WWI monument plaque at Winchester NH. Photograph courtesy of Christy Menard, Library Director, Conant Library, Winchester NH. Used here with her permission.
Winchester is a quaint, small town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. In 2010 it still only had 1,733 people. Between 1910 and 1920 its population was actually greater than today–with between 2,260 and 2,280 citizens.
The town sent its full complement for military service during World War I as you will see from the extensive list below. This story will mostly focus on those who paid the ultimate sacrifice–dying during war time. I am grateful to Christy Menard, Library Director, Conant Library in Winchester NH for providing the recent photographs of the war memorial that you see here.
The WWI Memorial sits on the lawn between the Winchester City Hall and the Library and contains the names of eighty-one (81) names. The monument include four names with stars (those who died in war time). The inscription reads as follows:
Close up of Winchester NH World War I monument. Photograph by Christy Menard, Library Director, Conant Library. Used here with permission.
ERECTED BY THE
TOWN OF WINCHESTER
TO COMMEMORATE THE PATRIOTIC
SERVICES OF THESE MEN AND WOMEN
IN THE
WORLD WAR
Left side:
ADAMS, GEORGE W.
*BAILEY, HAROLD E.
BAKER, NORMAN H.
BALCH, REGINALD h.
BASCH, AARON M.
BLISS, HERVEY F.
BOLTON, FRED I.
BROUGH, LLOYD C.
BROWN, PERCEY H.
BUFFUM, RICHARD H.
BUFFUM, WARREN H.
BUSHEY, WILLIAM
BUSHEY WILLIAM P.
BYRNE, JAMES R.
CHAPMAN, EARLE N.
CONNORS, MICHAEL J.
COTA, CLIFTON E.
CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM N.
CURTIS, LEON N.
DEOME, ARTHUR C.
DONAGHY, WILLIARD R.
DONOVAN, J. RAY
DOOLITTLE, FORREST E.
DUBRISKE, JOSEPH F.
FAIRBANKS, CLARENCE P.
FAIRBANKS, EDWARD S.
Middle section:
FISHER, ARTHUR L.
FOSDICK, CLARENCE R.
FOSTER, EARL C.
FRANCIS, BENJAMIN M.
FRANCIS, JOSEPH A.
*GLOVER, LYNWOOD C.
GRAY, CHARLES W.
HUNT, HARRY S.
HUTCHINS, EDWARD W.
JACKSON, ANDREW A.
JOHNSON, RAYMOND H.
JOHNSON, WILLIAM E.
KARACHASIS, EFSTRATIOS
KELLOM, FRANKLIN P. JR.
KELLOM, GEORGE C.
KELLOM, JAMES S.
KOSSAKOSKI, STEVE
LAWSON, ALBERT R.
LAWSON, VICTOR D.
LINDSAY, JOHN W.
LORETTE, FELIX H.
MANNING, WINFRED
MCCLOSKEY, JOSEPH
METCALF, CHARLES R.
MINATT, FRANK P.
*MINATT, JOHN E.
NARAMORE, GLENN C.
NORTHROP, CLARENCE R.
Right Section:
O’CONNOR, FRANCIS B.
PARTRIDGE, HARRY T.
PAYESKI, EDMOND E.
PAYESKI, EDWARD
PELKY, GUY M.
PHILLIPS, STERRY A.
POLASKIE, STEPHEN
QUALTERS, MARTIN W.
QUIGLEY, BERNARD B.
QUIGLEY, HARRY C.
*RIVERS, JOSEPH M.
SCOTT, DEAN R.
SCOTT, LESTER C.
SHEPHERD, CHARLES F.
STETSON, AUVERNE L.
STONE, CHESTER F.
STONE, ROY E.
TACY, JOSEPH R.
THOMAS, HAROLD F.
THOMPSON, ALEXANDER P.
TOWLE, MARY
TOWER, ROY A.
WHEELER, HENRY J.
WILLARD HENRY E.
WOODS, EDWARD p.
YOUNG, ALWIN E.
YOUNG, WINFRED A.
*Died In Service
Old postcard of WWI memorial in Winchester NH. Property of J.W. Brown
✫★✫★✫★✫★✪🌟✪✫★✫★✫★✫★
Heroes of Winchester NH
Those Who Died During WWI
✫★✫★✫★✫★✪🌟✪✫★✫★✫★✫★
– L E G E N D –
[A] NH Adjutant General List of Casualties WWI
[B] American Battle Monuments Commission
[C] New Hampshire Honor Roll, Doric Hall, State House, Concord NH
[D] Death or Burial Record
[E] Some info from Find-A-Grave Listing
[F] WWI Registration Form, June 1917
*Photograph or Likeness provided
[#] Number refers to a footnote to follow with additional information on a particular soldier, sailor, or nurse.
