Margaret Peterson was a devoted Army nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, founded by Sister Mary Hieronymo of the Sisters of Charity in 1857. St. Mary's operated as a military hospital for wounded and dying Civil War soldiers from 1863-1865. As well as tending to the immediate needs of the soldiers, such as changing dressings, administering medication and soforth, Margaret also spent much of her spare time with the wounded soldiers, reading and helping to answer letters from home and entertaining them when time permitted, reading from books and newspapers. Margaret fell ill and died aged 23y of gangrene after being vaccinated for smallpox with an infected hypodermic. The medic who gave her the vaccine was her fiance, Harvey Polley Foote. He was devastated by her death, blaming himself. He fell ill and died of typhoid fever a month after Margaret's death. They are buried next to each other with military gravestones behind the Old Gatehouse.
Margaret Peterson was a devoted Army nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, founded by Sister Mary Hieronymo of the Sisters of Charity in 1857. St. Mary's operated as a military hospital for wounded and dying Civil War soldiers from 1863-1865. As well as tending to the immediate needs of the soldiers, such as changing dressings, administering medication and soforth, Margaret also spent much of her spare time with the wounded soldiers, reading and helping to answer letters from home and entertaining them when time permitted, reading from books and newspapers. Margaret fell ill and died aged 23y of gangrene after being vaccinated for smallpox with an infected hypodermic. The medic who gave her the vaccine was her fiance, Harvey Polley Foote. He was devastated by her death, blaming himself. He fell ill and died of typhoid fever a month after Margaret's death. They are buried next to each other with military gravestones behind the Old Gatehouse.
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