Part of the American History & Genealogy Project

Civil War Army Nurses 1861 ~ 1865

These are very brief Biographies

Mrs. Catherine L. Taylor
Mrs. Catherine L. Taylor, senior vice-president of the National Association of Army Nurses, served as a volunteer nurse from 1862 to 1865. She was for about three years at the United States General Hospital, Davids' Island, New York Harbor. Her home was at Dobbs' Ferry, and with her own team she carried supplies for the sick and wounded, also cared for many families, as well as sending supplies to the soldiers at the front. Mrs. Taylor's home is in New York City.

Mrs. Hannah Judkins Starbird
Mrs. Hannah Judkins Starbird, junior vice-president of the National Association of Army Nurses, enlisted as a nurse August 1864. She was then Miss Judkins. She was at Carver Hospital, Washington, D. C, and at St John's College. Annapolis, where she remained until July '65. She nursed paroled prisoners from Libby, Andersonville and other Southern prisons, poor starved, vermin-infested men with little clothing. Mrs. Starbird lives in Los Angeles. California.

Miss Hannah U. Maxon
Miss Hannah U. Maxon, late national chaplain National Association of Army Nurses, nursed in the hospital in Gallipolis, Ohio, from the first of the war until its close. For nearly half a century she was a public school teacher in her native town, Gallipolis, and men and women in every walk in life, who came under her influence, call her "blessed." She died at her home, Gallipolis, Ohio, May 26, 1910.

Miss Kate M. Scott
Miss Kate M. Scott, late national secretary National Association of Army Nurses, in the spring of 1861-1862 was with the 105th Pennsylvania Regiment at Camp Jackson, Virginia, having volunteered in response to a call from Colonel Amos McKnight, for nurses for his soldiers, many of whom were dying from fever and pneumonia. Twice during the winter she, with her associate Miss Ellen Guffy, were quarantined, as the latter had the much dreaded disease. Miss Scott has been identified with the regiment since the war, and was their secretary from 1879-1891. She had been secretary of the army nurses since 1897. She died at her home, Brookville, Pennsylvania, in 1911.

Mrs. Salome Myers Stewart
Mrs. Salome M. Stewart, national treasurer of the National Association of Army Nurses, was a volunteer nurse, and is known to many who were wounded in the battle of Gettysburg as Miss Sallie Myers. During that battle her father's house was used as a hospital, and she cared for the men there, and at the Roman Catholic Church, the United Presbyterian Church and in Camp Letterman.

Her services of three months were entirely voluntary. Her husband was a Presbyterian minister, who died in 1868 of injuries received in the service. He was the brother of a wounded man who died in her father's house.

Mrs. Stewart was a teacher in the public schools before the war, has taught for twenty-five years, and is now a substitute teacher in the Gettysburg schools, where she has always resided. She was appointed one of the enumerators of the late census.

Mrs. Mary E. Squire
Mrs. Mary E. Squire, conductor, National Association of Army Nurses, as Miss Mary Emily Chamberlain, enlisted in Washington Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, May, 1863, afterwards being transferred to the Officers Hospital, and then going again to Washington Hospital. In 1861 she went to the Webster Hospital, where she remained until she left the service, June, 1864. Mrs. Squire is 67 years of age and lives in Sheboygan, Michigan.

Mrs. Elizabeth Chapman
Mrs. Elizabeth Chapman, guard of the National Association of Army Nurses, served as a volunteer nurse for three months, and then enlisted as a con-tract nurse, for the balance of the war. Her husband's regiment being in Memphis, and many of the men having measles, she was sent there to nurse them.

She was mustered out in Leighton House Hospital, Keokuk, Iowa, with an honorable discharge. Mrs. Chapman is 80 years of age. Her home is in East St Louis, Illinois.

Mrs. Addie L. Ballou
Mrs. Addie L. Ballou, past national president of the Army Nurses, is a woman well known on the Pacific coast, as author, artist, lawyer and club woman. She is a woman of many talents and indomitable will, for when the earthquake and fire in San Francisco swept away her all, she heroically set to work with the spirit of a young woman to regain her home.

At the beginning of the Civil War she offered her services to the Governor of Wisconsin, in which state she was living, and then began work as a nurse in camp of the 32nd Wisconsin regiment, where there were many sick. Later, Surgeon General Wolcott at Milwaukee, commissioned her, and she went with the regiment to Memphis, from there being sent with 255 sick soldiers to Keokuk, Iowa. Again in Memphis she nursed hundreds through a terrible epidemic. She is beloved by every member of the 32nd Wisconsin, and is affectionately referred to as "The Little Mother." She has written a book of poems, ''Driftwood." Mrs. Ballou now resides in San Francisco, California.

Mrs. Margaret Hamilton
Mrs. Margaret Hamilton, past president of the Army Nurses, was born in Rochester, New York, October 19, 1840. Her mother dying when the daughter was seventeen, she obtained her father's consent and became a sister of charity and after due preparation was sent to teach in an orphan asylum in Albany.

When the war broke out she wanted to nurse, but the lot did not fall to her until in the spring of 1862 when, with three other sisters, she was sent to Satterlea United States Hospital in Philadelphia, where she cared for the wounded sent up from Chickamauga. She served three years, during which time she fell in love with one of the wounded soldiers, a member of the 19th Maine Volunteers, and left the sisterhood to marry him. Her home life was ideal, and as wife and mother she was a model. Mrs. Hamilton is now a widow and resides in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Fanny Titus Hazen
Mrs. Fanny Titus Hazen, past president of the Army Nurses, the grand-daughter of a soldier of the Revolutionary Army, was born in Vershire, Vermont, May 2, 1840. As was the case with a number of others, when she applied to Miss Dix for an appointment, she was told that she was too young, but because she had two brothers, one seventeen and the other eighteen, in the service, she begged to be allowed to stay and was finally accepted and sent to Columbia Hospital, Washington, where she stayed until it closed, June 27, 1865.

