|
It
would take volumes to tell of Macon county s
part in the great World War in 1917 1918.
At the front and at home it went over the top .
While hundreds of the boys fought valiantly on
battlefields in France, workers at home carried
on in the dozens of places where work was to be
done to help win the war. In raising war
funds, in Liberty loan drives, in Red Cross
work, and in dozens of other ways, Macon county
not only did its part, but did more than the
quota assigned.
Long before the United States entered the
fray, Macon county boys began enlisting for
service in the army and navy. It was
estimated that at least 400, if not more,
entered service before there was any certainty
that the United States would get into the
struggle. When war was declared, hundreds
more enlisted, and then came the draft.
Before the war was over, Macon county had
sent close to 2,500 men into the army or navy.
Nearly 100 of these men made the supreme sacrfice,
giving up their lives, either in service at
home, or on the battlefield abroad. The
first Macon county soldier to die in France was
George Orville Moyer, who was killed Nov.
3, 1917.
The Macon county men were scattered all over
the country and abroad, and among all branches
of the government service. The only group
of local men together in one company was old
Company L., which became the nucleus of Company
A, One Hundred Twenty-Fourth Machine Gun
battalion.
One of the first groups of men named for
government service, after war was declared, was
the exemption board for the draft. The
exemption board for Decatur consisted of C. A.
Ewing, chairman; John Allen, clerk,
and Dr. E. J. Brown, physician. The
county exemption board consisted of Cassius
Holcomb, Oakley, chairman; Henry Shafer,
Niantic, secretary, and Dr. W. A. Melton,
Warrensburg, Physician.
Some idea of the work of the exemption boards
may be gathered from the fact that in Macon
county there was a total of 13,262 registrations
for the selective draft. A total of 1,558
men was inducted into service. Of that
number ninety-four were rejected.
While men were in training at the various
training camps over the country, citizens at
home were occupied with sundry war duties.
Patriotism was stirred as it had never been
stirred since the days of the Civil war.
When the first Liberty Loan call was made,
Macon county's quota was $1,056,000. It
subscribed for $1,211,800 in bonds, the number
of subscribers being around 4,000.
The quota in the second call was $2,512,125,
and the amount subscribed was $2,620,600.
In the third call the quota was $1,465,200,
and amount subscribed was $1,930,000.
The fourth call was for $3,218,000, and
amount subscribed was $2,757,700. The
number of subscribers in the fifth campaign was
6,566.
Porter J. Millikin was chairman of the
last three Liberty Loan drives.
In the first Red Cross drive for funds, Macon
county was asked for $60,000. It gave
$69,524. In the second drive the quota was
$60,000, and the sum raised was $86,897.33.
In the second drive the number of givers was
14,344.
For Y. M. C. A. war work Macon county was
asked to give $21,750. It responded with
$27,261.80.
For Knights of Columbus work the amount asked
was $7,000. The sum of $12,000 was given.
The Y. W. C. A. war fund quota for the county
was $7,000. The sum of $7,275 was raised.
[INSERT
PICTURE HERE]
FIRST DRAFTED MEN
Macon county's first contingent of drafted men
left Sept. 6, 1917, for Des Moines, Ia.
(Camp Dodge). Nine city men and eleven
from outside Decatur made up the group.
The picture includes two extra men. Top
row, left to right - L. N.
Myers, G. E. Jacobsen, W.
F. Conner,
R. S. Smith,
W. McCarty, R. J. Hoots,
F. G. Wise; second row - J. L.
Connaghan, C. Y. Miller,
A. E. Trainer; third row - R. H.
Lewellen, H. A. Holland, J.
E. Tuteweiler
(extra), L. Cooper
(extra); lower row - W. E. Knodle, Guy
Bundy, W. T.
Mills,
C. S. Bowers, B. S. Guynn,
S. Morthland Jr., G. L.
Dickerson. One
man, William Cook, was
absent when this picture was taken.
