Charlotte was born 2 Aug 1818 in Waterford Flat, Waterford, Oxford, Maine, United States. She was the daughter of Abner Johnson and Julia Sargent.
In 1830, Charlotte was living in Sullivan, Maine with her parents and siblings.[1]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abner Johnson | head | M | 40-49 | |
one | wife | F | ||
two | sons | M | under 5 | |
two | sons | M | 5-9 | |
two | daughters | F | 10-14 | |
one | daughter | F | 15-19 |
Charlotte married William P. McKay on 16 Aug 1854 in Bangor, Penobscot, Maine. [2] [3] They had one child, Julia Sargent who was born 14 May 1855 and died 1 Feb 1861 in South Reading, Massachusetts. [4] [5]
William died 10 Apr 1856.
In 1860, Charlotte and her daughter Julia were living in South Reading, Massachusetts, United States. Charlotte was widowed. [6]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charlotte E McKay | head | F | 42 | Maine | gentlewoman |
Julia S McKay | daughter | F | 5 | Massachusetts |
On 24 Mar 1862, Charlotte went to Frederick, Maryland where she was appointed a nurse and the army hospital under Dorothea Dix. She was immediately responsible for the care of many wounded soldiers from the first battle of Winchester. When the city was captured by the Confederate troops in September, they took over the hospital and filled it with their sick and wounded – Charlotte treated them with the same kindness and skill as she did with Union soldiers. A few days after the capture, the Confederates vacated the city.
After the battle of Antietam, Frederick's hospitals were filled to capacity, requiring Charlotte to work day and night. Next, she went to Washington, D.C., and then to Falmouth, Virginia and the Third Corps Hospital. Third Corps hospital was known as the worst corps hospital on the front. Charlotte's efforts turned it into one of the best.
At Chancellorsville, she witnessed the bloody battle while caring for the wounded covering the ground at the front. She heard of the conflict at Gettysburg and made her way there to find the hospital of her division. There she remained for nearly two months nursing for the nearly fifteen hundred wounded men. In autumn she went to the front at Warrenton, Virginia to the hospital of the Third Division, Third Corps. Later, she was in charge of one of the hospitals at Brandy Station.
Those of the 17th Maine Infantry who were under her care after the battle of Chancellorsville presented her with a Kearny Cross with the inscription, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" on the front and on the reverse, "Presented to Mrs. C.E. McKay by the officers of the Seventeenth regiment Maine volunteers. May 1863."
All the hospital workers agreed that at no time during the war was there such suffering as during the months of May and June, 1864. Significant battles occurred frequently. At the hospitals of Fredericksburg, White House and City Point she worked diligently for the sick of the Third Division. A change in army organization of the Division motivated her to accept a position at the Cavalry Corps Hospital, where she remained for about a year. She became responsible for the special diet of the hospital. As a Christmas present, those at the Cavalry Corps Hospital gave her a beautiful, inscribed gold badge and chain, with the inscription: "Presented to Mrs. Charlotte E. McKay by the soldiers of the Cavalry Corps Hospital. Army of Potomac, in front of Petersburg. December 25, 1861."
Charlotte left the service in March, 1865, remaining in Virginia for about a year engaging with the freedmen. She nursed the sick, cared for those unable to care for themselves, provided instruction, and was a concerned and active listener.
She was an anti-suffragist. On 10 Feb 1870, she participated, with a delegation of women, in a hearing granted by the senate committee of the District of Columbia. They presented a paper against the extension of suffrage to the women of the United States, in which they argued that most women did not want the vote and because they took care of the home and children, they did not have time to stay updated on politics. They believed that the country was in no condition to try so important an experiment as granting women the vote. She became the editor of the first anti-suffrage periodical, "The True Woman".
In 1870, Charlotte was head of a household with included her mother Julia, the Oliver family and Margaret Dosson, a domestic servant. They were living in Wakefield, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. (note the transcription indicates that Charlotte was 32, not 52). [7]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charlotte E McKay | head | F | 32 | Maine | keeping house |
Julia S Johnson | mother | F | 85 | Massachusetts | at home |
Perkins Oliver | boarder | M | 53 | Maine | provision dealer |
Hannah O Oliver | boarder | F | 25 | Massachusetts | at home |
Emma F Oliver | boarder | F | 17 | Massachusetts | at school |
Lillie Oliver | boarder | F | 13 | Massachusetts | at school |
Margaret Dosson | servant | F | 19 | Ireland | domestic servant |
Charlotte kept a journal during her nursing carrier and in 1876 she published her memoirs – "Stories of Hospital and Camp"
Charlotte passed away 10 Apr 1894 in San Diego, San Diego, California and is buried in Olivewood Cemetery in Riverside, California.[8]
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Charlotte is 22 degrees from Zendaya Coleman, 27 degrees from Sting Sumner, 17 degrees from Josh Brolin, 21 degrees from Timothée Chalamet, 19 degrees from José Ferrer, 15 degrees from Frank Herbert, 14 degrees from Richard Jordan, 19 degrees from David Lynch, 17 degrees from Virginia Madsen, 20 degrees from Charlotte Rampling, 27 degrees from Patrick Stewart and 18 degrees from Denis Villeneuve on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
J > Johnson | M > McKay > Charlotte Elizabeth (Johnson) McKay
Categories: Nurses, United States Civil War | Battle of Gettysburg | Battle of Chancellorsville | Waterford, Maine | San Diego, California | United States, Authors