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World War I "The war to end all wars"
World War 1 Victory Medal Rufus S. Baker was working for the Edinburgh Electric Light Co. when he enlisted in the Army in 1918. The 22-year-old Ogilville man came from a large family and had lost his mother several years earlier. His widowed father had received word early on Oct. 22 that his son was seriously ill with influenza. While he was packing for the trip to the hospital at Camp Dodge, Iowa, he was told that his son had died. Raymond Barbour had been in the Army for only two weeks when he fell ill from Spanish influenza, Oct. 29, 1918. The 21-year-old Grammer resident — the uncle of Ross and Don Barbour of the Four Freshmen —died the same day at a military camp in the Midwest. He had enlisted as a farmer. Jesse L. Cochran of Elizabethtown was born into a military family. His father was a veteran of the Civil War. Jesse was 31 years old when he died of pneumonia Oct. 19, 1918, at Camp Custer, Mich. Earl Colter had realized three dreams in a short period of time. In 1918 he enlisted in the Aviation Corps, was commissioned an officer and was sent to Milan, Italy. In civilian life the 31-year-old son of a Columbus minister was a journalist and worked for several newspapers in the Midwest. He died far from his family in a Milan hospital of influenza. He was survived by a son. Peter Daum’s sacrifice was darkened by a controversy surrounding his funeral. The 30-year-old Columbus farmer and stockman had died of pneumonia Aug. 8, 1918, at Camp Dodge, Iowa, but before his death had requested that he be buried from Clifty Evangelical Lutheran Church. The minister of the church said that church law required that a person be a current member of the congregation and refused to conduct the service. Rumors spread throughout the county that the minister, who was a native of Germany, had refused because the boy was an American soldier. For several days the minister and his family received death threats, and police protected them against the rumored lynch mobs. Peter Daum left behind a young wife. Carl Eckelman was a 26-year-old Jonesville farmer when he was called into service in the last days of World War I. He lived to see the end of the war but died of influenza two weeks after the Armistice was signed. He left behind a wife.Frank Gaston enlisted in the Army before the United States entered World War I. The son of "Sing" Gaston of Grammer died of Spanish influenza, Oct. 10, 1918, at a barracks in Columbus, Ohio. Wilbur Guthrie was one of the few Bartholomew County men who was killed in combat during World War I. The 22-year-old laborer was killed in action at Verdun, France, Nov. 6, 1918. John Hovis had been married less than a year when he was one of the first Bartholomew County residents to be drafted for service. The 31-year-old farmer was quickly sent to a camp in Mississippi and died of influenza Jan. 2, 1918. Arthur Hunter left his farm home in Columbus to enlist in the Army. He was shipped overseas and was stationed in Europe when the war ended. Some six months after the Armistice was signed, he was ordered back home, but on the sea voyage he became ill with influenza and died on board the ship. Arnold Jesse Jenkins, a 25-year-old Columbus blacksmith, went through basic training and was placed on a ship to England. On board he became ill with influenza and shortly after arriving in England he died on Oct. 10, 1918. James Larkin had shipped out from Columbus for an army camp in Augusta, Ga., with a complement of Bartholomew County soldiers. A month after he arrived in camp, the 19-year-old motor machinist died of pneumonia. A group of 20 soldiers from Columbus accompanied the body back for the funeral, and Columbus Mayor Frank Jones ordered a five-minute period of silence throughout the city for the young soldier. Cecil Maddock had been married seven months when his family received word that the 21-year-old Grammer resident had died of influenza at Winona Lake Oct. 31, 1918. Cash Marlin was only 17 years old when he enlisted in the Army and was immediately sent to Europe. He was killed during the Meuse-Argonne offensive Oct. 10, 1918. More than 15 years later the French government would cite the former Hope resident for bravery, giving him the Silver Star. Orville George Moyer became the first Bartholomew County resident to be killed in World War I, but he was wearing a Canadian uniform. The 21-year-old Columbus native had served in the military for four years, joining the U.S. Army in 1913. When World War I erupted, he joined the Canadian forces and was stationed with a mortar unit when it was hit by artillery shells. He was killed instantly Nov. 19, 1917. Karl H. Neuert was best known to his Columbus friends by his nickname "Dutch." It even carried over into his service life when he joined the Navy and was assigned to the transport ship President Lincoln. On May 31, 