Daughter of John G. and Eliz­a­beth Smith Turn­er, An­nie wrote her first po­em at age 12. In 1847, she mar­ried Will­iam Wit­ten­mey­er in San­dy Springs, Ohio. Three years lat­er, they moved to Ke­o­kuk, Io­wa, where she found­ed a free school in 1853. Her hus­band died in 1860, and the next year, she joined the La­dies’ Sol­diers’ Aid So­ci­e­ty; she re­ceived spe­cial per­miss­ion from Ed­win M. Stan­ton, Sec­re­ta­ry of War, al­low­ing her to move free­ly among mil­i­ta­ry un­its, dis­pens­ing aid to the sol­diers. In 1863, she helped found a home for sol­diers’ or­phans in Ke­o­kuk. In 1868, she or­gan­ized the La­dies and Pas­tors Chris­tian Un­ion. She be­came the first pre­si­dent of the Wo­men’s Chris­tian Tem­per­ance Un­ion in 1874, and na­tion­al pre­si­dent of the Wo­men’s Re­lief Corps of the Grand Ar­my of the Re­pub­lic in 1874. Her works in­clude:

• Women’s Work for Je­sus, 1871
• History of the Wo­man’s Tem­per­ance Cru­sade, 1878
• Under the Guns, 1895

• Taylor, p. 450

1. Jesus Is Mighty to Save
2. Valley of Bless­ing, The
3. When the Cur­tains Are Lift­ed