Last week we looked at the lives of three men from Williamsburg County who served in the 371st Infantry during World War I. Today, we'll take a look at the lives of the other men from this area who spent their military careers in the 371st.
Headstone for John R. Rigens who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Souce: Arlington National Cemetery
A native of Clarendon County, John Richard Rigens was born August 27, 1896. By the time he registered for the draft, he was a self-employed, married farmer living at Cades in Williamsburg County. Rigens was inducted as a Private into Company C of the 371st Infantry at Camp Jackson on October 28, 1917. This is the same company for which Cpl. Sandy Jones served as company clerk, and we can presume that Pvt. Rigens was one of the men Cpl. Jones sought out on the battlefield after the company's officers because war casualties and the surviving members of the company were scattered.
On his return to the United States after his honorable discharge on February 2, 1919, Rigens and his wife Ella settled in Washington, DC, where he was a janitor for the United States Department of the Treasury. He died on August 7, 1951, and is buried in Section 36, Site 856 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Arthur Washington Burgess was a son of Robert and Hester Pressley Burgess. When he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, he listed his occupation as working on his father's farm. However, T.J. Joye, the registrar, noted on the bottom of his draft card that his occupation was not really farming as Burgess had recently returned home from school.
He, too, was inducted as a Private into Company C of the 371st Infantry at Camp Jackson on October 28, 1917, and it's likely that he, too, was one of the men Cpl. Sandy Jones sought out on the battlefield in late September 1918. He was honorably discharged, like Pvt. Rigens, on February 22, 1919.
By 1930, he was working as a plasterer in Philadelphia, PA, where in 1933, he married Betty Jenkins. When he registered for the World War II draft in 1942, he was described at 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing 157 pounds. At that time he was employed at Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia in the ordnance department. Frankford Arsenal was the center for the United States Military small arms ammunition design and development until it closed in 1977.
Arthur Burgess died at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia on November 12, 1954. He is buried in Section P, Site 647 of Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, NJ.
Beverly National Cemetery, the final resting place of Arthur Washington Burgess.
Source: Beverly National Cemetery
Another member of the 371st, who like Sgts. Walter Paul and Henry McClary began life in Cedar Swamp, was Calvin Green. A son of Frank and Sallie Green, he was born May 25, 1895. He was employed as farm labor on Watson E. Snowden's farm when he registered for the draft in 1917,
He was inducted as a Private in Company E of the 371st Infantry on October 6, 1917, at Camp Jackson. Pvt. Green was in the thick of the fighting during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and was severely wounded on September 30, 1918. Perhaps because of his wounds, he shipped out of France on January 19, 1919, ahead of the rest of the 371st. He was honorably discharged on February 11, 1919.
He and his wife Lizzie are listed in the 1920 Census as members of the W.E. Snowden household, working as housekeepers for Snowden and his niece. By 1930, the Greens had moved to their own farm, where they were raising four small children, all under the age of five.
According to the Veterans Administration Master Index, Calvin Green died June 8, 1938.
Emmanuel Morris was born near Greeleyville, a son of Wallace and Cinda Felix Morris. He was inducted into Company G of the 371st on October 6, 1917, where he was quickly promoted to Bugler on November 21. Buglers had a critical job on the front in World War I as they were the signalmen for the forces. Pvt. Morris was severely wounded on October 1, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He, too, left France ahead of the 371st, departing St. Nazaire on December 18, 1918, aboard the USS Rijndam. He was honorably discharged on March 29, 1919, with a disability of 15 percent.
The USS Rijndam, which transported Pvt. Emmanuel Morris back to the United States.
He married Emma Gailliard and by 1930, they were living in Greensboro, NC, where he was employed as a tailor. Emma died in 1947, and Morris at some point remarried and returned to Williamsburg County, where he died on June 15, 1964, survived by his wife Lucile. He is buried in Big Spring Cemetery near Greeleyville.
One other member of the 371st is listed in the Official Roster of SC Men Serving in World War I as a Williamsburg County resident. It seems likely, however, that William H. Rock was working in Trio at the time he registered for the draft but lived most of his life in Berkeley County. He was born in Eadytown, near Eutawville, on March 5, 1896, a son of Joe and Betty Ann Huger Rock. He was inducted into the Supply Company of the 371st on December 18, 1917. He was promoted to Private First Class on March 1, 1918. Henry Cleveland McClary served as Ordnance Sergeant for this company. There is no notation in the Official Roster of PFC Rock's sustaining serious wounds, but he was honorably discharged in October 1919, with a 100 percent disability.
He returned to Berkeley County where he farmed and apparently was also a minister, as his death certificate lists him as Rev. Willie H. Rock. He died June 13, 1953, of a fractured skull sustained in an automobile accident. He was dead on arrival at the hospital in Moncks Corner. He is buried at either Walnut Grove or Warnett cemeteries near Eutawville as records aren't clear. I have not looked closely at William Rock's family history, but there is evidence that he likely shares a family connection to comedian Chris Rock, whose roots run deep in Berkeley, Williamsburg, Georgetown and Charleston counties.
The City of Columbia welcomed the 371st back with open arms. Citizens put together a mass fundraising effort to provide a reception at Allen University for the returning troops. The event took place on February 29, 1919. Speakers included SC Governor Robert Archer Cooper, I.S. Leevy and C.A. Johnson.
The African-American newspaper the Cleveland Advocate noted in its March 15, 1919, issue that "this historic city has set a fine example for other cities in the south in its interest in the return of the soldiers of the 371st Infantry from France. ...Thousands of both races turned out to see the parade, these soldiers being the first to return in a body, having seen actual fighting. The white people dropped the color line and not only viewed the parade but joined in the shouting and crying for joy."
And yet, once the parade had passed by and the speeches were concluded, these young men came back to a world in which they lived under strict Jim Crow laws. Some of them, now with skills learned in the Army and with the courage gained from crossing the ocean and seeing things they had never dreamed existed, were able to secure better jobs and lives for their families than would have been possible otherwise. Still, for most of them, their lives were far from easy.
Model of the proposed 371st monument, sculpted by
Maria Kirby-Smith of Camden
In December 2019, the board of the Gateway to the Army Association approved the placement of a monument in tribute to the men of the 371st Infantry at Fort Jackson's Centennial Park. Fundraising is ongoing toward making this monument a reality. For more details, visit https://www.371stmonument.org/.
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