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Emily Elizabeth Parsons (1824 – 1880) was an
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
nurse, hospital administrator, and founder of
Mount Auburn Hospital Mount Auburn Hospital (MAH) is a community hospital with a patient capacity of about 200 beds in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its main campus is located at 330 Mount Auburn St, in the neighborhood of West Cambridge (neighborhood), West Cambridge. I ...
in Massachusetts. Her posthumous memoir, ''Fearless Purpose: Memoir of Emily Elizabeth Parsons'', gives a rare glimpse of the American Civil War from a nurse's perspective as she describes her work tending to Union soldiers and managing the nursing staff at
Benton Barracks Benton Barracks, also known as Camp Benton, was a United States Army barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, located at present-day St. Louis Fairground Park. Before the American Civil War, the site was owned and used by the St. Louis Agricultural and ...
Hospital in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
.


Early years

Parsons was born in
Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in and the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River, which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. As of the 2020 United States ...
, on March 8, 1824, the eldest of seven children. Her father was
Theophilus Parsons Theophilus Parsons (February 24, 1750October 30, 1813) was an American jurist based in Massachusetts. Biography Born in Newbury, Massachusetts, to a clergyman father, Parsons was one of the early students at the Dummer Academy (now The Governo ...
, a lawyer and supporter of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, and Dane Professor of Law at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. Her mother was Catherine Amory (Chandler) Parsons. She grew up in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, where she graduated from Cambridge High School. During childhood, an accident left her blind in one eye and
scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...
left her partially deaf. Because of an ankle injury she suffered as a young woman, she was unable to stand for prolonged periods of time.


Training in Massachusetts and work at Ft. Schuyler

Before the American Civil War, military nursing in the United States was dominated by men and was not viewed as a good career for women. However, the massive amount of illness and number of casualties on both sides of the war brought women of all ages and economic classes to the sometimes makeshift hospitals that were set up during the war. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Parsons, at the age of 37, expressed a desire to assist the Union army by working as a nurse. Her father tried to dissuade her, since he felt with all of her disabilities, she would not be very useful as a nurse and might put her own health in danger. Nonetheless, she began training as a volunteer at the
Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...
. After eighteen months, she was put in charge of a ward of fifty wounded Union soldiers at
Fort Schuyler Fort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices ...
Military Hospital on Long Island in October 1862. For two months, she performed nursing duties at Ft. Schuyler, sending letters back home that would later be published posthumously as her memoir. In her letters, she tells of preparing men for
amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...
s and sometimes death while snow and rain poured in through the slats of the hospital roof, and the wind rocked the building outside. When her father again expresses concern that she is too sick to continue the life of a military nurse, she reminds him that she, like her brother, has committed to a military life: "Remember that I am in the army just as Chauncy is and I must be held to work just as he is; you would never think of requesting that he not be sent on picket duty because it was hard work." Despite her commitment, her health continued to deteriorate, and she had to take a break from her responsibilities and return home.


