New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Conway

Postcard, Main Street Conway NH, October 8,
1921. Plymouth State University, Museum of the
White Mountains.

Conway in Carroll County New Hampshire has several monuments to those who both served and died during World War I.  The town itself is composed of eight villages that are part of Conway—Center Conway, North Conway, East Conway, Intervale, Kearsarge, Quint, Redstone, and South Conway.  It is bordered on the east by the State of Maine, and the residents often traveled over the border living at various times in both states.

Before I go into detail on the young men from Conway and vicinity who lost their lives during the World War, I will note the engraved names on some of the memorial plaques.  It is important to remember the actual people WHO both served, and especially those who sacrificed their lives.  I would like to thank Bob Cottrell for his assistance in researching this story.

John Wesley Hallett
(1894-1918) in uniform.
Photograph courtesy of the
Hallett family, used with permission of William Hallett
, his 2nd great-nephew.

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–CONWAY, NH–
WWI Memorial Location: next to the Conway Public Library at 15 Greenwood Avenue, Conway NH.  The two asterisks [*] before names indicate that they died while in service during World War I.  The biographies of these two men are included below.
CONWAY HONOR ROLL
A TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE
1917 – WORD WAR – 1919
Beaulieu Fred D
Bobbins McCarthy
Cloutman Harold J
Connelly Walter P
Cook Alexander
Darling Edgar H
Davis Chester A
Demerit Harold C
Duffy Teresa Blanche [see story below]
Gilmartin Augustine F
Goulding Lorin D Jr.
Hale Jesse L
Hale Truman E
*Hallett John [see story below]
Hounsell William B
Jackson Harvey L
//
Julien Romeo O
Keep John M
Knox Edwin E
Knox Frank E
Knox George H
Lovejoy T Russell
Lowd Leavitt L
Mochuk Alexander
Mochuk Nestor
Morrill Raymond G
Morrow James F
Morton Israle R
*Moulton Charles E [see story below]
Newton Frasier L
Nieuchik Kushman
Paradis Charles J
Perkins Harold G (may be same as below)
Perkins, Harry Rankins [see story below]
//
Purdy Frank A
Richardson Harry O
Roby Adolphus B
Smith Edwin J
Smith William H
Taylor George A
Thompson Philip C
Thurston Harris M
Towle Clayton W
Towle Joseph H
Twombly Carl H
Wentworth Edgar A
Whitaker Henry N
Wiggin Chester M
Witham B Leslie
Withers Thomas C

Schouler Park WWI Memorial monument in
Conway NH. Photograph property of Bob
Cottrell. Used here with his permission.

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-NORTH CONWAY, NH-
WWI Memorial Location: Schouler Park (northern part) – Norcross Circle, Main Street. No deaths seem to be noted on this memorial.
A MEMORIAL
TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE
WORLD WAR
FROM
NORTH CONWAY, NEW HAMPSHIRE
1917 1919
Dora M. Anderson A-N-C
John L. Barnes
James L. Blue
Norman W. Brackett
Harold O. Cady
Bernard M. Carter
Hiram B. Gates
True P. Cheney
Walter E. Crandon
Charles L. Currier
Robert H. Davis
James E. Davis
Richard H. Davis
Joseph Dondero
Phililp F. Doherty
Frank S. Ekstrom
Lauren L. Felch
Ralph O. Gay
Charles R. Greeley
John L. Gordon
John Grover
Earl A. Harriman
Sherman Harriman
//
Philip C. Hastings
Rufus Hill
Ralph A. Horne
Carroll R. Hutchins
Frank M. James
George P. James
George L. Kenison
Dr. E.C. Lancaster Y-M-C-A
R.G. Maclennon Y-M-C-A
Harold H. Mudgett
Ray W. Pert
Paul E. Pray
Edna L. Ricker A-N-C [see story below]
Charles W. Roberts O-I-M
Hiram Rosenbloom
Samuel D. Snow M-D
Edwin A. Smith
Ernest H. Swift
Ralph H. Thompson
Elmer R. Thompson
Carl H. Tripp
Harold J. Tripp
Charles H. Willey
-Samuel F. Cheney-

East Conway NH WWI memorial
plaque. Photograph by Bob
Cottrell, used here with permission.