Harold E. Bailey | Private | Killed in Action 9 October 1918 France | 18th Infantry, 1st Division | Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery | Credited to Keene NH | [A][B][C][1]
Lynwood C. Glover | Sergt | Died of Disease (Pyonephrosis) 21 October 1919 Staten Island NY | Motor Transportation Corp. | Evergreen Cemetery, Winchester NH |[C][D][2]
John E. Minatt | Corporal | Killed in Action 6 November 1918 | Co. H, 103rd Infantry Regiment, 26th Div. | Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery |[B][C][3]
Joseph M. Rivers | Private | Died of Wounds July-August 1918 | Co. E 104th Infantry | Evergreen Cemetery, Winchester NH | [C][E][4]
Private Joseph M. Rivers of Winchester NH. Died during WW1.
[1] Harold Edward Bailey born 7 April 1897 in Lancaster MA, son of William E. & Rosamund E. (Dugan) Bailey. At the time of filing out a military registration form in June of 1917 he was living at 84 Church Street in Keene and working as a sawyer. He was single, tall, and slender with blues eyes and brown hair. In 1900 he was living in Lancaster MA and in 1910 in Medford MA with his family. Siblings included Gertrude, William, Robert and John. In 1919 his parents were living in Keene NH, his father working as a night watchman. The Houston Post newspaper of 13 Dec 1918 calls him corporal, but his burial marker shows “Private” as his rank. Killed in action and buried in France. On NH Honor Roll in Doric Hall of NH State House. Attributed to Keene NH.
[2] Lynwood C. Glover was born 15 May 1896 in Winchester, Cheshire Co. NH, son of Edwin C. & Susie J. (Cross) Glover, and grandson of George Hamblet & Josephine B. (Kemp) Cross. On 6 June 1918 he arrived from Cristobal CZ (Canal Zone, i.e. Panama) aboard the ship U.S.S. Colon arriving in NYC. He died 21 October 1919 in Staten Island NY, aged 23y 5m 6d. The inscription on his tombstone describes him as Sergt, MotorTrans Corp. The cause of death on his death certificate is Pyonephrosis acute right [pus in the kidney] He was buried at Winchester NH on 24 October 1919 in Evergreen cemetery, Winchester NH.
[3] John Edward Minatt was born 17 August 1892 in Northampton MA, son of Paul Frank and Bronislava “Bernice” “Annie” (Szczygski) Minatt. In June of 1917 he completed his WWI Military Registration from in Winchester NH. He was 25 years old, a tanner at the Winchester Tannery Co., single of medium height and stature, with light blue eyes and brown hair. The 1910 US Census of Winchester NH shows him living with his parents and siblings in Winchester NH (his father having immigrated in 1891, a year before his birth, from Russia. Siblings include [b. MA]: Mary, Frank, [b. NH]: Walter, Helen, Chester and Elgenia. On 25 September 1917 he sailed from NYC to Europe aboard the SS Sayonia. At that time he was a Private in Co. H, 103rd U.S. Infantry. He was killed in action 6 November 1918, and buried in France at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Plot A Row 22 Grave 4.
[4] Joseph M. Rivers was born 18 July 1894 in Winchester NH, son of Dewey J. & Aurilla (Dingham) Rivers. He served during WWI in Company E, 104th Infantry. He died from wounds received at Chateau Thierry France in 1918. The newspaper announced his death on the 26 August 1918 so he would have died in either July or August of 1918. Joseph M. Rivers is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Winchester NH.
[Editor’s Note: this story is part of an on-going series about heroic New Hampshire men and women of World War I. Look here for the entire listing].
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It is so sad each time you write one of these stories about the young men who lost their lives. However, I am happy that their story is being told and shared. I have a friend who started genealogy and found a relative who died in WWI in France. She is traveling there next month with her parents to lay a wreath on his grave. They will be the first family members to visit.
Thank you for reading my blog and for posting your comment. The stories that I write here are for exactly the reason you state, to connect living people with the past, so that these heroes will not be forgotten. Thank you for sharing how your friend will visit France next month.
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