Anglican Commemoration
Martyrs of Memphis
September 9 · d. 1878
also known as Constance and her Companions, Memphis Yellow Fever Martyrs, Sisters of Saint Mary (Memphis)
Six Anglican religious women and two clergy of the Sisters of Saint Mary who ministered to victims of the 1878 yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, Tennessee. Constance (Sister Constance), Thecla, Ruth, and Frances (the sisters) and Charles Parsons and Louis Schuyler (priests and deacons) sacrificially nursed the sick and dying despite knowing the epidemic's lethality, and died in the service of Christ's compassion.
Constance and Her Companions are venerated in the Anglican tradition as exemplars of sacrificial love and apostolic courage. Their tradition is rooted in: (1) The Community of Saint Mary has maintained continuous institutional commemoration since 1878, marking September 9 as a liturgical feast day and preserving their memory in community spirituality and necrology; (2) The Episcopal Church (and now ACNA) includes them in the calendar of saints, officially recognizing their martyrdom status; (3) They are cited in histories of women's religious communities, healthcare ministry, and 19th-century Anglican social witness; (4) Their sacrifice became known as an example of Christian radical obedience—they witnessed to the proposition that authentic discipleship requires willingness to die for the vulnerable and abandoned; (5) In modern times, they have been reclaimed by feminist theology and history of women in the church as examples of women's agency and leadership in sacramental ministry; (6) Their commemoration emphasizes the Church's historical commitment to service in epidemic and crisis, making them relevant to contemporary discussions of healthcare ethics and religious response to pandemic. The tradition is not miraculous but apostolic: a remembrance of costly witness.
In the summer of 1878, yellow fever erupted in Memphis, Tennessee, causing one of the most devastating urban epidemics in American history. The disease, now understood to be transmitted by mosquitoes, was then a mystery of terror. Within weeks, thousands fell ill; the death rate among the infected was approximately 50-90%. The city descended into chaos: most physicians and clergy fled, entire families perished, and mass graves were dug rapidly. The poor, the enslaved, and those without resources to flee faced the disease without medical care or spiritual accompaniment.
Among those who remained was the Community of Saint Mary—an Anglican religious community of women dedicated to nursing, teaching, and charitable work. The sisters and their associated clergy resolved to stay in Memphis and minister to the sick and dying. This decision was understood by all as potentially fatal: yellow fever had no known cure; contact with victims was considered dangerous; many caregivers contracted and died from the disease.
The primary documented members who died were:
Sister Constance (whose full religious name and biographical details are somewhat obscured by community privacy conventions of the era, but who is identified as the lead sister in contemporary accounts) — died September 1878.
Sister Thecla — died September 1878.
Sister Ruth — died September 1878.
Sister Frances — died September 1878.
Charles Parsons (priest and deacon of the community) — died September 1878.
Louis Schuyler (priest and deacon of the community) — died September 1878.
Additional community members were infected but recovered; others were infected and died after the end of the epidemic calendar year. The community's records identify the six primary dead commemorated in the traditional feast day listing.
During the epidemic, the sisters established a makeshift hospital and hospice in a church building, nursing patients without modern medical technology, administering last rites, praying with the dying, and burying the dead when no one else would. The contemporary accounts (newspaper reports, letters, diocesan records) describe sisters moving from bed to bed, comforting victims, holding the hands of the dying, and maintaining a liturgical rhythm of prayer even as they themselves developed fever symptoms.
As sister after sister, priest after priest fell ill and died, the survivor sisters continued working until they could no longer stand. The community's bishop and supporting clergy ensured that records were kept and that the names of the dead were preserved. Contemporary newspaper accounts from Memphis and national church periodicals documented their sacrifice with admiration and grief.
By October 1878, the epidemic had run its course (with cold weather reducing mosquito transmission). Approximately 5,000 Memphians had died of yellow fever that year. The Sisters of Saint Mary had lost four sisters and two clergy—a mortality rate of approximately 60% among those who had remained to minister. The survivors testified that the sisters had refused to abandon the sick even when the outcome was certain death.
The Community of Saint Mary canonically continued its work (with new vocations and recovered members) and maintained institutional memory of the Memphis martyrs through liturgical commemoration, community history, and spiritual practice. The feast day of September 9 was established to commemorate the six who died and, by extension, all the sisters and clergy who risked or gave their lives in that ministry.
Almighty God, you gave your servants Constance and her Companions boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.