From the battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, her youngest brother was brought to her wounded, and she nursed him until he recovered. Mrs. Hazen lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Clarissa F. Jones Dye
Mrs. Clarissa F. Dye, past president of the Army Nurses, in 1862, was teaching, but devoted her vacation to field and hospital work in company with Miss Marie McClellan of Germantown, Pennsylvania. She was first sent on the steamer Maine, then Miss Dix gave her a pass to Alexandria, Virginia. She reached the battlefield of Fredericksburg, ahead of all others, and did hard work among the wounded and dying.

In 1863 she nursed in the Second Corps Hospital at Gettysburg, having charge of the Confederate wounded, and from there she went to Rappahannock, carrying supplies from friends in Germantown. She was then Miss Clarissa Jones. After the war she married Mr. John H. Dye of Philadelphia. She is now a widow over 78 years old, and receives no pension. Her home is in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Dye says she is the only woman who received a medal of honor during the war.

Mrs. Rebecca S. Smith
Mrs. Rebecca S. Smith, past president of the Army Nurses, was teaching when an epidemic of diphtheria broke out among the soldiers in 1862. She at once offered her services, began to nurse them, and after that was continuously on duty on battlefields until 1864.

Miss Hannah L. Palmer
Miss Hannah L. Palmer, past secretary of the Army Nurses, was for nine months on duty at Columbia Hospital, Washington, under the direction of Miss Dix. She is now 84 years of age and resides at Conestoga, New York.

Mrs. Lettie E. Covell Buckley
Mrs. Lettie E. Buckley, was enlisted by the Sanitary Commission under her maiden name, Lettie E. Covell, from October, 1863, to June, 1865, at Memphis. She served in hospitals in that Southern city and did excellent work. She is now 74 years of age. Her home is in Chicago, Illinois.

Mrs. Susanna Kripps
Mrs. Susanna Kripps enlisted in 1863, and served two years and six months. While nursing she was attacked by typhoid fever, which destroyed the hearing of her right ear. She was attended by Dr. Elliott, surgeon in charge of the hospital to which she was attached. She served with the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery for five months, then in Capitol Hill Hospital, Washington, Jarvis Hospital, Baltimore, and Hough General Hospital, Alexandria, Virginia. Mrs. Kripps is 69 years old, and seldom misses a convention. She resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Mary C. Athow
Mrs. Mary C. Athow went out in February, 1864, as a volunteer nurse under Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, and served eighteen months to the close of the war. She was in hospitals at Knoxville, Tennessee, Louiville, Kentucky, and other places. Mrs. Athow is the widow of a veteran. She is 76 years of age. Her home is in Aurora, Illinois.

Mrs. Mary A. Aston
Mrs. Mary A. Aston was living in Philadelphia when war was declared. Her husband being an invalid, and unable to serve his country, gave his consent for his wife to give as much of her time as possible to alleviating the distress of the sick and wounded in the hospitals of the city.

She was a volunteer nurse from September 5, 1862, to August 11, 1865 and was only absent from duty in all that time, two weeks during her husband's last illness and death. Mrs. Aston became deaf by the explosion of a cannon while engaged in the performance of her duties. She is 77 years of age. Her home is in Philadelphia.

Mrs. Belle Thompson Alter
Mrs. Belle Alter was Miss Belle Thompson, and served as a volunteer nurse beginning her work in the Taylor house, which was used as a hospital in Winchester, Virginia, September, 1864 and was assigned to duty by the surgeon in charge, Dr. S. Sharpe.

She assisted in caring for the wounded from Frohus Hill and Cedar Creek battlefields, until the middle of January, 1865, when she returned home with her brother who was badly wounded. He was Captain Thompson, Company A 40th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was a helpless cripple and she nursed him the two years he lived. Mrs. Alter is 64 years of age, and her home is at Port Royal, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Elizabeth Lee Baldridge
Mrs. Elizabeth Baldridge, as Miss Elizabeth Lee, served as a volunteer nurse at Memphis, Tennessee. Mrs. Baldridge is 78 years old, and lives in Pomona, California.

Mrs. Catherine M. Beck
Mrs. Catherine M. Beck, served five months as a volunteer nurse at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at which place she was living. She is now 78 years of age and is living at Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Mary E. Bell
Mrs. Mary E. Bell enlisted as a volunteer nurse, and her first work was at Covington, Kentucky, assisting her husband, who was in the medical department, in an epidemic of measles.

While the regiment was in camp, smallpox and spotted fever broke out She also served in a hospital at Jeffersonville, Indiana. Her service extended over three years. She is 70 years old and lives in Albion, Michigan.

Mrs. Helen M. Becket Burnell
Mrs. Helen M. Burnell was a regular nurse under her maiden name of Helen M. Becket. She served two years and six months in the hospital at Memphis, Tenn. She is now 81 years of age. Her home is in Pasadena, California.

