While visiting relatives in Rock Island, Illinois, Mosher witnessed the first arrival of over 5,500 Confederate prisoners in December 1863. In her memoir of that experience she wrote: "Here they stood, hopeless, forlorn, and seemingly forsaken. My heart nearly bursting; the blood was racing and leaping through my veins; my very brain was whirling. My soul reached out in agony and despair."[3]AUnion sergeant gave her a letter from a Confederate soldier who said he was a friend of her brother's. She subsequently helped create a network of contacts to deliver letters and packages to the prisoners at Rock Island Prison.[4] Mosher also worked openly with prison officials to bring in food, clothing, and other necessities. Her home became a "safe house" for Confederate prisoners who escaped from the Rock Island prison as well as others from Camp Douglas in Chicago. Although frequently questioned by Union officers about her activities, Mosher was never arrested.
After the war, Mosher was visiting friends in Cincinnati, Ohio. While attending a gala at the Newport Barracks, she contracted meningitis, which led to her becoming completely deaf.[5] Mosher communicated by spelling words with her fingers on her hand. Kate married William Webster Mosher (1834–1897), a produce merchant, Covington City Commissioner, and son of Dr. Stephen Mosher, owner of the Latonia Springs resort.[6] They lived in Covington, Kentucky with William's widowed mother.
Although Mosher was very active, many of her pieces remain unidentified, probably in private collections. Among her extant works are ten wall panels and three altar panels in Covington's Trinity Episcopal Church, which she attended.[8] The Kentucky Historical Society has a large oak cabinet, a frame, and a wall pocket.[9]
Mosher created a complete dining set that was first owned by SenatorRichard P. Ernst, which he used in his Washington, D.C. home.
^Some sources state that she was born in Warsaw, Kentucky, but her death certificate gives her birthplace as Gallatin County. See Kentucky Death Certificate #10669, Kentucky Death Records, 1952–1953.
^See Reis, "Woman a friend to prisoners of war", The Kentucky Post, February 15, 1988.
^The pieces are cataloged as items 1996.5.1, 1996.5.2, 1996.5.3. See, Kate E. Perry Mosher Photographs Collection, Adjunct Descriptive Data, Kentucky Historical Society, 2009SP01.
Kelly, Carolyn. "Woodcarver Kate Mosher at the Kentucky Historical Society", The Magazine Antiques.
Minnich, J. W. & Kate E. Perry-Mosher. Inside of Rock Island Prison, from December 1863 to June 1865 (Nashville, TN: Pub. House of the M.E. Church, South), 1908.
Parker, Betty Lyn & Susan Knoer. "Kate E. Perry Mosher", Kentucky Women Artists.
Perry-Mosher, Kate E. "History of Rock Island, ILL., 1863", Confederate Veteran, January 1906. [Reprinted as "The Rock Island P.O.W. Camp", Civil War Times Illustrated, 13:4 (July 1969), p. 28.]
Reis, Jim. "Woman a friend to prisoners of war", The Kentucky Post, February 15, 1988.
