Nellie Oscarena Robertson (1890-1934)

(1890-1934)

Nellie Oscarena was the daughter of James Washington Thomas Robertson and his third wife, Mary Priscilla Robertson. She was the fourth of their 5 children. She would have been my grandfather Carlton’s half-sister.

A note in the printed family history that my cousin gave me says that Nellie nursed our grandmother, Mattie (Hughes) Robertson in her illness, although it appears that Mattie outlived Nellie by a few months.

Most of the information I have about her comes from other Ancestry family trees, from distant cousins of ours.

According to her obituary in the Salisbury Times, she was a well-known nurse in the area.

Conjecture: Her odd middle name might have been after her Uncle Oscar, Mary Priscilla’s brother, Oscar Crisfield (Bud Os).

Nellie’s gravestone at the Robertson Cemetery

This is a transcript of her obituary. I think it’s rather touching.

Transcript of obituary

Death Claims Well Known Local Nurse

Miss Nellie O. Robertson, R.N., Succumbed At Hospital Tuesday, Following Operation HAD BEEN ILL ONLY TWO DAYS Deceased, 43, Was Recognized As A Leader In Her Profession On Lower Peninsula – Funeral Services This (Thursday) Afternoon With Interment At Clara After an illness of only two days, Miss Nellie O. Robertson, R.N., died at the Peninsula General Hospital about 5 A.M. Tuesday. Miss Robertson, who was one of the best-known nurses in this section, was taken ill on Sunday morning and was operated on about 8.30 P.M. Although she had long suffered with a stomach ailment, the seriousness of her condition was not realized. A graduate of the Peninsula General Hospital Training School for Nurses, Class of 1916, Miss Robertson had, for the past nearly 20 years, done hospital and private nursing and was widely recognized as a leader in her profession. The deceased, who was 43 years of age, was a native of Clara, this county, a daughter of the late J. W. T. Robertson and Mary Priscilla Robertson, a leading family of that community. For a number of years she had made her home with Miss Annie Layfield, on Poplar Hill Avenue, this city. Miss Robertson was a member of Asbury M. E. Church. She is survived by three sisters and a brother: Mrs. Glenn G. Mezick, near Salisbury; Mrs. Ira Willing, this city; Mrs. Carter Denson, Baltimore; and Chester Robertson, Salisbury; also by several half-brothers and sisters: Carlton Robertson, and Mrs. Luther Mezick, Salisbury; Mrs. Allen Mezick [Aunt Esther], Tyaskin, and Mrs. Alice Kennerly, Philadelphia. Funeral services will be held this (Thursday) afternoon at 2.30 o’clock from the home of Mrs. Glenn Mezick, and interment will be in the family burying ground on the Clara homestead.

Detail

Obituary: Death Claims Well Known Local Nurse

Source Information

Title

Salisbury [MD] Daily Times Newspaper

Publisher Location

Salisbury, Maryland