Mrs. Mary K. Boyington
Mrs. Mary K. Boyington became a nurse through going to the field of Gettysburg to care for her wounded husband, who was a member of Company L. 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. When he was sent to the hospital at York, she accompanied him, and was enrolled as a nurse, serving from July, 1863 to March, 1864, receiving the warm commendation of the surgeons for her services. She is 68 years old and lives in Carner, Oklahoma.

Mrs. Nancy M. Brown
Mrs. Nancy M. Brown, as Miss Nancy M. Nelson, was for eighteen months in West Hospital, Baltimore, and for two years at Gratiot Street Hospital Prison, St. Louis. With her husband after the war she lived in Ashtabula, Ohio, but since his death she has lived with her son in Washington, D. C. Her husband was a veteran. Mrs. Brown is 79 years old.

Mrs. Susan L. McLaughlin Brown
Mrs. Susan L. Brown was Miss Sue McLaughlin when she answered a call for volunteer nurses sent out by Governor Morton of Indiana. For the nine months she was on hospital boats on the Mississippi River and in hospitals in Memphis. She is very active in all patriotic work, and is the wife of S. C Brown, past commander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Georgia. Mrs. Brown is 75 years of age and resides with her husband in Fitsgerald, Georgia.

Mrs. M. M. Briggs
Mrs. M. M. Briggs enlisted in 1861 under Miss Dix, and served for a year in hospitals in St Louis, and then went to the newly established Harvey Hospital at Madison, Wisconsin. Mrs. Harvey, wife of the Governor of Wisconsin, herself went to the south and brought from the fields and swamps, one hundred and thirty sick and wounded, and put them in this hospital, where they were tenderly cared for, Mrs. E. O. Gibson was in charge, and Mrs. Briggs' daughters were with her. Mrs. Briggs remained there until the war dosed. She is now 91 and is spending her sunset days in the Old Peoples' Home, Elgin, Illinois.

Mrs. Jennie Matthewson Bullard
Mrs. Jennie Matthewson Bullard enlisted as a volunteer, nurse as Miss Jennie Smole. She afterward married a soldier, and changed her name to Matthewson. From October, 1861, to May, 1865 she served at Savannah, Memphis, Chicago, and Farmington, Mississippi. From October, 1861 to May, 1862, she was a volunteer nurse, and from the latter date to May, 1865, she was a regular nurse. Mrs. Bullard is 70 years of age. She resides at Desha, Arkansas.

Mrs. Bell Vorse Clark
Mrs. Bell Vorse Clark served from July, 1864, until the close of the war. Her first duty was in the General Hospital, No. 3, in Nashville, Tenn. She stayed at her post until the last man was removed in 1865. She is 77. Mrs. Clark resides in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Nannie M. Cochran
Mrs. Nannie M. Cochran was appointed matron and head nurse of the Simpson House Hospital, Keokuk, Iowa, by Major M. K. Taylor, and served there from November, 1863, until October, 1864. During her stay, there were treated from six hundred to eight hundred wounded. She is 68 years old and lives in Troy, New York.

Mrs. Sarah J. Dumas
Mrs. Sarah J. Dumas was Miss Sarah J. Steady, and her first work at nursing was at Sherburn Barracks Hospital, in Washington, D. C, February 14, 1865. She served until December of the same year, when her services being no longer needed, she returned to her home in Vermont.

Mrs. Annie Priscilla Erving
Mrs. Annie Priscilla Erving (Cilia Zerbe) was a volunteer nurse commissioned by Governor Curtin. During 1861 and 1862 she served at Camp Curtin. While there she and three other nurses gave a picnic on Independence Island to raise money with which to get lint for the wounded. They raised $125. Mrs. Erving also nursed at Gettysburg. She is now 71 years of age. Her home is in Newberg, New York.

Mrs. Rebecca E. Frick
Mrs. Rebecca E. Frick served in hospitals in Washington, D. C; Annapolis, Maryland; Winchester, City Point and Hampton Roads, Virginia. She was a regular nurse, and served two years and six months. She is 87 years old. Her home is in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Mary Fryer Gardner
Mrs. Mary Fryer Gardner, with Misses Scott, Guffy and Allen, served under Colonel McKnight with the 105th Pennsylvania, during the winter and spring of 1861-1862, at Camp Jameson, Va. There being too many for one hospital to accommodate, a division was made, and Miss Fryer and Miss Allen served together; thus they escaped being quarantined twice with smallpox as Miss Scott and Miss Duffy were. Mrs. Gardner is the widow of a veteran. She b 65 years old and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Miss Cornelia Hancock
Miss Cornelia Hancock is as well-known as any of the army nurses, and her service extended from July 6, 1863, to May 23, 1865. She was a volunteer nurse attached to the Second Army Corps of the Potomac. She was at Gettysburg, and so faithful that the soldiers called her the "Battlefield Angel." She remained in the field hospital until the establishment of Camp Letterman, where she worked for a few weeks. Before she left, the soldiers gave her a silver medal as an expression of their appreciation of her services. She is over 70 but as active as at 40. Her home is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Julia A. Hibbard
Mrs. Julia A. Hibbard served from September 1, 1861, to April 20, 1864. After the battle of Shiloh she was on a floating hospital, serving afterwards in Memphis, Tennessee, and in Paducah, Kentucky. Mrs. Hibbard resides in Peoria, Illinois, and is 78 years of age.

Mrs. Joanna Melton
Mrs. Joanna Melton was in the service from 1861 to 1864 as a volunteer nurse. She was at Camp Carrington, Lafayette, Indiana, and at Louisville, Kentucky. She is 76 years of age and resides in Sah Lake City, Utah.

