Mary Morris Husband was a well known Pennsylvania nurse, whose illustrious career found her serving the physical, psychological and legal needs of the men in her care. She was known as the nurse with the apron of miracle pockets, because her deep, wide pockets carried games and reading material that entertained and filled the soldiers’ long hours of recovery.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mary Morris was the granddaughter of Robert Morris, Revolutionary War financier and signer of the Declaration of Independence. She began her career at age 41 with the Philadelphia Ladies Aid Society working in Philadelphia military hospitals. Mary worked for three years in field hospitals and traveled on hospital transports to Harrison’s Landing, Baltimore, and Antietam, MD, and Fredericksburg, VA. She also traveled with the Army to Gettysburg in June of 1863 and a year later served in hospitals at Port Royal and at the White House.

Mary married a prominent and wealthy Philadelphia attorney, J. I. Husband. She developed an interest in legal work and began to help develop cases to defend soldiers who were falsely accused. She presented these cases up through the military ranks to the Secretary of War and even to the White House. Her persistence healed many injustices. This included her son, Henry, who benefited from his mother’s work when President Lincoln signed the order to free him and return him to duty in December 1863. Both of her sons served in the Civil War.

After the war, Mary Morris Husband lived in Florida with her husband and sons. In 1883 she worked in the Pension Office in Washington DC. She received a pension of $25 per month for her work during the war. Mary died March 3, 1894 and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA.