Civilian

Mary Doubleday

An officer's wife at Fort Moultrie, refused lodging in Charleston because of who her husband was, who left the city three months before the guns opened.

She is known here through her husband's memoir and the book's caption, which give neither her dates nor her maiden name. She appears in the double portrait with him.

Charleston

Like most married officers at army posts, Abner Doubleday had his wife with him at Fort Moultrie. After the garrison moved to Fort Sumter, Mary Doubleday and the other officers' wives looked for lodging in the city. Or tried to. In his Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-'61, published in 1876, Doubleday recorded what a boarding-house keeper told her:

that, as the house depended on the patronage of the Southern people for support, she (the landlady) could not undertake to harbor the wives of Federal officers.Abner Doubleday, Reminiscences, 1876

Mary Doubleday took the hint. On 8 January 1861 she left Charleston with the other Northern officers' wives, going north three months before the guns opened. The social rupture ran ahead of the military one.

Service

Not yet documented.

Homes, property and places

  • Lived at Fort Moultrie official residence

    until 8 January 1861 · high confidence

    TodaySullivan's Island, South Carolina
    EvidenceDoubleday's memoir records that, like most married officers at army posts, he had his wife with him at Moultrie.
    NoteShe left Charleston on 8 January 1861, after a boarding-house keeper refused to harbor the wives of Federal officers.

    Doubleday 1876 Davis & Melton 2020

Burial

Not yet documented.

Photographs

The Wife Who Went Away
The Wife Who Went Away1861–1865

What is established, and on whose authority

  • verifiedWife of Captain Abner Doubleday, living with him at Fort Moultrie in 1860.Davis & Melton 2020 Doubleday 1876
  • verifiedWas refused lodging in Charleston by a boarding-house keeper who would not harbor the wives of Federal officers.Doubleday 1876 Davis & Melton 2020
  • verifiedLeft Charleston on 8 January 1861 with the other Northern officers' wives.Davis & Melton 2020 Doubleday 1876
  • not establishedDates of birth and death, and burial place.no source
  • not establishedHer maiden name.no source
  • verifiedThe portrait plate catalogued here as “The Wife Who Went Away” shows this person.Library of Congress

Identity: probable. Last checked 31 August 2026.

Corrections to this record are welcome through the publisher.