For Dr. Laurie Rush, history has a special place in her heart. As the award winning Cultural Resources Manager for Fort Drum, this story could have easily been about her.

What You Need To Know

  • John and Almena Randall owned a farm in Woods Mills back in the Civil War era

  • John and his two sons, went to fight in the war. John and one son died, the other son, was injured

  • It left Almena to run the farm on her own, with her two daughters

  • However, Almena was able to not only keep the farm afloat, she led it to successful expansion

However, historians have stories and this archeologist had one she felt she had to share as we take the month of March to honor all women.

"Well certainly, Almena offers us a model of a strong, resilient woman who clearly was committed to the success of her family," Dr. Rush said of the story.

The story begins in Woods Mills. It's now one of the handfuls of lost villages of Fort Drum — communities taken over by the military as the nation ramped up for World War II.

However, in the mid 1800's they were the home of many farm families, including John and Almena, the Randall's, married in 1840.

"Almena was 16-years-old when she married John," Dr. Rush said.

The couple would have four children, Nelson, Artemus, Esther and Ella, and they all worked on their 100-acre farm until the day in April of 1861 when then President Abraham Lincoln called for troops, It was the beginning of the Civil War.

"Within two days, Nelson, who was 17 at the time, signed up," Dr. Rush told.

Two days later, Artemus did the same. With the constant angst of two missing places at the dinner table, John would eventually join his boys. It left Almena to tend to the 100-acre farm, with only her two young daughters.

"Knowing that perhaps her husband is going to be there might be a little bit of a consolation, but she probably had to take a deep breath," Dr. Rush said.

Long days, longer. Hard work, harder. Extra hands, non-existent.

"If they're not planting, they're clearing land. They're busy all through the winter. They're building their sleds and all different pieces of equipment," Dr. Rush said of farmers back then, including how Almena would have operated her farm.

It took an incredible amount of strength, but it was strength that is impossible to fathom as just a short time later, Almena learned her husband and son, Artemus, would never return home and her other son Nelson, while returning home alive, suffered major injuries, both physically and mentally. It happened at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

"John and Artemus were hit directly, together, with the same shell," Dr. Rush said.

Add heartbreak to the need to overcome. It was an added strength and perseverance that Almena somehow found.

"She has a hope and vision of the future, and perhaps a sense of responsibility to her daughters as well that, we can't just fold up here," Dr. Rush said of Almena.

It was when we found out just how capable she was. As her daughters pitched in more and Nelson, recovering, could as well, Almeda's farm went from thriving to expanding.

In just a short time, there were more animals, crops, and even land than ever before.

"We all know, women rise to the challenge when called upon. So just as we have our military spouses who keep the home fire burning when our soldiers head away to war, these women rose and met the challenge as well," Dr. Rush said.

Almena would eventually remarry, owning the successful farm and her children would all move on to their own successes.

It's a story, a life, which Dr. Rush believes can show women everywhere that impacts can be made anywhere and everywhere, as long as you have the confidence to make one.

"A woman should do something every day that she's a little bit afraid to do. I think that's wonderful advice," she said.

Perhaps that's the exact reason Dr. Rush wanted to share this story. It's the kind of wisdom her family instilled in her, on a farm in Wisconsin.