Marriage and Family Life
In August 1861, Kirby Smith met Cassie Selden (1836-1905), the daughter of Samuel S. Selden of Lynchburg, Virginia. Kirby Smith was recovering from being wounded at the First Battle of Manassas, but still found time for wooing - they were married on September 24. Cassie wrote on October 10, 1862 from Lynchburg, Virginia asking what to name their first child. Cassie suggested "something uncommon as I consider her an uncommon baby." The new baby was later named Frances.
The couple briefly reunited when Cassie followed her husband to Shreveport February 1863. In the spring of 1864 she moved to Hempstead, Texas where she was to remain for the duration of the war. After the war's end, Cassie traveled to Washington to secure permission for her husband's return to the United States.
In Sewanee, Tennessee, the Kirby Smiths lived happily. They had five sons and six daughters, Caroline (1862-1941), Frances (1864-1930), Edmund (1866-1938), Lydia (1868-1962), Nina (1870-1965), Elizabeth (1872-1937), Reynold (1874-1962), William (1876-1967), Josephine (1878-1961), Joseph (1882-1951), and Ephraim (1884-1940).
Read more about this topic: Edmund Kirby Smith
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