Cordelia A. P. Harvey
Posted by: 
Shorelander
N 42° 31.336 W 087° 56.998
16T E 421971 N 4708203
A marker at the rest area along I-94/US-41 in Pleasant Prairie detailing the feats of Cordelia Harvey.
Waymark Code: WM145G
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 01/08/2007
Views: 120
This marker is at the entrance to the visitors' center at the rest stop along I-94/US-41 near the Illinois-Wisconsin border in Pleasant Prairie. Along with this marker is another detailing the origin of the name "Wisconsin".
This marker reads:
"Wisconsin women rallied to support the Union during the Civil War. They became nurses, hospital matrons, sanitary agents, and ministers. Cordelia A. Perrine Harvey attained national prominence for her role in promoting convalescent aid for the sick and wounded soldiers.
"Cordelia had moved with her family to Southport (Kenosha) in 1840. She married Louis P. Harvey, who became governor in 1862. That April, Governor Harvey drowned while visiting Wisconsin troops wounded at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Mrs. Harvey thereupon dedicated herself to improving conditions for hospitalized soldiers. She criticized military hospitals for improper sanitation, urging that disabled soldiers be sent northward to medical centers near their homes where care would be better.
"In 1863 Cordelia Harvey met Abraham Lincoln and convinced the President to approve the establishment of recuperation hospitals in the North. The first of three such hospitals in Wisconsin were opened in Madison. (The other two were in Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien.) The Harvey United States Army Hospital in Madison was redesignated the Wisconsin Soldiers' Orphans Home in 1866. It operated under Mrs. Harvey's direction until 1867, and it closed in 1874."
There are a few geocaches at the time of this writing in the immediate vicinity, including one tied to this marker (figuratively, not literally). Check them out!
County: Kenosha
Location: Wayside
MarkerID: 305
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Visit Instructions:
- A picture of the marker with your GPSr or you holding your GPSr.