The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-16
EX.ARMY NURSES
AGAIN REUNITED
Interesting Stories Of the Brave
Women Who Served on
H. Battlefields.

i L. !. AS0VpASASASAos
Among the bestowed visitors to tho
who are being entertained at the VIII
li1ton hotel by the Commercial club,
| There are 600 women living who can
| claim the honor Of having seen active
| service in the civil war, but only 200
are members Of the organization and
| thirty five are in the city now. Th,y
met 1t the Commercial club ut 4 pm.
yesterday and were treated to musical
program and refreshments before the
business session. Immediately after the
business meeting the club entertained
them at an informal dinner, at which
the wives Of members acted as
hostesses.
The important business will not come
up Until Friday, when the new officers
treasurer. Mrs. sa1ome M. Stewart art
were read yesterday and showed the
tourlshlng condition of the order. FIT
| teen applications for membership are
to be. passed upon by the credentials
The nurses had special seats on the
reviewing stand today and luncheon
old eomrade ~ Of hospital days. yys7n' r he
n nass hsa spsSts pri sg5sg sss:
souvenirs.
A Quaker Nurse.
l. Practically every ex-army nurse is
q character about whom unusual inter-
! est naturally centers. Rebecca E.
! Frick Of Philadelphia is in her eighty
third year, yet she talks charmingly
Of the months when she was "with
ae 1v d esmss the fs Ms t Shsn9n an
variably says, II am 50 pleased to
meet thee,' after which she explains
that she was born and bred Quaker,
but that she temporarily abandoned the
dictates Of her sect to wait upon the
war, first in Washington. then in Win
chester and on the field Of the Cedar
Greek battle. She was doing the same
noble work in and about City Point
when Lee surrendered and Lincoln was
assassinated: subsequently she an
swered another call for volunteers and
finished her service as an army nurse
taking care Of the colored troops at
Hampton Roads.
And then there is Miss Cornelia Han
cock Of Philadelphia, who went all thru
the war from Gettysburg TO Lees sur
render and who has q priceless collec-
soldiers to whose moments Of suffering
she gave comfort.
| Served Also as Spy.
The meeting Of the nurses has
brought forth many exciting experi-
ences. but none more thrilling than
Of Denver, COL, for, besides serving in
the capacity Of nurse, she also acted
as a spy, assuming any character that
General George B. Mcclellan thought
the occasion demanded. Her best char
aeter was colored boy. and the SOL
diers nieknamed her Joe.' But Miss
Edmonds, as she was known then, did
I Irish girl, who aid not'xappear very
| bright, nor much interested in things
about her. Out Of the twenty-three
nurses, there were four, including Mrs.
Harris, who were willing to brave the
danger of entering. the rebel lines to
Mrs. Harris is q small, slight woman,
and so made an ideal boy. She was also
blessed with an excellent memory and
never made her position more danger
Gus by carrying any discriminating
papers.
mule Chilly" for her frequent trips
into rebel quarters. Tho she had sever
al horses shot under her, she herself
was never injured. Mrs. Harris said
after the war that rebel soldiers had
told her that they had orders to shoot
her horses, but not to shoot her, for
they had no real evidence that she was
Once when disguised as an Irish girl,
she found several wounded soldiers
lying near the swamps of the James
river. One Of them told her he was a
captain in General McKee's regiment
and asked her to carry his ring and
sword to the general, for he knew he
was dying. She was tired and nearly
camp, but General Mckee insisted that
she must return to show them the way
to the injured men. He gave her an
Indian pony for her use and when tho
men were found he told her to keep tho
pony to take her home.
Tho well along in years, Mrs. Harris
still nurses the sick and helpless.
The Nurses Register.
The members Of the Nurses associa-
ton now in the city are the following,
| Mrs Fannie g: Haen. national president, Of
h 1s Mrs: cla.issa Dyer, Pennsyl-
syivania; Mrs ssone u Stewart s'at tyeasunep
Ssttyf RsnF; M Reneeea Esk
Marie Elizabeth Chapman of Wisconsin, tn:
Sn'ipAa1u VI INC dssoclatloni MIS- Sarah b.
Gross, Ohio: Mrs. Kate Duncan, Iowa; Mrs.
Mary Gardner, Pennsylvania; Margaret Harris,
Colorado; oordelia Livingston. Illinois; Mary
Parke McCrae. Kansas; Mary Maxfeld, Kansas,
Jane n. Norton, Illinois; Rebecca Otis, Iowa:
May B. Pollock, Pennsylvania; Libby ~ Por.
ter, Washington D. O.; Runa G. Patterson,
| Michigan; Alice Carey Risley, Mis-
souri,; Mrs. Mary e. Smith
and Helen B. Smith, Massachusetts,; Amanda B.
3. Smyth, Ohio; Hattie r. c. Stevens Mime
sofa; Mary 3. Squire, Wisconsin; charlotts
Thompson, Wisconsin. and Cornena Hancock,
Pennsylvania.
Fargo and Return. ......... $77s