Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/383

350 Mrs. Sue A. Pike Sanders, ninth national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, is another who has Revolutionary blood in her veins, but she is not so proud of this, as that she is a patriot herself, and had four brothers in the Civil War, two of whom languished in Andersonville for many months. During the war she was a teacher in Bloomington, Illinois, and made a flag and raised it over her schoolhouse. She also belonged to the Soldiers' Aid Society of that town, and gave through it valuable aid to the cause. Mrs. Sander's home is in Bloomington, Illinois.

Mrs. Margaret Ray Wickins, tenth national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, came to the office from her home on the free soil of Kansas filled with enthusiasm, and after many victories won in the upbuilding of the order in her state. While the Civil War was in progress, she gave her time and services whenever there was need, and when hostilities closed, she was as ever, ready and willing to help those who had stood by the flag.

Mrs. Wickins lives in Paris, Illinois.

Mrs. Sarah C. Mink, eleventh national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, was born in the town of Mayfield, New York, April 7, 1837, and again we record the fact that this woman was of Revolutionary stock, and her patriotism was tested in the time that tried men's souls.

When the Woman's Relief Corps was organized in the state of New York, Mrs. Mink zealously went to work to upbuild the order, and she served as executive in the local organization, and in her department a number of terms. The convention which elected her to the highest office also adopted resolutions advocating the introduction of patriotic teaching in the public schools, and as this was a subject very dear to her heart, she entered into it with all the strength of body and mind, and a grand foundation was laid upon which thousands of patriotic characters have been built. Mrs. Mink was the wife of Major C. E. Mink. She passed away at her home in Watertown, New York, December 3, 1896.

Mrs. Emma R. Wallace, twelfth national president of the Woman's Relief Corps, came to the executive's chair fully equipped for the arduous duties of the office, for she had had many years of experience in her own department where she had filled all the chairs, and had been a wise counselor for years. She was saturated with patriotism, for she knew the hardships of the camp, the field, the hospital, having faced them all with her soldier husband when she went to the front a young wife to share the joys and sorrows of the one who had laid his