Adeline was an Episcopal deaconess; head nurse at Church Home Hospital, Baltimore; administrator at the National Hospital, Baltimore; nurse at U.S. General Hospital, Chester, Pennsylvania; administrator of the U.S. General Hospital, Annapolis; and later administrator of Boston Children's Hospital.
Adeline was born on 8 Dec 1805 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [1] Her parents were Jeremiah Blanchard and Mary Gowen Blanchard. [2]
Adeline attended a local female academy and taught school in Boston, Massachusetts.
Adeline married well known auctioneer John Tyler on 11 Feb 1828 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [3][4] John was twenty years older. They had no children. About the time of marriage, she became an active member of the Episcopal Church in Boston.
1850 United States Federal Census: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States[5]
Name
Sex
Age
Occupation
Birth Place
John Tyler
M
70
auctioneer
Massachusetts
Adeline Tyler
F
45
Massachusetts
Sarah D Bradlee
F
43
Massachusetts
Elizabeth T Bradlee
F
20
Massachusetts
John T Bradlee
M
19
Massachusetts
Mary Cashman
F
30
Ireland
Ellen Cashman
F
18
Ireland
After her husband's death in 1853, Adeline became a deaconess of the Episcopal church. She travelled to Germany and enrolled in the Deaconesses' Institute in Kaiserswerth where she studied medicine and nursing. After completing her studies, she returned to Boston.
In 1855 Adeline is living in Ward 3, Boston, Massachusetts in the George W Pearson household. Husband John passed away in 1853.
1855 Census: Ward 03, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States[6]
Name
Sex
Age
Birth Place
George W Pearson
M
37
Massachusetts, United States
Mary A Pearson
F
36
Massachusetts, United States
George B Pearson
M
16
Massachusetts, United States
Harriet A Pearson
F
12
New Hampshire, United States
Emma F Pearson
F
11
New Hampshire, United States
William H Pearson
M
7
Massachusetts, United States
Ella J Pearson
F
4
Massachusetts, United States
Adeline Tyler
F
50
Massachusetts, United States
Cate B Jaques
F
17
Massachusetts, United States
Bridget Lalley
F
22
Ireland
Hannah Joyce
F
20
Ireland
In the summer of 1856 the bishop in Baltimore, Maryland invited Adeline to become the superintendent of a new order, the Protestant Sisterhood or Order of Deaconesses, whose mission was to care for the sick and provide spiritual comfort. She also headed their Church Home.
In April 1861 riots broke out in Baltimore pitting Confederate sympathizers against Union soldiers. Adeline worked tirelessly to aid the Union soldiers wounded in the riot, often in her own home. For her efforts, she received a personal thank you from the governor. Following the riots, she was put in charge of the Camden Street Military Hospital in Baltimore. After some time at the hospital, she was removed after she stated that she planned on treating all wounded regardless of their rank, politics or loyalty to the Union.
The Surgeon-General reached out to Adeline with an urgent request that she take charge of the large National Hospital at Chester, Pennsylvania. At this hospital there were often up to one thousand sick and wounded men. After a year, she was transferred and put in charge of the Naval School Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland. During her time at the Naval Hospital, men were transferred from the prisons of Andersonville and Belle Isle – most of them filthy, diseased and emaciated. On 27 May 1864, she resigned her position, to exhausted and sick to continue.
After the war, Adeline worked as Lady Superintendent of the Midnight Mission in New York City, New York caring for "fallen women" and helping them find employment. In 1869 she was appointed "Lady Superintendent" of Boston's Children's Hospital.
