Category Archives: Margaret Poage Williamson

Ann “Nancy” Margery Rankin Adams – Living Life with Moses

One of the challenges of writing about the “soul sisters” is that several of them are completely silent. They left behind no written record, no letters, no diary, no journal, and no memoir of their years with the Dakota mission. … Continue reading

Posted in Agnes Johnson Hopkins Pond, Dakota Mission, Jane Smith Williamson, Kaposia Village, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Lucy Spooner Drake, Margaret Poage Williamson, Mary Ann Clark Longley Riggs, Mary Spooner Worcester, Moses Newton Adams, Nancy Rankin Adams, Sarah Rankin Hancock, Traverse des Sioux, Underground Railroad, Women in Minnesota | Leave a comment

Life of a Legend – The Story of Jane Smith Williamson – Part XV

One other change that the Williamsons experienced in the latter years of the 1860s was that Andrew Williamson, Thomas and Margaret’s second oldest son, came home from his service in the Civil War. Andrew had enlisted in the 5th Minnesota, … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Hunter, Hugh Doak Cunningham, Jane Smith Williamson, Margaret Poage Williamson, Martha Williamson Stout, Mary Beauford Ellison Cunningham, Mary Smith Briggs Aiton, Nancy Hunter Lindsey, Nancy Jane Williamson, Women in Minnesota | Leave a comment

Life of a Legend – The Story of Jane Smith Williamson – Part XIV

The exile of the Dakota from Minnesota began in April of 1863 when approximately 265 men who had been in prison in Mankato, were taken by steamboat to Davenport, Iowa, where they were to serve out their sentences along with … Continue reading

Posted in Catherine Tatidutawin, Jane Smith Williamson, Margaret Poage Williamson, Marion Robertson Hunter, Sarah Hopkins Chaska, Wawiyohiyawin/Sarah Hopkins, Women in Minnesota, Wowinape | Leave a comment

Life of a Legend – The Story of Jane Smith Williamson – Part XII

When the Williamson’s arrived in St. Peter, Minnesota, on August 25, 1862, the town was bursting at the seams with refugees pouring in from all over the surrounding area. Many had left everything behind and saw their houses and farm … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Hunter, Eli Huggins, Elizabeth Means [Voris] Burgess, Elizabeth Williamson Hunter, Jane Smith Williamson, Lydia Pettijohn Huggins, Margaret Poage Williamson, Mary Ann Clark Longley Riggs, Nancy Jane Williamson, Nancy Rankin Adams, Peter Tapaytatanka, Robert Hopkins Chaska, Rufus Huggins, Sarah Hopkins Chaska, Sophia Josephine Marsh Huggins Hanthorne, Wawiyohiyawin/Sarah Hopkins, Women in Minnesota | 2 Comments

Life of a Legend – The Story of Jane Smith Williamson – Part III

Jane Williamson didn’t come to the Dakota mission at Lac qui Parle as a missionary. Her intention was to stay one or two years to help Thomas and Margaret with their children and teach her nieces and nephews and the … Continue reading

Posted in Agnes Johnson Hopkins Pond, Catherine Tatidutawin, Cordelia Eggleston Pond, Dakota Mission, Fanny Huggins Pettijohn, Harriet Bishop, Jane Smith Williamson, John Baptiste Renville, Joseph Kawanke, Joseph Renville, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Lorenzo Lawrence, Lydia Pettijohn Huggins, Magdalena Renville, Margaret Poage Williamson, Marguerite Renville, Mary Little Crow aka Tokanne, Rosalie Renville, St. Peter, Traverse des Sioux, Wawiyohiyawin/Sarah Hopkins | Leave a comment

Heartbroken Heroine – Agnes Carson Johnson [Hopkins] [Pond] – Part IV

After Robert’s tragic death, Agnes had little choice but to take her children and return to her family in Ohio. She couldn’t make the trip alone, however, and it wasn’t until September that arrangements were made for her to travel … Continue reading

Posted in Agnes Johnson Hopkins Pond, Cordelia Eggleston Pond, Dakota Mission, Margaret Poage Williamson, Mission Park and Gideon Pond House, Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, Sarah Poage Pond, Traverse des Sioux, Women in Minnesota | 1 Comment

Heartbroken Heroine – Agnes Carson Johnson [Hopkins] [Pond] – Part II

On April 4, 1844, Agnes, Robert and 6-month-old Mary Frances, left the mission at Lac qui Parle to join Stephen and Mary Riggs at the new mission at Traverse des Sioux, 110 miles to the east on the Minnesota River. … Continue reading

Posted in Agnes Johnson Hopkins Pond, Dakota Mission, Fanny Huggins Pettijohn, Julia Kephart, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Lydia Pettijohn Huggins, Margaret Poage Williamson, Mary Ann Clark Longley Riggs, Minnesota History, St. Peter, Traverse des Sioux, Women in Minnesota | Leave a comment

More About Margaret and Some Thoughts on The Dakota Prisoner of War Letters

Margaret Poage Williamson is the first of the Dakota Soul Sisters I wrote about. You can click on her name on the right and go to the three entries about her remarkable life. I mention in her story that all … Continue reading

Posted in Margaret Poage Williamson, Women in Minnesota | Leave a comment

Sweet Sarah – The Life of Sarah Poage Pond

Sarah Poage was the third white woman who arrived at Lac Qui Parle with the initial group of missionaries in July 1835. Her sister Margaret was Dr. Thomas Williamson’s wife and both women were daughters of Col. James Poage, the … Continue reading

Posted in Dakota Mission, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Margaret Poage Williamson, Minnesota, Minnesota History, Ripley, Sarah Poage Pond, St. Peter, Traverse des Sioux, Women in Minnesota | 2 Comments

Getting There – Fort Snelling to Lac Qui Parle

All of the women whose stories are part of Dakota Soul Sisters shared many challenging experiences, not the least of which was the trip from the bustling social and military hubbub of Fort Snelling in present day Mendota, Minnesota, to … Continue reading

Posted in Dakota Mission, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Lydia Pettijohn Huggins, Margaret Poage Williamson, St. Peter, Traverse des Sioux, Women in Minnesota | 1 Comment