- Sarah’s mother conspired to help Sarah run away in order to avoid a marriage her father was forcing upon her. She went with her mother’s friend to work selling hats in another town. She then moved to Moncton, New Brunswick.
- For some reason she decided to disappear – it’s believed her father found her in Moncton. She disguised herself as a man named Frank Thompson, moved to St Johns NB and began selling books door-to-door.
- After visiting her publisher in the USA she chose to move to Flint Michigan and sell books there.
- Tried to enlist twice before getting accepted into the Army. May 26, 1861 she became Private Frank Thompson
- Needing care for Malaria, she chose to admit herself as a woman to a private hospital. On her way back to her station she discovered she had been listed as a deserter and chose not to go back. Some believe she left because an officer with whom she had a romantic involvement returned to his wife, but there is no proof.
- Thompson moved to Oberlin Ohio and became Sarah Emma Edmonds again.