Sarah Palmer Young

Last updated
Sarah A. Graham Palmer Young
Sarah Graham Young from American Women, 1897 - cropped.jpg
Born
Sarah A. Graham

(1830-08-19)August 19, 1830
Ithaca, NY
DiedApril 6, 1908(1908-04-06) (aged 77)
Des Moines, Iowa
NationalityAmerican
Other names"Aunt Becky"
OccupationNurse

Sarah Graham Palmer Young (August 19, 1830 - April 6, 1908) worked as a regimental nurse during the American Civil War. In 1867, she published The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life, [1] an account of her wartime experiences.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy). The most studied and written about episode in U.S. history, the Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Contents

Early life and marriages

She was born in Ithaca, New York as Sarah A. Graham. [2]

Ithaca, New York City in New York, United States

Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It is the seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca–Tompkins County metropolitan area. This area contains the municipalities of the Town of Ithaca, the village of Cayuga Heights, and other towns and villages in Tompkins County. The city of Ithaca is located on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York, about 45 miles (72 km) south-west of Syracuse. It is named for the Greek island of Ithaca.

She married Abel O. Palmer, who died before 1862, and married David C. Young on April 6, 1867, after the Civil War. [2]

Nursing during the Civil War

Palmer left Ithaca on September 3, 1862, following the 109th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment to Laurel, Maryland and leaving her two daughters in the care of relatives. [1]

Laurel, Maryland City in Maryland, United States

Laurel is a city in Maryland, located almost midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arundel County and Howard County. Founded as a mill town in the early 19th century, the arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1835 expanded local industry and later enabled the city to become an early commuter town for Washington and Baltimore workers. Largely residential today, the city maintains a historic district centered on its Main Street, highlighting its industrial past.

The regiment initially served at Annapolis Junction, Maryland, guarding the railroad to Washington, D.C. [3]

Annapolis Junction, Maryland Place in Maryland, United States of America

Annapolis Junction is an unincorporated community in Howard County and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.

In one anecdote she told, during the Siege of Petersburg Palmer wanted to send a seriously ill patient to Washington but the doctor in charge objected. She managed to obtain a ticket for him and sent him off, leading to an angry argument with the doctor the following day. [1] Later she embellished this story to include multiple patients, and claimed that the doctor took his complaint to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. According to Palmer's later account, Grant "laughed and said 'I've got nothing to say. Aunt Becky outranks me!'" [4]

Siege of Petersburg Battles of the American Civil War

The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 15, 1864, to April 2, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully and then constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 30 miles (48 km) from the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines.

Ulysses S. Grant 18th president of the United States

Ulysses S. Grant was an American soldier, politician, and international statesman who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. During the American Civil War, General Grant, with President Abraham Lincoln, led the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy. During the Reconstruction Era, President Grant led the Republicans in their efforts to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism, racism, and slavery.

At some point she acquired the nickname "Aunt Becky"; it is not clear if this nickname was applied to her during her civilian life before the American Civil War, or if the nickname was given by her patients or colleagues. One secondary source claims that patients often called her "Mother", a nickname she disliked, and she encouraged using the different nickname after a soldier suggested she looked like his Aunt Becky. [5]

After the Civil War

Palmer, from a photograph published in 1903 Sarah Palmer Young in 1903.png
Palmer, from a photograph published in 1903

The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life was co-authored with Sylvia Lawson Covey. Palmer had kept a full diary of her nursing experiences, but most of the diary was lost, leaving only around three months of material and Palmer's account was therefore largely dictated from memory.

After her remarriage in 1867, her family moved to Des Moines, Iowa the following year. Palmer continued to be interested in the welfare of soldiers, and on the outbreak of the Spanish–American War Palmer raised funds for the Iowa Sanitation Commission, which provided medical supplies for the soldiers, and became the Commission's president. [2]

She died on April 6, 1908, which was also her 41st wedding anniversary, and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Palmer, S.A.; Covey, Sylvia Lawson (1867). The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life. John F. Trow and Co. pp. 215pp.
  2. 1 2 3 "'Aunt Becky' Young". Grand Army Advocate. Des Moines, Iowa. 1908. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  3. ↑ "109th NY Infantry Regiment during the Civil War". May 24, 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "She Outranked Grant". Richmond Planet. Richmond, VA. January 13, 1900. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  5. ↑ ""Aunt Becky" Young – Civil War Heroine". December 6, 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  6. ↑ FLH (June 2, 2008). "Sarah A. Palmer Young". Find a Grave. Retrieved 16 November 2013.

Further reading

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