Page 289

“…The Marble Workers’ Manual…”

“Mary L. Booth: Biography and Phrenological Character,” American Phrenological Journal, May 1860, pp. 71.

“Her only payment…”

“Mary L. Booth,” Marie M. Zakrzewska, The Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, No. 14, April 6, 1889, front page.

“…Dr. Franklin Tuthill…”

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, p. 43.

“Booth became a reporter.”

“Mary L. Booth,” Marie M. Zakrzewska, The Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, No. 14, April 6, 1889, front page.

“…a friend suggested she produce a schoolbook…”

“Mary L. Booth,” Marie M. Zakrzewska, The Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, No. 14, April 6, 1889, p. 106.

Phelps, E. S., Stowe, H. B., Cooke, R. T., Livermore, M. A. R., Spofford, H. E. P., Harland, M., Clemmer, M., ... Elliott, M. H. (1884). Our famous women: An authorized record of the lives and deeds of distinguished American women of our times. Hartford, Conn: A.D. Worthington & Co, p. 120.

“…W.R.C. Clark and Meeker…”

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, pp. 59-60.

“…an eight-hundred-page manuscript…”

James, E. T. (1975). Notable American women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary. Howard Univ. Press, p. 207.

“Mary L. Booth,” Marie M. Zakrzewska, The Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, No. 14, April 6, 1889, p. 106.

“…congratulations from Washington Irving.”

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, p. 60.

“…exhaustive production.”

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, p. 49.

“…The Clock and Watch Makers’ Manual…”

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, p. 56.

“…Booth began working for Dr. J. Marion Sims.”

The claim here doesn’t quite hold water. After the success of her book about New York, Booth received offers to do similar books about European cities. It is doubtful that such offers would have been made without an offer of the means to support herself as she worked. I don’t think money alone explains why Booth wound up working for Sims.

James, E. T. (1975). Notable American women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary. Howard Univ. Press, p. 207.

“She took a room in his house…”

Sims had boarders in his home almost from the moment he arrived in New York (see “…boarders in his home…,” above). Notably, neither Sims nor his biographer, Seale Harris, would ever make mention of the fact that a highly celebrated woman not only worked for Sims, but also lived in his home for several years. Incidentally, although I don’t suggest it in the printed book, I believe that it’s possible that Booth’s initial entanglement with Sims may have been an intentional covert investigation of his loyalties—I think this makes much more sense than the story that Booth started working for him because she needed the money.

Letter from Mary Louise Booth to Mrs. Farrar, July 26, 1864, held in the Ford collection in the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library in New York, New York.

Letter from J. Marion Sims to General Waddy Thompson, July 26, 1858, held by the Waring Historical Library in Charleston, South Carolina.

FOLEY, T., Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2018, p. 66.

“She worked as amanuensis…”

It’s unclear what Zakrzewska might mean here—Sims was not spending a lot of time writing in the years leading up to the Civil War. She might have misunderstood what appears to have been one of Booth’s main tasks: the re-transcription of the first case record book of Woman’s Hospital, which is documented below.

“Mary L. Booth,” Marie M. Zakrzewska, The Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, No. 14, April 6, 1889, p. 106.

“…for the two years leading up to the Civil War.”

It’s not entirely clear when Booth moved into 79 Madison, and as will be seen later in the book Sims came and went after the war began. The rough time estimate here is accurate, however, and the suggestion of the timing is essential—Mary Booth was living at close quarters with J. Marion Sims and had ample opportunity to gain a sense of his leanings in the war as the hostilities approached and commenced.

“Three years earlier…”

Zakrzewska, M. E., & Vietor, A. C. (1924). A woman's quest; the life of Marie E. Zakrzewska, M.D. New York, London: D. Appleton and Company, pp. 184-85.

“…who had already been criticized…”

See “…bombastic pretension” and “…Simpson was criticizing Sims…,” above.

“…failed to accept either Blackwell sister…”

It has been suggested that Elizabeth Blackwell would not have made a good surgeon owing to poor vision. However, the position of assistant at Woman’s Hospital did not require a surgeon, and either Blackwell could have performed in a capacity beyond that of a nurse. Also, the timing is notable: Sims settles on Thomas Addis Emmet as his choice for assistant, and the Blackwells’ dispensary expands the following year. The tone of Zakrzewska’s memoir suggests a direct relationship between the two.

Zakrzewska, M. E., & Vietor, A. C. (1924). A woman's quest; the life of Marie E. Zakrzewska, M.D. New York, London: D. Appleton and Company, p. 226.