Elizabeth Custer

[Mike Serpa]

"Ceremonies attending the unveiling of the equestrian statue to Major General George Armstrong Custer by the state of Michigan, and formally dedicated at the city of Monroe, Michigan, June fourth, nineteen hundred and ten."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7pn9hc4z;view=1up;seq=54;size=125

 

[LoriAnn]

I find it so interesting that she never remarried. Not that a woman must, but she was widowed so young. Unless, of course, she enjoyed male companionship but just never legally married.

 

[James N.]

View attachment 115856
"Ceremonies attending the unveiling of the equestrian statue to Major General George Armstrong Custer by the state of Michigan, and formally dedicated at the city of Monroe, Michigan, June fourth, nineteen hundred and ten."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7pn9hc4z;view=1up;seq=54;size=125

The statue she unveiled still stands in Monroe, though relocated to a better spot:

 

[FarawayFriend]

I find it so interesting that she never remarried. Not that a woman must, but she was widowed so young. Unless, of course, she enjoyed male companionship but just never legally married.

I think Autie was the love of her life - like JEB Stuart was the love of her life for Flora Cooke Stuart or Stephen Dodson Ramseur for his wife Nellie ... or even Stonewall Jackson for Mary Anna Morrison Jackson the list could go on forever, all the unknown soldiers who left widows behind who never remarried ....
I think all these women lost their husbands in the most tragic of ways, they were all killed, so that they never really could let go of them. No time for good byes. One day they maybe got a letter from the front, assuring them of the deep love of their husbands, the next day this husband was gone forever! Any remarriage would have meant that they started to forget, which probably was the last thing they wanted to do - and then, which man would have dared to follow these larger than life heroes?

 

[7th Texas Mounted Rifles]

I find it so interesting that she never remarried. Not that a woman must, but she was widowed so young. Unless, of course, she enjoyed male companionship but just never legally married.

I agree - and think it stands as a testament to her level of commitment.

But then again maybe not alot of men wanted to marry the crusader-type - a widower who spent the rest of her years lobbying on behalf of her fallen hero. Perhaps she alienated a lot of would-be suitors with feelings of inadequacy when measured against the man who came before them?

I don't know if she enjoyed male companionship or only the company of George - but perhaps she, like her husband:

'Never did enjoy riding strange horses'...

 

[Waterloo50]

I agree - and think it stands as a testament to her level of commitment.

But then again maybe not alot of men wanted to marry the crusader-type - a widower who spent the rest of her years lobbying on behalf of her fallen hero. Perhaps she alienated a lot of would-be suitors with feelings of inadequacy when measured against the man who came before them?

I don't know if she enjoyed male companionship or only the company of George - but perhaps she, like her husband:

'Never did enjoy riding strange horses'...

I agree with your thoughts on this, also, regardless of what people thought of Custer, any potential suitor would have to have lived in his shadow. I can't imagine many men would have taken that kind of challenge on.

 

[JohnW.]

It's a wonder that he does not have an equestrian monument on the East Cavalry field.

 

[James N.]

I agree - and think it stands as a testament to her level of commitment.

But then again maybe not alot of men wanted to marry the crusader-type - a widower who spent the rest of her years lobbying on behalf of her fallen hero. Perhaps she alienated a lot of would-be suitors with feelings of inadequacy when measured against the man who came before them?

I don't know if she enjoyed male companionship or only the company of George - but perhaps she, like her husband:

'Never did enjoy riding strange horses'...

That reminds me of another widow of a Civil War veteran, although the circumstances were quite a bit different than the rest of these ladies: In the 1880's Commanding Lieutenant General of the U. S. Army Philip H. Sheridan married a much younger woman in a ceremony that was celebrated on the front page of Harper's Weekly with a drawing by Thomas Nast and the caption Captured at Last! When Sheridan died only a few years later, his still-young wife was quoted as saying "I would rather be the widow of Phil Sheridan than the wife of any man living!"

