Craven County's Fallen

The following is a list of known fatalities during World War I. The list includes men who were residents of Craven County.

Names of World War I Dead on the Courthouse Monument

Danie[l] H. Adams--lived at Bachelor, Craven County, N.C.; died October 14, 1918, at the base hospital at Camp Sevier, S.C. [Morning New Bernian, October 15, 1918].

[J. F[rank]. Bennett--b. Washington, Beaufort Co., N.C.; resided in New Bern until he moved to Norfolk about July 1930; died October 25, 1930, at his home in Norfolk, Va. [Sun Journal, October 26, 1930].]

Ben O. Civils—b. May 12, 1894, Cove City; reported as Missing in Action on a November 20, 1918, casualty list [Morning New Bernian, November 21, 1918]

1920. E. Daugherty—[possibly John Clemmie Daugherty, b. March 22, 1895, Jasper, N.C.; died "shortly after the Armistice" in France. His remains were returned and interred in Asbury Methodist Church Cemetery in September 1920. The New Bernian, September 25, 1920 and September 28, 1920.]

W[illie]. Van Donnerson—b. June 21, 1892, Dover, N.C.; Donnerson-Hawkins American Legion post was named in his memory [Morning New Bernian, February 15, 1920]

D[avid]. R[uffin]. Everington—b. April 20, 1892, Morgan Swamp area, Craven Co., N.C.; died October 1918 at Camp Sevier, S.C. [Morning New Bernian, October 15, 1918; November 21, 1918].

Raymond Hawkins—b. March 9, 1894, near Cove City, N.C.; Donnerson-Hawkins American Legion post was named in his memory [Morning New Bernian, February 15, 1920]

Jodie [Francis] Ipock—b. June 1, 1896, Ernul, N.C.; died October 10, 1918, at Camp Sevier, S.C., of Spanish influenza. [Morning New Bernian, October 11, 1918]

Emmett Jenkins—b. July 5, 1894, Cove City, N.C.; he was killed in action in France [date not known], his body was returned for burial in Cove City in April 1921 [Morning New Bernian, April 24, 1921]

1. L. Lancaster—[name is actually Herman Gardner Lancaster, b. September 30, 1887, near Vanceboro, N.C., no further information]

Sam Parrott--A corporal in the United States Marine Corps, died November 16, 1917, "of natural causes." Parrott, aged about 50, had been in the service for "over a dozen years." [Sun Journal, November 19, 1917].

Milan G[ray]. Price—b. September 9, 1895, near Askins; registered in Pitt County, N.C. [no further information]

Kenneth Rea--died February 2, 1917, at Camp Stewart, Texas, of pneumonia. Rea was a member of the 2nd Regiment, North Carolina National Guard, patrolling the Texas-Mexico border. [Sun Journal, February 3 and February 9, 1917]

Deppe Rowe—b. May 15, 1895, Croatan, N.C.; died September 17, 1918, in a French hospital of pneumonia. His remains were returned to his home in 1921. [Morning New Bernian, May 19, 1921].

[George T. Skinner—[appears to have been born in #1 Township, Craven Co., per 1910 census], died of heart trouble following an automobile accident near Vanceboro, N.C., on September 17, 1925. [The New Bernian, September 18, 1925]]

Wyatt Stallings--died October 14, 1918, at the Naval Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, from complications of pneumonia. [Morning New Bernian, October 15, 1918]

Bert Stilley—Lived in the Saint's Delight neighborhood near Bridgeton, died of pneumonia in March 1917 at Florence, S.C. He was a member of the 2nd North Carolina National Guard. He contracted pneumonia at Camp Stewart, Texas, and was left in Florence while the rest of the troop journeyed to Goldsboro, N.C. [The Sun Journal, March 30, 1917, p. 5, c. 3 and April 2, 1917, p. 1, c. 7]

1. L. Tilley--[no further information]

W[illiam]. H[arvey]. Toler—b. September 19, 1894, Zorah, N.C.; died at St. Luke's Hospital, New Bern, N.C., on August 1, 1917, of blood poisoning after removing a splinter from his arm with a brass pin. [Semi-Weekly Sun, August 2, 1917]

W[illiam]. J[essie]. Weatherly—b. August 17, 1891, Beaufort Co., N.C.; lived in Bridgeton, N.C., and worked as a machinist for Gilbert Gaskins in 1917.  [No further information]

Names Listed in The Morning New Bernian and Sun Journal
(not on the Monument)

Wiley Clifford Bissett—b. Wilson, N.C., married New Bern girl [Christine Thomas] before leaving for France, killed in action July 17, 1918 [Morning New Bernian, July 26, 1918 and July 31, 1918]

*John Evans—b. March 3, 1892, Craven County; died of disease according to Army Casualty List of August 23, 1918. He is buried in New Bern National Cemetery (Section 12, Grave 3431) and died 5 July 1918. [Morning New Bernian, August 23, 1918]

*Alonza Havens—of New Bern, nephew of Lillian Havens Lawrence of New Bern, killed in action in France between 26 Sep and 2 Oct 1918, pvt. [Morning New Bernian, February 2, 1919, p. 5, c.4] He is buried in New Bern National Cemetery (Section 12, Grave 3436) where his grave states he died October 1, 1918.

