The Alexandria Archives Julia Wheelock: teacher, sister, nurse, author FROM THE OFFICE OF HISTORIC ALEXANDRIA
not bear to continue the search. She told them that Orville had come to her the night before in a dream, tellLyceum Hall (now the Alexandria ing her, “My work is done. I’m weary History Museum at The Lyceum) and must rest.” hosted lectures, debates, concerts, and Leaving Anna at the church, Julia meetings while also serving as the and Sarah continued to search for Orcity’s subscription library in the two ville. They witnessed a funeral prodecades before the Civil War. cession, with Julia noting, “How unBut during the war, Lyceum Hall like a funeral at home! No train of became one of Alexandria’s 30 weeping friends follow his bier, yet military hospitals and held 80 of one of our country’s heroes, one the city’s 6,500 available hospiof the ‘boys in white,’ lies in that tal beds. Along with hospitals plain coffin. He is escorted to came surgeons, nurses, orderhis final resting place by perlies, cooks, ambulance drivhaps a dozen comrades, who ers, relief workers, and volungo with unfixed bayonets, teers to care for the woundand arms reversed, keeping ed. Also coming to the city time with their slow tread to hospitals were worried family the solemn notes of the ‘Dead members like Michigan’s JuMarch,’ plaintively executed lia Wheelock. by some of their number.” On September 10, 1862, JuWhen they reached the hoslia was teaching “in the old red pital at Lyceum Hall, the hosschool-house” in Ionia, Michpital director informed them igan, when a student knocked that Orville had died there a on her door with bad news. She week earlier. Julia noted that, like learned that her brother, Orville, a the soldier in the funeral procesmember of the Eighth Michigan Insion, her brother “died like thousands fantry, had been badly wounded at the of others, far from home and friends, battle of Chantilly and was in a hospiwith no loved kindred near.” Years tal in Alexandria. Julia traveled the later she referred to it as a day of Photo: babel.hathitrust.org next day from Michigan to Wash“blighted hopes, a day of mournJulia Wheelock, from Julia S. Wheelock, The ington, D.C. with Orville’s wife Boys in White; The Experience of a Hospital ing, of sadness and bereavement, Anna and Anna’s sister Sarah Peck. Agent in and Around Washington, New York: a day that revealed to an anxious On the steamer down the Po- Lange & Hillman, 1870. wife that she was a widow and her tomac from Washington to Alexchildren fatherless; a day that said andria, Julia noted that the sights to my sad heart, ‘Thy brother has would have made for a “delightful… had been the first Union officer killed fallen.’” pleasure excursion!” under different in the war. Julia wrote, “As we pass She also noted, however, that they circumstances as they saw “scenes and up King Street, we pause a moment to spent time at Lyceum Hall with “an scenery so entirely new!” They passed look at the building where the brave angel of mercy in human form…Miss fortifications, “the beautiful residence young Ellsworth fell, drop a tear to [Clarissa] F. Jones, of Philadelphia.” of Robert E. Lee, his no longer – hav- his memory, and hasten on.” Miss Jones had “watched [Orville] day ing been forfeited by treason,” the The women started their search by day as he grew weaker, she stood Washington Navy Yard, the Arsenal, for Orville at a hospital located in beside him in his dying moments, and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. the Southern Methodist Episco- held his icy hand in hers, wiped the On arriving in wartime Alexandria, pal Church (now Washington Street death dew from his brow, received she wrote in her diary, “Soon the an- Methodist Church), but Orville was his last message for his wife and child, cient city of Alexandria—ancient in not there. Anna lost hope and could and, when life had fled, prepared him
HISTORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 teers on National Rebuilding Day. This year, NRB is scheduled for June 26. Rebuilding Together plans to continue monitoring area Covid-19 cases and adjust accordingly. Now working with local small businesses, contractors, and fundraisers to repair homes, Rebuilding Together meets clients’ immediate needs, whether it’s a major electrical overhaul, a roof redo, or installing a chair lift on a staircase.
50 ZEBRA PRESS
American history—heaves in sight. It presents a gloomy, dingy, dilapidated appearance.” Once in Alexandria, Julia, Anna, and Sarah passed the Marshall House Inn, where Colonel Elmer Ellsworth
The pandemic has restricted an exponential number of Americans at home, and for many, little safety hazards can pose large liabilities. “Small things are big when you are at home all day,” says Maggie Klefstad, director of development at Rebuilding Together. “There is excitement on both ends when [a project] is finally getting done. Our clients have lived in their homes or in Alexandria for a long time. Keeping that home in the family and in Alexandria is really important.” Rebuilding Together’s application process is simple: Clients call to receive an application by regular mail or
email. They fill out the onepage application, then proceed with specific needs for their home. When the application is complete, a project manager comes to the house to do an assessment. With COVID-19-protocols, this is done solely outdoors to comply with COVID-19 protocols. Any needed indoor repairs must be submitted by photograph, with a detailed description. Anne, a D.C. resident, describes how she felt after her experience with Rebuilding Together: “I feel like I’m not a burden on the community; I never thought retirement would make it so I couldn’t
as far as she could for his burial. Such are her daily duties.” And such were the daily duties of thousands of women who served in hospitals throughout the Civil War. Anna and Sarah returned to Michigan, heartbroken, but Julia stayed in Alexandria. She joined the Michigan Soldiers Relief Association, a group focused on caring for Michigan troops. Julia assisted nurses, fed soldiers, wrote letters home for soldiers, and provided general care and support for the wounded. She traveled to the front to care for the wounded immediately after battles. She met General Grant at the front and discussed the work she was doing. During work breaks, Julia toured Mount Vernon and the White House. She saw Abraham Lincoln at the Capitol in 1863 while attending a speech by Andrew Johnson, and again, under very different circumstances, in 1865, noting “It was my sad privilege to see the remains of our lamented President twice while lying in state, once at the White House and again at the Capitol…He was stricken down in the midst of his usefulness, at a time when the nation greatly needed his wise counsels and righteous administration.” After the war, Julia worked for the Treasury Department in Washington D.C., returning to Michigan in 1873. In 1870, she published Boys in White, Experiences of a Hospital Agent in and Around Washington, drawing from her diaries to recount her wide-ranging wartime experiences. Julia Wheelock died on June 7, 1900. Historic Alexandria invites you to celebrate Women’s History Month this March. For info on commemorations t his month, please visit https://alexandriava.gov/historic.
do certain things in regard to my home; this organization helped my home a lot. I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel.” The employees at Rebuilding Together do what they do out of compassion and personal experience. Outreach Coordinator James Anderson says, “My half-brother was homeless on and off. It was difficult to see. Regardless of the situation, anyone is deserving of help, compassion, and awareness.” Rebuilding Together caters to each client’s specific needs. Working with local businesses in the area, they provide help, compassion, and aware-
ness through not only home repairs but also gift cards, meal deliveries, home safety kits, first aid kits, light bulbs, power strips, and more. When small things come together, they can make something big; when small businesses come together, they can build something great. If you, or someone you know, need home repairs or simply some help, contact Rebuilding Together at rebuildingtogetherdca.org/ or email at INFO@rebuildingtogetherdca. org or call 703-836-1021.
MARCH 2021