Echoes From Hospital and White House

[Gene C]

By Anna Boyden, subtitled A Record of Mrs. Rebecca R. Pomroy' Experience in Wartimes. Copyright 1884, shortly after Mrs. Pomroy's death. About 240 pages.

There is some question regarding the correct spelling of her last name, Pomroy or Pomeroy. All through this book it is Pomroy.

Mrs. Pomroy served as a nurse during the Civil War in hospitals around Washington D.C. Following the death of Willie Lincoln she attends to Tad and Mary Lincoln and becomes quite close to the family. She attends to Mary Lincoln following her carriage accident, and is a frequent guest at the White House. Most of the book deals with her nursing wounded and sick soldiers and hospital conditions.
Many of the soldiers under her care refer to her as "mother".

A nurse's life could sometimes be difficult....
" At one time, fifteen men were brought in
whose left legs required amputation. Morning
and evening, for the space of three months,
she held the shattered stumps while the surgeon
dressed and bandaged them.
One peculiarly trying case was that of Skennel,
of Maine. He was brought' in from the
battle-field with an ugly wound in the leg,
resulting from having his horse shot under him.
He had complained for several hours of a
crawling and biting sensation in his wound,
which gave him so much uneasiness and pain
that he could get no rest. The young surgeon
who attended him, anticipating an evening
of gayety in Washington, and anxious to leave
for the night, declared there was no help for
it, and that he would do nothing more for
him, leaving him in care of his nurse.
The poor fellow's limb was confined firmly
in a wooden box, where he had no means of
moving it. The biting and crawling feeling
still continued, and the nurse filled with sympathy
for his distress, determined, wath the
help of her assistant, to unstrap the limb and
examine the wound. As she did so, a sickening
sight was brought to view; for it was
literally alive with vermin which had bred
there, through some insect germ in the cotton,
it was supposed.
With her attendant's aid Mrs. Pomroy
washed and dressed the wound and put it
back into place, as she had seen the surgeon
do. This accomplished, the poor soldier's eyes
shone with relief and gratitude, then closed
in peaceful slumber for the remainder of the
night, while his weary nurse rested also, with
the consciousness of another day's work completed"

The book also has a strong message of faith in God and prayer, without being "preachy". p189
"** Friends at the North, pray for us ; for when
the next battle comes it will be a hard one;
and we have our work to do. God grant that
we may have strength equal to our day; that
we may never flinch from duty, but prove ourselves
true women —true to ourselves, our
country, and our God.
Mrs. Pomroy had a strong and sincere faith which she shared with many under her care, including President Lincoln.

I can highly recommend this book. Easy to read, the subject matter is often overlooked. It's a powerful story in more than one way.
I read this copy on internet archives.
https://archive.org/stream/echoesfromhos...7/mode/2up
Reprints are available through various retail and internet book dealers.

[kerry]

(12-03-2017 04:46 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I can highly recommend this book. Easy to read, the subject matter is often overlooked. It's a powerful story in more than one way.
I read this copy on internet archives.
https://archive.org/stream/echoesfromhos...7/mode/2up
Reprints are available through various retail and internet book dealers.

I agree - very interesting and powerful. I want to take a look through the rest of her papers some time. Being a nurse during the Civil War just sounds horrific - the doctors allowed them no influence, they couldn't take breaks, medical care was virtually nonexistent. They were essentially social workers, comforting people in awful situations. And that was a badly needed role.

[Eva Elisabeth]

This site is (always) well worth reading:
http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/resi...1817-1884/

[JMadonna]

Southern Matrons administered the wards. They were generally volunteers and had no specific organization like the Northern volunteers did under Dorothea Dix. Most were from prominent families with high political connections who left comfortable homes to live in relatively primitive conditions They also faced public disapproval, Since proper ladies were not considered suitable for such work. One matron noted, “There is scarcely a day{that} passes that I do not hear a derogatory remark about the ladies who are in the hospitals, until I think, if there is any credit due them at all,it is the moral courage they have on braving public opinion.”

