Today's Reading

PROLOGUE

August 1866

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"It is important to remember that your gifts will be used to change the lives of those who cannot do so for themselves. Their numbers are high, especially since the war has left a great many women widowed and children orphaned. Remember, no matter your donation, it will be a blessing," the speaker declared to thunderous applause.

Judith Ashton Stanford was among those in the approving audience. She clapped and rose to her feet. The long, hot afternoon of lectures had come to an end, and she was rather anxious to return home.

"I was quite impressed with the speakers," the bearded man standing next to her said almost like they'd been in previous conversation. He was a handsome man with a hint of mischief in his smile. His dark eyes searched her face as if for answers to some unspoken question. "I'm Dr. Roman Turner."

"Judith Stanford." She extended her gloved hand. "I agree, the speakers were wonderful. I've long desired to help the poor in whatever way possible."

Her passion for widows and orphans had come about partly due to her own situation. She and her husband, Alden Stanford, had married June third in 1862, and the next day Judith had waved with the other wives and daughters as their men marched off to fight for the North. She had never seen him again. He perished in the war during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

At twenty-two, Judith had been naïve about the risks. Now twenty-six, she felt as though she'd gained far more knowledge than she ever wanted. Losing her husband was one of many losses. Her brother died in the war as well, and her mother and father died in a riverboat accident the very next year. Her entire life had been altered.

Had it not been for her charity work and taking over her father's steamboat service, Judith might have despaired. Other women certainly had. Every day she learned of widows who had given up, sinking deeper into their loneliness and seemingly impossible circumstances.

"There's so much to be done. I am from Minnesota, and we are dealing with a growing number of widows and orphans there too," Dr. Turner said.

"We have so many due to the war that it has become the focus of several charities."

"I can well imagine. I served on the battlefield as a surgeon and saw many a good man breathe his last."

Judith had seen so many families devastated by the loss. Sorrow alone was enough to cause hopelessness, but add poverty to this and they were helpless to fight back. Rarely did a woman have any means of supporting herself. Losing their men left women with an immediate financial void that was difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. Families did what they could to watch out for one another, and good men sent home money from their pay. But as the fighting war dragged on and battlefront postal services became less available, the needs of those women and their children mounted, and battlefront postal services were often not available.

Judith and her mother had gotten involved in helping as a means of healing from their own personal losses. There were multiple agencies striving to create assistance for the widows and orphans of war. Judith and her mother had also seen the need to help those whose husbands and fathers were still living, still fighting. They had created a charity to provide food and clothes for these families. Even after her mother died, Judith continued the good work, urging local churches to care for their own as a service unto God.

"I find that helping those less fortunate has done much to bless me." Judith's necklace seemed to tighten as the heat in the room grew more unbearable. "Women are at a great disadvantage to earn their own living, even more so while taking care of a family. If we do not show compassion on them, I feel they will never be able to make their way to thriving, rather than merely surviving."

"You speak quite eloquently. We have some wonderful folks in Minneapolis but could certainly use someone with your beauty and grace to stir their hearts to action."

"We need women like Judith to stir the hearts of people everywhere, Dr. Turner." This came from an older woman Judith had known for many years. Harriet Silverman was a formidable fund raiser with all sorts of creative ideas for bettering the plight of the poor. "I am doing what I can to convince her to take on larger roles in our various charities. She has impressed me with her attention to detail."

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