Eleanor Boyle Ewing Sherman

Eleanor Boyle Ewing Sherman (October 4, 1824 – November 28, 1888) was the wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, a leading Union general in the American Civil War. She was also a prominent figure of the times in her own right. Early years Eleanor (nickname, "Ellen") Boyle Ewing was born in Lancaster, Ohio, the daughter of prominent Whig politician Thomas Ewing and Maria Boyle Ewing. Her parents also raised her future husband, "Cump" Sherman, after the 1829 death of his father. She was educated in Lancaster and Washington, D.C. Career She married William Tecumseh "Cump" Sherman in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1850, in a ceremony attended by President Zachary Taylor and other political luminaries. The Shermans, who often lived apart even before the Civil War due to Sherman's military career, had eight children together, two of whom (Willie and Charles) died during the war.