By Karen Peterson
It seems you can connect to Cecil County history in a variety of unexpected places in your travels if you simply scratch the surface a bit. Last fall I received an email from the Brandywine River Museum announcing an upcoming history themed music program. This appealed to me but it was the promotional photo that really got my attention, the musician was holding a set of “bones” in the photo, musical bones that is.
Excited by the photo of someone playing the bones, I looked up the musician’s website. In addition to his bio, photos, music samples, etc., there was an unusual tab labeled “WWI Diaries of Dr. Jessie Weston Fisher”. My curiosity was piqued, a female medical doctor during WWI? Imagine my further surprise to read, “Jessie Myers Weston was born in Cherry Hill, Maryland”. I looked twice to be sure of what I had just read. Well of course I had to find out more about Jessie and her connection to my little corner of the world.
In scratching the surface further, I discovered that Jessie’s father was John Weston, a minister. This was zoning in even closer to home, a minister living in Cherry Hill? The odds were extremely favorable that he had been a minister at my church, Cherry Hill Methodist. A quick search confirmed my suspicion; Rev. Weston was indeed on our list of ministers from 1872 to 1875.
In following Jessie’s electronic footprints I learned that she graduated from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1893. She continued her career as a physician at the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane where she met her husband Dr. William Edwin Fisher. bb
In 1918 Jessie requested a leave of absence to do her part with the American Red Cross for the war effort. She left home, husband and young son and boarded a ship for France.
Jessie kept journals while in France and as a contribution to the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into WWI and to the recent Women’s History Month, I would like to share some of Jessie’s entries.
As her journal begins ninety nine years ago, she wrote, “Sailed from NY April 16, 1918”.
About four days out they began getting boat ready for submarine attacks – boats were swung out over the side – provisioned and in every way prepared- We were drilled once and the soldiers on board many times. No lights at night. Port holes closed tight-
On the morning of the 27th we reached the Bordeaux river – old men, women and children all rushed madly to the water’s edge to wave to us- All the U.S. men lined the banks yelling at the troopers on board to know where they came from-cheering them etc.-
May 7 – No one goes out after dinner if it can be helped on account of the dense blackness of the city- not a light any place to be seen- Taxis creep along with blue or purple lights.
May 27 – Awakened this morning at 6.30 A.M. to the tune of the big german gun which banged away every 15 minutes.
The poor french children stood around the stands today begging for the good food which the Americans had and it seemed more than I could stand to refuse them but we were forbidden by the french government to sell them and we could not give to them. The pathos in the eyes of the little french children will haunt me for the rest of my life-
June 15 – In 48 hrs they admitted 185 and did 115 major operations no account was taken of minor ones.
June 27 – Just got nicely to sleep when an air raid started 11 P.M. and the shrapnel fell around us like hail- We went to the cave which with all the people packed in it was rather smelly- Back to bed by 12 when they started in again – we went down again but as there was nothing doing returned to bed when peace reigned for the rest of the night-
July 7 –The french people near the front have assumed the care of American soldiers graves- Each family in the town taking one- They keep them tended with flowers etc.-
One lad told me that he was one of a party who took 36 Germans prisoners and they were tickled to pieces to be taken as they had been driven into battle at the bayonet point
July 19 – Young american lad came in today with a shrapnel wound of leg received near Soisson- He was bringing in 4 German prisoners when he received the wound- He fell back in their arms They took out their first aid kits stopped the hemorrhage and took him back to his dressing station and gave themselves up glad to be made prisoners-
July 21– I began giving ether at 2 A.M. quit at 4.30 A.M. went to bed got up at 7.30 had breakfast and went to work again helping with minor dressings and sorting out the wounded- Never a complaint from a lad although they had been wounded three days before and had had but one slice of bread to eat in that time
Aug 23 – About 3 A.M. the boys came in from a field ambulance park – They had been bombed by the Huns – ammunition blown up and everything destroyed- This crowd lost forty ambulances in the raid – blown about the country or burned- They found Ford parts scattered all over the universe-