Mrs. Susan Carrie Robinson Mills
Mrs. Susan Carrie Mills served under her maiden name, Carrie Robinson, for three months. She went to the front under Dr. Crosby, from Concord, New Hampshire, in May, 1861. Her examination being all right, she was enrolled by Miss Dix, in Washington, D. C, and served for three months at Point of Rocks and Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Mrs. Mills is 71 years of age and resides in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Fannie O. Oslin Jackson
Mrs. Fannie O. Jackson, as Miss Oslin, served fifteen months in field hospitals. Department of the Cumberland, at Resaca, Big Shanty, Centerville, Vinings Station and Lookout Mountain. She was a regular nurse. She is 76 years of age and lives in Olathe, Kansas.

Mrs. Lydia S. Johnson
Mrs. Lydia S. Johnson served from September, 1862, to July, 1865, and was through the epidemic of smallpox from 1863 to 1865. Was in Georgetown. D. C; Alexandria, Chesapeake and Old Point Comfort, Virginia. She is 81 years old and lives in Lyndonville, New York.

Mrs. Lucy L. Campbell Kaiser
Mrs. Lucy L. Kaiser, as Miss Campbell, served three years in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and on hospital steamers. She is 85 and lives in Leland, Michigan.

Mrs. Emeline D. (Tenney) Kingsbury
Mrs. Emeline D. (Tenney) Kingsbury enlisted tinder Colonel Cushman as a volunteer nurse in the 53rd Illinois Infantry, and served with that regiment until the close of the war. She was in Washington when President Lincoln was assassinated. She served fifteen months. Her home is in Hamilton, Texas.

Mrs. Sarah A. (Plummer) Lemmon
Mrs. Sarah A. (Plummer) Lemmon was a volunteer in New York City hospitals, giving all of her time before and after school, and on Sundays and holidays. She is 75 years of age and resides in Oakland, California.

Mrs. Jennie (Gauslin) Maish
Mrs. Jennie (Gauslin) Maish lived in Winchester, Virginia, when the war came, and her father's house was turned into a hospital, which was supported by her own and her father's means. After General Milroy's defeat, she and several loyal ladies were sent to Richmond by Confederate orders, and confined in Castle Thunder. She married Mr. Lewis Maish, a Union soldier, during the war. She is 65 years of age and resides in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Mrs. Mary L. Mannon
Mrs. Mary L. Mannon responded to the call of Governor Morton, of Indiana, in February, 1863, and went to Memphis, where she served until June 4, 1865. She was born in 1843 and resides in Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Mary B. Kenny Maxfield
Mrs. Mary B. Maxfield left Peoria, Illinois, November 11, 1863, with the 6th Illinois Cavalry, for Springfield. From there to Paducah, Kentucky, then to Memphis, where she was transferred to Adams Block Hospital. For twenty-two months she served under her maiden name, Miss Kenny. She was commissioned by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. She is 71 years of age and lives in Kansas City, Kansas.

Miss Adaline Miller
Miss Adaline Miller served four years. She is 84 years of age and lives in Los Angeles^ California.

Mrs. Maria Hoppe Miller
Mrs. Maria Miller, as Miss Hoppe, served almost two years as a volunteer nurse. She is 64 and lives in Milan, Indiana.

Mrs. Rena L. Miner
Mrs. Rena L. Miner served as a regular nurse eighteen months.

Mrs. Matilda E. Morris
Mrs. Matilda E. Morris served under Dr. D. W. Bliss in Washington, and also under Dr. Pancoast. She was at Winchester and nursed the wounded after Sheridan's great battle. She served three years. She is 76 years old and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mrs. Jane M. Morton
Mrs. Jane M. Morton served one year in Nashville, Tennessee. She is 70 and lives in Elgin, Illinois.

Mrs. Mollie C. Carnahan Mott
Mrs. Mollie C. Mott, as Miss Carnahan, served two years as a volunteer nurse in Tennessee. She is 79 and lives In Elkhart, Indiana.

Mrs. Electa Willard
Mrs. Electa Willard was a volunteer nurse from 1861 until the close of the war. She served in Nashville, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Much of her time was spent in distributing supplies at the front, and also in the various barracks. She is 83 and lives in Detroit, Michigan.

Mrs. Belle Counts
Mrs. Belle Counts served from 1864 to 1865 as a volunteer nurse. She is 71 years of age and lives in Troy, Ohio.

Mrs. Emily J. Avery Cartwright
Mrs. Emily J. Cartwright, as Miss Avery, served two years in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is 80 years of age and lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Clarissa Watters Crossan
Mrs. Clarissa Crossan was Miss Watters. She served two years in Keokuk, Iowa. She is 73 years of age. Her home is in Chicago, Illinois.

Mrs. Sarah B. Cross
Mrs. Sarah B. Cross was born in England, but when her husband entered the service of the United States, she, too, volunteered and served as a nurse side by side with him, one year and eight months in Lincoln General Hospital, Washington, D. C. She is 71 years of age and lives in Kent, Ohio.

Mrs. Frances D. Daniels
Mrs. Frances D. Daniels was a volunteer nurse and served in hospitals in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She is 68 years of age.

Mrs. Frances A. Dieffenbacker
Mrs. Frances A. Dieffenbacker volunteered at a call from Governor Morton, of Indiana, and went to Nashville, Tennessee, 'then to Murfreesboro, afterwards being detailed as regimental nurse for the 85th Indiana Regiment She is 76 years of age and resides in Havana, Illinois.

