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Hospital No. 8

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While blogger David Welch researched the famous Civil War nurse, Nellie M. Chase, he discovered a photo of my 2nd great-aunt, Mary Jewett Telford, who served as a nurse at Hospital No. 8 in Nashville, Tennessee. I blogged about this here. David also found on Cowan's Auctions the above photo, captioned "Nurses, Hospital No. 8, Summer '63." The woman sitting on the far right is surely Mary Jewett Telford.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee that granted her pension in 1892 states that in 1863 she was at Hospital No. 8, which had "long flights of stairs without elevators" and  approximately 600 beds. The building that was Hospital No. 8 is now The Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville. But could it have had so many stairs? So many beds?

David Welch dug deeper. Hospital No. 8, he writes, was actually three buildings: "…besides the large [Downtown] Presbyterian Church that we know about, there was also the large Masonic Hall and a smaller Presbyterian Church.  Based on the photographs, the bed capacities 206, 368 and 41 add up to 615…which is close to the '600-bed hospital' that has been reported from previous information. No wonder Mary became physically exhausted in one year–so much ground to cover!"

Here are the photographs, from the Tennessee State Library Collection.

 (1) First Presbyterian Church

The First Presbyterian Church is now The Downtown Presbyterian Church. In the photo, it is shown during the Civil War, when it was used in connection with Hospital No. 8 by the U.S. government. Its capacity was 206 beds. The image dated ca. 1861-1865 and text are here.

(2) Masonic Temple on Church Street

  

The Masonic Temple on Church Street was used as Hospital No. 8 by the U.S. government during the Civil War.  Its capacity was 368 beds. At left is a marble yard.  The image dated ca. 1861-1865 and text are here.   

 (3) Cumberland Presbyterian Church

The building at the corner of Summer and Cumberland Alley was used in connection with Hospital No. 8 during the Civil War, and later became the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, part of  which was condemned by the city when Commerce Street was opened up. Capacity: 41 beds. The image dated ca. 1861-1865 and text are here.

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