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-EAST CONWAY-
An article by Tom Eastman in the the Conway Daily Sun states that at there are “12 names on the East Conway Veterans Memorial near Sherman Farm. That memorial is “Dedicated to the Boys of East Conway N.H. who served their country in the World War.”  At the top of the list is the name of Private Ralph W. Shirley who I wrote about in a previous story.  ALL of the names inscribed there are as follows [not found in the original newspaper article]: *Ralph W. Shirley, Harold A. Andrews, Clarence A. Heath, Clayton N. Heath, Clifton H. Hill, Ralph W. Hill, Roy W. Hill, Percival H. Kenerson, Clifton E. Roberts, George H. Roberts, Leon A. Shirley, Victor A. Woodbery.

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-CENTER AND SOUTH CONWAY-
Located: Junction of of Mill Street and Route 302
In a 2016 article by Tom Eastman in the Conway Daily Sun, states that it is  “Dedicated to “Those who served in WW I 1914-1919. Carries names of 23 who served.” Those names include Beaulieu, Fred D. | Burnell, Earl F. | Cole, Ivory H. | Crown, Parker | Fursdon, Henry P. | Garland Percy, Corp. | Garland, John M. | Leadbeater, John | Littlefield, Harold Sergt. | Marsteron, Fred R. Sergt. | Marson, Cliff Sergt. | Masterson, Thomas S. B.M. | McDonald, John | Peare, Ernest A. | Perkins, Benjamin | Philbrock, H. Irving, Sergt. | Potter, Harold E. | Robertson Harold G., 2nd Lieut. | Sawyer, Arthur R. | Schellenburg, Henry J. Sergt. | Thots, Harry E. | Towle, George W. Corp. | Weeks, F. Clinton.

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-REDSTONE-
A Sundial monument to veterans [per same article by Tom Eastman as noted above].
Location: Redstone Park, juncture of Route 302 and the entrance to Redstone Village
The monument reads: “1917-1919 Veterans of the World War.” Around the sundial are the following names: William J. Mullevy, John E. Chapman, Charles S. McLellan, John A. Lindberlo, George J. Rancourt, Albert J. Rancourt, John W. Quickley, Eben H. Bottiggi and Raymond Young*. It also contains 18 World War II servicemen.

Photograph of Ralph W. Shirley
from the Massachusetts State
Library Archives.

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
HEROES OF CONWAY, NH
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

-LEGEND-
The following legend is used to show the source of the name provided on this list. The military man is listed on:
[A] WWI Roll of Honor, Doric Hall, State House, Concord NH
[B] Adjutant General’s List of Killed in Action from New Hampshire
[C] Roster of Maine in the military service of the United States and allies in the World War, 1917-1919. Published under the direction of James W. Hanson, the adjutant general. By authority of the State Legislature, 1929. [Hathi Trust]
[D] Other Official Military Source
* Photograph or likeness provided or available.
[#] Numbers refer to a footnote following the list with additional information on a particular soldier/seaman/nurse.

John Hallett* | Private | Died of Disease, 19 October 1918, Edgewood MD | Co. L 34d Battalion Chemical Warfare Service | Conway Village Cemetery, Conway NH | Credited to Maine | [C][D] [1]
Charles E. Moulton | Seaman-Coal Heaver | Died of Disease, 20 April 1918, Marine Hospital Stapleton NY | US Coast Guard NY Division-US Navy | Buried Conway Village Cemetery, Conway NH  | Credited to New York Coast Guard [2]
Harry Rankins Perkins* | Private | Died of Disease, 18 Sep 1918 | 3 Arty Repl Bn Co G > from 18th Battery, FA July Automatic Replacement Draft, Camp Jackson SC | Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, France [5] Info Added April 2023
Ralph W. Shirley* | Private | Killed in Action 13 July 1918 France | Co F, 101st Engineers | Pine Grove Cemetery, Fryeburg Maine | [A][B] [3] [See his story and photograph here].
Julius Franklin Seelye* | Corporal | Died of Disease (pneumonia) 26 May 1918 Camp Stuart, Newport News VA | Co. C, 48th Infantry | Wildwood Cemetery, Franklin MA | [A][D][4]

A pre-WWI photograph of John Wesley Hallett,  provided by the Hallett family. Used here
with permission of 2nd great-nephew William Hallett. See another photograph of him (in uniform) at the top of this story.

