After the Civil War, Electa’s life did not get easier. But she had lots of close friends and her remaining family. They helped her get through. She took care of them, too.
Because her son had died in the war, Electa received 8 dollars each month from the US government. Some of that money fed people Electa let stay at her farm.
Electa’s nephew Jeremiah wasn’t happy that she was taking care of others when she barely had enough money for herself. “I am sorry that you give him shelter, [and that you] work yourself to death,” he wrote about one guest in 1867. But Electa wanted to do what she could for others.
What we know about the last years of Electa’s life comes mostly from letters that other people wrote to her. Electa’s family and friends wrote about lots of different things, such as the weather, farm crops, visitors to their homes, and tribal politics. But we only have one side of the conversation. Unfortunately, none of Electa’s letters back were saved.
The eastern shore of Lake Winnebago, near where Electa lived
In 1870, Electa’s nephew Benjamin thanked Electa for letting him stay at her house after his mother died. “I will never forget the kindness I received from you when I was there,” he wrote. The feeling “was the same as when my mother was alive.”
One letter reveals that Electa’s son John thought of becoming a teacher like his mother. “You tell John Clark to come out here and teach when he gets ready to do so,” wrote a friend from Iowa.
Being a Christian was still important to Electa. Friends often mentioned passages from the Bible. Sarah once answered difficult Bible quiz questions that Electa had sent to her.
“What king gave to another king 20 cities and he was not pleased with the gift and what did he say? You will find the answer in the 11th, 12th and 13th verses of the 9th chapter of 1st Kings,” Sarah wrote. “I will try to answer the other questions as soon as I can.”
Religion was important to many Stockbridge, including Electa. This special Bible was given to the tribe in 1745 and now sits in their museum.
Although John Walker Candy never returned to Wisconsin, letters help us know what was going on in his life. Some letters that mention John were written to Electa by her friends. Others were between people who knew John in Arkansas.
John was apparently angry about things that had divided the Cherokee people for many years. In 1867, he tried to get a pamphlet printed about his views, but he could not interest anyone in the project.
In 1867, John’s nephew William Boudinot wrote a strange letter about him to Stand Watie.
“Jack Candy has gone crazy and appeared to me this morning. I am sorry to say this is no joke. He is really out of his wits,” William wrote.
We don’t know what went on that day, but John died in Arkansas about a year later, on August 21, 1868. On the day he died, he had walked 8 miles to church and back.
A lot of what we know about Electa comes from letters. Her son Daniel Adams wrote this one to her in 1862, a few months before he died of pneumonia.
His former brother-in law, John Wheeler, wrote that he had been “an honest, upright, good man.” John Wheeler’s wife and Mary Ann Watie were sisters. Like John Walker Candy, he worked as a printer.
Electa heard the news and shared it. Others wrote back, sharing her sadness.
“I am sorry to hear that Mr. Candy has gone to his long home,” wrote Electa’s friend Marion Peters. “I hope he has gone to a better world than this.”
Finally, in these years, those who knew Electa still saw her as a teacher. They seemed to know that Electa, like any teacher, would be unhappy if she found errors in their letters to her.
“I hope you will overlook all my mistakes. I write this very fast,” her nephew Benjamin wrote in 1870.
“You will please look over all my mistakes,” Marion Peters wrote in 1870.
Years later, after Electa had died, a woman from Stockbridge said neighbors always thought of her as a teacher. “My father’s father, I think, knew her,” the woman said. She remembered that her father always said “the schoolteacher” when talking about Electa.
