Sarah Ann Ewing Sims Carter Gaut (July 12, 1826 – August 21, 1912), usually known as Sarah Ewing Carter, was an American socialite,

secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

, and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

spy. She is purported to have hung the first

Confederate flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

and became famous during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

for assisting her cousin, Adelicia Acklen, in smuggling cotton out of the country to sell in Europe. She entertained both

and Union Army officers and soldiers in her home, gathering information to provide to Confederate troops. Gaut was the founder of the Franklin and South Pittsburg chapters of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

Early life

Gaut was born Sarah Ann Ewing on July 12, 1826, to Alexander C. Ewing, a descendant of Clan Ewing, and Chloe Saunders Ewing. She was known as "Sallie" by her family. The family home, on the Murfreesboro Pike in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, had been given to her grandfather, Colonel Alexander Ewing, in 1787 for his services during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. After her parents died, she was raised by a relative, Sallie McGavock.

Adult life

In 1842, when she was fifteen years old, Gaut married her first husband, Boyd McNairy Sims, who was a wealthy lawyer. She and Sims had three children. Her husband died at the age of twenty-seven and was buried in Hightower Cemetery near Brentwood. She married a second time, to Joseph W. Carter, a member of the

Tennessee State Legislature The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

from

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, with whom she had two children. In 1860, she moved from her father's estate to a house on Third Avenue, north of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

. At her home, she enslaved multiple people who had been left to her in her father's will, including Millie Simpkins and Andrew Ewing, the latter of whom would later serve as a 1st Sergeant of the

12th United States Colored Infantry Regiment The 12th United States Colored Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed of African American enlisted men commanded by white officers and was authorized by the Bureau ...

. Simpkins later stated in an interview that her "misses was very rich" and had "two slave women to dress her every morning". Simpskin also said that she would serve Gaut every morning with breakfast on a silver waiter.

Civil War

Gaut, then Mrs. Carter, supported the Confederate Cause to secede from the Union during the

. It is believed that she hung the first

in Franklin, which she made herself. After the death of the husband of her cousin, Adelicia Acklen, the family worried about their large cotton crop being destroyed. Gaut and Acklen traveled through both

and Union lines to smuggle the cotton out of Tennessee. Gaut took the cotton down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and sold it in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for $0.75 per pound, for a total of $960,000 in gold. While in Louisiana, she also purchased fourteen bales of cotton from a farmer who worried about his crop being burned by the troops, and sold it for $1,500 in Liverpool. During the

Battle of Franklin The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, in Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin–Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. Confederate L ...

in 1864, Gaut and her daughters sought shelter in the cellar of their Columbia Avenue home, the Carter House. Following the battle, she cared for both Confederate and Union soldiers in her home and hosted officers from both sides for elegant gatherings, including Confederate General

John Bell Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the decision to replace ...

, Confederate General Benjamin F. Cheatham, Bishop

Charles Todd Quintard Charles Todd Quintard (December 22, 1824 – February 16, 1898) was an American physician and clergyman who became the second bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Episcopal Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, Diocese of Ten ...

, and her cousin, the Union General Charles Ewing. She convinced

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

, who was then serving as the Military Governor of Tennessee, to return her horse to her after it had been taken by a Union soldier. Gaut was involved as a spy for the Confederacy during the war. According to Confederate veteran Joe Smith, she was connected to the secret letters of

Sam Davis Sam Davis (October 6, 1842 – November 27, 1863) was a Confederate soldier executed by Union forces in Pulaski, Tennessee as a spy, during the American Civil War. He is popularly known as the ''Boy Hero of the Confederacy'', although he was 21 ...

, who was later tried and hanged as a Confederate spy. While entertaining Union officials in her residence, she gathered information to provide to Confederate military officers. Gaut smuggled notes detailing Union plans to Confederate officers in a whiskey bottle concealed under her petticoats.

Later life

In 1875, after nineteen years of widowhood, she married a third time to the Unionist judge and lawyer John M. Gaut. After her third husband's death in 1895, she returned to her home in Franklin to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Robert Newton Richardson. Gaut was a member of the Campbell Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, the

Ladies Aid Society Ladies' aid societies or soldiers' aid societies were organizations of women formed during the American Civil War that were dedicated to providing supplies to soldiers on the battlefield and caring for sick and wounded soldiers. Over the course of ...

, and the Ladies Hermitage Association. On October 28, 1895, Gaut organized Franklin Chapter Number 14 of the

in the front room of her house.

Death and legacy

Gaut died in Franklin on August 21, 1912. An oil portrait of Gaut, painted by

William Edward West William Edward West (1788 February 8, 1859) was an American painter, primarily of portraits. Family West was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1788. His father was a silversmith, and responsible for his early artistic training. In 1809 he moved t ...

, hangs at the Belmont Mansion in Nashville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing Sims Carter Gaut, Sarah 1826 births 1912 deaths American Civil War spies American people of Scottish descent American socialites American smugglers Women slave owners American slave owners Daughters of the American Revolution people

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

Female wartime spies Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy People from the Confederate States of America People of Tennessee in the American Civil War People from Franklin, Tennessee Presbyterians from Tennessee Spouses of Confederate States of America politicians Spouses of Tennessee politicians