Lucy Higgs Nichols

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Lucy Higgs Nichols, 1898. Stuart B. Wrege History Room, New Albany, Floyd County Public Library

Lucy Higgs Nichols (born April 10, 1838 in Halifax County (North Carolina) , † January 25, 1915 in New Albany (Indiana) ) was an African American escaped slave and nurse in the Northern Army during the Civil War . Nichols was affectionately known as Aunt Lucy (Eng. Aunt Lucy) by the soldiers , and the only surviving photo of her shows her in the midst of veterans of the 23rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Army of the Tennessee . During the war, Nichols lost both her husband and daughter. After the war, she settled in New Albany, Indiana , and worked as a housekeeper. She spent the rest of her life with her second husband in New Albany until she died in the poor house in 1915. The Grand Army of the Republic made Nichols the only honorary female member in the United States of America . The soldiers treated Nichols like family and she received a pension for her continued efforts as a carer in 28 battles between June 1862 through the end of the war. Although her successes were lost to archives for almost 100 years, her notoriety was nationwide during her lifetime, particularly because of the special edict granted by Congress for her pension. Newspapers across the country covered it, including The Janesville Gazette , The Salem Democrat , Atlanta Constitution , The Logansport Journal , The Denver Post , The Freeman, and The New York Times .

Childhood and youth

Lucy Higgs Nichols was born on April 10, 1838 in Halifax County, North Carolina . As the daughter of slaves, she also belonged to the farmer Reubin Higgs. The Higgs family moved to Mississippi with their slaves . After the death of their owners in 1845, Nichols was sent to Hardeman County (Tennessee) to live with the Higgs' only daughter and heiress, Wineford Amanda Higgs. After the death of Wineford Higgs, the slaves were taken to Grays Creek , Tennessee to be divided between the heirs. Court documents from January 8, 1861 list Nichols, along with four other slaves, and their value. They should be split between Willie and Prudence Higgs.

Escape and Civil War

Lucy Higgs and Mona escape slavery in June 1862

In 1862, Nichols learned that she was about to be taken further south and decided to flee. In June 1862 she fled with her daughter Mona and a few other slaves. They crossed the Hatchie River and crossed the Union lines at Bolivar, Tennessee, and ended up in the camp of the 23rd Indiana Infantry Regiment nearly 30 miles away . According to some sources, Nichols was accompanied by her husband, who however died shortly after reporting to the Union troops. Shadrack Hooper, the regiment's adjutant, noted Nichol's arrival and described her character as having integrity, honesty, intelligent, always smiling, cheerful, and kind. She is a willing laundress, nurse, cook and singer, and she is also an excellent furier . Other soldiers and the regimental doctor Magnus Brucker described her as a loyal nurse.

Nichols was being pursued by her former owner, thanks to the Confiscation Acts of 1861 and 1862 she was able to seek protection from the regiment, which ensured that Nichols did not have to return. The Confiscation Acts stated that any property, including slaves, that was used to support the Confederate rebellion could be confiscated by the Union government.

Mona, the approximately 5 year old daughter of Nichols, died during the Battle of Vicksburg . The cause of death is unknown. The soldiers seemed to like the little girl very much, they covered her corpse with flowers and buried her on a hill above the city, a place where they also buried their comrades. Nichols stayed with the regiment despite her grief and when it moved on to New Albany, Indiana , she accompanied the troops. Nichols was hired as a maid by various officers, including General WQ Gresham . When the regiment was transferred to Mississippi, she resumed her work as a nurse and was involved in every battle and siege. Under General William T. Sherman , the army, and with it Nichols, moved east in Sherman's march to the sea . Her regiment swung north and participated in the invasion of Washington, DC and the Grand Review of the Armies on May 24, 1865.

After the war

After the Emancipation Proclamation , Nichols was a free citizen. The soldiers in her regiment suggested that she accompany her to New Albany, where many of them lived. Nichols followed them and settled there. There Nichols was hired again by various officers and also worked as a nurse for the soldiers. In 1870 Nichols married the worker John Nichols. Nichols was so popular with the soldiers that they took care of her when she contracted measles and needed help after a stroke .

Lucy Higgs Nichols in the middle of a group of Indiana veterans in 1898. Stuart B. Wrege History Room, New Albany - Floyd County Public Library

Lucy became a member of the New Albany Division of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and became its only female African American honorary member. She attended all meetings and reunions of the soldiers. Although Nichol's work was recognized by her comrades, the government denied her any recognition of her work as a Union Army nurse. In 1892, Congress passed a law granting financial assistance to all women appointed as nurses by the surgeon general. Nichols applied for this aid twice but was turned down. It was only when the GAR stood up for them that they received a grant of $ 12 a month, thanks to a special edict of Congress, which was published by the United States House Committee on Invalid Pensions on July 1, 1898 and published by Magazines picked up across the country due to its uniqueness.

Late years and end of life

According to Kentucky sources, John Nichols, Nichols' second husband, was a free black man who had lived in Tennessee and Indiana. Listed as a musician in the 152nd Indiana Infantry Regiment, after the war he joined the Colored Regiment and came to New Albany three years later. According to the marriage register in Floyd County, Indiana , the Nichols were married on April 13, 1870. The marriage remained childless. According to census records , the two lived on Nagel Street (also Naghel Street ) in New Albany until his death . After John's death, Nichols moved to Floyd County Poor Farm on January 5, 1915 . She died just weeks later on January 29, 1915 and was buried with military honors in the section for colored people in West Haven Cemetery, New Albany.

