Teacher She taught for six years, the latter part of the time being employed in the schools of Bloomington. The most noted of her schools was the one where she taught during the Civil War in the area near her home. It was there she taught children, whose parents were what were then known as "Copperheads," sympathizers with the
secessionists. Notwithstanding the sentiment that surrounded her, she kept a little
Stars and Stripes hanging over her desk. One day, she returned to her schoolroom to find it broken from its staff and lying upon the floor. She gathered it up and nailed it to the wall. It hung there the rest of the term. That was the first flag-raising in a public school. Ever since that day, she advocated the placing of a U.S. flag in every school house and church in the country, and her idea became popular. She further advocated that the Bible,
ballot box, and U.S. flag should accompany one another at the polls.
Civil War years Sanders was secretary of the Soldier's Aid Society of Bloomington, during the Civil War. She also served as corresponding secretary for the
U.S. Sanitary Commission branch of that city.
Post-war On September 19, 1867, she married James Troyless Sanders (1840–1925), of
Jacksonville, Illinois who was one of the incorporators of the Delavan Homestead Building & Loan Association. The couple had four children: Augusta (died in infancy in 1870) Harold Pike Sanders (1871–1957), Royal Woodson Sanders (1873–1936), and Bernadine M. (1878-1894). After marriage, while residing in
Delavan, Illinois, Sanders' time was principally occupied by home duties, but she was always more or less prominently identified with public affairs along certain lines. She was a member of the
Order of the Eastern Star, having been state treasurer of the same for 12 consecutive years. She was also the grand vice templar of the IOGT (1865-67), the highest office a woman could hold in that order at that time. In December 1885, Sanders joined the
Illinois WRC, and became the first president of her Corps. In February, 1886, she represented the Corps in department convention of Illinois, where she was elected department treasurer of the order and delegate-at-large to the
California convention, where she went in August, via
Colorado the month before. On her return, she published a journal of her travels. In February, 1887, she was elected department president of her State. In February 1888, she was made department counselor of the Illinois WRC and a member of the national pension committee, in which she served two years. In the
Milwaukee convention, she presented the recommendation for the adoption of the site of the National WRC house in
Madison, Ohio. She recommended the certificate of service for the army nurses of the Civil War, and was afterward appointed by the national president to prepare a design for the same, which was adopted and issued by the national order. She was one of the board of incorporators of the National Woman's Relief Corps Home. In 1890 and 1891, she served as national instituting and installing officer. In the national convention in
Detroit,
Michigan, in August, 1891, she was elected national president of the WRC. In 1892, she presided over the convention held at
Washington, D.C. Bloomington Sanders always took considerable interest in school work and everything tending toward reform, but on coming to Bloomington, November, 1892, she determined to keep out of public office. This she could not well do, as the people knew her ability as a leader and the success with which she always met in the management of public affairs. Her first public work here was in connection with the Wither's Public Library as a trustee, and in 1894 she was elected its president, which office she filled for three years, later serving as secretary of the same. Sanders became actively interested in the Girls' Industrial home of McLean county for the care of dependent and defenseless girls, serving as president for three years. In April 1898, Sander was elected a member of the Bloomington board of education. Her husband became a well-known realtor of Bloomington. The couple attended and helped support the Unitarian church, of which she served as superintendent of the Sunday school for three years. Sanders was a prominent member of the McLean County Historical Society and prepared for the association a complete account of the work of the Sanitary Aid Society of McLean County, from 1861 to 1866. She was a member of the board of trustees of the Deaconess Hospital, a member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and served as first vice-president of the Woman's Club. ==Death==