Mary O'Connell

Mary O'Connell (better known as Sister Anthony, S.C.) (1814 – December 8, 1897) was an Irish immigrant to the United States, who became a Roman Catholic Religious Sister. A Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, she served with distinction as a nurse on the front lines of the American Civil War. Her work with the wounded and in health care in general caused her to be known as "the angel of the battlefield" and "the Florence Nightingale of America." Her portrait hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Mary Ellen O'Connell was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1814, the daughter of William O'Connell (1769-1841) and Catherine Murphy (-1821). In 1821, she emigrated with her family to Boston, and attended the Ursuline Academy in Charlestown, Massachusetts. On June 5, 1835 she entered the novitiate of the American Sisters of Charity in St. Joseph's Valley, Maryland, founded by Saint Elizabeth Seton, and was professed in 1837, taking the name of Sister Anthony. Soon after, she went to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sister Anthony arrived in Cincinnati in 1837 to begin her work at St. Peter’s Orphan Asylum and School for girls. Given charge of St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum for boys when it was begun in 1852, she later oversaw the combining of the two asylums in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Cumminsville. She was in Cincinnati through 1852, when the Sisters in Cincinnati became independent of their founding motherhouse in Emmitsburg, Maryland. She was placed in charge of St. John's Hostel for Invalids, a new hospital.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Sisters volunteered as nurses. More than one-third of the community, which by then had more than one hundred members, served. In June, 1861 Sister O'Connell was one of six Sisters of Charity who went to Camp Dennison, about 15 miles from Cincinnati. A request was made from Cumberland, Virginia for nursing assistance, and eight sisters were sent to serve the wounded of both armies.

The battle of Shiloh brought ten sisters to the scene including Sr. Anthony. Some describe Sr. Anthony’s word as being law with officers, doctors, and soldiers once she had established herself as a prudent and trusted administrator and nurse. She and other sisters often were picked to treat wounded prisoners of war since they showed no bias in serving rebel, yank, white, or black soldiers.

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