Page 8 - Civil War Walking tour of Lynchburg

Mary Morgan otey forsberg (1839-1918)
Holy Cross Church and the Clay Street Reservoir were both designed by the former Confederate officer and city engineer, Col. August Forsberg. The Swedish born colonel arrived in Lynchburg as so many other men did during the war: as a wounded soldier. Severely wounded in the hand at Winchester, Forsberg was sent to recover at the Ladies Relief Hospital. There, he was nursed back to health by the widowed Mary (Mollie) Morgan Otey. The two fell in love and were married in 1865. According to her family, Mary said: “After I saved his hand, I thought I should have it.”
Owned by the Lynchburg Museum is a wom- an’s jacket made in the style of a Confederate officer’s overcoat. Mary had this jacket made, and attached to it military braids and her husband’s colonel stars. This jacket was an act of rebel- lion, as Confederate soldiers were forbidden
from wearing their “colors” during the period of Reconstruction. Mary and August remained in Lynchburg and he served as city engineer for many years. During this period, he designed both the church and the reservoir. He passed away in 1910, Mary in 1918.
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Courtesy of Lynchburg Museum System