiet and unobtrusive way.
The sick soldier has had no more constant, uniform and
untiring friend, and it is with pleasure that I convey the
thanks of the board, both to yourself and wife, who have
been as indefatigable at home in preparing canned fruits and
other delicacies for the sick soldiers in the field, as yo