Ernest Powell, WWI Soldier, Writes Home from Camp

 

A niece of Ernest Elmer Powell (1896-1968) was in possession of two letters he wrote home to his parents during World War I. After she passed, the letters were given to one of Ernest's granddaughters and she photographed them to share with the family. Ernest was my great-grandfather.

Ernest Elmer Powell WWI Draft Registration Card page 1 from 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.

Ernest Elmer Powell WWI Draft Regsitration Card page 2 from 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.

I don't have records showing the exact dates of Ernest's service, but estimate it to be about August 1918 to December 1918. Newspaper Articles in the Houston Herald (Houston, Missouri) in June, July and August of 1918 list him among other local boys who went through the draft registration and examinations. In one of the letters you'll see below, dated Nov 24, 1918, he says he will be home by Christmas. We know he did make it home about that time and he married Julia Davis in January 1919.

Ernest Powell (G.P. for Grandpa Powell is penciled above his head) with two other men. Exact date and location unknown, but undoubtedly taken in 1918 since he is in uniform.

This first letter is dated October 19, 1918 and was written in Camp McArthur, Texas. The letter is written in pencil and has faded so severely over time that it's nearly impossible to read. 

I was able to make out some of it.

"...have you heard from Nancy? she was pretty sick with the baby... I got a letter from Ora yesterday Barbra was there with Nancy taking care of her..."

"...site at Camp Funston Kans. ... sickness is there it has been a site here but all of it is cured know[sic] pretty fast..."

Then I just get bits and piece.

"...to leave...next week some time I'm going to send ...thing back. I will send my razor first.....fork. I can't take another across with me. I don't know where I am going across all...I will write another letter tomorrow will close but this time answer soon."

His signature is not legible.

The women he refers to - Nancy, Ora, and Barbara - are his sisters. Sadly, Nancy's baby died just two days after this letter was written. Claude Cleo Pitts was his name and he was almost 11 months old. A newspaper article shows that he died of Bronchitis, but this was all during the time that the Spanish Flu pandemic was sweeping through our country. I can't help but wonder if that was the "sickness" that took Nancy's baby and was running through Army training camps.

Ernest's letter, postmarked Oct 20 1918, was mailed in a souvenir envelope with some prints of scenes from Camp MacArthur, near Waco, Texas. Camp MacArthur was an Army training camp with an officer's training school, infantry training camp, hospital and administrative offices. After the war, the camp was abandoned and the land taken over by the city of Waco.

The next letter was written and sent from Camp Merritt in Jersey City, NJ. Most of this one is legible, though Ernest's spelling is a bit off. I'll transcribe as written.

"Nov 24, 1918

Mr. J.H. Powell

Dear father and mother I will write you a letter today I am fat and sasy I am flesher than I every was before I wish you could see me You out to see me eat to I eat every meal just a like We havent dun anything for over three weeks and I am getting pretty lazy.

I think I will bee at home befor very long I think we was figure on going to Camp Funston, Kans yesterday we will be there to or three days. we are under quaranteed know I think we will get out in a day all to some of the boys has the -?- and the quaranteed us all for awail.

but I know we will get home for Chirstmas you want to have a big pot and a little one to 

say I have seen a hole lots and I dont -?- it eitherI was on the ship for one day and night we was on for oversee and they got new orders not to go oversee.

I can tell you folks a hole lots when I get home Well it is ofal coal hear the ground freze every knight one day hear it froze all day but I have plenty close. I have a big overcat and a Raincat they are shore fine to.

Well I hant going to write much today. I think I will bee at home sunday week if nothing haping no more so will close for this time.

Ernest E Powell

this is my address

Co. 40.-1-1100-R

Camp Merritt Branch

Jersy City, NJ

fia New York"

Envelope addressed to Mr. J. H. Powell, Summersville, Texas, Mo. postmarked Nov. 25 1918 Merritt, NJ.

Camp Merritt was a camp for transient troops under command of the New York Port of Embarkation. Ernest would have been sent here in preparation to travel overseas. In reading about Camp Merritt, I learned that there was a heavy outbreak there of the Spanish Flu in late 1918. Ernest mentions that they are under quarantine because some of the boys were sick. It was likely that the boys were sick with influenza. 

Ernest is the man at top right (see arrow) on this postcard photograph saved by one of his daughters. 

