Sarah Smith Ballowe was likely born on 25 Nov 1822 in Buckingham County, VA. She was the second child of 12, and her parents were Samuel William Ballowe and Ann Eliza Anderson. Soon after her birth (about 1824-5), her family moved from Virginia to Tennessee, where they settled in Davidson County. There the family remained for about a decade; then moved further westward to Benton County, TN, sometime before 1840. There, Sarah's father farmed and operated a grist mill for a number of years. Sarah's family moved yet again, this time (about 1846-8) to the thriving riverport town of Paducah, KY. Paducah, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, was a high growth metropolis with many economic opportunities for all new residents.
There in Paducah on 30 Mar 1852, Sarah Smith Ballowe married George W. Adams, also a resident of Paducah. Very soon afterwards – between 1852 (the date of George's and Sarah's marriage in Paducah) and 1854, the date of George's and Sarah's first child being born in Mississippi – the young couple moved from Paducah, KY, to Holly Springs, MS – where George's mother and uncle, William R. Adams, already lived. Sarah left her parents and most all of her siblings in Paducah, and established her new married life in Holly Springs.
In the 1850s, Holly Springs was also a boom town, even to the extent that it was considered the un-official capital of northern Mississippi. Growth was reinforced in 1853 when the Mississippi Railroad held its ground-breaking ceremony there on its new railroad line. Likely, George and Sarah Adams found Holly Springs a good home for their expanding family in the 1850s, and there they had a total of five children by the year 1862.
However, the strife of the Civil War approached. When the Civil War began in 1861, the first volunteers from Holly Springs left town on 28 Mar 1861, as the Jeff Davis Rifle and Home Guards.
Apparently, George Adams also heard this "call to arms" in defense of states' rights, for on 12 May 1862, he enlisted as a private at Holly Springs for a three-year term in the Confederate Army, Ninth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry Volunteers, New Company I. But, tragically, only two years from his enlistment, on 19 May 1864, Private George W. Adams died at the Foard Hospital in Marietta, GA, from wounds he received at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia. George was 34 years old, and he left his wife Sarah and their five children back home in Holly Springs.
Sarah continued to live in Holly Springs, where she raised her young children to adulthood. However, during and after the Civil War, Holly Springs was not a good place to live. On 13 Nov 1862, the town suffered occupation under Colonel Albert L. Lee, 7th Kansas Cavalry, and also General Grant then set up his headquarters there. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn blew up and burned much of Grant's supplies, took many arms, and captured 1,500 prisoners at Holly Springs. The Union troops retaliated by burning much of the city. The occupation of Holly Springs was fairly permanent by mid-1863. All in all, Holly Springs suffered 60 distinct raids during the war. By the end of the Civil War, there was little left after the looting, pillaging, and burning by both sides. Three companies of Federal troops occupied Holly Springs at the end of the War in 1865, but this number was reduced to 162 troops by 1866. Fortunately, Sarah and her children survived the Civil War fighting and the difficult economic times it brought.
Sarah and her children also survived the horrific epidemic when yellow fever came to Holly Springs in 1878. At the peak of this epidemic, men thought to be immune were sent to knock on doors and, if there was no answer, they entered to remove the bodies. The deaths continued to mount until a mass grave was used. An early frost stopped the spread of the disease, but the town's population had been decimated by over 2,000 souls.
Sarah lived another 20 years, and she died at about age 75 after a prolonged illness. Her death came on about 23 Mar 1898 in Holly Springs, and she was buried there. Although it is likely that she was buried in Hill Crest Cemetery on the Adams' family plot, this location is not certain as the cemetery records are incomplete.
There in Paducah on 30 Mar 1852, Sarah Smith Ballowe married George W. Adams, also a resident of Paducah. Very soon afterwards – between 1852 (the date of George's and Sarah's marriage in Paducah) and 1854, the date of George's and Sarah's first child being born in Mississippi – the young couple moved from Paducah, KY, to Holly Springs, MS – where George's mother and uncle, William R. Adams, already lived. Sarah left her parents and most all of her siblings in Paducah, and established her new married life in Holly Springs.
In the 1850s, Holly Springs was also a boom town, even to the extent that it was considered the un-official capital of northern Mississippi. Growth was reinforced in 1853 when the Mississippi Railroad held its ground-breaking ceremony there on its new railroad line. Likely, George and Sarah Adams found Holly Springs a good home for their expanding family in the 1850s, and there they had a total of five children by the year 1862.