*Castillia (or Castello or Caswell or Cas) Henry--He was born 25 December 1896 in New Bern, N.C. and was a barber by occupation. His body was shipped back to the U.S. in July 1921 and he was to be buried in Greenwood Cemetery in New Bern. The newspaper article at the time mentions he was killed in action in France. [The Sun Journal, 29 July 1921, p. 1, c. 6 and 30 July 1921, p. 1, c. 3] A local American Legion post was named for Henry and John Evans (Henry-Evans Post). A list of burials at the National Cemetery in New Bern indicates Castillia Henry is buried there (Section 12 Grave 3434) and died 10 November 1918.

*James A[rthur]. Hill—b. possibly August 28, 1896, New Bern, N.C.; died of disease according to Army Casualty List of August 2, 1918 [Arthur from American Soldiers of World War I, vol. 2] He is buried in New Bern National Cemetery (Section 12, Grave 3428-A) and died 8 July 1918. [Sun Journal, August 2, 1918]

William R. Mitchell—Dover resident, died of wounds, pvt, [Morning New Bernian, November 21, 1918; also in American Soldiers of World War I, vol. 2]

Charles T. Pumphrey—b. October 4, 1876, Ashland, Va.; member of the Red Cross; died of pneumonia in France in October 1918 [Morning New Bernian, November 19, 1918]

*Ernest Stanley—b. August 10, 1895, New Bern, N.C. [no further information]

*John T[homas]. Taylor--b. May 25, 1896, Washington, N.C.; resided in Vanceboro, 1917; died of pneumonia on 18 May 1918 (according to the newspaper article) or 1919 (according to records at New Bern National Cemetery). His body was shipped back to the U.S. in June 1920 and was described by the Sun Journal as a "local man". [The Sun Journal, 24 June 1920, p. 8, c. 1] He is buried in the New Bern National Cemetery (Section 4, Grave 3525).

Jasper Winfield Thomason—born in Washington, N.C.; resident of New Bern for 7 years before his death on June 15, 1918 in France. [Morning New Bernian, July 10, 1918]

Maurice L. Walnau—he was born in Indiana, lived in New Bern before he moved to Georgia, where he registered. He was killed on the transport Otranto, when it collided with the British steamer, Kashmite, on October 5, 1918. [Morning New Bernian, November 15, 1918]

George Felton Wilson, Jr.—b. May 1897 near Vanceboro, d. September 29, 1918, of pneumonia aboard a hospital ship, US Navy [Morning New Bernian, November 14, 1918]

*Joseph Wilson—[Joe Powell Wilson, b. November 24, 1895, Pitt County, N.C.; d. 11 Oct 1918, buried near Vanceboro]

*Sherman Wise—b. May 1, 1896, New Bern, N.C.; died of disease according to the Casualty List of October 11, 1918. He is buried in New Bern National Cemetery (Section 12, Grave 3432). [Morning New Bernian, October 12, 1918]

Names listed in American Soldiers of World War I, Soldiers of the Great War
(not on the monument)

Thomas Coley, resided Dover, killed in action, private; possibly b. July 3, 1888, in Eureka, N.C.; resided RFD 2, Kinston, registered 1917, Lenoir County, N.C.

John Glen Daugherty, New Bern, died of disease, private (possibly J.E. Daugherty on monument? or John Clemmie Daugherty?)

Elmer J. Higgins, New Bern, died of wounds, corporal

James King, Dover, died of disease, private; possibly b. September 20, 1895, Fort Barnwell, N.C.

*Joe Sprill [Spruill?], New Bern, died of disease, private. According to the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, Sprill was a member of the 344th Labor Battalion. He died 7 October 1918 and is buried in Plot D, Row 7, Grave 9, of Brookwood American Cemetery in Brookwood, England. . A draft registration card for a Joseph Spruill of Rt. 2, New Bern (Jasper) states he was born December 1896 in Jasper.

*Indicates persons of African-American descent.

Sources consulted:
Haulsee, W.M., F.G. Howe, and A.C. Doyle, comp. Soldiers of the Great War. 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Soldiers Record, 1920).
The Morning New Bernian
The Sun Journal
Elliott, Ethel T. New Bern National Cemetery Directory. (Beaufort, N.C.: Elliott, 1989).
Beauchamp, Eula P. and others. Craven County, North Carolina Cemeteries. 2 vols. (New Bern: Eastern North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1995-1996).
1900 and 1910 Census Records of Craven County.
1917-1918 New Bern City Directory.
World War I Draft Registration Cards for Craven County (NARA microfilm M1509-19), source of birth date information.
Records from the National Office of the American Legion