As I mentioned, I don't have Ernest's military records to know an exact release date, but he was home in time to stand up be married less than two months later. It seems there may not have been anything else happening and this young man was one of the lucky ones who didn't have to serve overseas. Instead he would have been sent to Camp Funston, Kansas and released from there as he mentioned in his letter. He mentioned Camp Funston in the first letter, too, and the sickness there which we know now was the Spanish Flu. In March of 1918 some of the first cases in the United States were reported at Camp Funston, located on Fort Riley southwest of Manhattan, Kansas.

Not only did Ernest barely dodge serving overseas, it seems he also managed to avoid getting sick during a pandemic in Army training camps. He really was a lucky man, and his descendants are so thankful that he survived and went on to marry and have many children.

Lexon C. Cavanaugh, 1891-1949

Lexon Charles Cavanaugh moved to California as a young man, later fought in WWI in France, retired after twenty-five years in the Army, and died in a tragic train accident. His life was certainly interesting, but because he never married and didn't have children, there is no one telling his story. Until now.

Meet Lexon, my Second Great-Uncle.
He was born on October 3rd, 1891, 1892, or 1893 (depending on which record you look at - one even says 1895!) to John Houston Cavanaugh and Mary Calier (Read) in Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri. His family always called him Charlie, but as soon as he could get away on his own, he began using his preferred first name.

Lexon, age 3 or 4

I wish I had a photograph of him as a grown man, but the only one I have is a family photo taken when he was a young boy. I cropped the photo, above, for a closer look. His physical description varies a bit in records, but, generally, he is described as having blue or gray eyes, brown to black hair, and, as an adult, he stood about 5'5" tall. Lexon was the shortest of the boys, with brothers who ranged from 5'6" to 5'10". 

I have searched for documentation to shed light on Lexon's life. The earliest records I've found are the 1900 and 1910 census records; 1900 in Texas County, Missouri and 1910 in Greene County, Missouri, just outside of Springfield. In early 1910, Charlie and his younger brother Elmer left for California to find work in the orchards. They were just 17 and 18 years old when they left for their adventure. Once they arrived, they urged their parents and younger siblings to join them. The family soon followed and they all settled in San Bernardino County. 

In 1911, Charlie disappeared and his parents were frantically searching for him. An article in the newspaper said he was ill when he took his pay and left work, saying he was going home to his parents. Instead, he purchased a ticket to San Bernardino and disappeared. His distraught mother placed an ad in the lost and found for a full week. I'm not sure if they found him. This is the time period where he began using his given name, Lexon. Makes me wonder if he wanted a fresh start, alone, for some reason. His parents and siblings all left California and settled in Washington within just a few years after Charlie's disappearance.

This ad ran in the Lost & Found section of the San Bernardino County Sun
from August 31 - September 7, 1911,
from Newspapers.com.

UPDATE! Thanks to a reader hint, I now have a photo of him as a young man! This photo was attached to the 1911 missing person report in Tulare County, California. Charlie would have been about 18-19 years old in this photo.

Ancestry.com. Tulare County, California, U.S., Sheriff's Office and Jail Records, 1874-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Sheriff's Records. Textual records. Tulare County Sheriff's Office, Visalia, California, USA.

Page 1 of the San Bernardino County Sun, Aug 31, 1911,
from Newspapers.com

Page 2 of the San Bernardino County Sun, Aug 31, 1911,
from Newspapers.com

In 1913 and 1914, Lexon was found in San Bernardino City Directories and shown as employed by the County Hospital. The excerpt below tells us he was working as an ambulance driver.

From the San Bernardino County Sun, October 2, 1914.
This clip, from newspapers.com, lists warrants paid to County Employees.

On June 5th, 1917, Lexon registered for the draft. No longer an ambulance driver, he worked for I. L. Lyon & Sons Ranches in irrigation and was living in Redlands, San Bernardino, California. This document gives his birthdate as October 3, 1895, but it looks like something else was written under the five...maybe a 2? Most records say 1892. Regardless, this tells a little about what he'd been up to. In addition to his address and occupation, it says he was a sailor in the Navy for 6 months, was single without dependents, and on the back, it includes a basic physical description.

WWI Draft Registration card for Lexon Charlie Cavanaugh.
Image from Ancestry.com.

Conscripts from Redlands Precinct 7 include Lexon Charlie Cavanaugh.
From the San Bernardino County Sun, 12 Jul 1917, p.13, found on newspapers.com.