1918, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine. The 20-year-old wireless operator stayed at his post and went down with the ship. Two days before the torpedo hit the ship, his mother received a life insurance policy in which he had designated her as the beneficiary. Herbert D. Newby was an 18-year-old Columbus farmer when he enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps at Purdue University. The war ended while he was in training, but on Dec. 11, 1918 — one month after the Armistice was signed — he came down with pneumonia and died. Millard L. Newsom was a veteran when war broke out. The 23-year-old soldier had served two enlistments in the Army and was shipped overseas in 1917. He died of pneumonia Oct. 21, 1918, in France. He left behind his wife. Victor H. Nysewander already had begun a successful career in Jonesville as an attorney when he enlisted in the Army. He was commissioned an officer and shipped overseas in June 1918. One week before the Armistice was signed, he was killed in action near Bantheville, France. Harry G. Patrick was a 28-year-old telephone lineman from Ogilville when war broke out. He joined the Army, was shipped overseas and died of pneumonia Nov. 2, 1918, less than two weeks before the Armistice was signed. Leo Plunkett was a 30-year-old married man in 1918. After joining the Army, he was sent to France where he died of pneumonia. William Pumphrey found it natural that he was assigned to be a cook in the Army since he had been a farmer in Hope. He was 30 when he was sent to Camp Taylor, Ky., where he died of pneumonia Oct. 20, 1918. Sherman L. Rhude had begun a career with the fast-developing automobile industry at Nordyke-Marmon in Indianapolis when he decided to join the Student Army Training Corps at Purdue University in October 1918. Shortly after his admission, he died of pneumonia. He was 22 years old that day — Jan. 23, 1919, two months after the war had ended. Floyd Robertson had been a banker in Hope, but the Army turned him into a truck driver. He also played the French horn in a military band. On Oct. 3, 1918, he died of pneumonia. He was survived by his wife. Julius Roupp spent the great part of his short military career teaching fellow trainees how to read and write. The 27-year-old Union Township farmer became ill on Aug. 30, 1918. His father went to the camp, and a few hours after his arrival, his son died. Charles E. Stillabower was one of the few Bartholomew County victims of World War I to see action. The 19-year-old Taylorsville farmer was killed on Oct. 21, 1918. He was buried near Ardennes, France. Walter V. Stillabower already had begun a teaching career in Edinburgh when he entered service in 1918. The 21-year-old came down with pneumonia April 20, 1918, and died at a camp in New York. His father accompanied the body back to Bartholomew County for the funeral. Louis J. Tabor was only 16 when he enlisted in the Army. He and his brother, Price, both were sent to France. In August 1918, their mother, Susan Tabor, received a message that Louis had been wounded in action in France. A few days later she got the message that Price also had been wounded. Louis died of his wounds. Several months later, his mother received a note from a hospital in France. It had been written by Louis sometime after July 28, 1918. "Mother, dear, do not worry over me. I’m alright and tell all my friends that I died happy. I just was shot and know that I will die so goodbye all. Let God bless you. I cannot write no more. I am too weak. Your son, Louis." Louis Tabor was cited for bravery in action during the battle in which he was shot. Oscar Trimpe had joined many of his friends who had been caught up in patriotic fever after the United States entered the war. The 26-year-old Waymansville resident had enlisted in the Army, and on Aug. 29, 1918, was bound for the Columbus train station for shipment to Camp Sherman, Ohio. He never made it. The car in which he and his family were riding went over an embankment and crashed into a culvert. Oscar and two others died at the scene. Kent Voyles was a 31-year-old auto mechanic in Elizabethtown. He was among the thousands of Americans killed in the battle of the Argonnes Forest. On the request of his mother, his body was shipped back to the United States for burial at Springer Cemetery near Elizabethtown. The funeral was one of the largest in local history. In 1921, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Elizabethtown was named in his honor. He was survived by a wife and three children. Frank L. Wilcoxson had been a painter in Columbus for several years when he enlisted. He was made a cook in the Army. On Oct. 8, 1918, the 24-year-old man died of pneumonia at Camp Sherman, Ohio. Benjamin H. Woehrman, a 28-year-old Jonesville farmer, had been in service only three months when he died of pneumonia Oct. 16, 1918. |
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