HomeMy WebLinkAboutSara Graham was born in 1830 in New York to James and Ann GrahamSarah Palmer was an Ithaca woman who served as a nurse with the 109th New York Regiment. An article in the Ithaca Journal, December 28, 1864, referred to her as "Our 'Florence Nightingale.'"
Sara Graham was born in New York State in 1830. Her parents were James and Ann Graham. She had 6 brothers and 1 sister. Her parents lived on Hayts Road in the Town of Enfield according
to the 1850 Federal Census.
About 1850 she married Abel Palmer and so became Sarah Palmer. Abel died shortly before the start of the U.S. Civil War [1861 – 1865], leaving Sarah a widow with two very young daughters,
Isabel and Alice.
Her brother Theodore Graham answered the call for volunteers in the summer of 1862, joined two weeks later by her brother John. Both were members of Company A of the 109th New York Infantry.
Sarah’s brothers asked that she accompany them into the field to care for them if they fell ill.
On Sept. 3, 1862 Sarah Palmer left Ithaca on the train to Owego, then she took the cars to Laurel Station Maryland.