Fayette County in the World War

FAYETTE COUNTY IN THE , WORLD WAR BY- M.FREDERICK HANES Pastor of St. James Lutheran ChurchEvangelical IllinoisVandalia, PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE FAYETTE COUNTY CHAPTER AMERICAN RED CROSS PRINTED BY THE VANDALIA UNIONDEDICATED TO Sons andCounty's DaughtersFagette who served inand dead,living The Great World WarPREFACE The of ofawriting history Fayette County's part in the Great WorldWar was first the Warinstigated by Records of the Illinois HistoricalSection State Library. In with Ira D. editor of the Van-correspondence Lakin, dalia it was that the war records of Fay-Union, urged andette be in some formCounty preserved permanent that a committee should take the work in Thecharge. and the Statecommittee as selectedfinally approved by office was of Williamcomposed the following: Judge M. Ira D. F. E. C.Farmer, chairman, Lakin, Crawford, F. N. C. Dr. A. L. T.Easterday, Gochenour, Williams, G. L. Hausmann and Will P. Welker. At a of the committee itJan.meeting 21, 1921, was decided that the would bedefinitely history pub- lished in book form and the writer was asked to under- take the task of and it. The workcompiling writing was somewhat andundertaken, although reluctantly, has been as as other dutiespushed rapidly pressing would permit. The task has been a difficult one;peculiarly pro- has been alike to the limited amountgress slow, owing of time at the writer's and the difficultiesdisposal many encountered in authentic data. No time norgathering have been to make the work accurate inpains spared It has entailed adetail. voluminousevery correspond- ence and endless of files andsearching newspaper records of various and warorganizations agencies. to the fact that state and federalOwing departments as to make records counties avail-have, yet, nothing by it was to all material within theable, necessary gather and to thebuild structure of this record fromcounty the ground up. In some branches of war the ma-availableactivity terial was not to be had to make the records as com- as we should like to see but far theplete them; by task hTthe actual work of hasgreater writing been, not to a of but toget select fromsufficiency material, the mass of material that which was of realgathered4 FAYETTE COUNTY worth and discard even wouldwhat, though interesting, to the value of work as a document ofadd thenothing /history. We who are so near the GreatWar so endedlately see it as a storm cloudgigantic subsiding yet hovering on the horizon and which we are anxious to forget. Therefore it is not for those of the but for thosepresent of the future who will be interested in the war record of our that we have and the con-county written, object in mind has been to make this worthrecordstantly while to them. To what success has beendegree achieved time alone will be able to tell. Much valuable hasassistance been the writ-given er various individuals the Itby throughout county. is, to mention all who im-impossible have assisted in the mense task of material. Invaluable servicegathering has been rendered firm of T. Lakinby the N.publishing & in the free use of theSons, Vandalia Uniongranting files from which much information has beenimportant Mr. William chairman of thegathered; by Henry, draft board for and records of theaccurate complete Mr. Dan Colburn to whom we are indebteddraft; by for the on and the schoolchapter Company I, by public teachers of the in nook and cor-county combing every ner of the for information that couldcounty scarcely have been at all without their assistance.gathered If errors have into the work and if therecrept have been omissions are due to limitations be-any they the writer's control. effort has been madeyond Every to make the records and accurate incomplete every detail but efforts have not met withrepeated response in a few instances. We refer to the memorialespecially honor roll fewwhere it will be found there are a photo- ofWhere there is no of onegraphs lacking. photo these honored sons of our the ommission is duecounty either to no or the failureavailablephotograph being of relatives after to send to the writerrepeated appeals the photograph requested. to in theAn earnest effort has been made give a consistent without unduerecord, ag-following pages or and discrim-grandizement disparagement; ination in-so-far as has been possible,but, humanly that is their due.all features the attentiongiving If readers in times that are to be shall sufti-yetIN THE WORLD WAR 5 value the records written here as turn to thesetociently and here read the of the sacrifices madepages story and the services rendered the sons andby daughters of in the service and at in hu-Fayette County, home, then the of this littlemanity's greatest war, object volume will have been achieved. Frederick M. Hanes. Lincoln's Birthday 1922.Vandalia, Illinois, JS" ^A JB" 1B3 JB"