| |
1914 « World War 1
»
1919
April 2, 1914 – President Woodrow Wilson delivers war address to
Congress at 8:32 pm and asks the House of Representatives to declare war
on Germany.
June 28, 1919 – Treaty of Versailles signed in Hall of Mirrors at
Versailles, officially ending the Great War. |
Killed in
Action Wounded in action
POW/MIA
Died during active
duty
+
Contracted disease-illness-disability
during service |
Austin, Harold Merton |
US Army
Orderly
In service
1917-1918
Resided in Hartford Twp.
1896-1915.
The Austin Hartford Township
home was located on the
Berrien-Van Buren County Line.
Class of 1915
Watervliet High School
Stationed at
Camp Custer, MI
Son of
Amos & Martha Rendell Austin
Married to
Letha May Kelley
Harold served as Grand Marshal for some
Watervliet Veterans Day Parades, and at Grand Haven, when he was in his
90s! He was justifiably proud of those honors. |
b 9-17-1896
d 5-14-1994
Watervliet MI Grand Haven MI
Age 97y, 7m, 26d
Buried at
Riverside Cemetery
Section OO, Lot 109, Grave 01
Kalamazoo MI
9/28/2009 – Photo and information
submitted by nephew, Rendell J. Austin. |
Harold
was stationed at Fort Custer during the 1918 flu epidemic. In 1977,
he wrote a brief letter that was published in the Kalamazoo Gazette.
Memories of 1918
Flu
"To the Editor: I was very interested
in the article in The Gazette last Sunday about the flu epidemic in 1918.
It brought back old memories. I was an orderly in the old base hospital at
Camp Custer at the time, and we were sure busy working four hours on and
four hours off around the clock. I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t
get the flu, but one of my buddies did. He weighed around 200 pounds and
went down to 98. But he pulled through. We would make our rounds, and if
we saw a bare foot sticking out with a tag fastened to a toe, we knew we
had another one to take away. There were 636 who died in just three weeks,
and as they couldn’t get coffins fast enough, we just stacked them up in
an old unused guard house for a time. I have always thought that a lot of
those deaths were unnecessary. Let’s all get out and have our flu shots
now. I am 80 years old, and have received mine."
HAROLD M. AUSTIN
|
Beckwith, Glen W. |
US Army
Private First Class
Courier, Dispatch Rider
Colonel’s Chauffeur
b 12-30-1893 in Bangor MI
d 4-5-1978 in Grand Rapids MI
Age 84y, 3m, 5d
Buried in Arlington Cemetery
Bangor MI
In service 1916-1919
Served at
Camp Custer, Battle Creek MI,
later renamed Fort Custer.
From Bangor MI
Attended Bangor High school,
from the class of 1901 or 1902
Resided in Hartford 1932-1942 |
My Dad was born and raised on a farm in Bangor, where he
learned to drive a truck and a car. Many men didn’t know how to drive
when WWI began, so Dad was assigned to drive many different vehicles,
trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc. He was a courier, a dispatch rider, and a
Colonel’s chauffeur. He spent the entire War years at Camp Custer later
renamed Ft. Custer.
Dad and Mother lived in Pawhuska, Oklahoma in the 1920’s. Mother was
school teacher. Dad was in the gas station business with oil delivery
truck, etc. Great Depression hit in 1929 and Dad lost business, home,
auto, etc. The family moved back to Hartford Michigan in 1932. No jobs
available, so Dad picked cherries the first year then worked on the WPA*
for a year. Went to work as a clerk at Olds Grocery, then hired by IGA
Gleaner Store and became manager of that Grocery Store. Continued in that
work till WWII began then he went into War production work at Kalamazoo
and St Joe.
Glen is the father of
Bick Beckwith, who served in the US Air Force during WW11. Bick
submitted the photo and information on 5-15-2003.
