William Lowell Hill (October 17, 1855 – August 2, 1922) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

. He was awarded the medal as an enlisted sailor for rescuing a drowning shipmate in 1881. Hill went on to serve in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

and reached the

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

rank of chief

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervise ...

. His lifelong Navy career finished with his command of two

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nat ...

s at

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

Biography

Hill was born on October 17, 1855, in

Auburn, Iowa Auburn is a city in Sac County, Iowa, United States. The population was 265 at the 2020 census. In 2014 Larry Finley, a former mayor of the town, stated in the '' Carroll Daily Times Herald'' that the Auburn community had embraced its financial ...

, the son of Henry Clay and Margaret (Cater) Hill. He enlisted in the Navy from New York on November 18, 1873.

Medal of Honor action

By June 22, 1881, he was serving as a

captain of the top A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...

on the training ship . On that day, while ''Minnesota'' was at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, Third Class Boy William Mulcahy fell overboard. Hill jumped into the water and kept the sailor afloat until they were picked up by a launch. For this action, he was promoted to the

rank of boatswain on 19 September 1881. He was awarded the Medal of Honor three years later, on October 18, 1884. Hill's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Serving on board the U.S. Training Ship ''Minnesota'' at Newport, R.I., 22 June 1881, Hill jumped overboard and sustained William Mulcahy, third class boy, who had fallen overboard, until picked up by a steam launch.

Later career

In 1892 Hill became a Compatriot of the Empire State Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

and was assigned state compatriot number 266 and national compatriot number 4,266. Hill was then assigned to a series of ships: (1881–1883), USS ''Galatea'' (1885–1886), (1889–1891), (1886–1899), and (1901–1904). During the

, he served on ''Brooklyn'' at the

rank of

and received a commendation from Rear Admiral

Winfield Scott Schley Winfield Scott Schley (9 October 1839 – 2 October 1911) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy and the hero of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War. Biography Early life Born at "Richfields" (his father's far ...

for his actions at the

Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Spanish fleet led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, which occurre ...

. A year later, in 1899, he was promoted to

chief warrant officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

. In 1901 he testified before a court of inquiry regarding Admiral Schley's conduct in the war. In 1904, Hill was placed in command of the prison ships and at the

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town i ...

. He became known for his

prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes ...

measures, such as discontinuing the use of leg irons, which were adopted at other institutions. During the First World War, Hill was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on July 1, 1918. He was assigned to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. He retired from the Navy on October 17, 1919, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64.U.S. Navy Register. 1921. pg. 282. Hill committed suicide at age 66 on August 2, 1922, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Personal life

Hill's first wife was F. Blanche Hedden of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

, whom he married in 1881. After Blanche's death, he married Katherine Sweetser on February 3, 1917; she had been his first wife's best friend. He was an active freemason while living in Portsmouth, joining a lodge there in 1905.

Awards

Sampson Medal The Sampson Medal was a U.S. Navy campaign medal. The medal was authorized by an Act of Congress in 1901. The medal was awarded to those personnel who served on ships in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during combat operations in ...

Spanish Campaign Medal The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish C ...

* Victory Medal

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, William Lowell 1855 births 1922 suicides People from Sac County, Iowa United States Navy officers United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients American military personnel of the Spanish–American War American military personnel who committed suicide Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Military personnel from Iowa Suicides in Maine