The widow of Civil War hero Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Mrs. Sheridan, nee Irene Rucker, died in her 86th year. During their 13-year marriage, which ended with the General's death at age 57, she had been greatly admired for both her beauty and her charm as a society hostess. Born at Fort Union, New Mexico Territory, in 1853, she was the youngest daughter of Gen. Daniel H. Rucker, a West Point graduate and quartermaster general in the US Army, and the former Irene Curtis. Raised in military circles on the frontier and in Washington DC, in 1874 she appeared as a bridesmaid at a wedding in Chicago, where Sheridan, who was also in attendance, had his headquarters. Though seemingly a confirmed bachelor at 43, he was smitten. A whirlwind courtship ensued, and the couple were married a year later on June 3, 1875, in a ceremony performed by Bishop Foley of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. Despite their 22-year age difference, the Sheridans' union was a happy one that produced four children: Mary (b.1876), twins Louise and Irene (b.1877), and Philip Jr.,(b.1880). Although still youthful and attractive when she was widowed by her husband's fatal heart attack in 1888, Mrs. Sheridan never remarried, declaring that she "would rather be the widow of Phil Sheridan than the wife of any man living!" She resided with her children at 2551 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC, near Sheridan Circle, where in 1908 she unveiled Gutzon Borglum's famed equestrian statue of her husband astride his warhorse "Rienzi". Predeceased by her husband and her parents, Mrs. Sheridan had also suffered the loss of her son, Major Philip H. Sheridan, a graduate of West Point who had died at age 37 in 1917. She joined them in death here in Arlington after a Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Church, where her husband's funeral had taken place more than half a century earlier. Her survivors included the three Sheridan daughters, who remained single and continued to reside in the family home on Massachusetts Avenue until their own deaths many years later, and two grandchildren, Carolina and Philip H. Sheridan III, offspring of her son Philip, Jr.
The widow of Civil War hero Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Mrs. Sheridan, nee Irene Rucker, died in her 86th year. During their 13-year marriage, which ended with the General's death at age 57, she had been greatly admired for both her beauty and her charm as a society hostess. Born at Fort Union, New Mexico Territory, in 1853, she was the youngest daughter of Gen. Daniel H. Rucker, a West Point graduate and quartermaster general in the US Army, and the former Irene Curtis. Raised in military circles on the frontier and in Washington DC, in 1874 she appeared as a bridesmaid at a wedding in Chicago, where Sheridan, who was also in attendance, had his headquarters. Though seemingly a confirmed bachelor at 43, he was smitten. A whirlwind courtship ensued, and the couple were married a year later on June 3, 1875, in a ceremony performed by Bishop Foley of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. Despite their 22-year age difference, the Sheridans' union was a happy one that produced four children: Mary (b.1876), twins Louise and Irene (b.1877), and Philip Jr.,(b.1880). Although still youthful and attractive when she was widowed by her husband's fatal heart attack in 1888, Mrs. Sheridan never remarried, declaring that she "would rather be the widow of Phil Sheridan than the wife of any man living!" She resided with her children at 2551 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC, near Sheridan Circle, where in 1908 she unveiled Gutzon Borglum's famed equestrian statue of her husband astride his warhorse "Rienzi". Predeceased by her husband and her parents, Mrs. Sheridan had also suffered the loss of her son, Major Philip H. Sheridan, a graduate of West Point who had died at age 37 in 1917. She joined them in death here in Arlington after a Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Church, where her husband's funeral had taken place more than half a century earlier. Her survivors included the three Sheridan daughters, who remained single and continued to reside in the family home on Massachusetts Avenue until their own deaths many years later, and two grandchildren, Carolina and Philip H. Sheridan III, offspring of her son Philip, Jr.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
