Around Town

Civil War Nurses of Mount Auburn Cemetery: Mary Phinney von Olnhausen

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Mary Phinney von Olnhausen

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of National Nurses Week, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War nurses who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part four of seven.

If you heard this name recently, it stemmed from PBS’s series, Mercy Street. I located and read her diary in 2012, long before PBS’s 2016 series. I gave several lectures that noted her diary. Perhaps someone then read the book and brought her story to the public. If you saw the series and read her diary, the contrast between facts to fiction is shocking.

Around Town

Civil War Nurses of Mount Auburn Cemetery: Mary Sullivan Felton

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The grave of Mary Sullivan Felton at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of National Nurses Week, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War nurses who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part three of seven.

Mary Sullivan Felton was born on April 30th, 1839, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died April 29th, 1896, in Boston, from pneumonia and pericarditis. Her father, Cornelius Conway Felton, died in 1862 at age 57. Mary is buried with him. He had been the President of Harvard College.

Around Town

Civil War Nurses of Mount Auburn Cemetery: Emily Elizabeth Parsons

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Emily Elizabeth Parsons

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of National Nurses Week, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War nurses who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part two of seven.

Emily was the daughter of Professor Theophilus Parsons of the Harvard Law School. She was described as indomitable, heroic, and warm-hearted.