Rebecca Wright Bonsal, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Rebecca Wright Bonsal

Date of Birth: 31-Jan-1838

Place of Birth: Maryland, United States

Date of Death: 15-May-1914

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Rebecca McPherson Wright Bonsal (January 31, 1838 or 1842 – May 15, 1914) was an American Quaker teacher who was fired for her Unionist loyalty, as well as delivered important intelligence to the Union Army during the American Civil War, which helped Union Generals Philip Sheridan and George Crook defeat Confederate General Jubal Early in the crucial Third Battle of Winchester in September, 1864.However, the retaliation she feared from Confederate sympathizers in Winchester (the seat of Frederick County at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley), proved well-founded.
After Wright wore a brooch given to her by General Sheridan in early 1867, her Confederate-sympathizing sister told a reporter its provenance.
The resulting newspaper article led to social ostracism of Rebecca Wright and a boycott of the boarding house her mother ran with her daughters' help, and forced them to move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Denied a soldier's pension because of her sex despite the efforts of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and General Sheridan, eventually Wright accepted a clerical job at the U.S.
Treasury Department and moved to Washington, D.C., where she married a Union veteran, and worked until shortly before her death.