By Jacqui Nelson
In mining camps—where gold fever and greed ran rampant—an angel appeared. Meet the wild woman philanthropist who used her business sense, her strong work ethic, and her unstoppable determination to earn money for charitable causes and save lives.
Ellen “Nellie” Cashman
~ Aka the Angel of the Mining Camps ~
( born 1845 in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland )
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| Nellie Cashman San Francisco - 1874 |
In 1850, Nellie’s mother brought her and her sister to the United States to escape the poverty of Ireland’s Great Famine. As an adolescent, Nellie worked as a bellhop in a Boston hotel.
In 1865, her family moved to San Francisco.
In 1874, she struck out on her own and set up a boardinghouse for miners at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia, Canada. She asked for donations for the Sisters of St. Ann’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in return for the services at her boardinghouse.
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| Sisters of St. Ann, British Columbia, Canada |
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| Cassiar Gold Rush, British Columbia |
In the late 1880s, she set up several restaurants and boardinghouses in Arizona. Legend says that a client once complained about Nellie's cooking. Fellow diner Doc Holliday drew his pistol and told the customer to repeat what he'd said. The man replied, "Best I ever ate."
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| Nellie Cashman |
In 1925 when Nellie developed pneumonia, friends took her to the Sisters of St. Ann and the hospital that she’d raised donations to help build half a century earlier. When she died, she was buried in Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery.
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| St. Joseph's Hospital, Victoria - past |
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| St. Joseph's Hospital, Victoria - present (June 2019) |
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| Nellie Cashman - 1924, Arizona Historical Society |
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| St. Ann's Academy and Orchard, Victoria - June 2019 |
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| Nellie Cashman & Queen Victoria reenactors - June 2019 |
It often catches me by surprise that I live so close to all this adventurous history. As my mom used to say, it's in our backyard. All I have to do is pause for a moment and look for it. I think I'm going to pause and look more often :)
Do you have an interesting historical tale from your "backyard"? I'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment below.
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7 comments:
What a great lady! She did so much in such a short time, and was very pretty. Isn't it nice when your 'backyard' is filled with treasures? Thanks, Jacqui!
This is a great story of a great and brave lady! Thank you for sharing it. Yes, where I live it used to be a Fort and we have the buildings and the barracks still up from long, long ago, it is a pretty interesting little town. The museum here is a pretty cute museum and there is lots and lots to learn from the museum, lots of very interesting stories of the people who used to live here. Thank you for sharing this awesome story and for the very nice pictures. Have a Great weekend . God Bless you.
This woman was new to me but I’m so pleased to learn about her. Thank you. Best wishes for continued success.
That is quite a story I love it there is nothing here in eastern iowa about a woman at least that i have heard. Peggy Clayton
I loved reading this brief tribute to an amazing woman. I read about her before when Doris McGraw wrote about her in one of her blogs about Colorado. She,like you, Jacqui, is great about writing about women who have made a difference. I love the anecdote about Doc Holliday. It's little snippets like that that make research so much fun. I wish I'd known sooner about this amazing woman when I was writing my novella, 'cause I'd have loved to have given her a cameo. Oh well, there are a lot of stories in us writers for the next book. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your comments, Julie, Licha, Caroline, Peggy, and Elizabeth! It’s always good fun sharing uplifting stories and hearing what others have seen, or not seen 😉 I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of Nellie Cashman until now…or maybe I heard and forgot, that is the most likely case 🙃🙂
There were at least 4 well-known female stage drivers- 3 in CA, (one, Delia Haskett Rawson of Ukiah, started at 14, another, Mary Langdon from Yankee Jim's at 19 not only drove but owned and ran one, and the most famous; Charlotte Parkhurst, called “One-eyed” or “Cockeyed” Charley, because of losing an eye when kicked by a horse dressed as and was thought to be a man until being prepared for burial. The doctor said that at one time Charley had apparently given birth, and a newspaper claimed a baby's dress was found in a trunk in her house. For 20 years, Charley drove a stagecoach in California. Twice, Charley was held up. The first time, he was forced to throw down his strongbox because he was unarmed. The second time, he was prepared with a ready shotgun and left with stage & strongbox intact & the bandit in the dirt. By voting on Election Day, November 3, 1868, Charley was probably the first woman to cast a ballot in any election-she was registered although there was no certain proof as to whether she actually voted. She had according to some accounts been born Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst in New Hampshire, or others say Sharing,Vermont, where she was raised in an orphanage until dressing as a boy and escaping. She stayed in disguise & got work as a stable hand. Two of her friends went to CA where they became owners of a stage line, so she joined them and became a driver. She worked at lumbering, cattle ranching and raising chickens before retiring to a quiet life in Watsonville, California, where she died on December 18, 1879 of tongue cancer, having been a tobacco chewer. She is buried in Watsonville at the pioneer cemetery, along with some of my own family. The last one of the 4 was a 6' tall black woman, Mary Fields, aka: Stagecoach Mary in Montana who was a neighbor of Gary Cooper's, and quite a character also.
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