|
The Short Life and Times of Charlotte (Denman) Lozier, M.D. - 1844-1870
By Barbara Payne Citron, Great Granddaughter
What a wonderful time to be born. Her mother and father, Selina and Jacob had been happily planning for this event and it was finally here, Friday, March 15, 1844. In Milburn, New Jersey the family gathered around home to help welcome the first born. Eventually another brother and sister were added to the family.
In due time, Jacob's eyes turned westward and thoughts played in his mind about leaving hearth and home for the great adventure. For Charlotte, now 6, her sister and brother, they were excited as they scrambled aboard the horse drawn wagon loaded down with things they couldn't live without - and Grandma.
Selina was pregnant again and after several weeks on the trail, Robert was born in Napoleon, Michigan where the 1850 Census reported them living. Charlotte was a wonderful little girl and was always there for her mother - helping in many ways as Selina was showing signs of a nervous strain as their lifestyle became more rugged and strenuous. A lot was expected of Charlotte - she was frail but tough and very smart.
The family moved on ever further west to Galena, Illinois and finally reaching what is now Winona, Minnesota in 1852. It was here Selina delivered the first white child born on Wabasha Prairie and named her "Prairie Louise." It was here they found the land they wanted and after much hasseling, bargaining and trading, Jacob, Selina and now 5 children laid their claim.
Charlotte loved the wilderness, the Indians and the pure clear air all around. It gave her something she never had in New Jersey and many times in her life she would return to Winona to be renewed and revitalized.
Charlotte graduated from high school with high honors and wasted no time in returning to New York to study what she loved - medicine. To become a doctor was her dream and little did she know that where she decided to study, the NEw York Medical College and Hospital for Women, she would find her love, her life, and sadly, her death.
Her love was Dr. Abraham Witton Lozier, son of Dr. Clemence Lozier, who founded and chartered the college and hospital. He found her sharp mind and unrelenting quiest irresistible. Charlotte was a go-getter and often challenged male doctors to allow the women students to attend the lectures and clinics which was no easy feat at this time in medical history. The men jeered and harassed the women, but Charlotte would have none of that and often led the way herself to the wards and operating rooms and defied tradition.
She and Abraham were married in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on January 20, 1866 by a Justice of the Peace as she once more needed to return to Minnesota to regain her strength. They spent some time in Winona before returning to New York. Charlotte's letters on medical subjects and her reputation as a thoroughly educated physician opened the way for her lectures and public addresses concering women's rights. She became Vice-President of the National Workingwomen's Association and travelled extensively. She had a busy life and love it all!
In between all this she and Abraham managed to build their own little family. First was Clement Abraham, born November 7, 1866, then Robert Ten Eyck, born in May, 1868 in Norwalk, Connecticut on the way home from a lecture! Such a busy and wonderful life with full expectations for the future - what more could a person want?
By May of 1869, Charlotte was pregnant again with her third child. They had hoped for a little girl this time. Charlotte was especially busy that summer with the hospital and office duties and seeing her patients.
She had many patients, too, often asking about abortion - but Charlotte celebrated life, not death, so another way would have to be found. But what other way was there? The question of the working women's right to vote, right to equal wages was seconded by her right to abortion. The dilemma - can a woman be free to vote, free to strike for equal pay and free to decide on abortion for herself? One is either free or not!
Summer went into fall and then winter was close behind. Christmas and New Year's were an especially busy and grand time of the year. A party was planned at home for the New Year (a new decade to be celebrated). Charlotte had just a few more things to do before her guests arrived. She climbed up the ladder to hang a curtain and became quite faint. The fall left her on the floor bleeding, and her baby stirred within her as she was rushed to the hospital.
Can you not see the young mother with half-closed eyes
This was an unthinkable situation. They were a family of medical doctors, but they could not stem the flow of blood. For four days and nights she lay there; peritonitis finally draining her of life itself. She died January 3, 1870 in her 26th year.
The baby was my grandmother, Jessica Charlotte, and was the only good thing to emerge from those terrible four days. She was born prematurely at 7 months, so tiny, but the spark had caught and the fire of life gave her a lusty cry.
Also, see Descendants of Dr. Charlotte Lozier Denman
Also, see Dr. Clemence Lozier
Also, see Jessica Charlotte Lozier Payne
Oh, Wretched Death - How Dare You Still Such a Gifted Life!
laying with arms caressing her new born babe - born too soon?
Can you not hear the anxious tones of the older mother
and young husband calling to her with reassuring words?
She, sinking fast, in and out of consciousness.
Can you not feel the terrible sense of desperation
in that darkened room?Oh, Wretched Death - How Dare You Still Such a Gifted Life!
If you wish to exchange family information,
please e-mail Barbara Payne Citron.
Return to Notable Women Ancestors.