And just why did she become "Henry E. Goodwin?"
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| "Times are so hard that I must work in this way to support the babys (sic)." |
Julia made it quite clear in her letters that she did not wish to "become" a male. Rather, she disguised herself to take advantage of the better economic opportunities available to her as a male than a female. It was a matter of survival.
Disguised as a boy, Julia found employment at the Briggs Iron Works. In addition to her wages, she also received room and board at Charles P. Munson's hotel. While she labored, her aunts kept her two girls, Julia and Clara.
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| Briggs - also known as Colby - Iron Works 1876 Lithograph https://antiquemapsprints.com/collections/old-vintage-prints/products/colby-iron-works-lanesboro-berkshire-mass-1876-detailed-uncommon-old-litho-view |
"I wonder what you will say to me after you get these letters. I hope you will not be angry with me. It is the easiest way to support myself and now I am free from insult."
Julia continued to explain her decision to her husband:
"I think my position working as I do a thousand times more honorable than to sell my honor and if I get found out it will be an honor to (sic)."
In other words, instead of falling into prostitution where she could have undoubtedly made enough money to support herself and her daughters, she decided to disguise herself as a boy to take advantage of a better-paying job that she would have been denied as a woman.
And her comment that she was "free from insult" referenced the remarks she made in a previous letter regarding the burdensome task of having to deal with unwanted advances from men.
Julia was a hard worker and her boss was complimentary. She told Leemon that she was his "pet boy." As a matter of fact, one man was fired for treating her badly. Julia informed her husband that she was also training to be an engineer for which she would be paid $75 per month. She labored long and hard, yet still managed to continue her studies courtesy of a college student with whom she worked.
Julia mentioned multiple times how lonely she was. She worked every day except Sundays and rainy days. It was a hard life, especially considering that she didn't get to go home to see her babies but once a month. And she missed Leemon.
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| "I wish you was here." |
She urged him to get a discharge and join her in Massachusetts. She closed her letter by bidding him to:
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| "Write often and don't forget me. Ever your own, J_____" |
And what did Leemon have to say? Surprisingly very little....at least in the sole letter of his that I have read. But his loving words to his wife and his desire to see her show that he must not have objected to her occupation choice and the means by which she acquired the job. However, in previous correspondence, he must have assumed that Julia's new life indicated that she no longer cared for him. But she set him straight:
"Don't think any more that I don't love you or doubt me again. I could not forget you or cease to love you as long as you were true to me."
And she underlined those words to emphasize her feelings. Both husband and wife liked underlining words and using exclamation points in their letters.
Little did Julia know that this letter, written July 26th, 1864, where she begged her husband not to forget her, would be the last one she would write to Leemon.
And what about Leemon? He wasn't having a very good time either. He was sick in the U.S. Marine Hospital in New Orleans.
This is where woman soldier Rosetta Wakeman, alias "Lyons Wakeman" of the 153rd New York Infantry, died. To read a previous article I wrote about her stay in this hospital, click [HERE]. Rosetta passed away there on June 19th, 1864. Leemon arrived sometime the same month, so there is a good chance he was there when Rosetta was. They both suffered from diarrhea, which claimed Rosetta's life. In addition to this debilitating ailment, Leemon also had a heart condition.
In a letter to Julia dated September 4th, 1864, Leemon said his illness had dwindled him down to the point of his legs taking on the characteristics of those of spiders.
"I have but little strength especially in my legs, which by the way, are much like spider legs as regards [to] size!"
Like so many other Union soldiers stationed in Louisiana, Leemon found it difficult to cope with the humid, tropical Southern climate during the summer. He had procured a furlough and made it clear to Julia as he composed his letter from his hospital bed that he did not want to return to south Louisiana upon the conclusion of his leave.
"One thing, I won't come back to this climate if it is in my power to keep away!"
He continued:
"I'll never go back to that cursed Battery [1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery]!"
He really, really didn't want to go back south and planned to perhaps try to get into the Invalid Corps, also called the Veteran Reserve Corps. If that plan fell through, he briefly considered desertion.
"Sometimes I think that I won't come back any way, yet I must obey the law."
But at least he had his furlough and was planning to go to Massachusetts to see his wife and babies. He concluded his letter with:
"I think I'll see you all soon! I am yours ever[,] Leemon!"
But that would not happen. Little did Leemon know as he composed the letter to his wife, that she would never receive it. Julia Underhill had come down with typhoid fever while working at the iron works and died on August 9th, 1864. A doctor discovered her secret, and officials found Leemon's letters
among her effects, or she would have taken her secret with her to the
grave. She was listed as 28 years old in the death register, which contradicts the 1850 census where she showed up as seven years old. Regardless, she was gone way too soon.
One newspaper reporter noted that "she died from over-exertion for those she loved."
One newspaper reporter noted that "she died from over-exertion for those she loved."
Leemon learned about his wife's death while in the hospital. And I picture him grasping her last letter to him while reading her final words: "Don't forget me."
Leemon Underhill received a discharge September 12th, 1864, just eight days after he wrote his last letter to Julia in which he let her know he was coming to see her, a letter she never received. I don't know if he ever went to Massachusetts to get his two girls or whether they later joined him, but they were all living together with Leemon's mother in Michigan in 1870. Leemon had also remarried by then and had several children with his new wife. But he did not settle there. He and his family ended up relocating to multiple locations, including Kansas, Nebraska, back to Minnesota, and then finally to Washington. Leemon passed away in a soldiers' home there in 1914.
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| Leemon Underhill Find a Grave |
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| Snohomish GAR Cemetery Find a Grave |
Their daughter, Julia, went west with her father and is buried near him. Clara stayed in Minnesota and is buried there.
There are no known photographs of Julia Underhill. However, she did say that she had some made, including one of her as Henry Goodwin. Perhaps it will surface one day. As for her grave, all the death register mentioned was that she was buried in the "town cemetery" in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. I have not been able to find which cemetery that is or whether her grave is marked. I certainly hope it can be located one day so that visitors can pay their respects and fulfill one of her final wishes, "Don't forget me."
It's obvious that Julia loved her husband and missed him sorely when he enlisted. Why did she not enlist with him? She disguised herself as a boy to procure a better paying job so she could take care of her children. What kept her from taking the next step and becoming a soldier? I have theories but am curious to see what you think.
*Thanks to Mr. David for providing me with copies of the letters. They are housed at the Minnesota State Historical Society.
Until next formation....rest.
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