Bickerdyke, Mary Ann, 1817-1901

Nurse, agent for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, and pension attorney. Born Mary Ann Ball; known as "Mother" Bickerdyke to Union soldiers.

From the description of Mary Ann Bickerdyke papers, 1847-1905. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80062222

Union Army nurse in the United States Civil War. Native of Kansas who later lived in San Francisco, Calif.

From the description of Mary Ann Bickerdyke miscellany, 1879. (California Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 86128666

Biographical Note

• 1817, July 19: Born, Knox County, Ohio
• circa 1833: Attended Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
• 1837: Studied nursing, Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1847: Married Robert Bickerdyke (died 1859)
• 1861: At start of Civil War distributed supplies to soldiers in Cairo, Ill., and worked to improve living conditions for the soldiers; named matron of military hospital there
• 1862 - 1865 : Worked as agent for United States Sanitary Commission; set up field hospitals and cooked, cleaned, and nursed Union soldiers; traveled with the armies of generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman
• 1866: Resigned from duty as army nurse
• 1866 - 1867 : Worked at Chicago Home for the Friendless, Chicago, Ill.
• 1867 - 1869 : Operated boarding house, Salina, Kans., and campaigned to get former soldiers to move west to Kansas
• 1870 - 1874 : Conducted missionary work, New York, N.Y.
• 1874: Returned to Kansas; secured relief for victims of grasshopper plague
• 1876: Moved to San Francisco, Calif., and got job at United States Mint
• 1887: Returned to Kansas
• 1901, Nov. 8: Died, Bunker Hill, Kans.

From the guide to the Mary Ann Bickerdyke Papers, 1847-1905, (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)