"I would be a coward and a deserter

 if I did not do all I could…"

Agnes L. Warner

(187?-192?)

In their 1895 bulletin, Natural History Society (NHS) officers spent a paragraph in hearty commendation of women whose "scientific work of great merit" had won them "a recognized place in the world of science." "It is a matter for congratulation," they went on to write, "that we have in our midst some ladies who have done good local work in natural science." Although their names are absent from the printed bulletin, six women were named in the NHS minutes as deserving of this tribute. One of these was Miss Agnes Warner, a young woman from Saint John who had "studied with success our local flora." Between 1890 and the turn of the century, Miss Warner skillfully prepared and donated over 250 plant specimens – many of them rare or uncommon species – to the Natural History Society Museum. Her botanical interest doubtlessly found root and cultivation at Saint John's Victoria High School for Girls, where ardent botanist, educationist, and NHS giant George Upham Hay was principal. After graduating with distinction in 1890, Agnes attended the two-week Atlantic Provinces Summer School of Science, then carried her sharp mind and collecting impulse to McGill University in Montreal, where she continued to perform exceptionally well, achieving "second rank honors in natural sciences, first rank in general standing, honorable mention for collection of plants, and prize in mental philosophy."

Warner's next educational undertaking brought her to New York's Presbyterian Hospital, where she trained as a nurse. In May of 1914, she accompanied a patient from New York to Divonne-Les-Bains, France. One year later, she reflected on that journey: "It is just a year to-day since I sailed from New York, starting on our trip with Mrs. E.  Little did we think of the horrors that have happened since." As France began to mobilize in the fateful summer of 1914, Agnes did likewise, organizing local women, teaching them the rudiments of nursing, and overseeing the production of bandages and supplies. Although obligated to accompany her patient back to America, Agnes made up her mind to return to France and offer her services under Red Cross auspices. The courage of her French neighbours stirred her: "I am filled with admiration and respect for these people," she wrote to her family, "There is no hesitation, and no grumbling, and everyone tries to do whatever he or she can to help the cause…. I would be a coward and deserter if I did not do all I could for these poor brave people." Agnes never wavered in this conviction, even after many arduous months of providing unflagging support to wounded Allied soldiers in France. Surrounded by horrific scenes of injury and loss, Agnes connected empathically with her patients, conveying no sense of clinical detachment in her letters home, only a persistent love for all that is rare and beautiful in nature. Though she continued to admire the splendour of flora and countryside, now it was heights of human nature that most astonished Agnes, as she collected stories, photographs and memories from her esteemed and "Beloved Poilus" (French soldiers.) 

While she was engaged in this work, and without her knowledge, several of Agnes' Saint John friends collaborated to publish her letters from France and Belgium, under the title My Beloved Poilus, "simply and solely to raise money to aid her in her work." Between the lines of these letters, we discover Agnes' striking competence when she is placed in charge of the Ambulance Volant (field hospital,) we see her immense compassion as she insists on sharing in the suffering of her neighbours and we smile with her at the few pleasures her grueling regimen would afford.

Agnes returned to Saint John at the end of World War One, after receiving several honours from the French government for her work overseas: The Médaille d'Honneur, Médaille des Épidémies and the Croix de Guerre. Little is known about her later years. It appears that she continued her work as a nurse, living with family in Saint John until at least 1925.

For the full text of My Beloved Poilus, including photographs of Agnes Warner's ambulance volant, visit the Carrie Special Collection at

 http://www.vlib.us/medical/canadian/cnurse.htm

Sources

From Her

Collection

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