Mary German

We know a great deal about our Confederate soldiers, but less about women’s lives during the War Between the States.

This is a little story about Mary German, the mother of Elizabeth German Arledge. Mary Thompson was born in Missouri and married in 1858. Her husband, Frank German, enlisted in the Missouri State Guards (Confederate) in June 1861. Ms. German “remained in Missouri inside the federal lines until the fall of 1863, undergoing many hardships and privations, her home with many others being burned . . . In the fall of 1863 the federal authorities issued orders that all the Southern women should either come into post or go South. She with her two sisters, together with many of her neighbor women (there being no men with them) and only a few boys large enough to be of service, gathered up what little of their household goods they could bring in their ox wagons (they were not permitted to have horses) and started on their long journey of some six weeks, some 200 miles in distance. After crossing the Red River at Chinuta, their teams died from Texas fever and their stopped in Lamar County, Texas. After the war her husband joined her in Lamar County. They later moved to Bonham.

The photo is of a birthday party given for Mary with her friends. Likely many of her friends were Confederate wives, and w wish we knew more of their stories.