Herndon, Sarah Raymond, 1840-1914

Resident of Virginia City, Mont. ; seamstress, school teacher.

From the description of Sallie Raymond's diary for 1866. (Montana State University Bozeman Library). WorldCat record id: 42071064

The Raymond family arrived in Virginia City by wagon train from Missouri in September 1865. They were Mrs. Delilah Raymond and her children Sarah (Sallie), William Hillhouse, and Winthrop. Mrs. Raymond started a boarding house and the boys soon had purchased a ranch they called Belmont Park . Sarah began teaching school in March, 1866 as probably the first public school teacher in an organized school district in the Montana Territory. After teaching for one school year, Sarah married James M. Herndon in May 1867 and remained in Virginia City until her death in 1914. Sarah had kept a diary of the wagon train trip which was published in 1902 as "Days on the Road." She also kept a 1866 diary of her experiences in Virginia City and teaching school. The Raymond family was prominent in Virginia City and Madison County. They began a successful freight company and the Raymond Brothers store. W. Hillhouse took over Belmont Park which became renowned for its trotters and Winthrop platted the town of Sheridan, Montana where he was in banking and land development. Mrs. Raymond died in 1896, W. Hillhouse in 1905 and Winthrop in 1912.

From the guide to the Sarah Raymond Herndon Papers, 1866-1912, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)