Sarah Sampson (maiden name: Smith) was born sometime between 1832 and 1842 in Maine to Joseph and Lucy Smith. She probably grew up in Bath, Maine. She married Charles A. L. Sampson sometime before 1860. They lived in Bath, and her husband worked as a carpenter. By 1860, they owned $1,500 of real estate and $450 of personal property. Her husband served in the 3^rd Maine Infantry during the Civil War, and she worked as an army nurse.

 

As one writer later noted, “many are the tales of her heroism and bravery and kindness…to all the soldiers [with] whom she came in contact upon the field of battle and in the hospitals. She was always active, and shared in the victories, defeats, comforts, hardships, joys and sorrows of the [3^rd Maine].”

 

Her husband resigned in July 1862, and she returned to Bath with him. By September 1862, however, she was working for the Maine Soldiers’ Relief Association. She continued her work after the war, founding the Home for Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans in Bath. Her husband worked as a wood carver, and by 1870, they owned $4,000 of real estate and $900 of personal property. They had at least two children: Mary, born around 1868; and Beatrice, born around 1871. Her husband died in 1881.

 

By 1900, she was living in Washington, D.C., and working as a clerk for the Pension Bureau. As one writer observed, “her efforts in the interest of the old soldiers has never lagged.” She died in Washington on December 22, 1907.

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