[1] John Wesley Hallett, b 16 April 1894 in Albany NH, son of Obed E. & Melvina (Harriman) Hallett. According to his 2nd great-nephew William Hallett, John had three sisters (August, Mildred and Louise) who did not survive infancy, and three brothers: James Harrison “Harry,” Crosby C., and Peter O.  John W. Hallett enlisted in the military from Oxford County, Maine.  At that time his WWI Registration form shows: he was living at Kezar Falls, Maine, working as a “millman” [i.e. working in a mill. Kezar Falls had a large woolen mill back then.]  He was single, of medium height and stature with blue eyes, and dark brown hair.  He was assigned to a chemical warfare facility in Edgewood Maryland, where he died of disease on 19 Oct 1918 Edgewood MD, Co. L. He was a member of the 3rd Battalion CWS (Chemical Warfare Service). He is buried in Conway Village Cemetery, Conway, New Hampshire. His family has kindly provided two photographs of him, and allowed us to use them here and for historical education. The book, “Roster of Maine in the military service of the United States,”  at Hathi Trust shows: HALLETT, JOHN W.  3145007 | Born in Albany, N.H., April 16, 1894 | Residence Kezar Falls | Ind: S. Paris, Oxford Co., June 25/18 [Inducted] | Private. | Org: 43 Co 11 Tng Bn 151 Dep Brig to July 26/18. Co L 3 Bn Edgewood Arsenal Md to death. | Overseas Service: none | Died of Disease: Oct. 19, 1918.
[2] Charles Edward Moulton was born 13 April 1896 in Albany, New Hampshire son of Luman I. & Carrie E. (Davis/Davice) Moulton.  In 1900 he was living in Lincoln, Penobscot Co. Maine with his family that included his parents and sister Ethel M (who later married in Conway NH to William O. Coolidge).  Charles’ WWI Registration form was completed in Conway New Hampshire where he was working as a cook for the Baltimore Lynch Company at 360 Main Street.  He was 21 years of age, of medium height and stature with brown eyes and brown hair. An unsourced notice from a FaceBook entry shows: “April 20, 1918 USCG, New York Division, MOULTON, CHARLES EDWARD, Coal Heaver, USCG, respiratory disease, died at Marine Hospital, Stapleton, N Y.”  A somewhat contrary New York City death record shows: Died 20 April 1918 New York City, Richmond NY, on the water, Seaman, buried 21 April 1918 Conway NH.   [Editor’s note: the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917. At that time President Woodrow Wilson issued an Executive Order placing the Coast Guard under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department for the duration of hostilities].  Coast Guard ships were still coal-powered and steam driven.  Being a Coal Heaver was dangerous and dirty business, and very possibly contributed to his death. Charles Edward Moulton is buried in Conway Village Cemetery, Conway NH
[3] Ralph Wellington Shirley was born on 28 May 1896 in Conway, Carroll County NH, son of Shirley, Arthur R. & Bessie (Moody) Shirley and grandson of  Joshua & Mary E. (Woodward) Shirley.  Both he and his brother Leon A. Shirley were members of Company F 101st Engineers.  [His story and photograph can be found here in a separate article].
[4]  Julius Franklin Seelye* was born 8 June 1899, in Wooster, Ohio, son of Rev. William James & Alice (Clarke) Seelye. His connection to New Hampshire is through his father who was pastor of the Congregational church at North Conway, N.H., from 1913 to 1917, and later preached at Chatham, N.J., during the absence of the pastor in the World war. In fact, it is his father’s name, William J. Seelye, that erroneously was engraved on the New Hampshire WWI Honor Roll in the NH State House, Concord.  It should have been: “Julius F. Seelye” instead.  Julius F. Seelye attended Phillips Academy in Andover MA that published a book following WWI that includes the following biography: “JULIUS FRANKLIN SEELYE was born June 8, 1899, in Wooster, Ohio. After a year at Phillips Academy in the class of 1918, he transferred to Monson Academy, where he graduated in 1917. On Jun 18 of the same year he enlisted and was sent to Camp Syracuse with Company C of the 48th Infantry. On August 26 he was promoted to the grade of private, first class. In September he was ordered to Camp Hill, Newport News, Virginia, where he was made a Corporal. In January he was sent to Pig Point to guard ordnance, and the unusually strenuous work gradually brought his to the stage of exhaustion. After an illness of ten weeks, he was brought to the hospital at Camp Stuart, where, on May 26, 1918, he died of pneumonia. The funeral services were held on the afternoon of Memorial Day in the Amherst College Chapel, and were conducted entirely by members of his family. His letters, as well as the words of the surgeon and nurses, testify to Seelye’s patience in combtaing illness. His superior officers also have written to praise his strength of character and fortitude under suffering.” Corporal Julius F. Seelye is buried with his family in Wildwood Cemetery, Franklin MA.
[5] Harry Rankins Perkins was born (according to his WWI Draft Registration form on 31 December 1890 in Maine (So. Parsonfield area), the son and only child of George E. & Abbie Jane (Robinson) Perkins.  He grew up in South Parsonfield, Maine, and he married 30 July 1913 in So. Parsonsfield, York Maine to Katherine M. “Kate” Andrews, daughter of Joseph & Agnes (Marcoux) Andrews.  She was born abt 1892 in Lebanon Maine, and is identified as Native American in 1910 US census.  On 16 June 1917, Harry R. Perkins was living in Conway New Hampshire, employed as a “millman” in the nearby town of Albany when he registered for the WWI Draft. The form shows he was married,  and was of medium height and build with gray eyes and dark brown hair.  The US Army Transport List shows that Private Harry R. Perkins departed on 21 July 1918 from NY City to Europe aboard the ship Minnekahda with an Army Unit.  Additional information shows he was from the 18th Battery, FA July Automatic Replacement Draft, Camp Jackson SC.  The next that is known in several reports is of the death of Private Perkins from disease (referred to as pneumonia in news statements) on 18 September 1918.  He was buried in France at Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial Info Added April 2023