Although assisting the surgeons in their bloody procedures was not among their official responsibilities, at times it became a routine duty.

One day a young nurse found herself holding shut a soldier’s artery while a doctor tried to find the break to sew it. Frustrated that he couldn’t find the break he announced he could do nothing and walked away for another patient. The wounded man looked up at the nurse and asked “am I going to die?” She replied not as long as I keep my fingers here. The soldier took a deep breath, closed his eyes and said “let it go”.

She didn’t and waited for another surgeon.

.... Always get a second opinion!

[RJNorton]

Love that story, Jerry!

[David Lockmiller]

(12-03-2017 06:46 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  This site is (always) well worth reading:
http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/resi...1817-1884/

This reference was a bit difficult for me to read. I have tried to put some major portions of this narrative in logical order for purposes of clarification to other readers. Necessarily, some important discussion sections were left out and therefore the entire referenced material should be read for this reason. I hope that I have been thoroughly correct in my editing of the textual material. I intend no offense.

Rebecca R. Pomroy was a widowed army nurse who served at the White House in February and March 1862 when Tad and Willie were sick and Mrs. Lincoln was overcome by grief at Willie’s death. Mrs. Pomroy was first recruited when chief army nurse Dorothea Dix went to the White House to see how she might help the grieving family. The President asked Miss Dix if she could recommend to him a good nurse. She told him there was one out of her corps of nurses that she thought would give him perfect satisfaction.

Although both the physician in charge of Pomroy’s hospital and Mrs. Pomroy herself objected, Dix insisted and ordered her to the White House. Both Mrs. Pomroy and her soldier patients were upset. “Oh, if I could only have staid with my boys!” she said to [Dorothea] Dix, who replied: “Dear child, you don’t know what the Lord has in store for you. Others can look after your boys, but I have chosen you out of two hundred and fifty nurses to make yourself useful to the head of the nation. What a privilege is yours!”

When [Tad] recovered in early March, she returned to her hospital. . . . The President accompanied her back to her post, telling her: “When you get to be an old lady, Mrs. Pomroy, tell your grandchildren how indebted the nation was to you in holding up my hands in time of trouble.”

Late in March, Mrs. Pomroy paid another visit. Mrs. Lincoln was very depressed in the months after Willie’s death. Mrs. Pomroy wrote that “a note was sent to Miss Dix from the President, requesting her to come and keep Mrs. Lincoln company, as Mrs. Edwards, her sister, was called suddenly home to Illinois. Miss Dix, of course, granted his request, and, for fear I might lose my pleasant ward in the hospital, the President wrote to the surgeon in charge, requesting him to reserve my place for me when I should return. So here I am, safe under his protection.”

[Upon completion of her mission], the President ordered carriage and horses to accompany her to the College hospital. There had been a severe shower the night before, and ongoing up Fourteenth Street the horses became unmanageable, while the carriage got fast in the mud. Mr. Lincoln told the driver to hold one horse, while the footman held the other, till he could get out. He succeeded in finding three large stones, and, with his pantaloons stripped to his knees, and boots covered with mud, he laid the stones down and bore his weight upon them. On coming to the carriage he said, “Now, Mrs. Pomroy, if you will please put your feet just as I tell you, you can reach the sidewalk in safety.” Taking hold of her hand, he helped her to the sidewalk, then, looking up, he said, ”All through life, be sure and put your feet in the right place, and then stand firm.”

Mrs. Pomroy got in trouble with patients and fellow hospital staffers when Mr. Lincoln came to visit. As he left, she told three black staffers to flank her. “This is Lucy, formerly a slave from Kentucky. She cooks the nurse’ food,” Mrs. Pomroy told Mr. Lincoln. As he shook her hand, President Lincoln turned to the men on her left. “This is Garner and this Brown. They are serving their country by cooking the low diet for our sickest boys.” President Lincoln shook their hands as he said: “How do you do, Garner? How do you do, Brown?” While her white colleagues were shocked, her black colleagues were thrilled by Mrs. Pomroy’s initiative.”

