185 - New Jersey Postal History Society

CIVIL WAR PATRIOTICS & THE BEVERLY, NJ HOSPITAL ~ Hughes, Walton, & Micchelli
The two covers below show two different Corps badges, one clearly marked Soldiers
Leter (sic). These are both Army of the Potomac, the shamrock of the 2 nd Corps, in red for the
1st Division, and the shield of the 9 th Corp, shown in green for the 4 th Division. These badges
came into use in March of 1863 for the 2 nd Corps, and April 1864 for the 9 th Corps, and made
recognition of corps members easier on the battlefield, as well as instilling a sense of pride.
Fig. 3: The emblem of a
shamrock regimental badge
of the 2 nd Corps, worn on the
cap, is used on this envelope,
printed by Magee (copyright
1864) in Philadelphia.
Cancelled at Beverly on Oct.
18 (1864), it was sent to
South Otselic, N.Y.
Cover from the Richard
Micchelli Collection.
Fig. 4: Identified as a
Soldier’s Letter, this cover is
marked “Due 3.” Although
mail at this time was
required to be prepaid,
soldiers’ letters could pass
unstamped, with the
recipient paying the postage.
This again is a Magee cover,
copyright 1864 and printed
in Philadelphia. It is
addressed to York, Michigan
and cancelled with a Beverly
Aug. 2 (1864 cds). This
cover bears the shield of the
9 th Corps.
Cover from the Richard Micchelli Collection
The Beverly Hospital was set up in 1864 with Dr. Clinton Wagner in charge, and he
requested Mrs. A. H. Gibbons of New York City to be his head nurse, and to appoint the
necessary nurses. Abby Hopper Gibbons, born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia in 1801,
was already well-known as an abolitionist, and as a leader in women’s prison reform. She had
become a nurse at the beginning of the war, studying at the David Island hospital (off the coast
of New Rochelle) under the auspices of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. She had served in
various field hospitals, at Point Comfort and Fredericksburg, along with one of her daughters,
before assuming her position at Beverly. At the time she was put in charge of the Beverly
nursing staff, she was 63 years old. 3 Georgeanna Woolsey, also from New York, served under
Mrs. Gibbons. Preserved letters from both tell of the hospital’s beginnings.
NJPH 34
Vol. 40/No. 1
Feb 2012 Whole No. 185