Mrs. Maria O. Olmstead Eldred
Mrs. Maria O. Eldred, as Miss Olmstead, served over nine months at Falls Church, Virginia. She is 69 years old and resides in Canton, New York.

Mrs. Emily Rowell Elmer
Mrs. Emily Elmer, then Miss Rowell, was the agent of Miss Dix for over a year, and served in hospitals in Tennessee and in Iowa. She is 70 years of age and resides in Hersey, Michigan.

Mrs. Elizabeth Grass
Mrs. Elizabeth Grass was a regular nurse and served in Missouri and Indiana. She is 69 and lives in South Fargo, North Dakota.

Mrs. Anna Hahn
Mrs. Anna Hahn was a volunteer nurse and served three months. She is now 76 years old and resides in Omaha, Nebraska.

Mrs. Cornelia Harrington
Mrs. Cornelia Harrington served as a volunteer nurse in Tennessee and Kentucky for five months. She is 79 and lives in Dexter, Michigan.

Mrs. Mary F. Strahan Hayden
Mrs. Mary F. Hayden, m Miss Strahan served in Washington, D. C, three months. She is 70 years of age and lives in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Margaret Meserolle Hayes
Mrs. Margaret Hayes, who was Miss Maggie Meserolle, served two years and six months in hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee, as a regular nurse. She is 77 years of age and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Lauretta H. Cutler Hoisington
Mrs. Lauretta H. Hoisington, as Miss Cutler, served thirteen months in hospitals in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is 85 years of age and resides in Palo Alto, California.

Miss Elizabeth P. Pickard Hunt
Miss Elizabeth P. Hunt, as Miss Pickard, served three months in Keokuk, Iowa, then contracted smallpox and had to give up. She is 77 years old and resides in Tacoma, Washington.

Mrs. Emily E. (Wilson) Woodley
Mrs. Emily E. (Wilson) Woodley was active in nursing during the cholera epidemic in Philadelphia, and when the war came on was ready for nursing the sick and wounded. She went to the front and enlisted May 29, 1861, and remained until May 26, 1865. She served on the field with the Army of the Potomac, and also in the West. She was lovingly called ''Mother Wilson" by the soldiers. She passed away at her home in Philadelphia, May 15, 1908.

Mrs. Elizabeth Wendell Ewing
Mrs. Elizabeth Wendell Ewing, served from October, 1862, to September, 1863.

Miss Ada Johnson
Miss Ada Johnson, served from August, 1861, to November, 1865, the longest of any. She was a teacher before the war, and afterwards she taught for thirty years in St Louis.

Mrs. Delia A. B. Fay
Mrs. Delia A. B. Fay, served from the first of the war to the close, marching with her regiment into every battle, and caring for their wounded in the face of shot and shell. She afterwards nursed her blind veteran husband until he died.

Mrs. Anna H. Baker
Mrs. Anna H. Baker served in a Philadelphia hospital from September 5, 1862 to August 9, 1864.

Mrs. Henrietta S. T. Bunnell
Mrs. Henrietta S. T. Bunnell served throughout the war, having been commissioned by Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania. She died in 1910, leaving six children. She had been the mother of twenty-one.

Mrs. Ruth Danforth
Mrs. Ruth Danforth served from July, 1864 to May, 1865.

Mrs. Mary Jane Fox
Mrs. Mary Jane Fox served six months as a volunteer nurse.

Mrs. Elizabeth L. Fritcher
Mrs. Elizabeth L. Fritcher served from July 9, 1862, to June 4, 1863.

Mrs. Ann Eliza Gridley
Mrs. Ann Eliza Gridley, who died in 1909, was the mother of Civil War veterans and of Captain Charles V. Gridley, who was with Dewey at Manila Bay, and was one of the heroes of that battle. Her grandson was also in the navy and was killed by an explosion on his ship in Hampton Roads. Mrs. Gridley was a volunteer nurse with the Army of the Potomac, and served to the close of the war.

Miss Susan Ellen Marsh
Miss Susan Ellen Marsh served nineteen months as a volunteer nurse in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, D. C.

Mrs. Elizabeth Augusta Russell
Mrs. Elizabeth Augusta Russell was a volunteer nurse over four years in New York City hospitals.

Mrs. Emaline Phillips
Mrs. Emaline Phillips served one hundred and sixteen days in the Warren Regimental Hospital, Washington, D. C. She is 70 years of age.

Mrs. Rebecca L. Pennypacker Price
Mrs. Rebecca L. Price, as Miss Pennypacker, served as a volunteer nurse. She did emergency work, going where there was work, and leaving when the need was over. She often carried supplies and books from her home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She was also at Wind Mill Point Hospital, Va., Fort Monroe, Gettysburg and Chambersburg. She had a pass from Governor Curtin to go where she was needed. She is 76 years of age. Her home is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Mary A. Ransom Richardson
Mrs. Mary A. Richardson served under her maiden name of Miss Mary A. Ransom, and went to the hospital at Albany, New York, to help Dr. Armsby and Mary Carey, and was enlisted as a nurse by the former, June 2, 1862, serving there six months, when she went to Frederick, Maryland, also serving there six months. She was a regular nurse, serving until discharged, February 21, 1865. She is 76 years of age and resides with her husband at the Soldiers' Home Vineland, New Jersey.

