I’d previously discovered letters from Color Sergeant Andrew J. Smith of the 55th Mass., in a collection of papers at Cornell University. The letters were donated by Burt Green Wilder, who was the Assistant Surgeon for the unit.
My maternal grandmother was an assistant/nurse for Dr. Wilder at the time of his death (late 20s, early 30s). They were living on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts at the time. That is all I can tell you about the this as she died in 1976 when I was 15. I am aware of the Wilder collection at Cornell which has some obscure references to my grandmother.
My grandmother was about 45 when she gave birth to her youngest, my father in 1932.
Holy crap...what a small world!! I only researched his papers pertaining to the Civil War. He had a diary from his time in S.C. with the unit, and there was his correspondence with officers, and enlisted men that served with him. He even wrote Confederate soldiers they had fought against. He had wanted to write a new regimental history, as he felt the one published by Charles Fox, Lt. Col. of the unit wasn’t thorough. I know Wilder taught at Cornell, and had a separate collection pertaining to his scientific work, but I never reviewed any of that. That’s probably the collection your grandmother is mentioned in. Dr. Wilder left his brain to Cornell. He was also known for creating his own writing/spelling system...kind of like a short-hand. One of the things he did when the unit was stationed on Folly Island, S.C., was to collect specimens of insects, etc. I gave all my research material on the 55th to the Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archive in Concord, Mass. several years ago. I didn’t want the stuff to end up in the dumpster after I died. I had done a lot of research on the 54th Mass. as well. It’s all there in Concord.