The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 16, 1903, Page 13

d the night assassinated fter she had gone me diers wanted a hot water and the teacher, who was Commission and g vessel, which came to their just before the vessel went She had lost all her credentials, except little, water-soaked penciled note from director at New Orleans, in her pocket. This she nited States Sanitary Com which cared for her tenderly and er $50. As soon as she was able to she returned to Memphis, where ehe was discharged in March, 1865 then devoted herself to mission and re cue work In December, 1876, she removed to Call fornia, where she continued her good wo being particularly interested in the erection of the Ransom Industrial Home at Los Angeles, named for her and one of her pet projects. ke “Oh, whet breaking hearts many moth- ers are still carrying for their boys bur- fed "in graves marked ‘Unknown,’ says Mrs. Mary J. Boston, who not only served through the whole war, but gave her brother and brother-in-law at Fredericks- burg and nearly died. herself from blood treating gangrene patlents “After a particularly while passing two open THE SUNDAY CALL. graves on the Confederate side of the cemetery, a gentleman came to my friend, Mrs, Wallace, and me and said: *‘Ladies, 1 belong to Georgla. This body is my brother.' Then to Mrs. Wal- lace: ‘Won't vou stand@® the grave to represent our mother? and to me, ‘Won'lL you represent our sister? The minister, Rev. F. de Witt Talmage, who was with the brother, then suggested that he would stand at the head between those two graves, with me between the graves opposite him, while the brother and Mrs. Wallace stood together and the grave- digger on the other side of the unknown Confederate’s grave, Then the minister said: ‘That unknown soldler may have as many loved ones somewhere, and one ceremony will do for both." “The burial service was said, a beauti- ful prayer made, then ‘ashes to ashes,’ end we left.” * e “A large roan horge, saddled, bridled and loaded—upon each side a full knap- sack, at the back a roll of bedding, in front hanging from the pommel a cof- fee pot, canteen and two haversacks filled with supplies, which were accessible in case of accident or hurry, and in the middle of all my own dear self, in a posi- tion most people would have deemed un- tenable."" Thus Mrs. Elmira P. Spencer, the fa- mous nurse who averaged forty miles a day on horseback from the steamer Pian- ter, which General Grant had placed in her charge with over 1000 rations to every battle in which the army of the Potomac was engaged, describes herself. Mrs. Spencer says her worst experience was at the battle of the Wilderness, where all night long she waded through the rain and mud carrying coffee to the wounded. Around her waist she had a plece of strong cloth fastened to form a bag, in which was bread and meat, and with six cups of coffee, three hooked on each hand, she waded from her fire to the wounded. She had no time nor place to rest, and as far as she knew was the only woman on the field, o o % "Tis sentiment ofttimes more than medi- cine that works wonders among wounded soldiers, In 1863 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wil- son had one boy under her care at Frazer Hospital without any appeite or interest in anything, wasted to a shadow; there seemed no hope of his recovery. One day she drew a lot of handkerchiefs from t sanitary commission, one of which was marked, “To a brave soldier boy—Beaver Dam, Wis.” She carried this to him, say- ing, “This was intended for you." He took it, and as he read the inscription the tears rolled over his boyish face, but handing it back sald, “Give it to some one that {s braver than 1 am.” Mrs. Wilson told him to keep it until she came again. Next day he was able to sit up, and soon recovered and went back to his regimen? . o e Miss Ada Johnson's service was the longest and most arduous of the whole Civil War. She was actively engaged from August, 1361, to November, 1885, in which_time she nursed the sick in the “Joe Flolt,”" the “city of hospitals,” with thousands and thousands of beds, or on the hospital boats up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessce rivers, or traveled with the wounded {n empty cat- tle cars up and down and across the war- infested country. “Mother” Rebecca Otic, who was born in Ireland, will always be revered in the traditions of Jefferson Barracks, St. Louls, where, with her husband, she nursed the wounded soldlers from 1862 till the war ended, notwithstanding her sorrow for the loss of her only child, whose life was crushed out by a fallen log while she was attending ghostly pris- oners from the rebel pen. e The Glorious History of the National Association. HERE is no assoclation that comes %0 near to the veterans of the G. A R the little band of gray- haired women who will represen‘“at this encampment the National As- soclation of Army Nurses of the Civil War. Their history is interwoven with hat of the boys in blue, and like the 'd Army their association cannot be perpetuatec These are the heroic women who in t womanhood, filled with the e spirit of patri m that sent to the nse of the flag their fathers, hus- ers, lovers, went to the front for the sick and wounded in this with nurses, has employing v rve and patriotic & women of opinion and vice. But to do nd wanting Dix, that grand- oplsts, who of- k f the the Government g, but as she would 30 years of @ scores ring herofc = y of these “Women has been an almost unwritten one. When the war closed and their duties ended they went quietly to their homes and took up the daily routine of woman's work. In 1851, however, Miss Dix invited 1l nurses whom she could reach