Esther most often went by the name "Hettie".
Hettie was born 2 Jun 1820 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Joseph Kersey and Charity Cope Kersey, and granddaughter of Quaker preacher, Jesse Kersey. Her parents died when she was young and she was adopted by her uncle and aunt, Mordecai and Esther Hayes.
She married Joseph H. Painter on 19 Feb 1840 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. [1] [2] [3]
Hettie and Joseph moved to Ohio, where, being active supporters of the anti-slavery movement, their home was always open to fugitive slaves. In 1850 the couple and their two sons were living in Hardy Township, Holmes, Ohio. (Esther was recorded as E K and son Jesse K as Jepe G K). [4]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph H Painter | head | M | 31 | Pennsylvania | telegrapher |
E K Painter | wife | F | 28 | Pennsylvania | |
Jepe G K Painter | son | M | 9 | Pennsylvania | |
Leicester M H Painter | son | M | 5 | Ohio |
In about 1852 the couple returned to Philadelphia and then to Camden, New Jersey, and she continued her medical studies. From childhood, Hettie had an interest in studying medicine. Hettie graduated from Pennsylvania Medical University in 1860 and submitted a thesis titled "Electricity as a Remedial Agent". At the time of the 1860 Census, the family was living in North Ward City of Camden, New Jersey. (Esther was recorded as Hester and son Leicester as Leister). [5]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph H Painter | head | M | 38 | Pennsylvania | telegraph office |
Hester Painter | wife | F | 35 | Pennsylvania | |
Leister Painter | son | M | 14 | Ohio |
When the Civil War broke out, Hettie offered her services to General Philip Kearny and was assigned to organize the first hospital south of the Potomac River at the Theological Seminary, and oversee forty men assigned as her assistants. After the first battle of Bull Run, she was given commissions from Governor Parker of New Jersey and Governor Curtain of Pennsylvania, and joined the army in the hospitals and on the field. General Grant gave her a free pass on all railroads and steamboats, with orders to officers to assist her in her work. She was constantly on the move, visiting Washington to report on conditions, supervising hospitals at Brandy Station, and nursing at Aquia Creek, Fredericksburg, and City Point. At the surrender of General Lee, and until all troops had been removed, Hettie worked at different Washington, D.C. hospitals and frequently accompanied the sick and wounded to northern hospitals and their homes.
She was described as "a living example of the usefulness of a lady in the army, who can frequently effect more good by personal influence than would be allowed through regular channels" (Union Army nurse Adelaide Smith).
After the war, Hettie practiced medicine in Washington, D.C., and Alexandria and Richmond, Virginia, until about 1870. At the time of the 1870 Census, Joseph and Hettie were living in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia. (Hettie was recorded as Hattie). [6]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph H Painter | head | M | 52 | Pennsylvania | clerk in State Treasury |
Hattie Painter | wife | F | 51 | Pennsylvania | |
Julia Ross | domestic servant | F | 21 | Virginia |
In about 1870, she visited her sons, pioneers in the Union Pacific Rail Road, in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory and Corinne, Utah Territory. She settled in Salt Lake, Utah where her medical expertise served patients including family members of President Bringham Young and Bishop John Sharp. When her health failed, the closed her practice and moved first to Colorado and then to Lincoln, Nebraska, where her husband Joseph was the editor of a farm journal.
Within a year of arriving in Lincoln, Hettie was able to resume her practice. She saw the importance of setting up an infirmary where chronic cases could be more successfully treated. The Lincoln Infirmary was the first of its kind in the West, and cared for patients from as far away as Connecticut and California. In the 1880 Census Joseph and Hettie are living in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska. (Note: the census transcription has many errors, including mixing the occupations of Joseph and Hettie – which I've corrected below – and incorrectly listing Hettie in the Curtin household.). [7]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jos H Painter | head | M | 62 | Pennsylvania | publisher |
Hettie K Painter | wife | F | 48 | Pennsylvania | physician |
Hanna Smith | domestic servant | F | 19 | Virginia | keeping house |
Charles Cossingham | boarder | M | 0 | Nebraska | |
Robert Hart | boarder | M | 42 | Ireland | farmer |
Deland Moore | boarder | M | 38 | New York | druggist |
In 1883, Hettie organized the Woman's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The 1885 Nebraska Census shows the family living in the Lincoln Infirmary. (Joseph H is recorded as Harvey).[8]
Household | Role | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harvey Painter | head | M | 66 | Pennsylvania | journalist |
Hettie K Painter | wife | F | 62 | Pennsylvania | physician |
Jesse K Painter | son | M | 40 | Pennsylvania | |
Sarah J Painter | daughter-in-law | F | 40 | Pennsylvania | musician |
Ananna H K Painter | granddaughter | F | 20 | Texas |
Hettie was granted a Federal Pension on 9 Jul 1888 for her service – 1 year before her death. [9]
She passed away 8 Aug 1889 in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska and is buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.[10]
Her obituary states "the old soldiers have lost a true friend, one ever ready to do good for the veterans in times of peace as she did a quarter of a century ago amid the clash of arms."
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
K > Kersey | P > Painter > Esther (Kersey) Painter
Categories: Nurses, United States Civil War | Virginia, Physicians | Utah, Physicians | Nebraska, Physicians | Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania | Lincoln County, Nebraska | Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Nebraska