St. Louis and the Battle of Vicksburg

While recuperating, Parsons wrote to
Dorothea Dix Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802July 17, 1887) was an American advocate on behalf of the poor insane, mentally ill. By her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she helped create the fir ...
, superintendent of Union nurses who had actively campaigned for the rights of women to become military nurses, offering her services wherever they might be needed. She also befriended writer and political activist
Jessie Benton Fremont Jessie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jessie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jessie (surname), a list of people Arts and entertainment * ''Jessie'' (2011 TV series), a 2011–15 Disney Channel ...
, who recommended Parsons to the
Western Sanitary Commission The Western Sanitary Commission was a private agency based in St. Louis that was a rival of the larger U.S. Sanitary Commission. It operated in the west during the American Civil War to help the U.S. Army deal with sick and wounded soldiers. It wa ...
at St. Louis, and in January, 1863, Parsons left Massachusetts for
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. When she arrived, the city was crowded with sick and wounded soldiers, and available buildings were quickly being converted to hospitals. She was assigned to the Lawson Hospital. She was only at the Lawson Hospital for a few weeks, when she was reassigned to the hospital steamship City of Alton, which travelled down the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
during the
Vicksburg campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...
. At
Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...
, four hundred invalid soldiers were brought on board the ship, most of them sick with fever, many of them past recovery, and returned as far as
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. Black men and women escaping slavery were also brought on board. From the steamship, Parsons again sent letters home, writing of the clouds of exploding shells being fired back and forth between the Union and Confederate armies. In one anecdote, she tells of a freed slave walking past with creaking boots, and how another freedman calls out to her, "Ah Jane, your boots cry out for freedom!". Many of the wounded soldiers died on the passage up the river. During this period, Parsons contracted
malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
. From that point on, she had recurrent bouts of fever. At Memphis, after the sick and wounded had been transferred to the hospitals, an order was received from General
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
to load the boat with active soldiers and return immediately to Vicksburg. Parsons, along with the other female nurses, returned to St. Louis.


Benton Barracks Hospital in St. Louis

In St. Louis, Parsons was put in charge of the
Benton Barracks Benton Barracks, also known as Camp Benton, was a United States Army barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, located at present-day St. Louis Fairground Park. Before the American Civil War, the site was owned and used by the St. Louis Agricultural and ...
Hospital, the largest hospital in the American West, with 2,000 patients. Wounded black and white soldiers were segregated, with the main amphitheater turned into the hospital for black troops. Parsons' letters describe both the conflict and the hope that the wounded black soldiers brought. "There is too much a feeling among many here that they must be treated like inferior beings," she says, "They are only inferior from neglect, that is, I hope I can see my way clear to do my duty by them and all.” As supervising nurse, she also spoke with women of the Colored Ladies Aid Society who had to fight for the right to sit on the street cars that travelled to the wounded black soldiers' hospital and told her "things that would make your blood boil." The hospital, she writes, is doing more than taking care of the bodies of the black soldiers, "it is bringing to the surface facts, and establishing precedents with the enemy. It is storming the citadel." She also trained the inexperienced women, black and white, who arrived at the hospital to volunteer their services as nurses. Under her management, the hospital's death rate was significantly reduced. Towards the end of the Civil War, the hospital began to treat the black freedmen and refugees of all races who were then pouring into St. Louis from the South. Even while she was suffering bouts of malaria, Parsons continued to direct the nurses at the hospital from her sick-bed. Though her decline in health eventually caused her to return to Cambridge, she continued to send boxes of gardening seeds and clothing to the freedmen and refugees at Barracks Hospital, so they could begin a new life in Missouri.


Founding of Cambridge Hospital

After the war, Parsons returned to
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, and devoted the next six years to raising money for a hospital there. In 1869, she obtained a charter for what was then called Cambridge Hospital, located in a rented house. The hospital was only open until 1872, when it was forced to close due to lack of funds. However, it was re-opened again in 1886 after Parson's death and the name was changed to Mt. Auburn Hospital.


Death and legacy

Parsons died of
apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
, or
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
, in 1880. She is buried at
Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...
. Her father published selected letters she wrote to her family as a memoir after her death, with an introduction. Her work has been cited along with writings by
Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
,
Susie Taylor Susie King Taylor (August 6, 1848 – October 6, 1912) was an American nurse, educator and memoirist. Born into slavery in coastal Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, she is known for being the first African-American nurse during the American Civil Wa ...
and
Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...
as one of the few memoirs available to researchers on the daily lives of the 3,000 women who served as military nurses during the American Civil War. Mt. Auburn Hospital continues to serve patients in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Emily Elizabeth 1824 births 1880 deaths Women in the American Civil War People from Taunton, Massachusetts History of St. Louis People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War American nursing administrators Female wartime nurses American writers with disabilities American Civil War nurses American women nurses