to meet er inp Washington and many responded. An organization was effected called the “Ex-Army Nurse Assoclation of the Dis- trict of Columbla,” with ninety-one mem- bers, Miss Dix being unanimously elect- ed president for life. but in 1857 her event- 1 busy life closed and Dr. SBusan Ed- gon was elected to fill the vacancy. Bhe soon resigned and was succeeded by Miss Harriet P, Dame, who has since gone to join the great grand army on the other shore. This soclety was not a national one, be- ing Incorporated for the District of Co- lumbia, all its regular meetings being held in Washi lierefore became desirable to fo tional organization, to meet annually at the Nationa campments, and m at Louisvi Woodley of adely acting on the advice ¢ ' ¢ 3 . called the nur »r_and organ- ized an associatior e known as “The National A tion of Army Nurses of the Late W charter being taken out Kentucky, with thirty: charter members Woodl was elected national for years, and 1 strengthen She was succeeded by Mrs, Elizabeth W. Ewing of Phoenixville, Pa., for one year. th Miss Ada Johnson of St. Louis filled the office for tv ars. Mrs. Delia A. Fay of Upper Jay. N. Y., succeeded her, and at Washington Mrs. Margaret Hamliton of Wakefield, Mass., was elected. At Cincinnati the words, “of the Civil War,"” were substituted for the “late war” to distinguish the association from that of the Spanish-American War Nurses' As tion The object of the assoclation is to keep green the memory of those years of civil strite, to keep in touch with the Grand Army in its efforts to promulgate the grand principles for which they fought, to seek out and ald the unfortunate and needy nurses and assist them in procur- ing pensions. Those admitted to member- ship must be women of good moral char- acter, who have served in hospitals or in the field as regular or voluntcer nurses. The application must be ‘Indorsed by the officers of the Grand Army of the Re- public post where the applicant resides. The first organization of Civil War nurses was the Veteran Nurses' Assocla- tion, organized in Philadelphia during the war, and of which Mrs. Emily E. Wood- ley is the sole survivor. Philadelphia has a local organization of some fifteen mem- bers, called the Andrew G. Curtin Nurse Corps. It meets regularly and its entire membership belonga to the national asso- ciation. Massachusetts has the only regu- larly organized State association, having between forty and fifty members. They meet each month in the State House, in Boston. The Grand Army of the Republic of Massachusetts has ever been mindful of the nurses and at the late Legisla- ture had a bill passed granting State aid to the loyal women and placing them on the same footing as the veterans. At the convention held in Washington last year the national secretary wad ap- pointed to bring this matter: before the different States and endcavor to have their Legislatures pass bills similar to that of Massachusetts, and the measure has become a law in Wisconsin and Kansas. In Pennsyivania the Legislature passed a bill, but the Governor vetoed it on technical grounds. A bill was introduced in the Missourl Legislature granting a pension to both Union and Conferedate nurses, but was killed in committee. By act of Congress all nurses of the Civil War are eligible for burial in any United States cemetery, and several now sleep In the beautiful plat set aside in Arlington. The United States Govern- ment grants pensions only to nurses reg- ularly employed in hospitals of $12 per month, and for the year ending June 30, 1902, the Pension Department reports 634 receiving pensions, twenty-elght having died during the year. The volunteer nurses, doing equally as good service and suffering the discom- forts and dangers of the fleld, are de- barred by the law governing pensions, — except when they are pensioned by pri- vate bills. The National Association now numbers 151 members in good standing, three hav- ing died during the year, and are proud to have on their roster as honorary mem- bers Clara Barton, whose work during the Civil War and as president of the American Red Cross has made her name revgrenced and loved in all lands, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, whose work with the United States Sanitary Commis- sion will live as long as the history of the war exists. The Nurses' Association is not a bene- ficlary one, and the question is asked, “What good does it do for the Grand Army?’ This can best be answered by the veterans themselves, many of whom will see perchance at this encampment in one of these gray halred women the gentle face that his eves first rested upon when they opened after tne work of the surgeon's knife was done, or the cool hands that smoothed his fevered brow or he'd the cooling drink to his parched lips. While many of these nurses are from 80 to 90 years of age, others are yel bright, active women, and all belohg to the W. R. C. or Ladies of the G. A. A, where they are still working for their boys; but it is a sad thought that there will not be many more meetings of these veteran women of the Civil War, for soon they, llke their comrades of the Grand Army, will have gone in to “those green tents, the curtains of which never outward swing.” The officers for the association for 1903 are: President, Margaret Hamilton, Wakefleld, Mass.; senior vice president, Susannah Krips, Philadelphia, Pa.; junior vice president, Elizabeth Tarbell, Aurora, 111.; secretary, Kate M. Scott, Brookville, Pa.; treasurer, Nancy M. Hill, M. D., Du- buque, Towa; chaplain, Ann M. Schram, Fort Plain, N. Y.; guard, Mary J. Fox, Camden, N. J.; conductor, Charlotte Thompson, Broadhead, Wis.; counselor, Delia A. B. Fay, Upper Jay, N. Y. <% 18