Lexon was one of the conscripts from the Redlands Precinct 7 that was examined by the Exemption Board in the summer of 1917. Finding no cause for exemption, he was chosen with six other men from Redlands to serve in the first contingent. There was a big reception given for the men before they left to undergo training. The townspeople were proud of their soldiers and an enthusiastic crowd of about 3000 showed up to offer support. There were speeches, patriotic music, and readings offered in the outdoor amphitheater. I imagine Lexon was overwhelmed and honored by the reception.

Reported in the L.A. Times, 5 Sep 1917.
Redlands Honors Its Selected Men.
Seven men, including L. C. Cavanaugh, were honored at an outdoor
reception with over 3000 people in attendance.
Clipped from newspapers.com.

Soldiers leaving on September 5, 1917, to American Lake Training Camp, include
L.C. Cavanaugh from Redlands.
San Bernardino County Sun, 2 Sep 1917, front page.
Clip from newspapers.com.

The American Lake Training Camp was located at Camp Lewis, now Fort Lewis, in Tacoma, Washington. Lexon was among the first recruits to arrive and train at the newly constructed National Army training camp for draftees from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana. It was the largest training camp in the United States at the time. When the men first arrived, they began training in their own clothes, as uniforms were still being processed for them. The men were part of the 91st Division, also called the Wild West Division. Lexon, with Company H of the 364th Infantry, departed Camp Lewis in late June 1918 by train for New Jersey. From Hoboken, New Jersey, they boarded ships to cross the Atlantic and set sail on July 12, 1918. After an almost two week voyage by sea, they arrived on English soil and then crossed the English Channel into France.

The soldiers made their way across France, mostly by train, until they arrived on the front lines on September 25, 1918, at La Cigalerie Butte, near Eclisfontaine, France as part of the Argonne Offensive. They pushed hard through constant fire during several days of "do or die" fighting. There was a high number of casualties, both dead and wounded, by the time the 91st Division was relieved from the front line and placed in Corps Reserve on October 3, 1918 - Lexon's birthday. The Argonne Offensive has been called the greatest effort of the American Expeditionary Forces, and Lexon was there at the beginning with the 364th Infantry.

When the war ended on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. Lexon was still in France and remained there for four more months. On March 25, 1919, he left St. Nazaire, France on the ship Orizaba bound for the United States. He was listed on the passenger list with Company H of the 364th Infantry, rank Private First Class of Redlands, California. His next of kin was Henry Huckaby, a friend. Was "Charlie" still out of touch with his parents? Or maybe he just felt more comfortable listing someone he knew well and who lived nearby.

The U.S.S. Orizaba
Photo from Wikipedia, public domain.

Decades later, in 1945, Lexon completed his WWII draft registration. On the back, it says he was discharged just two days before, on July 26, 1945, after serving 25 years in the Army. This discharge date is also written on his death certificate, along with his Army serial number, 2267287 and his rank, Corporal. 

I have not been able to find Lexon in 1920, 1930 or 1940 census records.  I have looked and looked, searching page by page in case there was an indexing error. So far, I've not had any success. For the time period of 1920-1945, during his enlistment, he may have been living on base somewhere, possibly overseas, and may be why I can't find him on census records. I have some more searching to do in his military records to try to fill in this big gap.

WWII Draft Registration card, front, dated July 28, 1945.
Image from ancestry.com.

WWII Draft Registration card, back, dated July 28, 1945.
Image from ancestry.com.

On January 12, 1949, Lexon's mother died in Yakima, Washington. On her funeral home record, "Charlie" is listed with her children, his residence California. Finally, some proof that they did find him and didn't spend their whole lives wondering what had happened to their son. Lexon died just four months after his mother, on May 31, 1949, in King County, Washington. I believe he traveled to Washington for his mother's funeral and hadn't returned to California. His death certificate says his usual residence was Sacramento, California, but he was a transient. He died as a result of injuries to his chest, back and skull when he was hit by a train while resting on the tracks near Kent, Washington. One article I saw said he was traveling to Seattle, perhaps to find transport back to Sacramento. Another said he had been working in an orchard nearby. If that's true, he may have been working to earn his return fare. Whatever situation caused him to be near Kent and resting on the tracks that day is irrelevant. His death was tragic, regardless of what led to him be there that day.

Lexon Charles Cavanaugh Washington State Death Certificate.

Article found in the The Post-Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho from 1 Jun 1949.
Image from newspapers.com.

Lexon's body was transported back to Yakima County where he was interred in the same cemetery as his mother. Their graves are not near one another, though, as Lexon was placed in the Veteran Section. Fitting, I think, for a man who devoted such a chunk of his life to the U.S. Army.