Mrs. Alice Carey Farmer Risley
Mrs. Alice Carey Risley lived in the South and suffered untold hardships. Through many difficulties, she, then Miss Farmer, with her mother, Mrs. Phoebe Farmer, made her way to New Orleans and commenced the work of caring for the soldiers in Marine University, St. James and St. Louis Hospitals.

Mr. Farmer having refused to vote for secession, was obliged to flee from home, and sought safety in New Orleans where his fate was unknown to his family, as they could receive no mail. Mrs. Farmer had been charged with being a spy, and Dick Taylor and his men threatened to hang her. One dark night she and her daughter left their beautiful home, and made their way to the dock, where they were taken aboard a steamer and locked in their cabin by the friendly captain, who landed them in Braspear City. Mrs. Risley served as a nurse from August, 1862, to September, 1865, and like many other devoted women, receives no pension. She is 66 years of age.

Mrs. Ann Maria B. Schram
Mrs. Ann Maria B. Schram served as a volunteer nurse. Her husband had enlisted, and she, too, wished to serve her country, so the citizens of Amsterdam, New York, assisted her to get to the front. She reported at Fredericksburg, and was assigned by Drs. McKenzie and Haynes to duty in camp outside the city to care for the sick and wounded brought there from South Mountain and Antietam. She served ten months, until her health was impaired by the exposure and hard work, and she was obliged to leave. She received no pay for her services, she says, and not even her board was provided. She receives a pension by special act of Congress. She is 77 years of age and resides in Albany, New York.

Mrs. Amanda B. Smythe
Mrs. Amanda B. Smythe served seven months. Her husband was in the army, and hearing that he was in the hospital at New Albany, Indiana, she took her year-old child and went to him. She found over three hundred sick and wounded in the hospital, and gave her time to caring for as many as she could. After the recovery of her husband, she went home, but he was afterwards wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, and is still suffering from the wound. They reside at Carrollton, Ohio. Mrs. Smythe is 71 years of age.

Mrs. Mary O. Stevens
Mrs. Mary O. Stevens, as Miss Townsend, was five months at Seminary Hospital, Georgetown, Armory Square and Columbia, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Stevens is now 69 and lives in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Annie Bell Stubbs
Mrs. Annie Bell Stubbs, on account of her youth, was refused by Miss Dix, so she served for one year as a volunteer nurse, and after serving for a short time, because of her faithfulness and ability. Miss Dix sent her testimonials of the highest commendation. After the year was up, she enlisted as a regular nurse and served over three years, in Harper's Ferry, Acquia Creek, 12th Corps Hospital and after Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Nashville battles. She is 72 and lives in Merion, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Helen Brainard Cole
Mrs. Helen Brainard Cole was a volunteer nurse in hospitals in Louisville, Washington, Memphis, Nashville and City Point. Mrs. Cole is 70 and resides in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.

Mrs. Maria M. C. Richards
Mrs. Maria M. C. Richards was Miss Hall when she served from September, 1861, to May, 1865, as a nurse. She was in the Patent Office, Washington, on the James River transports and camps, in Smoketown Field Hospital after Antietam, and General Hospital, Annapolis, Maryland. She is 74 and resides in Weathersfield, Connecticut.

Mrs. Laura A. (Mount) Newman
Mrs. Laura A. (Mount) Newman was, for three years, with her husband's regiment, the 6th Maryland, which was constantly marching or fighting. She a volunteer nurse, is now 67 years of age and lives in Lafayette, Indiana.

Mrs. Elizabeth Nichols
Mrs. Elizabeth Nichols, in 1861, went to nurse her husband, who belonged to the 111th New York Infantry, and stayed with the regiment, and nursed small pox, diphtheria, fevers and wounds until discharged with her husband. She is 76 and lives in Clyde, New York.

Mrs. Rebecca (Lemmon) Oleson
Mrs. Rebecca (Lemmon) Oleson was a volunteer nurse from November, 1862 to March, 1865, serving in Tennessee. She is 87 and lives in Sierraville, California.

Mrs. Rebecca Otis
Mrs. Rebecca Otis went to Missouri with her little son to visit her husband, and seeing how much they needed nurses, stayed on and helped, at the earnest solicitation of Dr. Allen. Her little boy was killed by a log rolling over him while at play, but she tried to drown her sorrow by more assiduous care for the sick and suffering. She continued nursing until the close of the war. She is 86 and resides at Manchester, Iowa.

Mrs. Sarepta C. (McNall) Patterson
Mrs. Sarepta C. (McNall) Patterson served for four years in all, as a volunteer. She is 76 and resides at Grand Junction, Colorado.

Mrs. Carrie (Wilkins) Pollard
Mrs. Carrie (Wilkins) Pollard was engaged nearly two years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and on ships, having been sent out under Mrs. Wittenmyer. She is 68 and resides in Maxwell, California.

Mrs. Mary B. Pollock
Mrs. Mary B. Pollock served as a volunteer nurse two years, mostly in South Carolina. She is 75 years old and resides in San Louis Obispo, California.

Mrs. Malinda A. (Miller) Pratt
Mrs. Malinda A. (Miller) Pratt was seven months at Albany, Indiana, as a volunteer nurse. She is 76 and resides in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mrs. Maria L. (Moore) Rathnell
Mrs. Maria L. (Moore) Rathnell served over one year as a contract nurse in Camp Dennison, Ohio. She is 76 and lives in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

Mrs. Sarah M. Reading
Mrs. Sarah M. Reading was a volunteer nurse over a year in the General Hospital, Davenport, Iowa. She is 70 and lives in Lowry City, Missouri.

