U.S Civil War

Ropes, Hannah: Died Jan. 20,1863 in Georgetown, D.C./USA. of typhoid pneumonia which she reportedly contracted while working as head matron of the Union Hotel Hospital in Washington D.C. where she had come to volunteer during the U.S. Civil War. It was noted that she had been greatly influenced by the writings of Florence Nightingale and struggled to improve the care of soldiers as well as the unsanitary conditions that existed in the makeshift hospitals. Despite the horrendous number of wounded during this strife, Hannah's and her colleagues' presence as women were not accepted with open arms by physicians and the military in charge. She was 54 at the time of death and was buried in New Gloucester,Maine, her town of birth. [Ent. 7/02] (Ref: http://aahn.org/gravesites/ropes.html)

BW - the Boer War

Hines, Sister Frances (Fanny) Emma. Died August 7, 1900. Sr. Hines sailed from Victoria, Australia along with 9 other nurses to Rhodesia in March, 1900. Nurses in this war are reported to have privately raised their own funds to participate in the War. The conditions for providing nursing care as well as personal health risk were captured in correspondence of a Captain W. W. Dobbin, a Victorian Bushman, who wrote: "You have no doubt heard of all the misfortunes, disease and discomfort encountered by the troops unfortunate enough to be sent to Beira, Marndellas, etc. Our nursing sisters were the only sisters who ventured into these districts, and they have indeed done more than their share of work. At times one, sometimes two, would be trekked off on a week's coaching journey to some fever bed where the troops are falling ill, with possibly no accommodation but a deserted public house. I have seen two sisters on their knees scrubbing and cleaning such a place to receive their patients, and in the middle of their work 10 or 12 sick and dying men dumped down from an ox wagon, and no orderlies detailed and no native servants. The nurses would be obliged to take off some of their own clothing to make pillows for sick men, and then go outside to cook food under a blazing sun. They were never with us after Beira, but some of our troops, and men from other contingents write and speak in most grateful terms of their wiling services."           At one point in her service, Sr. Hines apparently worked alone before rejoining her group in Bulawayo where she succumed to pneumonia and was buried with full military honors. Frances was 36 and the only nurse to have died in this war. [Ent. 10/99: revised 6/02] (Source: private individual and  http://users.netconnect.com.au/~ianmac/readroom.htm)

SAM - Spanish-American War

Those listed in the Memorial Listings with SAM after their name were known as Army Contract Nurses (of the United States of America) who served during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The US government later established service branches of the Nurses Corp.      The deaths of these nurses were reported to have been from typhoid fever. No further information is available regarding their individual backgrounds. [Ent. 10/99] (Source: a site memorializing women who have died during military action/duty: http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/lives.html

Bailey, Lurecia                                                Sweeney, Mary Bradford, T. R.                                                Toland, Irene Burke, Mary                                                     Tower, Ellen: Was from Byron, Michigan and                                                                            the first woman to receive a military funeral Cameron, Emma                                                 in that state. Ellen was also the first nurse                                                                            to die on foreign soil in Puerto Rico. Campos, Anna                                                Cochrane, Dorothy                                          Trioche, Margaret Flanagan, Elizabeth                                         Trumbull, Minerva Greenfield, Margaret                                        Walworth, Ruebena                                      Larkin, Anne                                                     Ward, Clara                    Plant, Lulu                                                        Wolfe, Carolina Roberts, Alice Stansberry, Katherine

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