However, the strife of the Civil War approached. When the Civil War began in 1861, the first volunteers from Holly Springs left town on 28 Mar 1861, as the Jeff Davis Rifle and Home Guards.
Apparently, George Adams also heard this "call to arms" in defense of states' rights, for on 12 May 1862, he enlisted as a private at Holly Springs for a three-year term in the Confederate Army, Ninth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry Volunteers, New Company I. But, tragically, only two years from his enlistment, on 19 May 1864, Private George W. Adams died at the Foard Hospital in Marietta, GA, from wounds he received at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia. George was 34 years old, and he left his wife Sarah and their five children back home in Holly Springs.
Sarah continued to live in Holly Springs, where she raised her young children to adulthood. However, during and after the Civil War, Holly Springs was not a good place to live. On 13 Nov 1862, the town suffered occupation under Colonel Albert L. Lee, 7th Kansas Cavalry, and also General Grant then set up his headquarters there. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn blew up and burned much of Grant's supplies, took many arms, and captured 1,500 prisoners at Holly Springs. The Union troops retaliated by burning much of the city. The occupation of Holly Springs was fairly permanent by mid-1863. All in all, Holly Springs suffered 60 distinct raids during the war. By the end of the Civil War, there was little left after the looting, pillaging, and burning by both sides. Three companies of Federal troops occupied Holly Springs at the end of the War in 1865, but this number was reduced to 162 troops by 1866. Fortunately, Sarah and her children survived the Civil War fighting and the difficult economic times it brought.
Sarah and her children also survived the horrific epidemic when yellow fever came to Holly Springs in 1878. At the peak of this epidemic, men thought to be immune were sent to knock on doors and, if there was no answer, they entered to remove the bodies. The deaths continued to mount until a mass grave was used. An early frost stopped the spread of the disease, but the town's population had been decimated by over 2,000 souls.
Sarah lived another 20 years, and she died at about age 75 after a prolonged illness. Her death came on about 23 Mar 1898 in Holly Springs, and she was buried there. Although it is likely that she was buried in Hill Crest Cemetery on the Adams' family plot, this location is not certain as the cemetery records are incomplete.
Sarah Smith Ballowe was likely born on 25 Nov 1822 in Buckingham County, VA. She was the second child of 12, and her parents were Samuel William Ballowe and Ann Eliza Anderson. Soon after her birth (about 1824-5), her family moved from Virginia to Tennessee, where they settled in Davidson County. There the family remained for about a decade; then moved further westward to Benton County, TN, sometime before 1840. There, Sarah's father farmed and operated a grist mill for a number of years. Sarah's family moved yet again, this time (about 1846-8) to the thriving riverport town of Paducah, KY. Paducah, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, was a high growth metropolis with many economic opportunities for all new residents.
There in Paducah on 30 Mar 1852, Sarah Smith Ballowe married George W. Adams, also a resident of Paducah. Very soon afterwards – between 1852 (the date of George's and Sarah's marriage in Paducah) and 1854, the date of George's and Sarah's first child being born in Mississippi – the young couple moved from Paducah, KY, to Holly Springs, MS – where George's mother and uncle, William R. Adams, already lived. Sarah left her parents and most all of her siblings in Paducah, and established her new married life in Holly Springs.
In the 1850s, Holly Springs was also a boom town, even to the extent that it was considered the un-official capital of northern Mississippi. Growth was reinforced in 1853 when the Mississippi Railroad held its ground-breaking ceremony there on its new railroad line. Likely, George and Sarah Adams found Holly Springs a good home for their expanding family in the 1850s, and there they had a total of five children by the year 1862.
However, the strife of the Civil War approached. When the Civil War began in 1861, the first volunteers from Holly Springs left town on 28 Mar 1861, as the Jeff Davis Rifle and Home Guards.
Apparently, George Adams also heard this "call to arms" in defense of states' rights, for on 12 May 1862, he enlisted as a private at Holly Springs for a three-year term in the Confederate Army, Ninth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry Volunteers, New Company I. But, tragically, only two years from his enlistment, on 19 May 1864, Private George W. Adams died at the Foard Hospital in Marietta, GA, from wounds he received at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia. George was 34 years old, and he left his wife Sarah and their five children back home in Holly Springs.