*The
WPA was President Roosevelt’s "Works Progress Administration". The program
was created during the Depression as a means to put men back to work. The
WPA built bridges, post office buildings, military bases and of particular
interest, they built the sewer system for the town of Hartford and the
Pine Creek bridge (built in 1935 or 36) out west of town on old US-12, now Red Arrow Hwy. |
Burkitt, Orville G.
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 1911
|
Carpenter, Everard
Lorne |
b 6-18-1890
d 4-30-1963
Hartford MI
Winnipeg MB CAN
Age 72y, 10m, 15d
Buried at
Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens
Winnipeg MB CAN
In service
1917-1919 (2 years)
Married to
Glenna Carpenter
NHL Hockey Player
43 years with Canadian National Railways
Resided
in
Winnipeg MB CAN from 1944-1963
Click here for more information |
Curry, Howard Arthur
US Navy
In service 19__ to 19__
+Entered during WW1, given disability discharge. Was later drafted
and saw military service again before the armistice.
From Allendale, MI
Owned Curry Grocery Store in Hartford
from 1926-1946
|
Erwin, John Clarey |
US Army
Photo dated 1917
From Hartford
HHS Class of 19__
From the album of Roy Davis |
|
Foster, Dean Dwight |
b 3/7/1892
d 1/20/1980
Age 87y, 10m, 14d
From Hartford
HSS Class of 1910
Submitted by Virginia Meachum,
grandniece, on 11/30/2004 |
Garrison, Jessie |
Helweg, Otto
|
US Navy
HHS Class of 1919
|
US Navy – Commander
In service 19__-1946
Served in WW1 and WW11
HHS Class of 19__
|
|
Horton, DeLeon
Officer
b 1894
From Tennessee
|
Kelly, Roy C.
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 19__
|
Kellogg, Fred D.
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 19
|
Knapp, LeRoy
"Roy" |
|
US Army – Private
Company C, 7th Infantry
b 4-30-1896 d 1-14-1966
Lawrence MI Hartford MI
Buried in Hill Cemetery
Lawrence MI
Stationed in Europe and was in Belgium
For approximately 20 years during the 1940s-60s, Roy was proprietor of the
Green Lantern Restaurant, in the building located on the NE corner of Main and Maple Streets in
Hartford.
Ray was an older brother to Ray(mond) "Ted" Knapp, who was a photographer
in and served as a Hartford councilman and mayor for several years.
3-2005
Photo and information submitted by Donna Knapp Broadhurst HHS 1956,
niece of LeRoy Knapp and dauther of Ted Knapp. |
Lightner, Daniel Dudley
|
US Army – Pvt
Photo dated 1917
b 2-18-1888 d 12-6-1966
Age 78y, 9m, 19d
Buried in
Maple Hill Cemetery
Sec 8 – Lot 5
Hartford MI
In service 19__ to 19__
Both photos of Daniel Lightner are shown to give a clear picture
of
the Army uniforms worn during WW1
Father-in-Law,
Marion Hoover, served during the Civil War,
Grandson,
Daniel Keith
Lightner served in the Army during Vietnam and
Great Grandson, Matthew
Lightner, served in the Marines during Iraq.
|
|
Lightner, Seward (Pep) |
US Army
b 5/17/1899 d 7/21/1996
Alleghany
NC
Age 97y 2m 6d
Seward Lightner at Camp Tinemon (?), California in 1918
Letter of Sept 15, 1917
HHS Class of 1917
from Hartford MI
|
Meachum Jr., Henry James
|
US Army – Calvary
Horse Trainer
b 18 Dec
1893 d 30 Mar 1935
Hartford
MI
Hartford MI
Age 41y, 3m, 11d |
In service
19__ to 19__
Served at Camp Custer, Battle Creek MI.
He was the son of Henry James
& Orpha (Sammons) Meachum.
Attended Hartford High School
and lived in Hartford all his life.
Died of pneumonia after returning from
a horse buying trip to Wyoming.
An interesting story
is that the Army was trying to disembark horses into the water and get them to
land. When the horses went into the water, they started to drown.
Henry jumped into the water behind the horses and started pulling on their
tails, at which point they raised their heads above the water line and onto
shore.
