Rebecca Usher, Civil War Nurse


Nursing invitation for Rebecca Usher, Biddeford, 1862

Nursing invitation for Rebecca Usher, Biddeford, 1862
Item 81061   info
Maine Historical Society

Almira Quinby (1828-1909), who was living in Biddeford, wrote to Rebecca Usher in October 1862 inviting her to take a nursing position in a Union military hospital.

Quinby noted that her cousin, Louise Titcomb, who was working at the U.S. General Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania, had told her that Usher was interested in a nursing post. Quinby had heard that Dorothy Dix, the director of nurses for the army, needed more women for that post.

Quinby wrote, "No particular qualifications or specifications are required -- a common experience in nursing & plain, sensible clothing."

Quinby had worked as a nurse at the general hospital at Annapolis.

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