Photograph of the nursing staff of Base Hospital No. 44. Teresa B. Duffy would be in this group. From “American Homeopathy in the Great War,” by Frederick Meyers Dearborn, page 109.

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HEROES WHO SURVIVED
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Those who returned home alive were also heroes.  The villages of Conway NH sent several nurses to the war effort in addition to soldiers and sailors. Teresa Blanche Duffy and Edna Louise Ricker should not be forgotten.

Teresa Blanche Duffy survived World War I.  She was brought to my attention by Bob Cottrell, the curator of the Henney History Room at the Conway Public Library and blogger at Mount Washington Valley.  Being the only woman honored on any of the Conway NH area plaques, I felt it important to include her in this story.

Scene of Main Street in Pougues, France near Base Hospital No. 44 in 1918. From “American Homeopathy in the Great War.”

Teresa Blanche Duffy was born 2 Aug 1887 in Bangor, Maine daughter of Joseph F. & Annie (Jellison) Duffy.  Her mother died in 1894 when she was 7 years old. By 1920 (when Teresa married) her father had remarried and moved to Conway, New Hampshire.  Teresa married 30 Jun 1920 in North Conway, NH to Phillp St. Clair, son of Joseph & Amanda (Rancourt) St. Clair. After their marriage they moved to Worcester, Massachusetts.  Teresa lived to be 71 years of age, dying on 26 March 1958 in Hartford, Windsor Co. Vermont. Teresa is listed among WWI Reserve Nurses, Army Nurse Corps in an American Nurses’ Association publication of 1918. Official records of the time show that she was among the nursing staff at Base Hospital No. 44. The history of this hospital, statistics, and the photograph you see above of the nurses, is detailed in the book “American Homeopathy in the World War.”  According to this source, Theresa would have left America on July 6 July 1918, and arrived in Liverpool England 11 days later. Then it was on to where the hospital was established (arriving there 4 August 1918].  She would have remained working in Europe even after the Armistice was announced, returning home finally a year later on 20 April 1919.  Teresa is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Claremont, New Hampshire where she has a military-issued burial plate. Let us hope that she is remembered and honored along with others from WWI and other wars.

Photograph of Edna L. Ricker from her passport application of 1915.

Edna Louise Ricker was born 17 January 1878 in Conway NH, daughter of Levi Julian & Anna Eliza (Thompson) Ricker. Edna’s siblings included Mary E. (who m. George W. Kinney), Anna Charlotte, and Russell Richard. Her parents ran several hotels in the town of North Conway NH including Kearsarge Hall, The Cliff House, and the North Conway House. Edna L. Ricker never married. She died in 1961 and is buried North Conway Cemetery.

Closeup of Edna Ricker’s name on WWI memorial. From a photograph taken by Bob Cottrell. Used here with permission.