Mrs. Emma A. (French) Sackett
Mrs. Emma A. (French) Sackett was a regular nurse in the hospital at Jeffersonville, Indiana, seven months and twenty-three days. She is 69 and lives in Winterset, Iowa.

Mrs. Mary R (Webber) Smith
Mrs. Mary R (Webber) Smith served from 1862 to 1865 m Baltimore, Maryland. She is 68 and lives in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Sarah J. (Milliken) Sprague
Mrs. Sarah J. (Milliken) Sprague served under Miss Dix from 1862 to 1864 in Washington, D. C. She is 82 and resides in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Emily P. Spencer
Mrs. Emily P. Spencer went to the front with her husband, who was surgeon of the 147th New York Infantry. She was in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac and was one of the first nurses to reach Gettysburg after the battle, where she remained for several weeks. She cared for General Sickles after he lost his limb. New York selected her as one of the heroines whose effigy in marble should be placed on the grand staircase in the Capitol at Albany.

She was wounded by a spent ball at City Point. The sciatic nerve was injured, and she was crippled for life. She is 92 and resides in Oswego, New York.

Mrs. Susannah Sprague
Mrs. Susannah Sprague served two years in Kansas as a volunteer nurse. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Mrs. Cornelia M. (Tompkins) Stanley
Mrs. Cornelia M. (Tompkins) Stanley was commissioned by Miss Dix and served two years and one month in Tennessee and Missouri. She is 73 and lives in Gardena, California.

Mrs. Mary E. Pearce Stewart
Mrs. Mary E. Stewart, then Mrs. Pearce, was the wife of the surgeon of the hospital in Madison, Indiana. At her own expense she went there and distributed supplies sent by the people of her home town in Ohio, and then nursed the sick, staying seven months in all, under direction of Colonel Grant; who was in charge of the hospital. She resides in Athens, Ohio.

Mrs. Sophia Stephenson
Mrs. Sophia Stephenson served from 1861 to 1865 under Dr. Colham and Dr. B. F. Stephenson, in Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois. She is 75 years of age and lives in Winterset, Iowa.

Dr. Vesta M. Swartz
Dr. Vesta M. Swartz, whose husband was assistant surgeon of the 100th Indiana Volunteers, was a regular nurse and served under Mrs. Wittenmyer for more than a year. She is now 70 years old and resides in Auburn, Indiana.

Mrs. Charlotte Marson Thompson
Mrs. Charlotte Marson Thompson was a volunteer nurse for a short time, then became a regular nurse with pay in Washington, D. C, and serving one year. She is 72 and lives in Brodhead, Wisconsin.

Mrs. Pauline Thompson
Mrs. Pauline Thompson served in Kentucky and in Missouri. She lives in Berwyn, Illinois.

Miss Eliza L. Townsend
Miss Eliza L. Townsend was a volunteer nurse, serving in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for eleven months. She is 79 and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Mrs. Laura R. (Cotton) Tyson
Mrs. Laura R. (Cotton) Tyson answered a call for nurses sent out by the Citizens Hospital, in Philadelphia, in 1862, and remained on duty until the close of the war. Mrs. Tyson is 76 and resides in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Susan (Mercer) Wamock
Mrs. Susan (Mercer) Wamock was six months a volunteer nurse. In Tennessee. She is 71 and lives in Lockington, Ohio.

Mrs. Lydia L. Whiteman
Mrs. Lydia L. Whiteman served from the time sick men were left in Philadelphia at the beginning of the war, until the war closed. She relates that after the battle of the Wilderness, she saw a man who had been left for dead at the foot of a tree, and in spite of protests, took him up in the ambulance, and to the hospital and saved his life. He was Colonel Baxter. Mrs. Whiteman was under Miss Dix most of the time. She is 85 and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Cynthia (Elbin) White
Mrs. Cynthia (Elbin) White served in Iowa hospitals for eight and a half months. She is 67 and lives in Lowry City, Missouri.

Mrs. Mary Eleanor Willson
Mrs. Mary Eleanor Willson was three months a volunteer nurse under Miss Livermore, then was two years with the Army of the Cumberland in the field, in hospitals and on hospital boats on the Mississippi River. She resides in Westgate, California.

Mrs. Leonore (Smith) Wright
Mrs. Leonore (Smith) Wright was commissioned by Governor Morton, of Indiana. She served in Indiana and Tennessee. She is 80 and lives in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Mrs. Lucy A. (Newton) Young
Mrs. Lucy A. (Newton) Young served in camps of Vermont soldiers as a volunteer nurse seven months. She is 69 and lives in Johnsbury, Vermont.

Mrs. Emily Alder
Mrs. Emily Alder had two brothers in the army and her husband, whom she followed to the front as a nurse. She served six months and then on the Fort Donelson Battlefield was taken so seriously ill that, as the regiment was under marching orders, the surgeon gave her husband four days' leave to stay and see her die. She was spared to care for a disabled husband. She returned home after her illness. She is 71 and lives in Clarion, Iowa.

Mrs. Catherine H. (Griffith) Bengless
Mrs. Catherine H. (Griffith) Bengless served about nine months in Philadelphia. At the close of her service, she married Rev. J. D. Bengless, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Mrs. Bengless is 75 and resides in Ansonia, Connecticut

Mrs. Sarah (Chamberlain) Eccleston
Mrs. Sarah (Chamberlain) Eccleston served one year as volunteer nurse in Tennessee. After the war she became a kindergartner, and in 1868 was called to the Argentine Republic to found its first kindergarten and training school in the Government College, at Parana. Later she was transferred to Buenos Ayres, where she taught until retired on a pension from Argentina in 1904. She is 71 and still lives in the Argentine Republic.

