— Elizabeth C. Wethrell

By Stephen R. Katz, 2017

As a nurse during the Civil War, Elizabeth C. Wethrell cared for countless sick, wounded, and mutilated soldiers on both sides of the conflict. She gave her life to this noble endeavor, and is buried in Ware, Massachusetts.

Elizabeth — “Betsey,” to her family and acquaintances — was born around 1820. Her husband was Lothrop Wethrell (1813–1854), a son of Thomas and Lowis (Robbins) Wethrell of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Lothrop was born in Plymouth in 1813. By the early 1830s, the Wethrell family had moved to Ware, and Lothrop was attending Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts. After their marriage, Lothrop and Elizabeth lived in Ware; Lothrop died there in 1854. Elizabeth remained in Ware for a time, living with Lothrop’s mother, Lowis, and a nine-year-old boy named William T. Wethrell, who was possibly Lothrop and Elizabeth’s son.

Elizabeth was initially a teacher. By 1860, she had moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she operated a school for girls. She advertised in the local newspaper, the Louisville Democrat; the last ad appearing on April 12, 1861 — probably not coincidentally, the day that the opening shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter.

The first significant Civil War battle west of the Mississippi took place at Wilson’s Creek, south of Springfield, Missouri, on August 10, 1861. It left 1,317 Union soldiers and 1,218 Confederates killed, wounded, or missing. Of the wounded, 721 were transported up to St. Louis hospitals by animal-drawn ambulance wagons, carts, and common boats.

They arrived in a terrible state, their clothing and unchanged bandages soaked with blood from their wounds, bullets and shrapnel still lodged in their bodies, and the city’s hospitals and medical staff were ill-prepared for them. These circumstances motivated Major General John C. Frémont, commander of the Military Department of the West, to create the Western Sanitary Commission. Based in St. Louis, the commission was tasked with taking the necessary measures to ensure the proper care, well-being, and comfort of the troops. Its broad jurisdiction encompassed the armies, navy, and hospitals west of the Mississippi.

Among the commission’s functions were furnishing hospitals and seeing to it that they were adequately equipped, and recruiting women nurses. There was no lack of women offering to serve as nurses, but the commission was selective regarding those whom it chose. They had to be “in good health, with sound constitutions, capable of bearing fatigue; … free from levity and frivolity, of an earnest but cheerful spirit; … they should dress in plain colors, and in a manner convenient for their work; … they should be persons of good education … and … recommended by at least two responsible persons, (their clergyman and physician being preferred) …”

Elizabeth Wethrell met the requirements. Relocating from Louisville to St. Louis, she was selected to serve as a nurse at that city’s Fourth Street hospital.

In December 1861, Elizabeth was visited at the hospital by Reverend Jacob G. Forman, an Illinois pastor who was serving as, or would imminently become, Secretary of the Western Sanitary Commission. He described her as a lady “of middle age, having a countenance expressive of goodness, benevolence, purity of motive, intelligence and affection.”

When he met Elizabeth, she was seated by the bed of a young soldier who was gravely ill with pneumonia — then a usually fatal disease — which he had contracted from exposure while serving in Missouri. She had been reading to the lad, reciting prayers, and singing hymns. “The interest felt by Mrs. Witherell in this soldier boy was motherly, full of affection and sympathy, and creditable to her noble and generous heart,” wrote Rev. Forman. Well-cared for and clearly soothed by Elizabeth, the boy was “in a state of peaceful resignation.” He later died; but Elizabeth continued to care for sick and wounded soldiers, “that they might live to fight the battles of their country.”

In mid-February 1862, after wresting from the Confederates a strategic defensive position on the Tennessee River in Tennessee — Fort Henry — Union troops moved on to attack nearby Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River. After a bloody three-day battle, the North’s forces ultimately prevailed, but both sides suffered considerable numbers of casualties. It became clear to Major General Henry W. Halleck, the commander of the Union army’s Western Department, that hospital boats were needed to provide proper medical care to the wounded, and to transport them from the scene of battle back to St. Louis. At his instruction, the Western Sanitary Commission began in March to procure steamboats and transform them into floating hospitals.