When Mrs. Lincoln was injured in July 1863, Mrs. Pomroy again returned to nurse the President’s wife back to health.

[Susan Higginbotham]

The actual story about the artery is from the memoir of Phoebe Pember, who was the matron of Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond:

"The hardest trial of my duty was laid upon me; the necessity of telling a man in the prime of life, and fullness of strength that there was no hope for him.

"It was done at last, and the verdict received patiently and courageously, some directions given by which his mother would be informed of his death, and then he turned his questioning eyes upon my face.

'''How long can I live?'

"'Only as long as I keep my finger upon this artery.' A pause ensued. God alone knew what thoughts hurried through that heart and brain, called so unexpectedly from all earthly hopes and ties. He broke the silence at last.

'''You can let go — '

"But I could not. Not if my own life had trembled in the balance. Hot tears rushed to my eyes, a surging sound to my ears, and a deathly coldness to my lips. The pang of obeying him was spared me, and for the first and last time during the trials that surrounded me for four years, I fainted away."

https://archive.org/stream/asouthernwoma...8/mode/2up

Fun, and rather obscure, fact: Before the widowed Pember got the appointment as matron, she lived (unhappily) with her parents in Marietta, Georgia. At some point, probably in the summer of 1862, Emilie Todd Helm stayed in the same residence, as a letter from Pember in the Helm papers indicates.

[JMadonna]

Thanks Susan,
I knew it took place in Richmond but couldn't find the reference.
My memory wasn't too far off from the real story but the real story was of course better.

[kerry]

The nurse Maria Hall says she was there for a while until Pomeroy arrived, but it seems like Pomeroy arrived right after Willie's death. I can't quite figure out that timeline. It doesn't appear they were doing shifts, and Pomeroy stayed 14 weeks.

[RJNorton]

(12-04-2017 09:39 PM)kerry Wrote:  The nurse Maria Hall says she was there for a while until Pomeroy arrived, but it seems like Pomeroy arrived right after Willie's death. I can't quite figure out that timeline. It doesn't appear they were doing shifts, and Pomeroy stayed 14 weeks.

Kerry, I have never heard the name Maria Hall before. I do not believe I've seen her name in any book I own. Do you (or anyone on the forum) know if there is any independent verification that she tended to Tad other than her own word in "Lincoln Cheers his Sick Boy?" I have no reason to believe that she made her story up - just wondering if anyone else saw her at the White House or mentioned her in memoirs. Rebecca Pomroy is mentioned in lots of books; I cannot say the same for Maria Hall (Mrs. Lucas Richards).

[Gene C]

Thanks for posting that info.
If you click on the title of the article, and enlarge it a bit, you can see the nice illustration that goes with it.

It's from a magazine called "The Delineator", there was a popular women's monthly magazine of that name in the late 1870's to 1930's.
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/i...&fr=mcafee

[Susan Higginbotham]

(12-05-2017 05:14 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(12-04-2017 09:39 PM)kerry Wrote:  The nurse Maria Hall says she was there for a while until Pomeroy arrived, but it seems like Pomeroy arrived right after Willie's death. I can't quite figure out that timeline. It doesn't appear they were doing shifts, and Pomeroy stayed 14 weeks.

Kerry, I have never heard the name Maria Hall before. I do not believe I've seen her name in any book I own. Do you (or anyone on the forum) know if there is any independent verification that she tended to Tad other than her own word in "Lincoln Cheers his Sick Boy?" I have no reason to believe that she made her story up - just wondering if anyone else saw her at the White House or mentioned her in memoirs. Rebecca Pomroy is mentioned in lots of books; I cannot say the same for Maria Hall (Mrs. Lucas Richards).