CLICK HERE TO SEE
RED CROSS CANTEEN HUT AND WORKERS
[COMING ]
Activities of the Red Cross during the war
were conspicuous. The Macon County chapter
of the Red Cross was organized Jan. 26, 1917,
with the following officers:
Chairman - Robert Mueller
Vice Chairman - Max Hurd
Treasurer - A. M. Kenney
Secretary - Mrs. Inez J. Bender.
Later C. H. Leon became the vice chairman
By July 1, 1918, membership of the chapter
had reached 12,591. A year later the
membership was 15,950.
From the day the United States entered the
war, in April, 1917, until June 30, 1922, the
Macon county chapter handled the sum of
$151,659.44, expending all but $659.15.
The chapter's first real work in the war was
furnishing comfort kits to the members of
Company A.
To give an idea of the work accomplished by
the Red Cross, the following figures are listed,
these figure representing the activities of one
year:
200,416 surgical dressings
17,860 hospital garments
13,207 knitted garments
8,868 garments for refugees
9,749 pounds of used garments sent to Belgium
and France.
The Red Cross workers also that year
inspected, packed and wrapped 892 Christmas
boxes for the boys in the army and navy, spent
$5,518.90 in canteen service, $5,751.82 in home
service, and $4,891.74 in the fight against
influenza at the emergency hospital.
The Red Cross workshop was the busiest place
in town during the war. There dozens of
women met day after day, giving their time and
work to the cause.
Not the least of the Red Cross work was the
canteen hut maintained at the railroad stations,
where train after train containing soldiers was
met with women bearing supplies of sandwiches,
goodies and drinks. J. H. Culver
was general chairman of the canteen hut.
One of the record days at the hut was in
June, 1919, when the Three Hundred Fifty-Sixth
Infantry of the Eighty-Ninth Division, including
1,500 men from Missouri and Kansas, went through
Decatur on their way home from France.
Thirty-one canteen women were on duty that day.
More than 3,000 sandwiches, 5,000 cookies, a
similar number of doughnuts, ice cream cones,
bananas and other tasty "eats" disappeared in a
hurry down the throats of the hungry soldiers.
"We were here a year ago," said those men
that day. "We passed through Decatur May
25, and we remember the town for the way we were
treated on the way over."
But not all the men who had gone through on
that first trip were there the second time.
They had been left behind the France, in the
fields "where poppies grow".
A busy sub-organization of the Red Cross was
the Red Cross Motor corps, of which Mrs. John L.
Bennett
was chairman. It was composed of sixteen
women.
Another was the Civilian Relief Homes service
committee, composed of W. L. Shellabarger,
Mrs. A. M. Kenney, Mrs. M. E.
Lobenstein, Mrs. Carleton Mattes, Miss
Patricia Hunt, W. H. Duerr and George A.
Williams.
In still another way did the Red Cross give
service during the war, a service not for the
soldiers, but for the folks at home. It
was during the influenza epidemic of 1918, when
the spread of the disease brought death to many
homes. Hospitals were so overtaxed that it
was necessary to arrange an emergency hospital.
This was opened up in the former James Millikin
residence. One hundred seventy-five
patients were cared for at that place. Not
until the epidemic began to die out, did the
women relinquish their efforts to stay the
spread of the disease and minister to the
comfort of those who were suffering.
One of the busiest bodies during the war was
the Macon County Auxiliary, State Council of
National Defense, which functioned in various
phases of war work.
The County auxiliary committee was composed of
James M. Allen, chairman; E. P. Irving, vice
chairman; R. C. McMillen, secretary-treasurer;
T. F. Drew, and Mrs. J. D. Moore. L. C.
Shellabarger was manager of the auxiliary
headquarters.
Among others who
had a prominent part in the work were:
Finance - W. M.
Wood, J. S. McClelland,
Charles R. Murphy,
Frank Beall,
Niantic, A. A. Hill, Cerro Gordo.
Neighborhood
committee - J. L. Deek
Food production
and conservation committee - John G. Imboden, Mrs. M. M. Eyman,
Mrs. Tom Pitner, Mrs. E. W.
