bank of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls and had operated the sutler's store at Fort Snelling since 1839. Sarah Jane was the eldest daughter of James Steele, who had served as Inspector General of Pennsylvania Troops during the War of 1812 and as a legislator in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and built a paper- and cotton-milling business with one of his brothers. Her three sisters eventually moved west with their mother following the death of their father in 1845. In 1847, her sister Abbian Steele married Dr. Thomas R. Potts of Galena, Illinois, and moved with him to Saint Paul, Minnesota, where Potts became one of the town's first physicians, its first mayor, and a close friend of Henry Sibley. From 1856 until her death in 1869, Sarah Jane Sibley served on the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association as Vice Regent in charge of fundraising in Minnesota. She appointed roughly two dozen "lady managers" to assist fundraising efforts for the historical preservation of Mount Vernon, including Mary LeDuc and Rebecca Flandreau, who would succeed her. In an effort to transcend political divisions, Sarah Jane established a male advisory board including Henry Sibley's bitter enemy within the Democratic Party, Daniel A. Robertson, along with future Republican state legislator John B. Sanborn and future governor Henry A. Swift. The advisory board also included many of Henry Sibley's business contacts such as Richard Chute, Alexis Bailly and Martin McLeod, and family friends such as John S. Prince and William Gates LeDuc. In her later years, Sarah Jane suffered from recurring pleurisy and pregnancies, which kept her confined to bed for much of the time. In July 1859, she sent MVLA Regent Ann Pamela Cunningham a letter of resignation which was declined. In 1860, Henry also wrote to Cunningham on Sarah's behalf, but his plea to allow her to resign due to ill health was ignored. In 1862, the Sibley family moved to their new home at 417 Woodward Street in St. Paul – a move that Sarah had longed for during many years but reportedly was unable to enjoy due to depression and illness. Sarah Jane Sibley died of complications from pneumonia on May 21, 1869 at the age of 46. Relationship with daughter Helen When Helen was about six years old, Henry Sibley arranged to have Helen adopted by William Reynolds Brown, an Anglo-American farmer, and his wife Martha. They had