1870 United States Federal Census: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States[7]
Name
Sex
Age
Occupation
Birth Place
Adeline Tyler
F
66
Maron, Children's Hosptial
Massachusetts
Emma F Pearson
F
25
assistant
New Hampshire
Julia Jackson
F
22
assistant
Wisconsin
Mary Armstrong
F
50
nurse
England
Mary Gardner
F
27
servant
Ireland
Susan M Devine
F
25
servant
Ireland
Mary A Crogan
F
15
servant
Ireland
Thomas Kelley
M
3
at home
Massachusetts
Catharine Megrenty
F
4
at home
Massachusetts
Charles Karsnith
M
5
at home
Massachusetts
many more
Massachusetts
She passed away on 9 Jan 1875 in Needham, Norfolk, Massachusetts and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [2]
Sources
↑Birth "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", citing Digital film/folder number: 007578769; FHL microfilm: 496864, FamilySearch Record: VQXF-75H (accessed 30 September 2023), Adeline Tyler born on 8 Dec 1805 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
↑ 2.02.1Death & Birthplace "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925", citing Digital film/folder number: 004221422; FHL microfilm: 960207; Record number: 52; Packet letter: D, FamilySearch Record: NWWC-5RH (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-DCJW-KS2 Image number 723, Adeline Blanchard Tyler death 1875 (age 61), daughter of Jeremiah & Mary Gowen, in Needham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
↑Marriage "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", citing Marriage, Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011271, FamilySearch Record: FH4M-JBS (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: 3QSQ-G979-D76T Image number 00178, Adeline Blanchard marriage to John Tyler on 11 Feb 1828 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
↑Marriage "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", citing Marriage, Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009576, FamilySearch Record: QPH8-WZZR (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-L97M-59YZ-P Image number 00254, Adeline Blanchard marriage to John Tyler on 11 Feb 1828 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
↑1850 Census "United States Census, 1850", citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M432; Line: 12; Digital film/folder number: 004200021; FHL microfilm: 443555; Image number: 220; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01123-0, FamilySearch Record: MDS8-T7H (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-67Q7-FHS, Adeline Tyler (75) in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Born in Massachusetts.
↑1855 Census "Massachusetts State Census, 1855", citing Line: 39; Digital film/folder number: 004089876; FHL microfilm: 000953958; Image number: 526; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N00733-7, FamilySearch Record: MQWJ-4NX (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-D199-4ZG, Adeline Tyler (50) in Ward 03, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Born in Massachusetts, United States.
↑1870 Census "United States Census, 1870", citing Page: 6; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M593; Line: 24; Digital film/folder number: 004271367; FHL microfilm: 000552146; Image number: 219; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01513-8, FamilySearch Record: MD3R-784 (accessed 30 September 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-67V9-NVY, Adeline Tyler (66) head of household in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Born in Massachusetts.
Memorial Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/6699070/adeline-tyler : accessed 29 July 2021), memorial page for Adeline Blanchard Tyler (8 Dec 1805–9 Jan 1875), Find A Grave: Memorial #6699070, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Peterborough K (contributor 46537737) .
See also:
"Mrs. Adaline Tyler" "Woman's Work in the Civil War: a record of heroism, patriotism and patience", L. P. Brockett, Mary C Vaughan and Henry Whitney, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zeigler, McCurdy & Co., 1867), Archive.org (Internet Archive), Mrs. Adaline Tyler, pages 241-250.
"Adeline Blanchard Tyler", "Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a biographical dictionary", Edward T. James, (Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), Adeline Blanchard Tyler, page 491-493.
"Adeline Blanchard Tyler: First Nurse", Ronald S. Coddington, historian and editor of the magazine, Military Images, Library of Congress Research Guides (accessed September 29, 2023).
"Adeline Blanchard Tyler ", White Roses: Stories of Civil War Nurses, Rebecca D Larson (Gettysburg, PA, Thomas Publications, 1997), Adeline Blanchard Tyler, pages 58-60.
"Adeline Blanchard Tyler", "History of American Women, Colonial Women 18th-19th Century Women, Civil War Women" (accessed September 29, 2023).
portrait of identified nurse, also known as "Sister Tyler", Brady, M. B., photographer. Adeline Blanchard Tyler, Civil War nurse in Baltimore, Chester, Pennsylvania, and Annapolis, Maryland/ Brady, New York ; Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, Broadway & Tenth Street, New York & No. 352 Pennsylvania Av., Washington D.C. United States, None. [New york: brady's national photographic portrait galleries, broadway & tenth street, between 1861 and 1865] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress,
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