Lexon C Cavanaugh is buried in the Veteran Section
of the Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima, Washington. 

John and Mary (Read) Cavanaugh, 1895 Family Portrait

Many years ago I received this photocopied 1895 family portrait from Lavera Cavanaugh, a granddaughter of John and Mary Cavanaugh. It shows John Houston Cavanaugh and his wife, Mary Calier (Read) Cavanaugh, with their first three sons. Lavera's father was their son Orvel, who was born about a year after the portrait was taken. It was the first time I had seen a picture of the couple and I was thrilled to receive it. 

John and Mary (Read) Cavanaugh with sons  Lexon Charlie, Elmer Diamond and Arthur Virgil.
Taken in late summer or early fall 1895, probably in Mountain Grove, Missouri.
Photocopy from original provided by Lavera Cavanaugh.

John Houston Cavanaugh was born 1 February 1870 near Grovespring in Wright County, Missouri to William S. and Nancy Charity (Moser) Cavanaugh, their second son. Nancy died when John was about 5 years old and he and his brother James were raised by their father and step-mother, Elizabeth (Latimer). At age 20, John married Mary Calier (or Colyer) Read, born 29 December 1871, the daughter of Benjamin Burgess and Sarah Jane (Gartin) Read. They were married in Douglas County, but made their home near Mountain Grove in Wright County.

In the portrait, they are shown with their first three children, sons Lexon Charlie, Elmer Diamond and Arthur Virgil. The photo was probably taken in Mountain Grove as son Arthur was born there in January of 1895 and the next child, son Orvel, would be born there in January of 1897. John and Mary had a total of six children. Following the four sons, two daughters were welcomed to the family. Zona Ruby in 1901 and Opal Edna Jane in 1906. The years surrounding the births of the girls were tumultuous ones for the family. The young couple and their four sons had moved to neighboring Texas County where they were found in Clinton Township by the 1900 census taker. A year later, Zona was born in Waterville, Douglas County, Washington. Soon they were back in Missouri where Opal was born in 1906. Within ten years, they were back up in Washington state, living first in Grant County and finally in Yakima County.  Mary died on 12 January 1949, followed by John on 26 August 1954. They are buried at Tahoma Cemetery, Yakima, WA.

Lexon Charlie Cavanaugh, John and Mary's first son, was born on 3 October 1891 in Mountain Grove. In the family portrait, he is the one standing behind his parents. Called Charlie, he found himself in California after 6 months in the Navy and settled there, working for many years in orchards near Redlands in San Bernardino County and later in Sacramento. Charlie never married and died tragically in May of 1949, just months after his mother's death. I don't know the whole story, but Charlie had been living in California. It may have been the death of his mother in January of 1949 that brought him back to Washington, but that part of the story isn't known. What is known is that he  was hit and killed by a freight train. A newspaper article says he was dozing on the tracks a few miles south of Kent. He is buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima, Washington in the Veteran section.

Elmer Diamond Cavanaugh, the second son of John and Mary, was born on 11 January 1893 in Moutain Grove. He is seen leaning on his father's leg in the portrait. Elmer, a decorated WWI Army veteran, was called "Curly" by his friends and family. After his return from service, he married Ethel Juanita Bradley. They had three children; son Norman Wellington 1921-1925, daughter Bethelma Beatrice 1923-1929, and daughter Helen Darlene 1926-1994. Daughter Bethelma died as the result of injuries sustained in a house fire. Perhaps it was her death that caused the marriage to crumble. In 1930, it appears they were separated. Ethel and Darlene were living with Ethel's parents and Elmer had son Norman with him, though both listed their status as married. In 1931 Ethel was remarried. Elmer became a policeman in Grant County and died in 1957. He is also buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima; his grave is located near those of his parents.

Arthur Virgil Cavanaugh, the baby seated on his mother's lap, was born on 31 January 1895 in Mountain Grove. He married Sarah Kate Erickson in Ephrata, Grant County, Washington on 12 July 1915. They had three children; son William Virgil 1916-1997, daughter Evelyn Winnifred 1918-1922, and son Melvin Roy "Deacon" 1921-1985. They, like Art's parents, moved around a bit before finally settling in Selah, Yakima County, WA. Art was a farmer and had orchards in Naches and in Selah Heights. He and his wife lived the rest of their lives in Selah. Art died in 1988 and is buried with Katie at West Hills Cemetery in Yakima. Evelyn and Deacon are buried in plots next to their parents.