Far more deadly than bullets and cannon fire during the nearly five years of the Civil War, casualty reports document that illness and disease killed as many as five men for every one killed in battle. Both Union and Confederate troops were exposed to critical health conditions in often hastily erected camps and installations, where crowding and poor sanitation, even by 19th century standards, allowed communicative diseases to spread to epidemic proportions.
Inspired in part by the heroic efforts of Florence Nightingale and her corps of private female nurses during the Crimean War, on June 18, 1861, the United States Sanitary Commission was created by federal legislation. This privately funded and staffed relief agency was to provide support and treatment for sick and wounded soldiers, as well as encourage basic sanitation practices in field camps and hospitals.
The Western Sanitary Commission division, based in St. Louis, focused on aid to the Military Department of the West, Union Naval personnel and activities on the inland waterways, and the growing roster of military hospitals in the western theater of war. Along the Mississippi, a number of converted steamboats became hospital ships, outfitted and partially manned by Commission volunteers.
A number of methods were used to raise the funds needed to sustain these vital relief efforts. One of the most popular was conducting local community and region wide "Sanitary Fairs" sponsored by various relief and civic organizations. The city of Chicago, for instance, hosted the Northwestern Soldiers' Fair from Oct. 27 to Nov. 7, 1863, and raised nearly $100,000 for the cause. Many of these events involved all the usual amusements of county or agricultural fairs, including temporary displays of art, natural wonders and curiosities; sentimental re-creations of "olden times"; and displays of prize winning livestock, horticultural products and household goods. Band and choral concerts, galas, and grand balls were also sometimes given.
In Quincy, two groups of patriotic and compassionate ladies organized early in the war years to provide support for ill and wounded Union soldiers, as well as the wives, widows, and children often left behind with little or no means of support when husband, fathers, brothers, and sons departed for their war service.
The Needle Pickets came into being at a meeting on May 31, 1862, with the goal of attending to the needs of the "soldiers in hospitals and on the field" but soon found their attention drawn to "the triple object of aiding the volunteers, their families and other poor of the city." In July of the same year, a second organization, the Society of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan was formed to provide Union troops with "the comforts necessary to their health, morals and usefulness."
When it was decided to produce a Sanitary Fair in Quincy in October of 1864, these two groups were joined by a third charitable organization, the Freedmen's Aid Society. All three had worked to provide subsistence relief to the families of black soldiers enrolled and trained in Quincy to form the 29th Colored Regiment. Many of these men's families, with no homes in the South to return to, remained in the city after their loved ones had been forwarded to the war theater, living in the barracks which had previously housed the troops. The Western Illinois Sanitary Fair was held during the week of Oct. 11-17 in Washington Square, in a somewhat rustic, but generously sized, specially built wooden building which contained both exhibits and dining halls. Favored by splendid fall weather, the Fair was a great success, garnering up to $1,000 per day in entrance fees alone. Total receipts for the week, as reported by the Board of Commissioners, were just under $36,000.
The events, exhibits, and many donations and premiums given each day were enthusiastically reported by the local newspapers, and chronicled in detail by two special fair publications. "The Daily Skirmisher" contained both patriotic and inspirational pieces as well as descriptions of some of the more popular exhibits. On the first day of the Fair the paper contained a description of the Yankee Kitchen and an old-fashioned "Yankee Wedding," the real wedding of "a ‘bold soldier boy' but just returned from a three years' service."
The Skirmisher also gave notice of a "Grand Concert" to be held on the evening of Oct. 11, which would feature "some of the most highly cultivated voices in the great West." The program for the evening, they noted, would include such favorites as "Song, Herdsman's Echo" as sung by Jennie Lind, a duet, the Orphan Ballad Singers by Russell, and the Mendelshen (sic) quartette "On the Sea" and duet "Passage Bird's Farewell." Directed by M.B. Denman, Esq. this concert, and a second on Oct 12, took place at the Unitarian Church, and the admission price for each was 50 cents.
Other attractions at the fair included the Indian Wigwam featuring native made "curiosities" of "cunning and fantastic workmanship" at prices which would "enable all to become purchasers." The Fish Pond, as described, sounds very much like the popular childrens' attractions found at local church and small town annual picnics of yore, where for a small fee anyone could hang their unbaited hook over a canvas barrier and land a small prize. "While some might catch beautiful fishes, others will only get a needle-book or pin-cushion for their dime and their trouble."
The Holland Kitchen featured a "genuine Knickerbocker table" prepared by "our German friends." The Fancy Work Department offered hand made needlework, including beaded pillows and "the ‘spiderwork-web' shawl, a miracle of industry." The Art Gallery offered a range of works "rarely seen except in large cities" including several landscapes by Mrs. Minerva Merrick and a mantelpiece "excellently carved in Oak by Mr. John Hobrecker."
The Sanitary Fair Saloon provided tobacco, cigars and "lager" to those gentlemen who might "enjoy the ‘comforts' exceedingly." Many donated items, from very small to a fine carriage donated by E. M. Miller Carriage Company were raffled during the fair. The Daily Skirmisher, however, was quick to distance itself from any form of gambling implied by the operation, emphasizing instead the worthiness of the cause.
"Freedom's Progress" was the title of the paper published by the Freedmen's Department of the Fair. In it, the Freedmens' Relief Society described its efforts to aid black Union soldiers and their families. They also noted the attractions to be found in their portion of the fair building, including a dining room, a replica of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and a Stereoscope stand displaying stereoscope views and photographs for sale.
At the end of the Fair, the Freedmen's Bureau reported that although they had received no part of the general admissions or donations, they had garnered nearly $6,500 in direct donations. Their report in the Daily Whig of Nov. 23 also listed hundreds of "donations of goods, ware, merchandize, produce etc. received and disposed of for the benefit of this Department." With the funds they garnered from the Fair, the Freedmen's Relief Society built homes for families of black soldiers -- allowing the family members to remain together, and expanded the local African M.E. Church edifice, building a school room in the church basement.
Through efforts large and small, families throughout the Union supported the troops in camp and hospital, as well as their families in need at home. Over the course of the war, the USSC raised over $25,000,000 in support of their mission before being formally disbanded in May 1866. And a portion of those funds were raised in October 1864 in Washington Square, Quincy, Illinois.
Lynn M. Snyder is a native of Adams County, a semi-retired archaeologist and museum researcher, a former librarian and present library volunteer at the Illinois Veterans Home and a Historical Society board member and volunteer.