My 5th great-aunt, Sarah E. Ross was born December 15th, 1833 in Sterling, Massachusetts. On November 14th, 1863 she married Daniel Bonney, a Union soldier. I don’t have much information about many family members, so I appreciate when I find stories that reveal more about the person. The following narrative was copied by my great-aunt Verna Benson (Daisy).
Great Grandma’s sister Sarah E. Ross married to Daniel Bonney was 50 years old when she died. She was a great hunter and taxidermist. Her husband was a Union soldier.
She was an enthusiastic sportswoman killing her own game with her double barrelled shotgun. She had a very fine case of stuffed birds on exhibition in the Woman’s Pavilion at the centennial and received diplomas and the great medal for the originality and excellence of her work. She made quite a speciality of the manufacture of feather fans and feather flowers which met with a ready sale at the summer resorts. The centennial exhibition was held at Boston. The choice birds in the case of 25 were of all varieties from a humming bird to an owl mounted on an imitation laurel branch.
It’s stories like that which make people become more than simply names and dates on a family tree.
Sarah Ross died March 3, 1884.