Dr. Nancy M. Hill
Dr. Nancy M. Hill served in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, until 1865, then went to Dubuque, Iowa, where she settled. She is a native of Massachusetts, but now, at the age of 76, lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Susan E. (Hall) Barry, M.D
Susan E. (Hall) Barry, M.D., began her four years' work of service at Bull Run Battle, and then went wherever needed, finishing her work in Nashville, Tennessee. She had graduated in medicine before going in the army as a nurse. She served under Miss Dix. At the close of the war she married Robert L. Barry and went to Honolulu. She is 85 and lives in California.

Mrs. Rebecca E. Gray
Mrs. Rebecca E. Gray was, for two years, in hospitals, on battlefields and on transports. She is 70 and is blind and helpless. Her home is in Brooklyn, New York.

Mrs. Mary Adelaide (Daugherty) Jobes
Mrs. Mary Adelaide (Daugherty) Jobes served a year in Tennessee hospitals. She is 71 and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Miss Susan R. Lowell
Miss Susan R. Lowell served nearly two yean in Tennessee hospitals. She is 79 and lives in Topeka, Kansas.

Miss Adelia Leavitt
Miss Adelia Leavitt was a volunteer nurse, serving six months in hospitals in Wisconsin. She is 69 and lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

Miss Mary A. E. Woodworth
Miss Mary A. E. Woodworth served as Miss Mary Keen, from July, 1861, to July, 1865. She was under Miss Dix and was in Georgetown, D. C., and Fort Monroe, Virginia. She is now living in Washington, D. C.

Lelia P. Roby
Mrs. Lelia P. Roby, philanthropist and founder of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born in Boston, Mass., December 25, 1848. She was descended from Priscilla Mullens and John Alden of the Mayflower Colony and many of her ancestors were among the revolutionary heroes. She, herself, acted as a regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she has always felt a deep interest in the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. On the twelfth of June, 1886, in Chicago, Illinois, she founded the order of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, which started with twenty-five members but which ten years later numbered fifteen thousand mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of soldiers and sailors who had served in the war of 1861- 1865. The members were pledged to assist the Grand Army of the Republic in works of charity, to extend noble aid to brothers in sickness and distress, to aid sick soldiers and sailors and marines, to look after soldiers' orphans' homes and to see that the children received proper situations when they left the homes; to watch the schools and see that the children received proper education in the history of the country and in patriotism. Mrs. Roby's personal activities have covered a wide range and she has secured many pensions for soldiers, herself working long, countless hours for the good of the survivors of the war. She was one of four women selected by the Board of Education of Chicago to represent them before the legislature of the state to help pass the Compulsory Education Bill, and it was passed through the fact that a large majority of the legislators were old soldiers and their affection for Mrs. Roby made voting for the measure she advocated a pleasant duty. She is the only woman ever made a member of the Lincoln Guard of Honor, of Springfield, Illinois, an honor conferred on her through General Sherman, "For her many acts of devotion to the Martyred President's Memory." She became a member of the Chicago Academy of Science, was vice-president of the Women's National Press Association for Illinois, a member of the Nineteenth Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry and also joined the Society for the Advancement of Women, and the American Society of Authors, She had the care and over sight of supplying the Soldiers' Homes with books and magazines and periodicals, and she has constantly visited the homes in various parts of the country, looking after the comfort of the old soldiers, and when special legislation has been needed to right their wrongs or give them additional comforts, she has gone to the state legislatures and to Washington to secure such enactment. Through her efforts a memorial day was set apart in the schools for the reading of histories and stories of the war in preparation for Decoration Day itself. She has done a good deal of literary work under the pen name of "Miles Standish," and she has published one large volume entitled "Heartbeats of the Republic." America has hardly produced a woman of better courage and patriotism.

Mary Cole Walling
Born in Pike County, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1838. She was descended from the families of Stephen Cole, of Scotland, and Hannah Chase, of England. During the Civil War she was known as the "Banished Heroine of the South."

Her parents made their home in Cass County, Illinois, where, in 1845, she married Captain F. C Brookman, of St Louis, Missouri, who died soon afterwards of yellow fever. Later she married C. A. Walling, of Texas. It is said that in 1863 she was warned by the Vigilance Committee to leave the country within a few hours. Seven of her brothers were in the Union Army, and all lost their lives. She delivered speeches through the North, and on May lo, 1866, the United States Senate passed a resolution permitting her to speak before that body, and there she delivered her argument on "Reconstruction."

Hester A. Dillon
Mrs. Hester A. Dillon, wife of Captain Elisha Dillon, is among the most active and patriotic women of the country. Her ancestry runs back many centuries, having been traced to Walgrinus Ridel, Earl of Angouleme and Perigord, a relative of Charles the Bald, King of France.

Her grandfather Ridlon (from Ridel) was in the War of 1812, and was an orderly to General Jackson, at New Orleans. He married a Virginia Davis. Her mother married J. R. Duncan.

Mrs. Dillon was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1845, and named Hester A. Duncan. She was married March 26, 1862, to Captain William J. Dillon, who fell at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. His regiment, the 18th, adopted Mrs. Dillon as its daughter. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Woman's Christian Temperance Union and of the Self-culture Class of Benton, Illinois, her place of residence.

Army Nurses | Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.