She was a nurse who served in Europe during WWI in both the Harvard Unit (1914 before the U.S. entered the war) and again in 1918 with Base Hospital No 6 (from Massachusetts General Hospital). [SEE story of the six New Hampshire Nurses of Base Hospital No. 6].

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Captain Nathaniel R. Mason,
M.D. He was a surgeon who served in  Base Hospital No. 51 near Tours, France
during WWI. Photograph courtesy of his granddaughter
Ellen McGrath. Used here with permission.

Captain Nathaniel R. Mason, M.D. was not mentioned on any of the memorial plaques, though he should have been.  He was born 26 April 1876 in North Conway NH son of Mahlon Lee & Ellen M. (McRoberts/Roberts) Mason.

His father was a hotel keeper in North Conway, as was his grandfather and namesake, Nathaniel R. Mason.   He grew up in North Conway, and even after he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, he continued to return home to spend part of his summers.  Because of his interesting life and dedicated service, I have written an entire story about him here.

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Private Horatio Machut
Since this story was written, another soldier who died in service has come to light attributed to Conway New Hampshire.  The Conway Town Monument mentions the names of  Alexander and Nestor Mochuk.  It is probably their sibling with a slightly different spelling of the surname–Horatio Machut, who I now focus on.  He was, according to his death certificate, born about 1885 in Malinki, Russia.  When he and 3 other Conway men registered for the WWI Draft, they were all from the same region and spelled their surname “Machut.”  There are two primary documents, a death certificate issued by the State of Massachusetts and a Disinterment Form for burial in New Hampshire. Both documents agree that he died on 19 September 1918 at the Base Hospital, Camp Devens, Harvard (sometimes listed as Ayer) MA. The cause was lobar pneumonia, and though the document does not say, it was probably the result of influenza.  He was a Private in the U.S. Army, 151st Depot Brigade.  He is Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Ayer MA in Section SL, Row 2, Site 7 (in a section of the cemetery that was specifically set aside for deaths in Camp Devens.)

✫★★✫★✪🌟✪✫★✫★
HEROES OF
KEARSARGE & INTERVALE
✫★★✫★✪🌟✪✫★✫★

Kearsarge and Intervale are unincorporated villages in Conway, New Hampshire.  Some additional military enlistments occurred from these areas that were not included in the Town of Conway records mentioned above.

The newspaper, White Mountain Echo, of  July 23, 1921 page 12 printed the following story:  —KEARSARGE– That Kearsarge did its part in the World War and that its volunteers who offered themselves so freely are appreciated by the citizens of the village is shown by a beautiful monument which has recently been erected to their memory. A tablet bearing the names of the enlisted men, set in a large boulder taken from a nearby field reads: “In appreciation of the men of Kearsarge, N.H., who served in the World War.” Then follows the names: *Clarence W. Faulkner, Ralph H. Anderson, Ralph L. Barnes, Raymond Bunker, Clifton C. Chase, Michael Duffy, Claude P. Eastman, Edward L. Eastman Jr., Lawrence Peters. Erected in 1921.” The star indicates that Clarence W. Faulkner made the supreme sacrifice. The names engraved on the granite will remain for all time, as a constant reminder of those who answered the call when the world needed them most.

Clarence William Faulkner was born 1 May 1890 in Warren, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, son of William J. & Hannah (McCotter) Faulkner. In 1900 and 1910 he was living with his parents in Warren Rhode Island, and so that is where he grew up and attended school. He had a sibling, Frederick E. Faulkner, who d. in 1887.  In 1917 Clarence W. Faulkner was single, living in Kearsarge, New Hampshire, working as a self-employed carpenter.  He noted on his WWI Registration form of 5 June 1917 that previously he had served in the Rhode Island Infantry (National Guard) for 3 years.  His description was slender, all with brow hair and grey eyes.  A  month later on 13 Aug 1917 Clarence married, in Intervale NH,  to Lucinda Maud Gardner, daughter of Stephen & Jessie (Twombly) Gardner.  [Lucinda died 20 May 1949 in North Conway NH].   During WWI Clarence Faulkner apparently was sent to Camp Upton, on Long Island New York for training.  There he died during the first week of October in 1918.  His remains were returned to Kearsarge and he was buried at Intervale Cemetery, Intervale 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].

[Editor’s Note: Update on 10/11/2018: Please read, “100 Years Later: Historians recall local WWI Ties,” by Tom Eastman in The Conway Daily Sun.