New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Andover

Andover New Hampshire’s town green, photo showing location of war monument.

The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917.  On the 5th of June following that announcement the first of three registrations took place, and many of those registrants entered military service.  These documents included personal details and their signature.  Besides those serving in various branches of the military, no doubt the entire town became involved in supporting “the boys over there.”  There would have been great activity in Red Cross work, YMCA organizations and the local fraternal societies.  The town of Andover NH would not have been immune to the terrible influenza pandemic that raged through New Hampshire.

Some of the men who served in the military from Andover New Hampshire, specifically overseas in Europe, included [partial list]:

– Hamilton Dalby, Private, Supply Co. 303 Field Artillery, mother Nettie E. Gallines.
– Fred W. Draper, Private, Battery D, 103rd Field Artillery; father Alonzo Draper.
– Rodney E. Durrell, Private, Co. M, 103rd Infantry
– Leon F. Keniston, Messman, ship USA CT Bavaria, wife Gladys Keniston.
– William J. Lorden, Fireman’s Mess. (ship’s crew), ship Monticello, parents W. & Fannie Lorden.
– Verne E. Roberts, Private, 369th Aviation Squadron, uncle C.A. Roberts.
– Ernest L. Russell, Private, Prov. Co. No 1, Quartermaster Corps, Mechanical Repair Shop Unit 303, brother A. Russell.
– Vergne R. Snow, Sergeant, Supply Co. No. 313, Quartermaster Corps, National Army, father H.W. Snow.

Andover New Hampshire’s War Monument honors citizens who served from the American Revolution through Vietnam. Courtesy of Luan Clark, Andover Historical Society.

When the war ended on 11 November 1918, the town of Andover NH went about creating a lasting memorial to all those from the town who served, including nurses and the merchant marine.   Luan Clark, Curator of the Andover (NH) Historical Society, was most generous in sending me photographs of that War Monument that lists the names of all of Andover’s soldiers, from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam.

It is the World War I soldiers who I focus on here. The transcription of the engraved plaque  for that section of the monument follows.

THE WORLD WAR
/Left Side/
Andrews Harold S. Sergt.
Bassett Mitchell Corp.
Bettison Lewellyn
Blood Ralph Corp.
Bowker Warren B.
Brown, Adelbert D.
Burley Daniel S
Carr John P. 2nd Lt.
Clay Ansel R.
Cormier Emile J. Corp.
*Crosby Leon H.
Crosby Raymond E.
Currier Glenn W.
Dolby Hamilton M.
Draper, Fred W.
Durgin Dr. Edward C. Capt.
Durrell Rodney E.
Emerson Kenneth W.J.
Emerson Paul A. Sergt.
Emergy Miss Marion B. nurse
Emergy Mayford E.
Evans William D.
Facan Henry
Ferron Bert
Feindel Howard L
Graves John A.
Hardin George C. Corp.
Haynes Perley E.
Haynes Raymond L.
Heath Shirley C.
Heman Charles A.
Holt George H.
Ives Henry C. Corp.

Closeup of World War I roll of honor for the town of Andover NH. Photo courtesy Luan Clark, Andover Historical Society.

/ Right Side/
Keniston John W.
Lamye Herbert G.
Lorden John E.
McKeage Edward R.
Miller Ellsworth E.
Miller Frank D.
Miller William J.
Morey Otis H.
Morey Roger M.
Odlin Joseph Maj.
Ocanskas Stanislaus C.
Phillips Willard A. Corp.
Pinard John W.
Pole Tony
Putney Cirney A.
Rayno Albert
Rayno Joseph P.
Rayno, Louis A.
Rayno, Wilfred A.
Ridlon Fred P.
Sacer Andrew A. Sergt.
Seabury Harold W.
Small Harold E.
Smith Arthur D.
Stone Charles S. Lt.
Supernor Daniel W.
*Supernor Frank A. Corp.
Swett Earl F. Capt.
Swett Harold F.
Thomas Leland E.
Ward David J.
Woodward Bert A.
Yeaton Harry P. 2nd Lt.

MERCHANT MARINE
Keniston Ernest J.
Keniston Leon F.
Lorden William J.
Morrill Henry W.
*Stone Fred W.
Wells Richard P.

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Heroes of ANDOVER NH
Died In Service During WWI
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At least three men from Andover, New Hampshire made the ultimate sacrifice, and did not return: Leon H. Crosby, Frank A. Supenor, and Fred W. Stone.  Their biographies follow.

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Leon Herbert Crosby was born 25 July 1887 in Andover NH, son of Ora H. & Eunice (Chandler) Crosby.   He had brother Raymond Everett (1892-1966, m. Ruth Boutwell) and a sister Azubah R. (who d. 1916) .  Leon H. Crosby completed his WWI Registration form on 5 June 1917 where he was living in Andover NH, farming for Daniel Paul of Unity NH. He was single, of medium height, of stout build with blue eyes and auburn hair.  He apparently was illiterate, for he signed this document with an X, witnessed by a town official.  The next we learn of Leon H. Crosby is at his death at Camp Devens, in Harvard MA of pneumonia.  He was one of 7 soldiers who died that day. His official records show that he was a Private in Co. C, 212th Field Infantry.  His body was returned home, where he was buried in Proctor Cemetery, Andover, New Hampshire.  Leon W. Crosby’s name is also inscribed on the New Hampshire Honor Roll in Doric Hall of the State House building.

