When the
United States entered World War I in 1917, the Army Nurse Corp was only 17
years old. There were only 403 nurses on active duty and 170 on reserve duty at
that time.[1] One of
those nurses was Martha Emma Hill.
Miss Hill
graduated from Henderson, Kentucky Hospital shortly after the turn of the 19th
century and served there as a nurse before going on active duty during the war.[2] Miss
Hill enlisted 15 July 1918 and was discharged 30 May 1919. She was stationed at Base Hospital #59 in
France. [3]
After the
war, Miss Hill was a nurse for the Babies Milk Fund, which later became the
Public Health Nursing Association. She was also a private duty nurse before
retiring in 1948.[4]
The daughter
of Virgel James Hill and Martha Jane Austin, Miss Hill was born 25 September
1874 in Kentucky and died 17 November 1959 Evansville, Vanderburgh County,
Indiana.[5]
Survivors included two sisters, Mrs. Rose Galloway and Mrs. Luzetta Freeman,
both of Evansville. A bronze government marker is over her grave in Lot 520,
Space 2 in Fernwood Cemetery, Henderson.
[1]
"Army Nurse Corps: Introduction, Purpose and Introduction to Contribute
Content," The United States World War I Centennial Commission,
https:www.worldwar1centennial.org, accessed 9 Dec 2018.
[2]
Obituary, Miss Emma Hill, Evansville Press,
18 Nov 1959, p. 6.
[3]
U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963, Martha Emma Hill,
Ancestry.com, accessed 9 Dec 2018.
[4]
Obituary, Miss Emma Hill.
[5]
Indiana Certificate of Death #59 038818,
Martha Emma Hill, Ancestry.com, accessed 9 Dec 2018.
Published 7 Feb 2019, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
