It was common for families to have pictures taken to send to their soldiers in the field. Since Major Ballou died so early in the war, it is unclear whether pictures were taken of the boys at this age - and the family budget was very tight after his death. No photographs of Sarah from this period have survived, although one was given to her family before the war. No physical description of her exists either, so let your imagination be your guide as to whether she was tall or short, slim or rounded, dark haired or fair.

Women of the Civil War period dressed very femininely, with bows and laces and ruchings decorating outfits that basically kept the body covered. Hair was swept back off the face. As the wife of an up and coming politician, Sarah would have dressed as elegantly as her budget would allow. Women made over and reused articles in their wardrobe and it is likely she still had items from her 1855 wedding trousseau in hers in 1861. It is possible to gain a sense of her moving through the house and the lives of her family through images from the fashion magazines of her time.

Sarah Ballou was described as impartial, courteous, diligent, and faithful by those who knew her well. She was strong and plucky enough to re-build a life for herself without marrying again, and to raise her two sons to "honorable manhood". Widowed before the age of twenty-five, she died at age eighty-one.

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