Emma Stephenson

Headstone of Emma Stephenson located in Section F of Marietta National Cemetery.

NPS Photo / T.Hegler

Quick Facts

Significance:

Formerly enslaved nurse in the Union Army during the American Civil War

Place of Birth:

Maybe Kentucky

Date of Birth:

Unknown

Place of Death:

Marietta, Georgia

Date of Death:

July 16, 1864

Place of Burial:

Marietta, Georgia

Cemetery Name:

Marietta National Cemetery

Formerly enslaved in the state of Kentucky, Emma Stephenson voluntarily served as a nurse with the U.S. 17^th Army Corps. During and after the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Emma spent her days and nights nursing the sick and wounded in a makeshift field hospital within nearby Marietta, Georgia’s Masonic Hall.

Emma’s presence and caring nature are documented in letters from the soldiers she cared for, such as Private Asa Soper of the 30^th Illinois Infantry. Wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Asa writes in a letter home to his mother, “we have a slave woman who cares for us on this floor [of the hospital]. She has kindness and treats us with tender care.”

Tragically, Emma Stephenson succumbed to disease herself in the weeks following the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Records indicate that she passed away on July 16, 1864. Originally buried at the Army Corps hospital, Emma was later interred in Marietta National Cemetery with “her soldiers.” Surviving soldiers who had received her care never forgot her kindness.

Though her life was cut short, Emma died a free woman, knowing that the end of slavery was no longer just a dream. Emma’s grave can be visited today at Marietta National Cemetery. She lies in eternal rest in the cemetery’s Section F in grave number 4841.