World War I Records
Individual Service Records
Names starting with: A-C | D-F | G-J | K-M | N-R | S-Z
The Individual Service Records for people from Madison and elsewhere were compiled from unofficial and disjoint sources. They are:
The Madison Eagle
“Unofficial” Service Records from the New Jersey State Archives
The information from the Madison Eagle came from draft lists, news articles, and the “Honor Roll”, a list of individuals and their deployment. The draft lists are the most accurate. The others depend on the individual, a friend, or a relative passing information to the newspaper. The format of a service record is:
Name: The name of the individual from the Madison WWI Memorial or the most reliable source. If additional naming information is found, it is included. Full names are most likely from obituaries.
Picture (if available): Most pictures are from the newspaper. Their quality is not good. A picture of the individual taken during the 1917-18 period is shown if available. Many pictures are of the individual later in life.
Born: Birthplace as best as can be determined.
Lived: The place where the individual lived at the time they became engaged in national war service.
Profession: The profession or employer of the individual at the time they became engaged in national war service.
Service:
Date: The approximate date of a period of service
Branch/Unit: The branch of the military and regiment, etc. if military service. Non-military service, such as the Red Cross or the YMCA, are also designated here.
Location: Where this period of service took place.
Rank/Notes: Military rank or civilian function. Notes may designate battles, wounds, etc. After the service table, anything that is known about the individual’s life is described. Usually this information comes from an obituary.
Died: The date of death if known. Additional information such as newspaper articles or letters home may be attached as “clippings” from the Madison Eagle.
None of the information used to compile this list comes from “primary” sources, except possibly the letters written home by the individuals. If anyone has documentation that would allow us to correct or add to our records, please contact the Madison Historical Society. Pictures are especially desirable
Church Members
Madison’s churches each maintained a flag on which stars were applied, one star for each individual serving in the military. The star was blue, but for an individual who had died in service, the star was gold.
Enlist or Be Drafted
When the United States entered World War I in April of 1917, the United States Army consisted of 121,000 men, while the total of all the state National Guard organizations was 181,000. Since the estimate of the number of men needed to win the war was between 2 and 4 million, a large army had to be raised quickly.
On May 18, 1917, the Selective Service Act of 1917 passed. Initially, all males aged 21 to 30 were required to register. After August 1918, Congress voted to expand the age range to include all men 18 to 45. By the end of World War I, some two million men volunteered for various branches of the armed services, and some 2.8 million had been drafted.
Draftees left for the service in groups. The newspaper published their names and departure date. Their friends and relatives often gave a party for them the night before they left. They took the train from Morristown through Madison where these same friends and relatives would cheer them as they passed through the station.
Volunteers left for the service individually, and their departure was usually acknowledged after they had gone. Some of them felt slighted as this poem describes.
View Enlist or Be Drafted Articles
Families with Multiple Members Serving
Many families had more than one family member in the service or a service related job. This section recognizes the sacrifices made by these families.
"Four-Minute" Men
Woodrow Wilson was re-elected President in November, 1916. One of the major slogans of his campaign was “He Kept Us Out of the War”. Now, in April, 1917, Wilson appeared before Congress asking for a Declaration of War against Germany. He realized a major propaganda effort was required to get public opinion fully behind the war.
In 1917 Wilson created the Committee on Public Information which consisted of the Secretaries of State, the Army, and the Navy. The committee was essentially a massive generator of propaganda. They were responsible for producing films, commissioning posters, publishing numerous books and pamphlets, and purchasing advertisements in major newspapers. The message that America's involvement in the war was necessary to save Europe from the German and enemy forces.
In addition, they recruited business men, preachers and professors to serve as public speakers in charge of altering public opinion in their communities. They were called “Four- Minute Men”, supposedly because they gave four-minute speeches in the period when the reels of a silent movie were changed. They also spoke at churches, lodges, fraternal organizations, and labor unions.
"Hello" Girls
General Pershing, commander of American forces, realized that communications in France were not adequate. Along with telephone equipment (the high-tech communications gear of the period), he requested bi-lingual operators. Over 2,000 women applied, about 500 were selected, and about 250 were sent to France. They were called the “Hello Girls.” It is said that Marshall Foch, commander of Allied Forces would be driven to a place where he could place a call through an American operator because they were more efficient and nicer than the male French army operators.
Home Defense League
After the Spanish-American War, the federal government realized that by nationalizing the National Guard of a state, that state was left without a local force to keep order. In an era of strikes and anarchism, this was a serious shortcoming. The Dick Act of 1903 reorganized the state militia (National Guard) into a formal military organization along Army lines and authorized a reserve militia that was less rigorously defined.
In the late spring of 1917, Madison formed its own organization, known colloquially as the Home Guard, to train men for defense work.
In July, 1917, the federal government nationalized the National Guard leaving the states with no authorized militia. In Madison, the Home Guard was tapped to take their place.
View Home Defense League Articles
Letters Home
Letters to the soldiers from family and friends and from the soldiers were vital to all parties. Some of these letters were published in the Madison Eagle. Many are poignant since their authors did not survive the war. They seem general at times because the soldiers knew that any information that was too specific would not get past the military censors. The following letters printed in the Madison Eagle show a cross-section of the experiences of the people who served.
Newspaper Articles
Newspaper reports in the Madison Eagle were a common way to provide information about the men who were being drafted, the status of soldiers and others involved, and sometimes news of a tragic death. These articles present a cross-section of the news during the war years.
Non-Madison Residents Who Served
On the Home Front Articles
Peach Pits
The Federal Government appealed to the civilian for people, money, and other items. One of the more unusual appeals was for peach pits. Peach pits, it seemed, made the best charcoal for gas mask filters. Madison became an abundant supplier due to the peach orchards in the town. Even the Influenza epidemic didn’t stop the flow of pits donated, but their collection slowed.
Liberty Loans
The Federal Government needed to raise a large amount of money to finance the war effort. Quotas were assigned to towns and cities. Madison regularly exceeded their quota. Buying Liberty Loan Bonds was made easier by Thrift Stamps. They could be purchased for as little as twenty-five cents each, pasted in a book, and when the book was full exchanged for a Liberty Loan Bond. Thrift Stamps could be purchased from a vending machine.
The Government Requests ...
The country wasn’t prepared for WWI. Deficits in men and supplies could be made up. Intelligence about Germany was another matter, so the government appealed to the people.
Community Support
Familiar organizations raised money and volunteers to support the troops in Europe. The logos across the bottom represent: YMCA, National Catholic War Council, Jewish Welfare Board, United War Work Campaign, Salvation Army, American Library Association, War Camp Community Service, YWCA.
Influenza
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 began in March, 1918 in Kansas. The disease spread worldwide, becoming virulent, killing more than 50 million people. Armies and civilian populations were impacted alike. Madison was not impacted until October, 1918. All the deaths due to influenza occurred during that month.