1865 Julia Mariah (Hart) White

The Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. March proved to be a better month for Julius Caesar HART of Canton, Ohio with the birth of his daughter; Julia Mariah. Young Julia – or Jane, as her friends called her, attended school in Ohio, and loved to read Her life would take her on all sorts of adventures.

When Julia was twenty years old, she was granted a teachers’ certificate, and taught in Ohio for a year before marrying and having a son. Her husband was cruel, and Julia was granted a divorce. In 1856 Julia and her young son left Ohio with her mother and father and moved to the prairies of Wayne County Illinois.

Julia married William White in the spring of 1859, and had a son whom she named Julias, after her father. In 1861 her husband enlisted in the Union army along with so many others from Wayne County. He was wounded and was very sick at Corinth, Mississippi. Word reached Julia and she was compelled to go to her husband. We can only imagine that she left her two young sons with family in Wayne County, and made her way south.

Julia was able to nurse her husband back to health, and then began nursing other wounded Union soldiers. Julia and her invalid husband returned to Illinois in 1863. Following the Civil war Mr. White was not able to farm. Julia returned to teaching school at the Upton schoolhouse in Wayne County.

She was much loved and respected by many relatives and friends, who referred to her as Aunt Jane. Her strength and perseverance in the face of hardship were legendary. She died at the age of 98 and was buried in the Buckeye Cemetery.

Biographies in Wayne county, Illinois (genealogytrails.com)