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Picture and Data from ©Allen and Carole Martin mud@ntslink.net
Allen and I were in the Lincoln Research Library when they were doing a feature on Illinois
women.
I knew that many women served during the Civil War as nurses and some even posed as men but Albert Cashier, alias
Jennie Hodgers, caught my eye, mainly because she voted, illegal or not!!
Albert Cashier, was actually a woman who posed as man; became the only female
CW veteran who drew a pension and continued to pose as a man in Saunemin, IL. and even voted when it was
illegal for women to do so! She served 2 years & traveled almost 10,000 miles with her regiment.
She was captured once, but she managed to knock her captor out and escape back to her regiment.
We drove up to Saunemin to see the cemetery. Saunemin is about 10 miles East of Pontiac,
IL. on Route 116.
The old government headstone has been replaced with a new one plus the locals erected another stone which reveals
Albert's real name and sex.
According to the news articles, she remained a man until a year or so before her death.
While in a state hospital, she was forced to wear a dress but when she died, someone had the good sense to bury
her in her CW uniform with the name Albert Cashier on the government headstone.
There is also a picture of her amongst all the CW photos in the Lincoln Presidential Library.
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