Photo and information submitted by granddaughter,
Virginia (Ginny) Meachum
in Oct, 2002
|
Millhouse
Sr., Robert
US Army – Cook |
|
b 2-5-1892
d 6-10-1974
Platteville WI
Keeler MI
Age 82y, 4m, 5d
Buried in Keeler Cemetery
Keeler MI
In service 19__ to 19__
Served in France near the border.
Resided in Keeler after the war.
2004
Photo submitted by John and Nancy Millhouse.
John served in the military during the Vietnam Era. |
|
Olds, Ralph W.
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 19__
|
Rice,
Dewey M. |
|
|
Dewey’s sons,
Dale Rice and
Dwaine Rice served during WW2. |
Stoddard, Clinton
Co. B, 26th U.S. Inf. – Pvt. |
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
Clinton was the first
death of a soldier from
Hartford Township during
WW1.
The Hartford
American Legion
Stoddard Post #93
was named in his honor.
Son of
Charles Frank (Stanley) Stoddard and Cornelia Stickney
Stoddard.
Clinton was an Uncle to Martin
and Chink Stoddard; both served in
WW11.
Photos provided by the Stoddard family via
Bill Dyer 3-2003 |
Stowe, Bernard A.
US Army – 1st Lieutenant
Motor Transport Corps –
Repair Unit 304 |
b 7-8-1870
1-9-1949
Hartford MI Cleveland OH
Buried at
Lakewood Cemetery
Cleveland Hts OH
In Service
10-10-1918 to 4-20-1919
Served at
Ft. Sam Houston, TX
From Hartford
HHS Class of 1888
Resided in Hartford 1870 – ?
Photo taken in 1918 at a farm in Alamo Heights San Antonio TX with a Mr.
Thompson
Bernard was the son of
Freeman Stowe, a Civil War veteran and pioneer
resident and builder of Hartford. Bernard Street was named for him.
While working as a contract engineer at an electrical firm in Cleveland,
Bernard invented the modern oscillating fan. During WW11, he was
engaged as a war production technician.
Bernard’s great-great grandfather,
Francis Delong, was the only known Revolutionary War soldier to have
resided in Hartford.
Information and photo submitted by Bernard’s great niece, Laurie Warner Jacobs
5-2007. |
Talpin, Floyd
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 19__ |
|
Thornburg, Marvin Frank
(aka Almeda Franklin Thornburg)
Army National Guard
Co. F 4th Infantry – Pvt.
Border Patrol and
Reserves
b 8-23-1893 d
3-15-1985
Cedar Bluff AL Torrance CA
Age
91y, 6m, 22d
In service
Enlisted July 14, 1916
Gadsden AL
Discharged June 19, 1917
Served at Nogales AZ and
Sanora Mexico along the Mexican border.
US declared war on Germany while serving in
the National Guard. Federal government took over all National Guard.
Served 11 months, 6 days in regular Army after that time.
Awards
» Bronze Victory Button
Born in Cedar Bluff, Alabama
Lived in Hartford during
1940s and 1970 – 1985
Son of
Henry John & Martha Webb Thornburg
Married to
Francis Robbles Thornburg
Married in Tuscon AZ
1917 to June 19, 1919 (div)
Mary Pansy Dendy Thornburg
January 19, 1920 – March 30, 1972
Frank is the father of
Henry Shores
Thornburg and
Lawrence
Clifton Thornburg, who both served in the military. He is
the grandfather of
Emma Thornburg Sefcik, webmaster of the History of Hartford. |
Wessendorf, Albert Edward
US Army
In service 19__ to 19__
Saw action in France.
Remained in the US Army until
after Germany surrendered.
|
Whitmore, Wilbur
Killed in action
See WW1 Memorial
HHS Class of 19__
|
Youella, Lyle C.
1st Division Calvary
|
This site will change when names and photos become
available. Check back often for updates. Please email the
webmaster with information about any one you known of
who served
in the military and lived in Hartford at any time during their life.
|
|