Born: Dec. 1841 Died: Sept. 5, 1898 Biography: Sarah Emma Edmonds was born Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmondson in December of 1841 in Magaguadavic Settlement, New Brunswick, Canada. She left home when her abusive father tried to force her into marriage. She worked in New Brunswick for a while selling bibles, but left when she feared her father might find her. In 1856, she fled to the United States, where she settled in Flint, Michigan. When the Civil War broke out, Emma Disguising herself as a man by cutting her hair, and wearing a man's suit. Calling herself Franklin Thompson, she enlisted in Company F, 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. The 2nd Michigan saw action at the first Battle of Bull Run, and as part of the Army of the Potomac, at the Second Bull Run and Fredricksburg. Thompson performed all of the duties of a soldier, including nurse and mail carrier. As Frank Thompson, Emma also worked as a spy, occasionally disguising herself as a black man, or as a woman, or sometimes both. As a black man, she would wear clothes she'd bought from a slave, as well as wear a wig made from real hair. She'd color her head, hands and arms with silver nitrate to appear "black." As a woman, she'd sometimes disguise herself as an Irish peddler and go by the name of Bridget O'Shea. In 1863, Sarah's career as Franklin Thompson came to an end when she contracted malaria. Unable to go to the military hospital, knowing her true sex would be revealed, Franklin Thompson deserted the Army. Sarah checked herself into a private hospital, intending to continue her military life once she was better. However, she saw posters looking for Franklin Thompson as a deserter. Rather than return to the Army as a woman, she decided to become a female nurse in Washington, D.C. at a hospital for wounded soldiers run by the U.S. Christian Commission. After the war was over, Sarah used the pen name of Sarah Edmonds to publish her book, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. The book was a huge success, selling over 150,000 copies. In 1885, she began a petition for a veteran's pension. On July 3, 1886, Congress granted her an honorable discharge from combat duty and a pension rewarding her military service. In 1867, she married L.H. Seelye, a Canadian born carpenter, they had 3 children together. Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye died on September 5, 1898, in LaPorte, Texas. She's buried in the Washington Cemetery, in Huston, Texas. In 1992, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. In 2004, PBS ran a story on Emma's life called, "Canadians in the Civil War." In Canada, a documentary on her life was produced entitled, "The Unsexing of Emma Edmonds".