Aug 25 – Funeral of the American boy – If you have never seen one in France let me tell you that it is about as desolate as anything you can imagine and then some- The coffin was the poorest kind of a pine one unstained- The nurses had covered the top with flowers and an American flag- It stood on plain pine horses in the middle of what was a chapel some 500 yrs old but now used as a warehouse for the R.C.-
A handful of doctors, nurses and orderlies stood around while the chaplain read the Episcopal service- Then our boys shouldered the coffin to carry it to a waiting hearse which is an open affair painted black, drawn by one horse and driven by Napolean flanked by two men who were old when the world was created- They wore suits of black. A guard of honor consisting of eight French soldiers looking as though they had done it so often that they were bored to death formed as we came out- The coffin was lifted reverently into the hearse-
The supt of nurses and I fell in behind the guard of honor behind us were the doctors, R.C. men and our soldier orderlies- In this fashion we traversed the entire town to the cemetery- The coffin was covered by the french with a big french flag and the american flag on top of that- Every soldier every man, woman and child we passed stood at salute or reverently crossed themselves-
The cemetery is a new one made out of somebodies potato patch and already well filled with french soldiers graves One side has been set aside for the use of Americans- There were already dug trench after trench awaiting the coming of the men who are to succumb to Fritz’s dastardly warfare- The french bury tier on tier sprinkling a layer of earth between- This lad, somebodies darling, was the first in this trench and he was lowered into it by stolid french peasants who immediately resumed the digging of other graves-
There were some twenty of them digging- Oh! the ghastly mess of it- We turned sadly away with hearts heavy thinking of the mother who never again could look on his face- The graves are marked by crosses containing the names of the boys who sleep on this foreign soil-
Oct 25 – Poured ether until 1.30 A.M. for french petit blesses (wounds) – Boys tell about the burial squads of the battle fields being blown to atoms by bombs concealed in the disemboweled bodies of the dead
Nov 11 – News of the Kaisers abdication – At noon the bells began to ring then we knew C’est finis – Like magic, flags appeared at every window – In the hospital they sang + laughed hysterically.
Nov 22 – The village were all at their doors to see the Americans . A rumor got around the village that 200 wounded Americans were coming to the castle – The village people said all day they came to the castle offering their homes + hands to care for U.S. boys
One old woman said she did not have an extra bed but the boys could have her own bed because if it had not been for the American boys her boy would not have come back to her –
Nov. 26 – Again saw boys who say they saw with their own eyes Germans chained to their machine guns
Nov 29 – Paris is gay with laughing throngs but here + there the heartbreaking evidences of war makes the heart ache – A group I cannot get out of my mind a strong strapping man wearing a croix de guerre, blind in both eyes with one hand resting on the guiding shoulder of his wife in the other arm a baby about a year old – The mother was selling the little souvenirs of the day-
Dec 2 – Now I know the war is finis – The last American boy has been evacuated the last test tube tucked away in its box, the last inventory finished so I know the end has come.
Tonight, where a few weeks ago boys were trussed up on racks of pain and soft stepping nurses brought them safely thru or closed their eyes with sympathetic tender hands – now under flagged draped walls all is changed – music singing, dancing laughing eyes + manly forms make a new world of the old ward – So the sun follows the war clouds + joy had come into its own –
Photos and transcripts courtesy of Sarah Spencer, great-granddaughter of Dr. Jessie W. Fisher
Additionally, from the American Medical Women’s Association website:
When the United States entered the war in 1917, women physicians numbered less than 5% of all physicians. Many were eager for the chance to serve their country. But when the Army Surgeon General sent out a call for physicians to serve in the Medical Corps, the women who applied were rejected. Women physician leaders across the country protested this decision and petitioned the government, but the War Department stood firm.
Women physicians found other ways to participate. Some became civilian contract surgeons in the U.S. Army or served with the French Army. Others volunteered with humanitarian relief organizations – the American Red Cross, the American Women’s Hospitals, the Women’s Oversea Hospitals, and the American Fund for the French Wounded to provide medical care both near the front or within civilian communities. A prevailing sense of patriotism and desire to be of service fueled their commitment.
