55th Massachusetts Regiment Archives - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Jane Ador Major

Abolitionist Jane Ador Major (1814-1888) and her husband, the Reverend William Jackson, secretly sheltered freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad. In support of Black regiments in the Civil War, Jane founded the Eleventh Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) sewing circle circa 1860 in New Bedford.

Martha Bush Gray

Known as the “Mother of the 54th,” Martha Bush Gray was an African American Civil War nurse who served the troops of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments in the South.