Phoebe Weston, born in Townsend, MA. on August 26, 1814, moved with her parents to Ohio. She married Franklin Farmer in the early 1840's and Alice Cary Risley was born at Wilmington, Ohio, on Nov. 1, 1847. The couple and their children moved to Nauvoo, IL., and after some difficulties the family relocated in New Iberia, LA, in 1851. Due to the family's Union sympathies, the family left New Iberia during the Civil War and Phoebe and Alice fled to New Orleans, where Alice served as a nurse in the hospitals. She was also a teacher in a school for blacks in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Her future husband Samuel A. Risley served as a member of the United States Army signal Corp in the 117th Illinois Infantry Regiment. After the war, Alice married Samuel Risley in St. Louis in 1872. They moved to West Plains, MO where Samuel became a one of the city's first newspapermen and later postmaster. Franklin Farmer and Samuel Risley both died in 1894 and Phoebe Farmer died a year later on November 10, 1895.
Alice became a member of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War (affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic) and served as national president of that organization for 16 years. When she died in Alexandria, La., on May 10, 1939, she was reputed to be the last surviving nurse of the Civil War.
From the description of Alice Farmer Risley family papers, 1856-1939 (bulk 1863-1900). (Louisiana State University). WorldCat record id: 268675252