Honors

  • In 2011, a historical marker was placed in her honor by the Indiana Historic Bureau and Friends of the Street School Division. It describes Nichol's life and achievements on the front and back. The marker is on E. Market Street in New Albany. In 2011, a marker in her honor was erected by the Indiana Historical Bureau and the Friends of Division Street School .
  • The Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, Indiana is home to a permanent exhibition in Nichol's honor: Remembered: the Life of Lucy Higgs Nichols, Men & Women of the Underground Railroad .
  • The Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky annually honors the life of Lucy Higgs Nichols through various programs and a theatrical performance.
  • A children's book based on Nichol's life was published in 2013 by Kathryn Grant as Honorable (Purpose in Repose) .
  • In 2019, sculptor David Ruckman created a statue that was erected in the Underground Railroad Park in New Albany in honor of Nichols.

Literature (english)

  • Newspaper articles
    • Daughter of the Regiment Janesville Daily Gazette, March 14, 1889, p. 1
    • Negro Woman Given Membership in GAR Atlanta Constitution, January 31, 1891
    • GRAY HEADS AND GRAY BEARDS IN REUNION New Albany Daily Ledger, September 21, 1894
    • Colored Nurse's Pension Logansport Journal, July 15, 1898, p. 5
    • Noted Woman Warrior Receives Her Reward New York Times, December 14, 1898
    • Why Aunt Lucy Got a Pension The Denver Sunday Post, December 18, 1898
    • Negress Who Nursed Soldiers Is a Member of the GAR The Freeman, March 9, 1904
    • Only Woman Ever Member of GAR Dies in Asylum New Albany Daily Ledger, January 29, 1915
    • Lucy Nichols in Obituary Notes New York Times, January 31, 1915
    • Lucy Nichols article, New Albany Weekly Ledger, February 3, 1915
    • Damain Shiels: Who Shot General McPherson in Civil War Gazette, February 1, 2001
    • Amanda Bean: The Civil War: 23rd Indiana Regiment in News and Tribune, March 13, 2013
  • Books
    • Judith C. Owens-Lalude: Miss Lucy: Slave and Civil War Nurse Anike Press, 1914
    • Pamela R. Peters: The Underground Railroad in Floyd County, Indiana McFarland, 2001 ISBN 978-0-7864-1070-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Pamela R. Peters, Curtis H. Peters, and Victor C. Megenity: Lucy Higgs Nichols: From Slave to Civil War Nurse of the Twenty-Third Indiana Regiment in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History 2010, Issue 22, No. . 1. p. 36 (English)
  2. ↑ Hardeman County, TN - Cemeteries - Higgs Cemetery ( English ) USGarchives.net. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Hardeman County, Tennessee Records, Inventory of Rueben Higgs' Slave Property, March 2, 1846 (English)
  4. ↑ a b c The Denver Sunday Post: Why Aunt Lucy got a Pension from December 18, 1898 (English)
  5. ↑ The New York Times : A Female Civil War Veteran, December 27, 1898 (English)
  6. ↑ Magnus Brucker Papers, 1861-1868 . Indianahistory.org. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  7. ↑ Pamela R. Peters, Curtis H. Peters, and Victor C. Megenity: Lucy Higgs Nichols: From Slave to Civil War Nurse of the Twenty-Third Indiana Regiment in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History 2010, Issue 22, No. 1. P. 38 (English)
  8. ^ Matthew Pinsker: Congressional Confiscation Acts at Dickinson College Emancipation Digital Classroom, July 14, 2012 (English), accessed June 27, 2020
  9. ↑ The Freeman: Negress Who Nursed Soldiers is a Member of the GAR of September 3, 1904 (English)
  10. ↑ a b c d Pamela R. Peters, Curtis H. Peters, and Victor C. Megenity: Lucy Higgs Nichols: From Slave to Civil War Nurse of the Twenty-Third Indiana Regiment in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History 2010, Issue 22, No. 1. p. 39 (English)
  11. ^ Indiana Historical Bureau: Lucy Higgs Nichols (English) accessed June 27, 2020
  12. ^ Library of Congress: Fifty-Second Congress. Sess. I ... it. 375,376,379 , 1892 (PDF, English) accessed on June 27, 2020
  13. ^ Notable Kentucky African Americans - Nichols, John and Lucy A. Higgs . Nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ John J. Nichols: Private of the Union Army . Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  15. ^ Floyd County, Indiana, Index to Marriage Record 1845-1920
  16. ↑ United States Federal Census Records, 1830,1840,1850,1860,1870,1880,1890
  17. ↑ Amanda Beam: New Albany Bicentennial: Floyd County Poor House in News and Tribune, July 3, 2013
  18. ↑ Indiana Historical Bureau: Lucy Higgs Nichols (English) marker image and description, accessed June 27, 2020
  19. ↑ Carnegie Center: Remembered: The Life of Lucy Higgs Nichols (English) accessed June 27, 2020
  20. ↑ Brooke McAfee: Artist carves sculpture of Indiana woman who escaped slavery in the Daily Herald of April 3, 2019 (English) accessed on June 27, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Nichols, Lucy Higgs
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Higgs, Lucy (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American nurse
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax County, North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 1915
Place of death New Albany (Indiana)