WISCONSIN SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY. ARLY in the summer of 1861, Mrs. Margaret A. Jackson, widow of the late Rev. William Jackson, of Louisville, Kentucky, in connection with Mrs. Louisa M. Delafield and others, engaged in awakening an interest among the ladies of Milwaukee, in regard to the sanitary wants of the soldiers, which soon resulted in the formation of a "Milwaukee Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society," composed of many of the benevolent ladies of this city. The society was very zealous in soliciting aid for the soldiers, and in making garments for their use in the service. Very soon other Aid Societies in various parts of the State desired to become auxiliaries to this organization, and soon after the battle of Bull Run it became evident that their efficiency could be greatly promoted by the Milwaukee Society becoming a branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, and that relation was effected. The name of the society was at this time changed to "Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society." Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Delafield continued to be efficient as leaders in all the work of this society, but in its reorganization, Mrs. Henrietta L. Colt was chosen Corresponding Secretary, and commenced her work with great zeal and energy. She visited the Wisconsin soldiers in various localities at the front, and thus brought the wants of the brave men to the particular knowledge of the society, and in this way largely promoted the interest, zeal and efficiency of the ladies connected with it. She described the sufferings, fortitude and heroism of the soldiers with such simple pathos, that thousands of hearts were melted, and contributions poured into the treasury of the society in great abundance. The number of auxiliaries in the State was two hundred and twenty-nine. The central organization at Milwaukee, beside forwarding supplies, had one bureau to assist soldiers' families in getting payments from the State, one to secure employment for soldiers' wives and mothers through contracts with the Government, under the charge of Mrs. Jackson, one to secure employment for the partially disabled soldiers, and one to provide for widows and orphans. The channels of benevolence through the State were various; the people generally sought the most direct route to the soldiers in the field; but the gifts to the army sent by the Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society (their report says without any "Fair"), alone amounted-the packages, to nearly six thousand in number, the value to nearly two hundred thousand dollars. The Wisconsin Aid Society and its officers also rendered large and valuable aid to the two Sanitary Fairs held in Chicago in September, 1863, and June, 1865. The Wisconsin Soldiers' Home, at Milwaukee, connected with the Wisconsin Aid Society, was an institution of great importance during the war. Its necessity has not passed away, and will not for many years. The ladies who originated and sustained it were indefatigable in their labors, and the benevolent public gave them their heartiest sanction. It gave thousands of soldiers a place of entertainment as they passed through the city to and from the army, and thus promoted their comfort and good morals. The sick and wounded were there tenderly nursed; the dying stranger there had friends. During the year ending April 15, 1865, four thousand eight hundred and forty-two soldiers there received free entertainment, and the total number of meals served in the year was seventeen thousand four hundred and fifty-six, an average of forty-eight daily. These soldiers represented twenty different States, two |