Category: Civil War Women

Civil War Women
Activists, Civil War Women, Famous Firsts, Women Doctors

Bella Chapin Barrows

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First Woman Eye Surgeon and Prison Reform Activist Image: Dr. Bella Chapin Barrows Credit: Hartland Historical Society Artist unknown Dr. Bella Chapin Barrows accomplished many firsts in her 68 years of life. She was the first woman employed by the U.S. State Department, first woman to have a private medical practice in Washington DC, first woman ophthalmologist (a specialist in eye ailments) in the United States, first woman eye surgeon, and first woman professor at a medical school (Howard University). Early Years Born Isabel Hayes April 17, 1845 in Irasburg, Vermont to Scottish immigrants Dr. Henry Hayes and Anna Gibb Hayes. Young Isabel – called Bella by everyone – helped her father on house calls by tending to wounds and…

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Civil War Women, Famous Firsts, Women Doctors

Susan McKinney Steward

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First African American Woman Doctor in New York Only five years after the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constition abolished slavery in the United States, Susan McKinney Steward graduated from medical school and became the first African American woman physician in New York and only the third black female doctor in the country. She practiced medicine in Brooklyn and Manhattan most of her life. Early Years Susan Maria Smith was born in Brooklyn, New York in the year 1847. She was the seventh of ten children born to Sylvanus and Anne Springstead Smith, who were both multi-racial. Her mother was the daughter of a Shinnecock Indian woman and a French colonel. Her father’s ancestors included a Montauk Indian and an African…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Almira Fales

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Civil War Nurse from Washington DC Carte de Visite of Almira Fales From the Civil War era Almira Newcomb was born in Pittstown, New York, October 24, 1809. In 1829, she married merchant Alexander McNaughton. Together they had two children; Sarah (born 1830) and Alexander (born 1832). Not long after her son’s birth, both her husband and young daughter died. In 1837, Almira married an older widower, Leander Lockwood of Connecticut, who had five children from his first marriage. In 1840 or 1841, they left Connecticut for Burlington, Iowa, where they ran a hotel. While there, Almira had two more children, Charles and Thomas Hartbenton. Leander Lockwood died in 1845, leaving Almira with eight children: Alexander from her first marriage,…

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Civil War Cities, Civil War Women

Civil War Washington DC

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Our Nation’s Capital During the Civil War Image: Balloon View of Washington DC Note the unfinished dome on the Capitol Building Washington Defenses When the first inklings emerged early in 1861 that there might actually be a war between the North and South, the residents of Washington DC whose sympathies were with the Union began to feel a little threatened. By the end of April 1861, 11,000 Union troops had arrived in Washington and were put to work in late May building a series of forts and trenches. The appalling Union defeat at First Bull Run July 21, 1861, cemented the idea that a chain of fortifications around Washington was badly needed. The man chosen to oversee the building of…

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Civil War Women, Women Artists, Women in Business

Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau

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First Woman to Exhibit Her Art at the Paris Salon Elizabeth Gardner was among the first wave of Americans who sought art training in Paris during and after the Civil War. She was the first American woman to exhibit a painting at the Paris Salon, and the first woman awarded a gold medal there. Her prize-winning painting The Farmer’s Daughter sold April 23, 2010 at Sotheby’s New York for $494,500, significantly more than the $200,000 to $300,000 estimate. Image: The Farmer’s Daughter (1878) By Elizabeth Jane Gardner The painting for which Gardner received a gold medal at the Paris Salon Early Years Elizabeth Jane Gardner was born October 4, 1837 in Exeter, New Hampshire. After attending the Young Ladies’ Female…

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Civil War Women, Famous Wives, First Ladies

Ellen Arthur

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Wife of 21st President Chester A. Arthur Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur was the wife of the 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, but she would not join him at the White House. Ellen died on January 12, 1880, before her husband was elected vice president November 2, 1880; and before James A. Garfield‘s assassination would have made her first lady, but she has been honorably credited with the role. Early Years Ellen Herndon, nicknamed Nell, was born August 30, 1837 at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, the only child of Frances Elizabeth Hansborough and naval commander William Lewis Herndon. When her father was assigned to help establish the Naval Observatory in September 1842, the family moved to Washington,…

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Civil War Women, Women Doctors

Oriana Moon Andrews

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First Woman Doctor in the Confederate Army Dr. Oriana Moon Andrews was a remarkable woman who served as the first female doctor in the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, she was physician to women and children, but her family had to move so frequently she was not able to establish a consistent practice. Chronic illness and childbirth at an advanced age ended her life much too soon. Image: Dr. Oriana Moon Andrews in 1861 With her husband, Dr. John Andrews Credit: Woman’s Missionary Union Early Years Oriana Russell Moon was born August 11, 1834 the second of seven children born to Anna Maria Barclay Moon and Edward Harris Moon. Oriana lived with her family at Viewmont, a 1500-acre estate…

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Civil War Women

Civil War Women Smugglers

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Women Smugglers in Hoop Skirts Civil War women smugglers carried weapons, ammunition, medicine and food across enemy lines. Some patriotic women brought fashion into the war effort, using their skirts to conceal all sorts of supplies, and they often attached these items to the frame of their hoop skirts. One Union official called them fashionable women spies. Image: Hoop Skirt Smugglers Seated: Annie Hempstone, Colonel Elijah White and Elizabeth White Standing, second row: Kate and Betsie Ball Image credit: Thomas Balch Library Visual Collections The Skirts Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread which first appeared around 1830. The first skirts called crinolines were petticoats made of the…

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Civil War Cities, Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Civil War Fredericksburg

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Fredericksburg: City of Hospitals Image: Fredericksburg during the Civil War Prior to the Civil War, Fredericksburg, Virginia was a town of approximately 5000 residents. After the War began, it became important primarily because it was located midway between the Union and Confederate capitals: Washington and Richmond. In early December 1862, during the initial stages of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the town’s civilians were in a quandary. Should they stay or should they go? Many were reluctant to leave their town at the mercy of Union soldiers, horses and war materiel. But as Union troops crossed the river into the town and serious firing began, many townspeople became refugees, fleeing into the countryside of Spotsylvania County. They took shelter in churches…

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Civil War Love Stories, Civil War Women

Fanny and John Brown Gordon

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One of the Greatest Civil War Love Stories Image: General John Brown Gordon and Fanny Haralson Gordon Married in 1854, John Brown Gordon and Fanny Harralson Gordon shared a loyal and passionate marriage for nearly 50 years. Fanny accompanied her general throughout the Civil War, and is credited with saving his life on more than once. Marriage and Family Fanny Haralson met John Brown Gordon after he left the University of Georgia in 1854 to study law in Atlanta. He was admitted to the Bar later that year, and began a law practice with Basil H. Overby and Logan E. Bleckly. Through them, Gordon met Fanny Haralson, who was the younger sister of the wives of both partners. Theirs was…

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