The Vermont Tribune, Ludlow, Friday, December 21, 1888 "Aunt Lizzie AIKEN" 12/21/1888 Reward for an old Soldiers' Friend--A Native of This Section The following sketch is of local interest, in that the subject was the oldest daughter of Steadman ATHERTON of Cavendish, and has many relatives and friends in that and adjacent towns. She married Cyrus AIKEN in May, 1837, going soon after her marriage to the then wilderness of Illinois, her home being Peoria, Ill., at the breaking out of the Civil war. At Camp Butler, just outside of Springfield, there was a great need of nurses to care for many of the recruits who were sick with the measles; she was solicited to care for them by the head-surgeon of the Sixth Regiment Illinois Cavalry, and in company with Mrs. Mary STURGIS there began her work as nurse in the army. Mrs. Eliza N. AIKEN, aged 71 years, of Chicago, served throughout the late war as a government nurse, and has just been awarded a pension. She entered the service with the Sixth regiment, Illinois cavalry volunteer, in the fall of 1861, and served with it until January, 1862. From January 1862 to July 1862, she was on duty at St. Marks hospital, Paducah, Ky. >From July to November, 1862, she was at the hospital of her regiment, Sixth Illinois cavalry, stationed at Memphis, Tennessee. In November and December, 1862, she was on duty at the Ovington general hospital, Memphis, Tenn. From January, 1863 to January, 1865, she was on duty as matron at the Adams general hospital, Memphis, Tenn. From January to June, 1865, she was on duty at the Washington general hospital, Memphis, Tenn. Throughout her service she was most untiring in her efforts to relieve the sufferings of sick and wounded men, and took care of them as if they were her own children. She soon became known as "Aunt Lizzie" among the soldiers, and thousands of men who were nursed back to life by her never knew her correct name. Mrs. AIKEN was not only a skillful nurse, but was fully as helpful to the men under her care by her cheerful and hopeful manner and by inspiring the men with new courage and ambition. She sacrificed her own comforts from the beginning of the service to the end, to secure that of the disabled soldiers, and her efforts in their behalf were never relaxed until all had been done that possibly could be done, or until she was obliged to cease work from physical exhaustion. Thousands of men who were able to return to their homes or resume their places in the field owed their lives to her devotion. In June, 1865, she returned to Peoria, Ill., and immediately upon being relieved from duty and from the responsibilities she had borne, was taken sick, and for months was confined to her room, completely worn out by hard services in the hospitals. Though her health was never fully restored she has devoted herself incessantly to works of charity up to the present time, and goes about relieving the unfortunate and distressed, notwithstanding her advanced age, daily. Transcribed by Ruth Barton -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT