An important building in the Jewett family's Civil War experience still stands. It is a church. Thanks to Vic and Dollie Masters, parents of Civil War historian Vicki Profitt, for providing the current photo. And kudos to Clay Feeter, publisher of Standup Journal, for the old photo. Side-by-side they show the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee (on the right) and Hospital No. 8 for wounded Union soldiers (on the left). Same building. Different purpose.

My great-great-great aunt, Mary Jewett Telford (1839-1906) , was the only female nurse caring for the 600 Civil War soldiers in Hospital No. 8 for eight months from 1863-1864. When Mary first applied for a nursing position with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, she was turned down. She told no one of that rejection letter, but "throwing it into the grate made of it a 'whole burnt offering to her righteous wrath.' " With her parents' blessing, she set off from her home in Lima, Michigan, to Nashville, Tennessee.  Eventually she was offered a position as a nurse in Hospital No. 8, after proffering letters of recommendation, including one from Michigan Governor Austin Blair, her father's friend. 

After eight months, exhausted and ill, Mary resigned her commission. She returned home and married Jacob Telford. They became adoptive parents of Civil War orphan girls. She was granted an Army pension. She went on to be a founding member of the Woman’s Relief Corps, a post-Civil War veterans support organization, speaker on the temperance circuit, and activist for woman's suffrage in Colorado. 

Check out Vicki Profitt's profile of Mary on page 4 of the latest issue of Historigram, a publication of the Perinton Historical Society. 

Was the building originally a church before it became Hospital No. 8? Was it re-commissioned as a hospital for Union soldiers during the Civil War? Does anyone know? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

Photo of Mary Jewett Telford

Courtesy of Floris A. Lent

Mary Jewett Telford (1839-1906)

In honor of Women’s History Month, Civil War historian Vicki Profitt and I are working together to honor Mary Jewett Telford (my great-great-great aunt). My husband,  Evan Marshall, and I attended Vicki’s talk Illuminated History: The Civil War Soldiers of Perinton, which included a profile of Mary Jewett Telford.

Mary Jewett Telford lived the fullest life possible for an aspiring white woman in 19th-century America. She was a Civil War nurse, wife of Jacob Telford, adoptive mother of Civil War orphan girls, post-Civil War veterans’ humanitarian as charter member of the Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC), suffragette, magazine editor and writer, and speaker on the national temperance circuit. Her parents, Dr. Lester Jewett and Hannah Southwick Jewett, a Quaker, were progressives who believed in the education and achievements of women. The Jewett family were abolitionists and their farm in Seneca, New York, was the second-to-last stop before Canada on the Underground Railway, according to Mary. 

This month, we are asking you to share a minibio about a female ancestor. We would like to interview you about your female ancestor and share your stories on our blogs.  Please contact us below.

Thank you for honoring the important contributions of women.

Martha Jewett

Vicki Proftt