Overview

MARY NEWCOMB was a pioneer woman who accompanied her carpenter husband in his westward journey from New York to Ohio to Indiana. At the start of the Civil War, they were in Illinois. When Hiram signed up in April of 1861, Mary Newcomb accompanied him and the Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry to Southern Illinois. Her first nursing service was given at Bird's Point, caring for soldiers with black measles. Hiram was critically wounded during the Twin Rivers Campaign, and she transported him back to Effingham, Illinois. After burying him at Oakridge Cemetery, Newcomb fulfilled Hiram's deathbed request to go back and take care of the boys. MARY BROWN NEWCOMB was a volunteer with no formal medical training. Nursing was disparaged, and there were no schools to teach it. Her personal nursing experience was derived from caring for her children and assisting victims of cholera epidemics. Newcomb was inspired by Florence Nightingale's success in reducing mortality in the Crimean War, and she applied Nightingale's lessons. Without a commission, MOTHER MARY NEWCOMB had freedom of movement to accompany Grant's Army in the Western Theatre, and she went on to serve at Shiloh, Corinth, Occupied Arkansas, Vicksburg, and New Orleans. She fed the hungry, dressed wounds, and assisted with anesthesia and amputations. She washed bodies and the clothes on them. She rendered psychological support to the fearful and the dying. Newcomb wrote soldiers' letters, and saw that money was sent home. When all failed, she returned their bodies to family. As whistleblower and advocate, Newcomb's primary interest was the common man in the ranks.

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Dr. Linda Hatke Ruholl is a retired nurse. Her research includes nursing, family and education history. She is an adjunct at Eastern Illinois University, and a member of the American Association for the History of Nursing.

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