Mary Johnson Ambler (March 24, 1805 – August 18, 1868) was an American humanitarian and fuller who helped organize the rescue of survivors of the

Great Train Wreck of 1856 The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill station and Fort Washington station, on July 17, 1856. Two trains, traveling on the same track in converging directions, collided, killing between 5 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The borough of Ambler was named in her honor.

Biography

Ambler was born to Abigail and Benjamin Johnson of Richland Township in 1805. Little is known of her early years. She married Andrew Ambler, a weaver and fuller, on May 14, 1829. Three years later, the Amblers purchased the Fulling Mill and eighty-three acres in the village of

Wissahickon Wissahickon may refer to the following in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: *Wissahickon, Philadelphia, a section or neighborhood of Philadelphia *Wissahickon Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River **Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, spans the above c ...

. They repaired the run-down, century-old mill and began manufacturing woolen blankets and clothing. They had seven sons and one daughter and ran the mill until Andrew died on March 7, 1850. The widowed Mary and her married son, Lewis, continued to run the mill until she died on August 18, 1868 and was interred at the Gwynedd Friends Meeting cemetery. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the mill supplied blankets and uniforms to the Union Army. Ambler was a devout

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

of German descent. She started a Sunday school, permitted neighbors to draw water freely from her well, and gained local recognition for charitable endeavors. Small and frail, she never weighed more than 90 pounds.

Disaster

At 6:15 AM on July 17, 1856, two passenger trains running on the same track collided head-on between the Fort Washington and Camp Hill stations. Of 1100 passengers on board the trains, at least 59 died and 86 suffered injuries. Many of the victims burned to death after the wreckage caught fire. About 600 of the passengers had come from

St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church is a historic church at 74 Cianci Street in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in 1836 and added to the National Register in 1978. See also *National Register of Historic Pla ...

, which had hired the "Picnic Special" train to transport parishioners to a Sunday picnic in the countryside. When Ambler learned about the wreck, she gathered bandages and other medical supplies and walked several miles to the scene of the disaster, where she calmly and methodically ministered to the injured and directed rescue efforts. She ordered other rescuers to tear down house shutters to carry seriously injured victims to her house, which she hastily converted a makeshift hospital. She worked nonstop for twenty-four hours straight. Her efforts reportedly saved many lives.

Legacy

To commemorate Ambler's heroic rescue efforts, the

North Pennsylvania Railroad The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...

renamed the Wissahickon train station in her honor on July 20, 1869. When the village of Wissahickon incorporated into a borough on November 22, 1887, locals renamed their town in honor of Ambler. The town post office took the same name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambler, Mary 1805 births 1868 deaths American humanitarians American textile industry businesspeople People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from Ambler, Pennsylvania