Antonia Willard

Antonia Ford Willard (1838-1871)
Lace cap and collar, ca. 1863
Manuscript Division
Gift of the Willard Family (42B)

This delicately crafted lace cap and collar set was purportedly made by Antonia Ford Willard while in prison on charges of spying for the Confederate Army. Willard, who was commissioned honorary aide-de-camp to General Jeb Stuart, was thought to have been instrumental in the capture of E.H. Stoughton by John S. Mosby's Rangers at Fairfax Courthouse in 1863. She was arrested for her alleged involvement, incarcerated in Washington's Old Capitol Prison, and married her captor, Union Army Major Joseph C. Willard, one year later.

Antonia Ford Willard (1838-1871)
Studio portrait
by O.H. Willard, Philadelphia
Manuscript Division
Gift of the Willard Family (42C)