Sarah Jane married George W. Lewis just after the end of the the Civil War and bore him four children. Three of them survived to adulthood. Perhaps Sarah or Sally, as she was called in her younger years, taught school before marrying as she went to work as a teacher of "feeble minded" children after she was widowed. She taught in at least three large institutions, one in Indianapolis and two farther away from that city which meant she had to leave her children with her parents and/or sisters for extended periods in order to support them.
She did apply for and receive a Civil War Widow's Pension that included support for the children until they were sixteen. Sarah retired from teaching in 1892 or '93, and perhaps had a few years "off" before beginning to take care her grandson Julian Lewis Watkins (born January 1895) as his mother's consumption worsened, and then took over his care completely after Georgia's death in 1897.
In her later years, Sarah Jane lived with various family members: her siblings Melissa, a spinster, and Joe, or her son Ransom Tedrowe who lived in Elmira, NY. She died in 1928 of acute nephritis caused by severe burns due to an accident which occurred while cooking on her stove.
She did apply for and receive a Civil War Widow's Pension that included support for the children until they were sixteen. Sarah retired from teaching in 1892 or '93, and perhaps had a few years "off" before beginning to take care her grandson Julian Lewis Watkins (born January 1895) as his mother's consumption worsened, and then took over his care completely after Georgia's death in 1897.
In her later years, Sarah Jane lived with various family members: her siblings Melissa, a spinster, and Joe, or her son Ransom Tedrowe who lived in Elmira, NY. She died in 1928 of acute nephritis caused by severe burns due to an accident which occurred while cooking on her stove.
Sarah Jane married George W. Lewis just after the end of the the Civil War and bore him four children. Three of them survived to adulthood. Perhaps Sarah or Sally, as she was called in her younger years, taught school before marrying as she went to work as a teacher of "feeble minded" children after she was widowed. She taught in at least three large institutions, one in Indianapolis and two farther away from that city which meant she had to leave her children with her parents and/or sisters for extended periods in order to support them.
She did apply for and receive a Civil War Widow's Pension that included support for the children until they were sixteen. Sarah retired from teaching in 1892 or '93, and perhaps had a few years "off" before beginning to take care her grandson Julian Lewis Watkins (born January 1895) as his mother's consumption worsened, and then took over his care completely after Georgia's death in 1897.
In her later years, Sarah Jane lived with various family members: her siblings Melissa, a spinster, and Joe, or her son Ransom Tedrowe who lived in Elmira, NY. She died in 1928 of acute nephritis caused by severe burns due to an accident which occurred while cooking on her stove.
She did apply for and receive a Civil War Widow's Pension that included support for the children until they were sixteen. Sarah retired from teaching in 1892 or '93, and perhaps had a few years "off" before beginning to take care her grandson Julian Lewis Watkins (born January 1895) as his mother's consumption worsened, and then took over his care completely after Georgia's death in 1897.
In her later years, Sarah Jane lived with various family members: her siblings Melissa, a spinster, and Joe, or her son Ransom Tedrowe who lived in Elmira, NY. She died in 1928 of acute nephritis caused by severe burns due to an accident which occurred while cooking on her stove.
Inscription
SARAH JANE LEWIS
1844 - 1928
Gravesite Details
burial: MAR 20,1928
