Abbie Gardner-Sharp

Abbie Gardner-Sharp (1843 – January 17, 1921)[1] was born in 1843 to Rowland Gardner and Frances M. Smith. She was the third of four children, Mary M., Eliza M., and Rowland, youngest child and only son.

Abbie Gardner-Sharp

On March 8, 1857, Abbie was abducted during the Spirit Lake Massacre. By May, the young teen was ransomed and returned to white society. Gardner had a long history of illness after the event, likely due to what we today call post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Very soon after returning home, Abbie married at the tender age of 14 to Casville Sharp (then 18 years old), with whom she had three children. Her memoir of the abduction and captivity provided income for Abbie and her family, and it went into seven editions during her lifetime. In 1891, she purchased the property and cabin from which she was abducted and near where her parents and siblings were buried. The site became a popular tourist attraction and she operated it as a small museum and gift shop.

Abbie died on January 17, 1921 and was buried with her birth family near the Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin, which still stands near Arnold’s Park in Spirit Lake, Iowa.