I have a transcript of an unsigned letter dated March 27, 1862, furnished to me by Harvard University's library that is supposed to have been written by Rebecca Pomroy, but I believe it to have been written by someone else. First, the writer states, "Miss Dix spoke to him of me. said I looked young to take charge of Tad. etc., but that she had more confidence in me than in some twice my age. etc." That would not be Mrs. Pomroy, who was well into middle age. Second, an earlier letter is dated from Indiana Hospital, which as far as I know was not Pomroy's hospital. Third, the writer did stay only a short time: "I left on Saturday morning the 22nd. and stayed at home all day and Sunday, being quite worn out with my two Vigils. Monday.I went back again--saw Willie shrouded for the grave and laid covered with flowers for the last sad offices of earth. Then I stayed until Thursday about noon and as the boy was much better and indeed was never willing to have ~one but "pa" or "Aunt Mary" [a White House servant] do anything for him. I left him." I think this could very well be Maria Hall.

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Susan. It does sound that way.

When I see someone whose first mention (by name) does not come until 1921 I guess I get overly suspicious.

Since my first post I was able to find her mentioned in a book I have - she is in the Fehrenbachers' book of "Recollected Words." She is listed in the R's under the name Richards...that's why I missed her previously. A couple of quotes from Maria Hall Richards are included. The Fehrenbachers describe their source as "Posthumously published recollections, with no dating or other description of the original manuscript." This is a reference to the 1921 Delineator article. The Fehrenbachers give a grade of "D" (a quotation about whose authenticity there is more than average doubt) to the quotes they include from Maria Hall. I guess I am just a little surprised that an author such as Ruth Painter Randall makes no mention of her in Lincoln's Sons. Perhaps it's because she was only at the White House for two weeks.

[Susan Higginbotham]

Here is a link to a blog about Maria Hall. The letter provided by her descendant to the author of that post appears to be the same letter that I mentioned earlier.

http://john-banks.blogspot.com/2013/09/b...meets.html

[kerry]

(12-05-2017 12:15 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  Here is a link to a blog about Maria Hall. The letter provided by her descendant to the author of that post appears to be the same letter that I mentioned earlier.

http://john-banks.blogspot.com/2013/09/b...meets.html

Yes, this is where I got most of my information about her. I also wondered if she existed before finding it. The same with a third nurse, Cole, who I'm still not sure was telling the truth. Helen Brainard Cole gave many interviews late in life about her experiences, and she either repurposed the other nurses' stories or was telling the truth. She claims "The last time I saw Tad was some months after the war ended. It was in Boston, where there was some kind of an exposition or fair, and Mrs. Lincoln and her children were there. I found Tad sitting on the steps of a booth crying as if his little heart would break. I asked him, “Why, what’s the matter, Tad?” “I want my pa,” he wailed. Then he said: “You know, if my pa was living, he’d’ forgive the man who shot him.””

It's not known that Tad was ever in Boston, but I do think it is possible they went quietly. That seems coincidental, though.

I found this also:

