Mary Jewett Telford (1839-1906)

In honor of Women’s History Month, Civil War historian Vicki Profitt and I are working together to honor Mary Jewett Telford (my great-great-great aunt). My husband,  Evan Marshall, and I attended Vicki’s talk Illuminated History: The Civil War Soldiers of Perinton, which included a profile of Mary Jewett Telford.

Mary Jewett Telford lived the fullest life possible for an aspiring white woman in 19th-century America. She was a Civil War nurse, wife of Jacob Telford, adoptive mother of Civil War orphan girls, post-Civil War veterans’ humanitarian as charter member of the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC), suffragette, magazine editor and writer, and speaker on the national temperance circuit. Her parents, Dr. Lester Jewett and Hannah Southwick Jewett, a Quaker, were progressives who believed in the education and achievements of women. The Jewett family were abolitionists and their farm in Seneca, New York, was the second-to-last stop before Canada on the Underground Railway, according to Mary. 

This month, we are asking you to share a minibio about a female ancestor. We would like to interview you about your female ancestor and share your stories on our blogs.  Please contact us below.

Thank you for honoring the important contributions of women.

Martha Jewett

Vicki Proftt