Emma (Southwick) Brinton
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Emma Dexter (Southwick) Brinton (1834 - 1922)

Emma Dexter Brinton formerly Southwick
Born in Peabody, Essex, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 28 Jun 1880 in Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Died at age 87 in Washington D.C., United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 22 Dec 2022
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Biography

Emma was a Civil War Nurse.

Emma was born in 1834 and was the first child of Phillip R Southwick and Amelia Dexter. She attended the Bradford Academy.

1850 United States Federal Census: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
Name Sex Age Occupation Birth Place
Philip R Southwick M 42 None Massachusetts
Amelia D Southwick F 44 Massachusetts
Emeline Southwick F 16 Massachusetts
Edward Southwick M 15 Apprentice Massachusetts
Elizabeth R Southwick F 14 Massachusetts
Joseph Southwick M 10 Massachusetts
Abby Southwick F 6 Massachusetts
Philip Southwick M 4 Massachusetts
Jacob Southwick M 1 Massachusetts
Bridget Magee F 23 Ireland
D T Smith M 40 Merchant Maine
Joseph W Woods M 21 Clerk Massachusetts
Danl Church M 40 Mer. Agt. Vermont

Through contact with the United States Sanitary Commission, Miss Southwick began nursing Civil War casualties early in 1863 at Mansion House Hospital at Alexandria, Virginia where she cared for ill soldiers. Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. was her next assignment where she served four months. Her field service began at Belle Plain looking after the wounded from the Wilderness campaign. Next came duty at Fredericksburg, where she arrived on a wagon laden with oats. There, ten houses were used as hospitals, and the nurses slept on the floor of one house and 'ate whatever chance provided.' She arrived at White House Landing after a journey of five days on a transport for relief work there. At City Point, living in tents and without clean water and where the sound of guns firing at Richmond could be heard, she once again treated soldiers suffering from disease, and was infected with typhoid. Emma returned home to Boston recovered, and had another term of service at Armory Square Hospital. She finished her nursing at Harper's Ferry, a location with 5,000 wounded.

After the Civil War, she taught in freedman schools and organized a display of Revolution era home life and antiques for the Philadelphia Centennial celebration in 1876.[1]

At the age of forty-six, she married Jeremiah Bernard Brinton in 1880, and they lived in Philadelphia. She became a well known writer and lecturer, as well as a traveler claiming to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean twenty times. She was a member of the National Press Association and the Federation of Women's Clubs. After her husband died, she moved to Washington, D. C. where she resided until she died in 1922.

Research Notes

Regarding her work as a teacher in freedmen schools, there is FamilySearch Record: Q2QP-ZL2J where there is found two entries of interest. First, line 16 is an entry for Misses Southwick and Griggs sponsored by the Park St Church, Boston and secondly is line 21 which is an entry for Misses Southwick, Aiken, and Griggs again sponsored by Park St. Church, Boston. It seems plausible that Aiken is Amanda Aiken and Griggs is Helen Griggs who together with Emma all worked at Armory Square Hospital during the US Civil War.Kuntz-859 01:53, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Sources

  1. "Centennial Letter" in Wood County Reporter. Grand Rapids <Wisconsin Rapids,> Wisconsin., 22 June 1876. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  • 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850"
    citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
    FamilySearch Record: MDSD-KLS (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: S3HT-XK5H-HDQ Image number 00582
    Name: Emeline Southwick; Census Date: 1850; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; Ethnicity: American; Race: White; Birth Date: 1834; Birth Place: Massachusetts; Age: 16; Source House Nbr: 1609.
  • 1880 Census: "United States Census, 1880"
    citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm .
    FamilySearch Record: MH6T-H18 (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9YB3-RRG Image number 00612
    Name: Emma D. Southwick; Census Date: 1880; Census Place: Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; Ethnicity: American; Marital Status: Married; Race: White; Birth Date: 1834; Birth Place: Massachusetts, United States; Age: 46; Relationship To Head: Sister-in-law; Source Person Nbr: 7.
  • Marriage: "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920"
    citing FHL microfilm: 001433041; Record number: 670;
    FamilySearch Record: N436-W32 (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: S3HT-61JS-J2H Image number 00349
    Name: Emma D. Southwick; Birth Date: 1834; Age: 46; Marriage Date: 28 Jun 1880; Marriage Place: Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Pension: "United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934"
    citing Affiliate Publication Title: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Affiliate Publication Number: T288; Affiliate Film Number: 52; FHL microfilm: 540808;
    FamilySearch Record: KDPG-6KJ (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GTPB-9PJ Image number 01304
    Name: Emma S Brinton; Pension Date: 1891; Pension Place: Washington D C, United States.
  • 1899 Passport Application: "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925"
    citing Passport Application, United States, source certificate #, Passport Applications, 1795-1905., 523, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
    FamilySearch Record: Q295-JKFV (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-99X7-47FY Image number 00213
    Name: Emma S Brinton; Passport Application Date: 1899; Passport Application Place: United States; Birth Date: 05 Apr 1834; Birth Place: Massachusetts.
  • Death: "District of Columbia Deaths, 1874-1961"
    citing reference ID 270211, District Records Center, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,115,942.
    FamilySearch Record: F7R1-Q2K (accessed 22 December 2022)
    FamilySearch Image: 3QSQ-G9ZR-V9RP-C
    Name: Emma S. Brinton; Death Date: 25 Feb 1922; Death Place: District of Columbia, United States; Burial Date: 28 Feb 1922; Marital Status: Unknown; Birth Date: 6 Jun; Birth Place: Boston, Mass; Residence Place: 1318 11th St, N.W.; Age: 88; Cemetery Name: Arlington Nat; Dasverify: 12-AUG-14; Frame Nbr: 1465.

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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Emma by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Emma:

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Categories: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia | Nurses, United States Civil War