Sarah Alice (Adams) Haldeman
Born: Cedarville, Illinois, June 5, 1853. Married: Henry Winfield Haldeman, October 25, 1875. Died: Chicago, Illinois, on March 19, 1915.
Sarah Alice Adams was born to John Huy and Sarah (Weber) Adams, the fifth of nine children. Jane Addams, the social rights advocate, was eighth of nine. Her ninth child died during birth, and Sarah shortly after in 1863, leaving the youngest children to be raised by the eldest. John Addams married Sarah (Hostetler) Haldeman in 1867, who had two sons.
She attended Rockford Seminary in Rockford, Illinois, which became Mount Holyoke, graduating in June 1872. She studied art in Europe for a year. Alice married Dr. Henry Winfield Haldeman, her stepbrother, to the disappointment of family, on October 25, 1875. The family moved as he practice medicine in Fordwell, Iowa, and Mitchellville, Iowa. He went to Philadelphia for a year’s graduate work, and she studied at the women’s medical college. Those studies allowed her to become an anesthetist in his medical practice. Henry’s health deteriorated and he retired from that practice. He sought treatment in the mountains of Virginia, but decided ultimately to move to Girard, Crawford County, Kansas.
Henry purchased half interest in the Bank of Girard with Howard Adams, in August 1884. The Haldemans arrived in Girard in September 13, 1884, and Henry became involved in the county medical society. He then purchased the remaining half of the bank on October 2, 1886. Their only child, Anna Marcet Haldeman, was born in Girard in 1887.
Like her sister Jane Addams, Alice was dedicated toward social activism and philanthropy. She focused on improving the lives and education of those struggling in her community. The coal mines drew immigrant workers, whose families came to live in the mining towns. They often had limited resources and found difficulty communicating in English. Alice was elected president of the Girard board of education. She became active in church volunteer work. She joined women's philanthropic and literary clubs, and led and effort to form a federation of the numerous women’s organizations in Girard. She was elected treasurer of the Girard Woman’s Suffrage Association on March 30, 1892, as the organization prepared to support the 1894 ballot initiative to expand full voting rights for women in Kansas. She was elected the first president of the Girard Public Library Association on January 21, 1899.
When Henry died of a heart ailment in 1905, community concerns arose about the future of the bank. Alice incorporated the State Bank of Girard and was elected president by the stockholders. The Kansas State Bankers Association elected her vice president for the third district. She was told by banking industry members she was the only woman to serve in that position in the nation.
Marcet Haldeman returned to Girard after pursuing college and theater opportunities in New York, to assist her mother with the family bank. Stockholders elected Marcet to the bank board, while Alice continued to serve as president, on January 2, 1914. Alice went to Chicago to care for an ailing sister and became seriously ill. After undergoing surgery, Sarah Alice (Addams) Haldeman died in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on March 19, 1915.
Entry: Sarah Alice (Adams) Haldeman
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: December 2024
Date Modified: December 2024
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
