b. 1841 Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada. d. 21/03/1882 Washington DC.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 26/12/1872 Norfolk, Virginia.
Joseph Noil MOH
Joseph B. Noil enlisted in the Navy from New York; when he re-enlisted for three years on December 29, 1874, he was described as thirty-four years old, born in Nova Scotia and of African descent. His civilian occupation was as a caulker, and he was five feet, six inches tall.
While serving on USS Powhatan at Norfolk, Virginia on December 26, 1872, he saved a drowning shipmate, Boatswain J.C. Walton. For his conduct on this occasion, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
On May 25, 1881, Noil, promoted to the rating of Captain of the Hold and serving on the USS Wyoming (1859), was admitted to the Naval Hospital in Norfolk, suffering from “paralysis” (PTSD). About a week later, he was transferred to Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he died on March 21, 1882, and was buried in the hospital graveyard under the name of “Joseph B. Noel”. His grave was re-discovered in 2011 by the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States, a group that has a mission to identify and photograph the “lost” resting places of Medal of Honor recipients. A new headstone, noting that Noil is a Medal of Honor recipient, was dedicated in April 2016, in a ceremony attended by representatives from the Canadian Embassy in Washington and by Noil’s great-great-great granddaughter.
MOH CITATION:
Serving on board the U.S.S. Powhatan at Norfolk, 26 December 1872, Noil saved Boatswain J.C. Walton from drowning.
BURIAL LOCATION: ST ELIZABETH’S EAST CEMETERY, ANACOSTIA, WASHINGTON DC.
EAST CAMPUS, SECTION 3, ROW 3, SITE 535.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
