Cumming, Kate, 1835-1909

Kate Cumming was a Confederate hospital matron, teacher and author. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1835 and as a child, moved with her family to Montreal, Canada, and then finally to Mobile, Ala. She lived comfortably in Mobile up to the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1862, when she volunteered to help in the Confederate hospitals as a nurse. She worked in the hospitals of the Army of Tennessee until the war's end. After the war she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she stayed until 1874 when she moved to Birmingham, Ala., with her father. In 1866 Kate wrote her first book "A Journal of Hospital Life in the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the Battle of Shiloh to the End of the War: With sketches of Life and Character, and Brief Notices of Current Events During that Period." After this book, she went on to write the following books: "The Bostonians or Seeing is Believing;" "The Rose of Elgin;" "Isabella;" and "Gleanings from Southland." Kate also wrote several essays on issues such as education, literature and the South. In addition to her writing, Kate Cumming was also a licensed teacher and taught school, as well as music lessons. She was also very active in the Episcopal Church. She died in Birmingham on June 5, 1909.

From the description of Papers, 1795-1909. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122507500