Maria Abbey

Maria N. Abbey (née Young; December 17, 1816[1] – April 13, 1903)[2] was a nurse during the American Civil War.

Maria Abbey
Maria W. Abbey, from an 1897 publication.
Born
Maria N. Young

(1816-12-17)December 17, 1816
Geneva, New York
DiedApril 13, 1903(1903-04-13) (aged 86)
Brooklyn, New York
NationalityAmerican

The daughter of Aaron Young,[2] Maria N. Abbey was born and educated in Geneva, New York. She and her husband moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1845.[3]

In Mary G. Holland's collection of letters from Civil War nurses, titled, Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women in the Civil War, Abbey recounts her experience as a wartime nurse.[4] She was called to the service after hearing Reverend H. W. Beecher speak at Plymouth Church of the duty of women to help during the war.[4] She heard this sermon in April 1861, the Sunday after the battle at Fort Sumter, and enlisted with six other women by the first day of May.[4][5] These women were some of the first to respond to the call for nurses.[5]

Her service began at Union Hospital at Georgetown. Immediately, Abbey noticed the lack of structure and organization of the hospital, largely due to the immense need for help.[4] Ultimately, the hospital environment proved to be too much physical and emotional stress for Abbey, who left September 3, 1861.[4][5]

This did not stop Abbey from aiding the war effort. Abbey opened her own home to be used as a private hospital for two years, maintained by herself. The house continued to operate as a hospital even after Abbey moved.[4] She reportedly never expected payment for her services.[4]

In her later years, Abbey was chaplain for the Ladies' Relief Corps, an auxiliary to the McPherson-Doane Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.[1]

Activities in Abbey's personal life included singing in church choirs.[1]

Abbey died in Brooklyn on April 13, 1903, and was buried in Buffalo, New York.[2]

References
  1. "Her Eighty-First Birthday". The Standard Union. New York, Brooklyn. December 15, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "First Volunteer Nurse". Buffalo Courier. New York, Buffalo. April 20, 1903. p. 2. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Was a Union Army Nurse". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. December 22, 1895. p. 32. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Holland, Mary Gardner (2002). Our Army Nurses:Stories from Women in the Civil War. Roseville: Edinborough Press. p. 11. ISBN 9781889020044.
  5. "A Veteran Nurse". California Digital Newspaper Collection. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
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