It was not long before more hospital boats had to be pressed into service. After the Confederate defeats at Forts Henry and Donelson, Rebel troops were gathering around Corinth, Mississippi, just across the Tennessee border. Union forces, meanwhile, were assembling a few miles to the north in Tennessee, many of them at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. There, on April 6 and 7, 1862, ensued the battle of Pittsburg Landing — also known as the battle of Shiloh. When the fighting finally stopped, the combined numbers of casualties were the highest of the Civil War to that point. Major General Halleck (who by then had become commander of the Department of the Mississippi) requested the Western Sanitary Commission to provide hospital steamers, properly equipped with medical and sanitary supplies and staffed with doctors and nurses, to care for the wounded and carry them to St. Louis. Among the vessels provided by the Commission was the steamboat Empress.

Built for use in the cotton trade, the Empress had been chartered by the Union army and, in the latter part of 1861 into 1862, was used to transport troops and artillery southward to fields of battle. On April 10, 1862, it was designated for temporary service as a floating hospital, and directed to help with the transport of wounded from Pittsburg Landing. The Sanitary Commission assigned Elizabeth Wethrell to the Empress as matron — its head nurse.

In the evening of April 10, the Empress left for Pittsburg Landing, returning to St. Louis fully loaded with 900 wounded soldiers, both Union and Confederate. It made several more round trips in the ensuing weeks. One of the largest boats on western rivers, the Empress had difficulty navigating during low-water stages, and was removed from hospital service in June 1862. All told, between April and June, the Empress transported 3,375 patients. Elizabeth’s service on the Empress during that time was tireless and heroic.

From the performance of her arduous duties and exposure to infection, Elizabeth contracted a fever, and died on July 8, 1862. She is buried in East Church Cemetery, Ware, next to her husband, Lothrop.

Upon learning of her death, the Western Sanitary Commission adopted and published a resolution of condolence, lauding her service, her patriotism, and her humanity. It read in part:

“[I]n the life and character of the deceased, we recognize those virtues which pre-eminently adorn the Christian lady. She was gentle and unobtrusive, with a heart warm with sympathy, firm and unshrinking in the discharge of duty, energetic, untiring, and ready to answer any call, and unwilling to spare herself where she could alleviate suffering, or minister to the comfort of others. Her affectionate manner and kind looks and words gained the confidence, and won the hearts of the brave sufferers under her care, and many a tear of sad regret will be shed as they learn the news of her death.”

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PRINCIPAL SOURCES:

Davis, William T. Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth; Part II: Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families, 2d ed. Boston: Damrell & Upham, 1899.

Forman, Rev. J. G. “Mrs. E. C. Witherell,” in Brockett, L. P., and Vaughan, Mary C. Woman’s Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience (1867).

Hooker, Charles E. Confederate Military History, Extended Edition, vol. 9: Mississippi. Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot, 1987.

Moore, Col. John C. Confederate Military History, Extended Edition, Vol. 12, Missouri. Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot, 1988.

“Report of the Western Sanitary Commission for the Year Ending June 1st, 1863.” St. Louis, Mo.: Western Sanitary Commission, 1863.

“The Western Sanitary Commission: A Sketch of its Origin, History, labors for the Sick and Wounded of the Western Armies, and Aid Given to Freedmen and Refugees, with Incidents of Hospital Life.” St. Louis: R. P. Studley, 1864.

Witherell, Peter Charles and Edwin Ralph. History and Genealogy of the Witherell/Wetherell/Witherill Family of New England. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1976.

Massachusetts Census, 1855, Ware, Hampshire County, Massachusetts.

1860 US Census, Louisville, 5th Ward, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Vital records of Plymouth, Mass., Ware, Mass., and Vermont.

Newspapers: Cincinnati Daily Commercial, Evansville [Ind.] Daily Journal, Louisville Democrat, Missouri Democrat, Missouri Republican, National Republican (Washington, D.C.).

Headstones on findagrave.com.