 

[bdtex]

View attachment 115856
"Ceremonies attending the unveiling of the equestrian statue to Major General George Armstrong Custer by the state of Michigan, and formally dedicated at the city of Monroe, Michigan, June fourth, nineteen hundred and ten."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7pn9hc4z;view=1up;seq=54;size=125

Wow. She was 68 when that picture was taken and quite beautiful if I may say so.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

and quite beautiful if I may say so.

Agreed.

She is a cutie !

She was 68 when that picture was taken

No way !

She sure doesn't look her age.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Custer wasn't famous at the time of Gettysburg, an intrepid boy general but one of several. Not to take anything away from him, few other cavalry monuments claiming priority, if anyone ever got around to it.

Hate to sound er, anti husband because mine is a peach times 8 but perhaps Libby looks so terrific at 68 because she did not remarry. Custer may have been a bit of a handful, as romantic as he could be. Sounds to have been an exhausting kind of guy? How many dogs did he have? Nothing wrong with that, am merely pointing out men of huge character quirks, however likable, tend to also be a little exhausting to live with.

 

[James N.]

... Hate to sound er, anti husband because mine is a peach times 8 but perhaps Libby looks so terrific at 68 because she did not remarry. Custer may have been a bit of a handful, as romantic as he could be. Sounds to have been an exhausting kind of guy? How many dogs did he have? Nothing wrong with that, am merely pointing out men of huge character quirks, however likable, tend to also be a little exhausting to live with.

Remember how in another @Mike Serpa thread on Custer's photographs some members were shocked at how Libby seemed to have aged by 1874 when the photos at Ft. Abraham Lincoln were made - someone even suggested it was his mother! It looks as though she somehow managed to put a brake on the aging thing.

 

[bdtex]

Did a google search for more pics and found this one:

 

[Mike Serpa]

Remember how in another @Mike Serpa thread on Custer's photographs some members were shocked at how Libby seemed to have aged by 1874 when the photos at Ft. Abraham Lincoln were made - someone even suggested it was his mother! It looks as though she somehow managed to put a brake on the aging thing.

I was thinking of that very thing. She doesn't look as old in this photo. The other photos were smaller and not as clear as this one. The book was published in 1910; the photo could have been taken at anytime before.

 

[bdtex]

From the NPS website. Pulling the cord to unveil the monument. Sure looks like the same dress and gloves.

 

[bdtex]

Same picture:

Expired Image Removed

 

[Waterloo50]

Did any men ever step forward to take on the Libby challenge or were things so different back then that it would have been kept secret. I remember when Queen Victoria lost her husband, she went into mourning for 20 years but several men were suspected of having a relationship with her, remember the movie with Billy Connolly 'Mrs Brown', I doubt if Mrs Custer was very much different.

 

[Waterloo50]

I have another question, was Libby aware of Monahseetah, Custer's alleged Cheyenne mistress/wife, I read also that he was supposed to have fathered a son with Monahseetah.

Has anyone else read the interesting article entitled 'Those Lusty Custers', despite the rather comical name of the article it really does offer an interesting insight into the Custer's relationship.
http://frontierpartisans.com/5212/those-lusty-custers/

Libbie's letters to her husband were full of euphemisms and double-entendre. He did NOT want those falling into Confederate hands.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Read her book, "Boots and Saddles." She adored Autie. We should all love as she did. She was involved in a disagreement with the pension office around the time of her death. The pencil pusher couldn't find Custer's records, despite there being only one George Armstrong Custer who was a general. Someone in the VA wrote "killed by the Indians" on the bottom of one correspondence. Unfortunately the issue was not resolved before her death.

 

[bdtex]

@Mike Serpa I just wanna say what an enjoyable thread this has been. I knew nothing about Mrs. Custer before this thread. Read all the posts in this thread and it prompted me to do a little more looking. Well done sir.