Sarah continued to live in Holly Springs, where she raised her young children to adulthood. However, during and after the Civil War, Holly Springs was not a good place to live. On 13 Nov 1862, the town suffered occupation under Colonel Albert L. Lee, 7th Kansas Cavalry, and also General Grant then set up his headquarters there. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn blew up and burned much of Grant's supplies, took many arms, and captured 1,500 prisoners at Holly Springs. The Union troops retaliated by burning much of the city. The occupation of Holly Springs was fairly permanent by mid-1863. All in all, Holly Springs suffered 60 distinct raids during the war. By the end of the Civil War, there was little left after the looting, pillaging, and burning by both sides. Three companies of Federal troops occupied Holly Springs at the end of the War in 1865, but this number was reduced to 162 troops by 1866. Fortunately, Sarah and her children survived the Civil War fighting and the difficult economic times it brought.
Sarah and her children also survived the horrific epidemic when yellow fever came to Holly Springs in 1878. At the peak of this epidemic, men thought to be immune were sent to knock on doors and, if there was no answer, they entered to remove the bodies. The deaths continued to mount until a mass grave was used. An early frost stopped the spread of the disease, but the town's population had been decimated by over 2,000 souls.
Sarah lived another 20 years, and she died at about age 75 after a prolonged illness. Her death came on about 23 Mar 1898 in Holly Springs, and she was buried there. Although it is likely that she was buried in Hill Crest Cemetery on the Adams' family plot, this location is not certain as the cemetery records are incomplete.
There in Paducah on 30 Mar 1852, Sarah Smith Ballowe married George W. Adams, also a resident of Paducah. Very soon afterwards – between 1852 (the date of George's and Sarah's marriage in Paducah) and 1854, the date of George's and Sarah's first child being born in Mississippi – the young couple moved from Paducah, KY, to Holly Springs, MS – where George's mother and uncle, William R. Adams, already lived. Sarah left her parents and most all of her siblings in Paducah, and established her new married life in Holly Springs.
In the 1850s, Holly Springs was also a boom town, even to the extent that it was considered the un-official capital of northern Mississippi. Growth was reinforced in 1853 when the Mississippi Railroad held its ground-breaking ceremony there on its new railroad line. Likely, George and Sarah Adams found Holly Springs a good home for their expanding family in the 1850s, and there they had a total of five children by the year 1862.
However, the strife of the Civil War approached. When the Civil War began in 1861, the first volunteers from Holly Springs left town on 28 Mar 1861, as the Jeff Davis Rifle and Home Guards.
Apparently, George Adams also heard this "call to arms" in defense of states' rights, for on 12 May 1862, he enlisted as a private at Holly Springs for a three-year term in the Confederate Army, Ninth Regiment of Mississippi Infantry Volunteers, New Company I. But, tragically, only two years from his enlistment, on 19 May 1864, Private George W. Adams died at the Foard Hospital in Marietta, GA, from wounds he received at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia. George was 34 years old, and he left his wife Sarah and their five children back home in Holly Springs.
Sarah continued to live in Holly Springs, where she raised her young children to adulthood. However, during and after the Civil War, Holly Springs was not a good place to live. On 13 Nov 1862, the town suffered occupation under Colonel Albert L. Lee, 7th Kansas Cavalry, and also General Grant then set up his headquarters there. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn blew up and burned much of Grant's supplies, took many arms, and captured 1,500 prisoners at Holly Springs. The Union troops retaliated by burning much of the city. The occupation of Holly Springs was fairly permanent by mid-1863. All in all, Holly Springs suffered 60 distinct raids during the war. By the end of the Civil War, there was little left after the looting, pillaging, and burning by both sides. Three companies of Federal troops occupied Holly Springs at the end of the War in 1865, but this number was reduced to 162 troops by 1866. Fortunately, Sarah and her children survived the Civil War fighting and the difficult economic times it brought.
Sarah and her children also survived the horrific epidemic when yellow fever came to Holly Springs in 1878. At the peak of this epidemic, men thought to be immune were sent to knock on doors and, if there was no answer, they entered to remove the bodies. The deaths continued to mount until a mass grave was used. An early frost stopped the spread of the disease, but the town's population had been decimated by over 2,000 souls.
Sarah lived another 20 years, and she died at about age 75 after a prolonged illness. Her death came on about 23 Mar 1898 in Holly Springs, and she was buried there. Although it is likely that she was buried in Hill Crest Cemetery on the Adams' family plot, this location is not certain as the cemetery records are incomplete.
Inscription
There is no marker
Gravesite Details
The exact location of her grave is not known, but likely it is on the same lot with the other members of her Adams family.
Family Members
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