Allen, John
Hufford, Oakley, L. F.
Martin, Judd
Traughber, Mt. Zion.
U. S. Boys'
Working Reserve - J. R.
Holt
Federal fuel
administration - Wilson M.
Bering, W. W. Smith,
W. K. Whitfield.
Four minute men -
Admiral C. B. T. Moore
Women's county
organization - Mrs. J. D.
Moore
Non-war
construction - W. C.
Field
Conservation of
Food - C. J. Tucker,
county administrator; Frank L.
Evans, city
administrator
Fuel oil
administrator - M. L.
Harry
Dr. Will Banes was president and Dr.
C. M. Jack secretary of the Medical
Advisory board of District No. 14, of which
Macon county was a part.
M. C. Hoagland directed the work of
the American Protective League.
To try to list all the various bodies which
functioned during the World war is impossible
because of lack of space, but many others
besides those mentioned, gave splendid service,
and had just as important a part in helping to
win the war.
Young men students at the James Millikin
university prepared themselves for war service,
to be ready if called into the army. The
Students Army Training corps was organized with
404 members. Barracks were erected on the
back of the university campus for their use, and
the boys were instructed and drilled in army
tactics.
COMPANY A
The war service of Company A really began on
March 26, 1917, before war had been declared,
when Captain W. Lutz
Krigbaum of the old Company L received
orders to recruit the company to war strength
and be in readiness for orders. In a short
time enough recruits had been secured to bring
the number in the company up to eighty. On
April 2, the company was ordered to Henderson,
Ky., to guard a bridge over the Ohio river.
They left the next morning. Second
Lieutenant Tunis Wilson was left in
Decatur to continue recruiting. As a
result of sleeping in the unheated armory he
suffered an attack of pneumonia, and in two
weeks passed away, his death being the first
after the company was called into service.
[INSERT
PICTURE HERE]
MAJOR W. LUTZ KRIGBAUM
The members of the company were on guard duty
at Henderson and Maunie, Ill., for five months,
then on Aug. 1 were ordered to Cairo. From
Cairo the company was ordered to Camp Logan,
Houston, Tex. On Oct. 12, 1917, the Fifth
Regiment was broken up, and the various
companies were assigned to machine gun and
transportation organizations. In the
assignments made then Company L became the
nucleus of Company A, One Hundred Twenty-Fourth
Machine Gun Battalion. Its roster was
brought up to the required 172 by transfer of
men from other units. The One Hundred
Twenty-Fourth Machine Gun Battalion was a part
of the Sixty-Sixth Brigade, Thirty-Third
Division.
[CLICK HERE] to see
COMPANY A, 124TH MACHINE GUN BATTALION
Company A remained at Camp
Logan eight months under training. In May,
1918, the Thirty-Third Division began moving to
the embarkation point. Company A left May
6 for Camp Upton, L. I., where it remained a few
days, and then, on May 16, embarked on the
transport Mt. Vernon at Hoboken, N. J., for
France. Five thousand troops were aboard
that boat. The transport landed at Brest
May 24, but the soldiers could not disembark for
two days, owing to the large numbers of troops
arriving.
Officers of Company A at this time were:
Captain - W. Lutz
Krigbaum
First Lieutenant
- John P. Nolan
Second
Lieutenants - Lewis P. Roberts, Edward J.
Price, Gene E. Hopkins
Battle training of the battalion was
completed in camps at Cerisy, Grandcourt and
Pont Remy on the Somme. Early in July the
battalion was sent to Molliens-aux-Bois, in the
British sector, where it was under fire for the
first time.
From that time on, until the Armistice was
signed, the batallion was in active service.
During the time Company A was at the front it
was located at Albert, Hamel, Chippily, Mort
Home, Bois de Forges, Brabrant, Dun Sur Meuse,
Consenvoye, Bois de Chaume, Dannevous, Cote la
Monte, Bois de Harville and Bois de Warrville.
The two latter places are near Metz, the
movements of the company having gradually
brought it south.
