 |
| Wilhelm II, German Kaiser during World War I |
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the end
of World War I, an event that resulted in one of the biggest celebrations in
the history of Conecuh County. At 11 o’clock in the morning of the 11th
day of the 11th month of 1918, World War I came to an end. The
armistice agreement to end the war was signed at 5:10 a.m. on the morning of
Mon., Nov. 11, and commanders on the Western Front were telegraphed orders to
cease hostilities at 11 a.m. “French time.”
According to the Nov. 13, 1918 edition of The Evergreen
Courant, the news of the war’s end did not take long to reach the citizens of Conecuh
County. In that day’s paper, under the headline “Evergreen People Celebrate
Great War Victory,” it was reported that “Evergreen people celebrated the great
war victory Monday afternoon and night with such a demonstration as was never
before witnessed in our community. The lid was off and everybody yelled
themselves hoarse, discharged fireworks and firearms and made noise in every
conceivable manner.
“The people heard the glad news during the early hours of
the morning, but having been fooled once before by a false report, they waited
to see it in black and white in The Advertiser, and The Advertiser carried the storm
in flaming headlines. This satisfied them and everybody was happy.
“Business houses and offices were closed in the afternoon,
and the first staring of the celebration began at the City School grounds,
patriotic songs, the raising of Old Glory and short speeches by Rev. D.W.
Haskew and Attorney E.C. Page, every utterance being received with cheering,
and concluding with the burning of the “Kaiser’s Coffin” in a huge bonfire on
the campus.
“But this was not all. In the early part of the night, the
revelry began in earnest. The blowing of whistles, the yelling and whooping,
the rapid discharge of firearms and fireworks kept up till a late hour. Tuesday
morning found the streets littered with empty shells and other evidences of the
previous night’s fun and frolic. The people of Evergreen, young and old, will
long remember Monday night’s demonstration. Everybody laughed and everybody was
happy and the happy look and hearty laugh will not wear off.”
In 1918, what we now call “World War I” was called the “Great
War,” and it was believed to be the “war to end all wars.” This terrible war
claimed the lives of an estimated nine million soldiers, and 21 million more
were wounded. Civilian casualties caused by the war are estimated to be close
to 10 million.
As best that I can tell from available records, at least 28 Conecuh
County soldiers were killed during World War I. Those soldiers include Pvt.
Benjamin F. Arant of Belleville, Pvt. Mack Autry of Brooklyn, Pvt. James Atkins
of Flat Rock, Pvt. Newton U. Blackman of Evergreen, Pvt. Jodie Booker, Pvt.
James W. Brown of Owassa, Pvt. Robert A. Christopher of Flat Rock, Pvt. Jim
Crosby of Evergreen, Pvt. Fletcher Darby of Castleberry, Pvt. Dentley Daw of
Evergreen, Pvt. Will Dickson of Repton, Cpl. George Ealum, Pvt. Edward E.
English of Evergreen, Pvt. William H. Harris of Flat Rock, Pvt. Charlie Johnson
of Repton, Pvt. George Jones of Cohassett, Pvt. George Lee of Evergreen, Joshua
Lowe of Repton, Pvt. Wly Marshall of Burnt Corn, Pvt. Almer M. Martin of
Castleberry, Cpl. Archie D. McCrory of Repton, Pvt. Bryant W. Price, Pvt.
Lazarus B. Rabb of Castleberry, Pvt. Emmett N. Richburg of Castleberry, Pvt.
Raymond L. Seale of Repton, Pvt. Carl B. Smith of Belleville, Pvt. Roy I. Smith
of Evergreen and Pvt. Amos Weatherspoon of Evergreen.
In the end, some of these soldiers are buried in Conecuh
County, but others are not, and it’s up to us to remember their sacrifice. I’d
like to hear from anyone in the reading audience with more information about
the World War I casualties listed above. Also, if you know of any other
soldiers from Conecuh County who were killed in World War I not mentioned
above, please let me know and I will add them to the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment