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Title
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Hancock, Cornelia (1840-1927)
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birthday
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1840-02-08
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Birthplace
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Hancock's Bridge, NJ
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Death Date
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1927-12-31
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Occupation
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Nurse
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Biographical Text
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Cornelia Hancock served as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. Hancock was born as a Quaker in New Jersey in the Antebellum period. She was the youngest of four children. Her sister, Elle worked in Philadelphia at the United States Mint. Her brother and other members of her family joined the Union Army in 1862. Hancock wished to support the war efforts of her family and was able to do so with the guidance of her Brother-in-Law, Henry T. Child, who was a volunteer surgeon. In 1863, Child offered to bring Hancock to Gettysburg with him to tend to wounded soldiers. However, upon her arrival Hancock was not accepted by Dorothea Dix who was the superintendent of Union Army nurses. Dix claimed that Hancock was unqualified because of her age and appearance. Hancock was the only nurse Dix turned away. Despite Dix’s wishes, Hancock made the trip to Gettysburg anyway and the need for nurses was abundant. Hancock had no formal nursing experience prior to Gettysburg, however, after three weeks of training she tended to more than half of the wounded soldiers.
On February 10, 1864 Hancock joined and served the II Corps at the II Corps Hospital in Virginia. After the war, she opened schools for African American students in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. In 1883 she became a board member of Children’s aid Society where she helped orphaned children. She also served as President of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War. After her death in 1927, Hancock left her personal collection of letters to her niece which would later be published as a book titled Letters of a Civil war Nurse: Cornelia Hancock. Cornelia Hancock never married. After the war, she dedicated her life to service. She worked for numerous charities as well as opened some of her own. She died of nephritis at the age of 87.
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Contributor
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Pryor, Erin
