Seattle in King County, Washington — The American West (Northwest)
Margaret Louise Clayton Kelly
Mar 1838 - July 1921
Photographed by Toni Fox
1. Margaret Louise Clayton Kelly Marker
US Christian and Sanitary Commission
Erected 2025 by Daughters of the American Revolution, Mercer Girls Chapter.
Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil • Women. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) series list.
Location. 47° 41.614′ N, 122° 22.247′ W. Memorial is in Seattle, Washington, in King County. It can be reached from 12th Avenue Northwest north of Northwest 87th Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 8712 12th Ave NW, Seattle WA 98117, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Washington’s Puget Sound Region. It is also on the American Pacific Coast, in the Pacific Northwest, and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, in the Cascade Range, in the Inside Passage, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere.
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Civil War Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Carkeek Park (approx. 1.3 miles away); The Old Carnegie Library (approx. 1.8 miles away); America's Oldest Continually Operating Movie Theatre (approx. 1.8 miles away); Mural at Bergen Place (approx. 1.9 miles away); Halverson's Dry Goods (approx. 1.9 miles away); Enquist Block (approx. 1.9 miles away); Princess Hotel (approx. 1.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Seattle.
Also see . . .
1. The Women Who Revolutionized Nursing During the American Civil War | TIME.
The idea of women handling the bodies of men not related by family was unthinkable. By the end of the war, the term meant women who aided doctors by cleaning and feeding patients and occasionally assisting doctors in their surgeries and treatments. The women of North and South pressed on in areas that had previously been closed to Victorian women, and it is estimated that more than 21,000 women served in Union military hospitals and a comparable number in the Confederacy.(Submitted on January 3, 2026, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington.)More than 3,000 women acted as paid nurses and many thousands more worked as unpaid volunteers. They were Catholic nuns, immigrants, formerly enslaved people, wives and daughters. The war created a way for women to take an active role in the relief effort from outside of the home and family, assume leadership roles in sanitary commissions, and provide invaluable services in caring for wounded soldiers. Mrs. Kelly (nee Clayton) was one of these volunteer women.Photographed by Toni Fox, December 31, 20252. Kelly Marker dedication held May 25, 2025
2. Sanitary Commission. This Wikipedia article describes the US Sanitary Commission. (Submitted on January 3, 2026, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington.)
Photographed by Toni Fox, December 31, 2025
3. Original and new marker
Photographed by Toni Fox
4. Nearby Womans Relief Corps insignia
National Women's Relief Corps (WRC), Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, 1883
By Harper's Weekly (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
5. Harper's Weekly featured and honored the Sanitary Commission and Civil War Nurses.
The artist is Thomas Nast, the famous 19th-century political cartoonist, who created the donkey/elephant to represent the major U.S. political parties and the modern, iconic image of Santa Claus. He was very influential during the Civil War and, delightedly, used Santa for Union morale.
6. Margaret Louise Clayton Kelly Marker Dedication Cermony
Credits. This page was last revised on July 9, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 31, 2025, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. This page has been viewed 331 times since then. Photos: 1. submitted on December 31, 2025, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 1, 2026, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. 5. submitted on January 3, 2026, by Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington. 6. submitted on June 27, 2026, by Carolyn Sanders of Plano, Texas. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
