caption branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance unit image_size placeofburial_label awards birth_date placeofburial rank image article_title name
u.s. navy poster featuring joseph noil united states navy washington , d.c. march 21 , 1882 1841 liverpool , nova scotia , canada united states of america powhatan 1850 6 200 place of burial medal of honor 1841 saint elizabeth 's hospital seaman joseph noil poster.jpg joseph b. noil
 joseph benjamin noil
joseph b. noil

joseph benjamin noil -lrb- 1841 -- march 21 , 1882 -rrb- was a united states navy sailor and a recipient of america 's highest military decoration -- the medal of honor .
joseph b. noil enlisted in the navy from new york ; when he re-enlisted for a three year hitch on december 29 , 1874 , he was described as thirty-four years old , born in nova scotia and a `` negro '' .
his civilian occupation was as a caulker , and he was five feet , six inches tall .
while serving on 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 , was admitted to the naval hospital norfolk , virginia , suffering from paralysis .
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 discovered by don morfe , who is one of a number of dedicated people who have made it their mission to identify and photograph the known resting places of medal of honor recipients .
noil married sarah jane gambier -lrb- 1846 -- march 6 , 1896 -rrb- of new york city ; they had two daughters , florence gambier noil -lrb- october 1871 -- october 5 , 1933 -rrb- and sarah e. noil -lrb- b. 1876 , date of death unknown -rrb- .
his granddaughter , cora hunter parks , was an actress , dancer , and vaudeville artist who appeared in a number of broadway shows .
as a member of the group the rhythmettes , she sang `` optimistic voices '' in the 1939 movie `` the wizard of oz '' , and on broadway in 1939 , again with the rhythmettes , with louis armstrong , moms mabley , oscar polk and others , she sang and danced in the show `` swingin ' the dream '' .
