1861 - 1865

During the Civil War, most women attempted to live "normally," maintaining homes, attending to children, and even taking over traditional male responsibilities on the farm. Yet the war brought severe hardships to most absent family men, limited access to supplies, and a shortage of labor.

Many of the domestic skills women practiced at home played a vital role in the form of volunteerism during the Civil War. Cooking meals, mending clothes, and tending to wounds were just a few examples of the acts of benevolence that comforted soldiers during the depths of despair. Alice D. Nourse remembered how local women aided Union troops stationed in Seneca suffering from typhoid fever: "My mother, with other ladies of the community, used to take the sick men such delicacies as they could, that their illness might be made a little more bearable."

Montgomery County women held mixed views on the war and chose to champion both Federal and southern causes. Days after the firing at Fort Sumner, some women demonstrated their support of the rebel cause:

'The flag of the Southern Confederacy made by the ladies of Rockville is now flying from the court-house. We had a demonstration on Saturday night in honor of Virginia secession. Abraham Lincoln
was burnt in effigy.' — Exerpt from Baltimore Sun, 24 April 1861

" Regardless of which side they supported, women endured severe hardships during these years. Solace was often found in the practice of their religious beliefs. Attendance at regular services sometimes presented a challenge. As a result, large religious revivals flourished, especially in the Hyattstown area. An 1863 advertisement announced that one such meeting was "highly increasing in interest." That excitement continued after the war, when Americans rejoiced in the end of combat. Eleanor and David Zeigler, experienced inn keepers, prepared lodgings for nearly 300 who attended an August 1865 revival held only 400 yards away from their home. The 1805 Zeigler house still stands here today. — Baltimore Sun, 1 December 1863

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