"Mrs. Lydia White Head Quarters During the War"
Carte de visite by W.H. Emery, Point of Rocks, Va. Three women stand in front of a log cabin heated by a brick chimney and covered by a canvas roof. The album page into which this image was inserted is inscribed in ink: "Mrs. Lydia White head quarters during the war." The page also incudes a prominent X on the right side, indicating that Mrs. White stands opposite the two unidentified ladies wearing dark-colored dresses and hats.
Born Lydia Keasby Waddington in Salem County, N.J., she grew up in the Quaker faith and married Jonathan Smith White in the 1840s. Jonathan died in 1855, leaving Lydia a widow with a six-year-old daughter, Gertrude. At some point after the war began, she volunteered as an army nurse to care for wounded and sick soldiers. Sister nurse and Salem County resident Cornelia Hancock noted, "I have no doubt Lydia White is doing a great deal of good."
Some of her good works were performed at the Point of Rocks Hospital, located along the Appomattox River southeast of Richmond, Va., and near the sprawling Union base at City Point. During the Siege of Vicksburg in 1864, Lydia, pictured here at her "headquarters," reported to the Superintendent of Nurses, Clara Barton.
Lydia survived her war experience and returned to New Jersey, where she died in 1900 at age 81.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
"Mrs. Lydia White Head Quarters During the War"
Carte de visite by W.H. Emery, Point of Rocks, Va. Three women stand in front of a log cabin heated by a brick chimney and covered by a canvas roof. The album page into which this image was inserted is inscribed in ink: "Mrs. Lydia White head quarters during the war." The page also incudes a prominent X on the right side, indicating that Mrs. White stands opposite the two unidentified ladies wearing dark-colored dresses and hats.
Born Lydia Keasby Waddington in Salem County, N.J., she grew up in the Quaker faith and married Jonathan Smith White in the 1840s. Jonathan died in 1855, leaving Lydia a widow with a six-year-old daughter, Gertrude. At some point after the war began, she volunteered as an army nurse to care for wounded and sick soldiers. Sister nurse and Salem County resident Cornelia Hancock noted, "I have no doubt Lydia White is doing a great deal of good."
Some of her good works were performed at the Point of Rocks Hospital, located along the Appomattox River southeast of Richmond, Va., and near the sprawling Union base at City Point. During the Siege of Vicksburg in 1864, Lydia, pictured here at her "headquarters," reported to the Superintendent of Nurses, Clara Barton.
Lydia survived her war experience and returned to New Jersey, where she died in 1900 at age 81.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.