Grave #2915A: Edith Rose Tench

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Edith B. Rose Tench, World War I, Yeoman (F), 3rd Class, United States Naval Reserve Force. Graduate of Mary Washington Hospital, Class of 1928. Died November 19, 1929. She was buried November 21, 1929, the first internment of a woman in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. There are twenty women interned in the National Cemetery; only two are buried here for their own military service, the rest are spouses of veterans.

Images

Edith Rose Tench

Water, People in nature, Flash photography, Standing

Grave of Edith Rose Tench

Cemetery Internment Form (November 21, 1929)

Edith Rose married Samuel Tench in February 1917 and divorced in 1922

Birth record for Edith and Samuel Tench's son, Samuel Tench, Jr.

Edith Rose Tench's son, Samuel B. Tench, Jr., only lived 13 days after his birth in May 1917.

WWI Draft Registration Card for Edith Rose's husband, Samuel.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Edith Rose Tench was the first women ever buried in the National Cemetery. She served as a “yeomanette,” third class in the United States Naval Reserve Force at the Norfolk Navy Yards during World War I. By the time the war ended more than 11,000 women had served with the US Naval Reserve Force. “Yeomanettes” performed tasks such as clerical duties, designing camouflage for battleships, and acting as translators, draftsmen, fingerprint experts, and recruiting agents.

Edith Rose Tench was her married name. She married Samuel B. Tench in 1917 but divorced in 1922. She went by her maiden name, Edith Rose, later in life. Tench graduated with the 1928 class of Mary Washington Hospital, but died in November 1929 at the age of 36 after battling Bright’s Disease.

Sources

Pfanz, Donald C. "Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866-1933." National Park Service, 2007. (Available at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP)

Cemetery Roster & Book File, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Cemetery Roster & Book File, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP

Photograph by Kathleen Thompson

Ancestry.com. U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data:Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland. Accessed May 25, 2021.

Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Divorce Records, 1918-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:Virginia Divorce Records, 1918–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. Accessed May 25, 2021.

Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:Virginia, Births, 1721–2015. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. Accessed May 25, 2021.

Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. Accessed May 25, 2021.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data:United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. Accessed May 25, 2021.