Mrs. Lydia G. Parrish.
- Previous history -- early consecration to the work of beneficence in the army -- visiting Georgetown Seminary Hospital -- Seeks Aid from the Sanitary Commission -- visits to camps around Washington -- return to Philadelphia to enlist the sympathies of her friends in the work of the Commission -- return to Seminary Hospital -- the surly soldier -- he melts at last -- visits in other hospitals -- Broad and Cherry Street Hospital, Philadelphia -- Assists in organizing a Ladies' Aid Society at Chester, and in forming a corps of volunteer nurses -- at Falmouth, Virginia, in January, 1863, with Mrs. Harris -- on a tour of inspection in Virginia and North Carolina with her husband -- the exchange of prisoners -- touching scenes -- the Continental Fair -- Mrs. Parrish's labors in connection with it -- the tour of inspection at the Annapolis hospitals -- letters to the Sanitary Commission -- condition of the returned prisoners -- their hunger -- the St. John's College Hospital -- admirable arrangement -- camp Parole Hospital -- the Naval Academy Hospital -- the landing of the prisoners -- their frightful sufferings -- she compiles “the soldiers' friend” of which more than a hundred thousand copies were circulated -- her efforts for the freedmen
At the outbreak of hostilities Mrs. Parrish was residing at Media, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Her husband, Dr. Joseph Parrish, had charge of an institution established there for idiots, or those of feeble mental capacity, and it cannot be doubted that Mrs. Parrish, with her kindly and benevolent instincts, and desire for usefulness, found there an ample sphere for her efforts, and a welcome occupation. But as in the case of thousands of others, all over the country, Mrs. Parrish found the current of her life and its occupations marvellously changed, by the war. There was a new call for the efforts of woman, such an one as in our country, or in the world, had never been made. English women had set the example of sacrifice and work for their countrymen in arms, but their efforts were on a limited scale, and bore but a very small proportion to the great uprising of loyal women in our country, and their varied, grand persistent labors during the late civil war in America. Not a class, or grade, or rank, of our countrywomen, but was represented in this work. The humble dweller in the fishing cabins on the bleak and desolate coast, the woman of the prairie, and of the cities, the wife and daughter of the mechanic, and the farmer, of the merchant, and the professional man, the lady from the mansion of wealth, proud perhaps of her old name, of her culture and refinement-all met and labored together, bound by one common bond of patriotism and of sympathy.
