He was a little rambunctious fellow, born on Christmas Day in 1948. During his second and third year he had managed to fall on a slippery cement step and cut a gash on his head that left a scar within the hairline well into his thirties, had survived being tossed into the air by an ox and caught by his grandfather as he came down between the horns for a second time. He explored his world like any little boy without fear or caution and most certainly did what he was told not to do! But it was the day he wandered behind a hot kitchen stove and fell against the flat hot pipe burning his face. His parents were renting half a house at 47 Argyle St., in Yarmouth that was owned by a Mrs. Lewis who lived on the other side of the house. She was a widow and in her 70’s at the time. But she came to the rescue and discovering the burns, brought with her a medical salve that had been used during WWI when she treated burn wounds of soldiers. She assured the salve would prevent severe blistering and would prevent scarring. And when the burns healed there were no scars. As the years passed, and the boys family moved elsewhere, the name of Mrs. Lewis remained a part of the family history. It would be years later when the story of Rachel Lewis would be discovered by the boy. Several attempts had been made by the boy now 70+ year old but eventually a census record of 1931 led to the eventual discovery of her war service as a US Army nurse in WWI. It’s likely that Rachel’s life and wartime service would have remained unknown if an act of kindness from the boy’s childhood had not been remembered, the day in 1950 when she helped soothe a burn on his three year old face. That memory, held for decades, is what kept her name from disappearing and allowing her story to be rediscovered. Her name has now been added to the list of over 1750 men and women with connections to Yarmouth Town and County who served during WWI by the Wartime Heritage Association. Name: Rachel Rebecca (Benham) Lewis Position: Nursing Sister Service: 110th Sanitary Train, 35th Division United States Army Nurse Corps Date of Birth: February 5, 1879 Place of Birth: Lockeport, Shelburne Co, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: January 24, 1918 Place of Enlistment: New York Address at Enlistment: 54 W 51st Street, New York, NY Age at Enlistment: 39 Date of Death: November 21, 1966 Age: 87 Cemetery: Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth, NS Rachel was the daughter of James Brinn Benham (1834-1902), born in England, and Mary Ellen (Crouse) Benham (1843-1906), of Lunenburg Co., NS. She was from a large family with eight siblings. She was the wife of Henry ‘Harry’ Kendall Lewis (1870-1940) whom she married on March 27, 1921, in Fall River, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Rachel moved to the United States in 1900 and lived with her cousin in Greenfield, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, on Franklin Street. By 1918, she was living at 54 W 51st St., in New York, NY, and employed as a nurse in civilian life when she joined the US Army Nurse Corps. She was called into active service on January 24, 1918. Many Canadian-born nurses moved to major U.S. cities like New York for training and subsequently joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps when the United States entered the war in 1917. Before going overseas, she served at Ellis Island in New York. Nurse Benham served abroad from February 16, 1918, to April 18, 1919. She was quite mobile during her time overseas, moving through several critical medical units. Her first major assignment abroad was with Base Hospital 23, based in the resort town of Vittel, France. From February to May 1918, she worked in a relatively stable environment where grand hotels had been converted into massive medical wards. However, her service quickly moved closer to the action when she was transferred to Evacuation Hospital No. 2 in Baccarat, France, from May 10 to July 7, 1918. These units were closer to the front lines than Base Hospitals. They received wounded soldiers directly from the field via ambulance, performed urgent surgeries, and then moved patients back to Base Hospitals via hospital train. During her tenure there, the hospital was situated in a "quiet" training sector in Lorraine, operating out of a mix of permanent buildings and large "tortoise" tents to treat soldiers from the 42nd and 77th Divisions. The most grueling chapter of Nurse Benham’s service began on July 7, 1918, when she joined Field Hospital No. 138, a mobile unit within the 110th Sanitary Train of the 35th Division. Unlike the stationary base hospitals, this unit moved directly behind the combat lines. Throughout the summer, she served in the rugged Vosges Mountains, but by September 1918, she was thrust into the heart of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the deadliest campaign in American military history. Her unit followed the troops through decimated villages like Varennes and Cheppy, providing immediate life-saving stabilization in makeshift wards, often under the threat of shelling and air raids. Following the Armistice in November 1918, Nurse Benham remained with her unit in the Meuse region, enduring a harsh winter in corrugated iron bunkhouses in Vertuzey while caring for the sick and wounded awaiting transport home. Her overseas service concluded on April 18, 1919, after which she returned to New York and was relieved from active duty on May 29, 1919. Unit/Location Dates of Service Ellis Island, NY Until Feb 16, 1918 BH 23 (Base Hospital 23) Feb 16, 1918 – May 10, 1918 Evac Hosp 2 (Evacuation Hospital 2) May 10, 1918 – July 7, 1918 Field Hosp 138 (Field Hospital 138) July 7, 1918 – April 18, 1919 Before meeting Rachel, Harry had been married to Julia Winnifred (Cain) Lewis (1872–1916) of Yarmouth County. Julia died in 1916, leaving Harry with four children: Esther Mary (born 1896), Adaline Hogarth (born 1897), Ruth (born 1905), and Elizabeth Caskey (born 1908). Five years after Julia’s death, in 1921, Harry married Rachel. At the time of their marriage, Harry’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth, would have been about thirteen years old. Rachel and Harry settled in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, where they lived at 47 Argyle Street from at least 1931 onward. Harry worked as a Sheriff in Yarmouth until his death in 1940. Rachel lived for many more years, passing away at the age of 87 in November 1966 at Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax. She is buried in Mountain Cemetery in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, having devoted over three decades to the nursing profession

Sources: findagrave