Sallie Sypert was only 22 when she married 53-year-old Harry Smith in 1859. Records show that the two had courted for several years prior to their marriage with Harry Smith obviously infatuated by the young Sally.

 

After their marraige, they welcomed their first daughter in 1861, Nannie, and their second in 1863, Tabitha. Sadly Sallie died only four months after Tabitha's birth leaving behind two infant daughters and a heartbroken husband in the midst of the American Civil War.

 

In Her Own Words

 

In a letter to her mother dated May 10, 1862, Sally writes...

 

On the Civil War:

"The Federals seem to be drawing the reins pretty tight up this way. They have arrested a good many about Nashville and sent some of them to Fort Warren..."

 

On her husband's illness:

"Mr. Smith is sick now, confined to his bed and has been for a week...I think he is somehwat uneasy about his condition though he thinks he is some better today..."

 

On her daughter Nannie:

"[Nannie] is cutting teeth, she has only two and they are not entirely through...[she] is the best child that ever was."