It was while the company was getting into
position for the battle of Consenvoye, which
took place Oct. 8, that Sergeant Castle
Williams was killed. In his honor the
Decatur post of the American Legion afterwards
was named.
[INSERT
PICTURE HERE]
SERGT. CASTLE I. WILLIAMS
The French Croix de Guerre was bestowed upon
Captain Krigbaum, Sergeant Harold
Burleigh, Sergeant L. L. Brosam and
Private Henry Blasek for gallantry in
action. Captain Krigbaum also received the
promotion to major because of his war record,
and was decorated with the American
distinguished service cross for bravery shown at
Bois de Chaume.
During the five months of active fighting,
the company, lost two officers and five men,
twenty-five men were wounded and eighteen were
taken prisoners. All the wounded men and
prisoners were recovered.
Company A, after the war ended, took quarters
for the winter in the neighborhood of
Luxembourg. On May 1, 1919, they left for
the embarkation camp at Brest, sailed a week
later, and on May 17 landed in New York.
Decatur's welcome to the returning soldiers,
when they reached home May 31, was a joyous one.
As the men marched from the station to the Hotel
Orlando, where a reception had been planned for
them, they were given rousing cheers. Once
more Macon county's heroes were home.
The other Macon county men in the service
returned at different times. Many of them
also won awards for distinguished service on the
battlefield.
In the Macon county court house stands the
Honor Roll of the World war. It contains
the names of all the Macon county men who
enlisted in the service during the war, so far
as was possible to compiles such a list.
The Honor Roll contains 3,586 names. A
star marks the name of each one who died.
This Honor Roll first was erected in Central
park, where it stood for a few years. It
was felt wise, however, to protect it from the
elements, by moving it indoors, and in 1925 it
was moved to the court house.
THE ARMISTICE
Never in all its history, before or since,
did Decatur see such a wild demonstration of joy
as it did Nov. 11, 1918, the day the Armistice,
ending the World war, was signed.
It was spoken of as a "Gigantic Jag of Joy"
and it was that in reality. People gave
way to emotions in a way indescribable.
There was no suppression of feelings.
The official news of the signing of the
Armistice came about 2 o'clock in the morning.
The blowing of whistles soon spread the news.
Men, women, children, grabbed clothes without
regard to what they were, threw them on in a
second, and rushed to the streets. In only
a few minutes a crowd had collected in the down
town section and an impromptu parade was staged.
The shouting, singing, yelling, blowing of
horns, shrieking of whistles, rattling and
banging of pans and tin cans - anything to make
a noise - turned the peacefulness of the night
into bedlam. Even the most sedate could
not escape the effects of the frenzied uproar
and became as wild with enthusiasm and
excitement as the rest. Tears of joy
mingled with laughter, for everyone knew that
the boys would be coming home. In the
heart o f some, joy was mingled with grief for
the one who would never return.
One parade was not enough to celebrate.
In fact, there were parades all day long.
Later in the morning another big procession took
place when the Wabash men paraded down the
streets. Nobody could work that day.
In fact, shops and offices and factories closed,
and employes were out to help swell the
crowd and add to the noise and hilarity.
The biggest parade of the day took place in
the afternoon. Hastily arranged floats,
spilling over with happy-hearted boys and girls,
automobiles filled to the brim with over-joyed
men and women, gaily bedecked groups carrying
flags and banners, burlesque features carrying
out the idea of victory over the enemy -
anything and everything could be seen in that
parade. In noise and gaiety it surpassed
anything ever known here before. Those who
did not parade stood on the walks to watch those
who did, and to cheer as the flag went by.
The crowd in the town was growing larger an
larger all the time, as people came in from the
country and surrounding towns to see what was
going on. Newspapers issued extras telling
the news that the Huns had quit.
It was twenty hours before people were calm
enough to settle down to routine life. The
ending of the World War had resulted in
Decatur's longest and loudest celebration.
<PREVIOUS> <NEXT>
<CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS>
|