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Frank A. Supernor was born 14 July 1893 at Tilton, New Hampshire
son of John Baptist & Mary Esther (Davis) Supernor.He had has least two siblings: Marie Elizabeth (who married — Box), and Dorothy Belle (who married — Mulloy).  Frank A. Supernor married 27 December 1913 in Franklin NH to Mary Leware, daughter of Francis & Hattie (Chambers) Leware. They were both 19 years old. In 1915 they were living at 41 S. Main Street in Hartford VT. Children: Arthur Francis and Gladys Madeline.  Frank A. Supernor completed his WWI Registration

August 16, 1917 the troops of the Fourteenth
Engineers parade in London, England. Photograph from History of the Fourteenth Engineers U.S. Army, 1919.

form at Springfield MA on 5 June 1917. He was 25 years old and living at 40 Sargeant Street in Springfield, working as a fireman for the Boston & Maine Railroad. His registration card notes he is married with two children, and that he was of medium height and stature with gray eyes and brown hair.  A notice in The Boston GLobe of 7 June 1917 lists Frank A. Supernor, 40 Sargent Street, Springfield MA as having joined the Railroad Regiment.  The Gold Star Record of Massachsuetts provides the following information: “Supernor, Frank A. Corporal, died 25 Feb 1919 in France of disease. Enl. 6 June 1917, E.B.C. Co B 4th Reserve Engrs (Co B, 14th Engrs) Corporal 4 July 1918. Overseas 27 July 1917. Born 1892 at Tilton NH son of [John] and Mary [Davis} Supernor of East Andover N.H. 1917.”  [Editor’s Note: I have written before about the 14th Engineers (Light Railway) in the unit where Frank Supernor served, and you can read it here.] The U.S. Military Transport Passenger list shows that when World War I ended, Corporal Supernor’s body was returned to the United States, arriving at Hoboken NJ on 6 August 1923 aboard the ship Wheaton. His service number was 164532.  In 1936 a grave marker was requested for his burial spot in East Andover Cemetery, East Andover NH.  His name appears on the Andover NH monument, but is missing from the NH Honor Roll in the NH State House.

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Fred Weare Stone was born 19 January 1899 in Andover, NH son of George W. & Estella M. “Stella” (Prince) Stone.  In the 1900 US Census he was living in Andover NH with his parents and siblings Florance G. (who d. in 1906 of pneumonia) and Charles Stanley (who m. Ruth J. Flank and d. in 1956). In June of 1917 Fred W. Stone had graduated from the local Proctor Academy, and had entered New Hampshire College (now called University of New Hampshire).  Fred Weare Stone completed his WWI Draft Registration form on 12 September 1918 (young men’s draft). At that time he was living on Main Street in Andover NH, a student at NH State College (now UNH). He described himself as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and dark brown hair.  He enlisted in the Merchant Marine and was one of the crew aboard the ill-fated steamship Castalia that floundered 11 January 1919 at Sable Island NS, Atlantic Ocean. Four

Training of Apprentices for U.S. Merchant Marine. 1919. National Archives.

lives were lost, including that of Fred Weare Stone (his body was not recovered).  The Oregon Daily Journal of 13 January 1919 published this story: “SAILORS RESCUED IN PIERCING COLD. Halifax, N.S., Jan 13–In a high sea with the temperature 7 degrees below zero, 45 members of the crew of the sinking steamship Castalia were rescued Sunday by the Norwegian steamer Bergensfjord and the British steamer War Fijan. The Castalila had drifted in a helpless condition to within 10 miles of the treacherous sands of Sable Island before the Bergensfjord, the first steamer to answer her S.O.S. call, reached here. Battered by the heavy seas, the Castlia, a Great Lakes steamer of 2092 tons from New York for overseas service under the direction of the shipping board, sprang a leak. She is one of the steamers that were built at Lake shipyard, then cut in two, towed through the Welland canal, and put together again in the St. Lawrence river. A wireless from the Norwegian vessel said that two sailors were drowned when some of the men fell out of the first lifeboat leaving the Castalia. During the rescue work oil was poured on the sea to calm the water in the vicinity of the Castalia. This handicapped the rescuers, as it nearly choked them when they got it in their mouths, eyes and nose.”  A cenotaph was placed on his parent’s monument in Proctor Cemetery in Andover, New Hampshire.  Unfortunately Fred W. Stone’s name does not appear on either the NH Honor Roll in the State House, nor on the Marine Monument of the Missing in Hampton, New Hampshire.

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DIED IN SERVICE, Credited Elsewhere
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Robert Copp Pearson
Credited to Malden MA, parents lived in Andover NH by 1920.
The Massachusetts Gold Star Record provides the following information:
PEARSON, Robert Copp, Chief Electrician, Radio, U.S.N.; died 14 October 1918 at Pauillac of disease. Enlisted 24 April 1914 U.S.N.; 6 April 1917 to Naval Torpedo Station, Newport R.I. trans 27 April to “Kimberley;” transferred 3 June to “Marietta.” Born 8 Sep 1891 at Malden [MA] son of Fred Bixby and Charlotte Louise (Copp) Pearson of Andover, N.H., Clerk.”   He is buried in Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden MA

[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].