On February 21, 1909, the Springfield (MA) Republican published a paper by Clara S. Palmer of Chicopee for the Daughters of the American Revolution local chapter. She remembered “It is no secret to those who knew Mr. Lincoln that his domestic life was full of trial. He was a devoted husband and a fond father. Mrs. Lincoln, who was a society belle before her marriage to Mr. Lincoln, was not a popular woman, but I suppose her lack of health, and the terrible strain on her life, were largely answerable for this.” One of her friends was a nurse at the White House and had sent her a few notes — the friend was Maria Hall. “In February, 1863, I was on voluntary duty in the first hospital opened for ‘the boys in blue.’ This was an unfinished corridor of the patent office…Miss Dix….called for me in the early evening, explaining to me, when we were seated in the carriage, that Mr. Lincoln had asked for a nurse from the hospital saying, ‘Willie died this morning, Mrs. Lincoln is ill, and now Tad is down with typhoid fever.’ A nurse had been selected….but here were critical cases of typhoid fever among the soldiers…and sje objected…I was Miss Dix’s second choice. Mr. Lincoln received me with great cordiality. He stood before me, he extended both hands and said , ‘I am very glad you have come..’ I looked up, and up, into the face above me;….I felt that I could trust him with all my heart’s treasures, if need came. His tender consideration for the strange young nurse, and his utter devotion to his child, impressed me more and more as the few days passed. Every moment he could give from duty was spent with Tad. As the worn face appeared at the door of the stick room, the question was always, ‘How is the boy?’ but before the boy could see the face, it wore a beautiful smile. When the mother came to sit a moment with the boy, she was overcome with her anxiety and grief, an could not control her tears. Tad would say: ‘I wish you would not come in here, you make me cry.’ Only the first night was I allowed to watch all night with ‘the boy.’ The father would come in softly and if all was still, he would tell me to go to bed. ‘I can lie down by the boy, you go to sleep now, Miss Maria.’ One morning he said, ‘Now pa has some writing to do. I wonder, Tad, if you would like me to bring it in here, where you can see me write.’ A beaming smile on the little face, and ‘’Oh, yes,’ as if a great boon were promised, settled the question. Mr. Lincoln brought in a good-sized table, his writing materials, and a pile of commissions for army officers to be signed. He managed all with the one idea of Tad’s comfort in looking on, and began the work of at least two hours, of writing signatures. As the last parchment was added to the pile on the floor, I seized the opportunity, and asked if he would write his name for me. ‘Oh, yes, Miss Maria,’ adding ,’ when I write my name for the public,I have to write ‘Abraham inncoln’ but I like best to sign my name ‘ A. Lincoln’, so I write this way for you.’ The White House, at this time, was very poorly furnished, at least the bedrooms were. Mrs. Lincoln was unable to give much care to the housekeeping, and the servants were careless and neglectful. Mr. Lincoln waited n himself a great deal. Many things which seemed very necessary to the comfort of the bedrooms were wanting. One night he wanted to give the restless little patient a drink of Saratoga water. He produced the bottle, the cork covered with fine wire. Mr. Lincoln was at a loss how tot remove the cork. I can see him now, holding the bottle with both hands, looking about the room in a helpless fashion for something to assist them. He evidently did not carry a corkscrew. I bethought myself of a pair of embroidery scissors in my pocket, and held up the scissors, saying, ‘Would these help you?’ He took hem quite eagerly, saying, ‘Oh, yes, they are just the thing. You would suppose they were made for the purpose.’ The cork removed, he looked for a tumbler. The only one in the room had a little water in it. He took it, with a motion to throw it into the open fire, then stopped, saying, ‘I’ll guess I’ll drink it’; and at last, Tad had his Saratoga water. I was sent to my room to rest while the father took care of the boy. My meals were usually served to me in the room, or I went to the dining-room and ate alone. One day when some old friends of the family were staying with Mrs. Lincoln, I dined with the family…..mr. Lincoln dwelt especially upon the disappointment of the government in trust officers, saying, ‘ We did not know whom we could trust. The North heard of it. They said, ‘Why don’t you hang those men? They ought to be hanged.’ And then I heard in his voice the unmistaken humor, ash e said, as if to himself,’Yes, they ought to be hanged, but we couldn’t hang everybody.’



I suppose it is not surprising, but the more I research, the more I realize how many people lie or simply integrate others' memories into their own. Everything is so unreliable. It's so hard to tell if some accounts are straight-out lies or strange misrememberings of things. Recent publications have suggested Henry Rankin made up most of his details about Mary, and that Crook lied about going to City Point. I don't know the truth on either one, but both authors (Burligame and Trudeau, respectively) had at least plausible arguments for it. Same with all Dall's claims in the "Keeping Lincoln's Secrets" article.


ETA: I emailed the Winthrop Library about Pomeroy letters possessed by them (mentioned in an Erika Holtz article) which I assume are different than Harvard's. Apparently the library lost them a while ago and can't find them.