— Others Listed from Previous Genesee County Rolls —

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Herbert J Clark

Private, Machine Gun Co, 307th Infantry, 77th Division. Killed in action near Barbonval, France, September 11, 1918. Age 26.

Listed under LeRoy on County List 4

Actual home town: Covington (Wyoming County)

Burial: Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Plot A Row 9 Grave 24, Fere-en-Tardenois, France

 

Herbert J Clark was a Wyoming County soldier. According to the October 21, 1918 Batavia Daily News article announcing his death, he was born on August 14, 1892, in LaGrange, which is a hamlet in Covington (Wyoming County), New York. Herbert was the only son of farmer Lyman Clark and wife, Caroline E Clark, and apparently lived in Covington his entire life before leaving for the Army with a Wyoming County draft contingent on February 25, 1918. The 1900 and 1910 United States censuses, as well as the 1915 New York State Census, show Herbert living in Covington with his parents and sisters; the latter census lists the family household on Silver Lake Road.

The confusion over Clark’s home town and home county probably stems from the fact that his parents’ mailing address was Pavilion (Genesee County). The October 21, 1918 Batavia Daily News article reporting Private Clark’s death, datelined Pavilion, describes the Clarks’ home location as “a few miles from this village, in Wyoming County, but whose postoffice [sic] is Pavilion.” This is probably why Clark put Pavilion as his home address on his draft registration card, and why that town address also appears on numerous subsequent official sources, including casualty reports and Burial Case File documents.

This confusion likely also explains why Herbert Clark was listed under LeRoy on County List 4. There was no Pavilion category on that list; all Pavilion residents seem to have been arbitrarily placed under LeRoy.

The New York Roll of Honor, Clark’s NYSS, and List of Names of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines of Wyoming County, N.Y. all support Clark’s designation as a Wyoming County soldier from Covington.

Note that newspaper reports and Wyoming County’s list give Private Clark’s death date as September 21, 1918. Several documents in his Burial Case File also give that date, and one gives the date September 29. However, most Burial Case File documents, and the vast majority of other official sources (History of the Seventy-Seventh Division, NY Roll of Honor, his NYSS and ABMC listing) list the date as September 11, 1918. Given the weight of those sources, and particularly of documents in his Burial Case File that give the date of his burial as September 15 and that place the location of his original grave in the area where his unit was on September 11, but not on September 21 or 29, this is almost certainly correct.

A searcher’s report in Clark’s Burial Case File quotes a statement on his death from another member of his company, Private Elk L Kenyon: “Private Herbert J Clark was mortally wounded by shell fire while leaving positions held by Machine Gun Company near Barbonval Vesle Sector. He died the same morning September 11th 1918 at First Aid Station at Blanzy and was buried there near the church.”

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—— [CLICK ON DOCUMENTS TO OPEN FULL VIEW IN SEPARATE TAB] ——

October 21, 1918 Batavia Daily News p6 c3

(Date of death incorrect; see profile text)

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Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Herbert J Clark headstone, Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Plot A Row 9 Grave 24, Fere-en-Tardenois, France

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Herbert J Clark Sources:

– County List 4

– Feb 27, 1918 Perry Herald p1 c1-2, p5 c3

– Oct 21, 1918 BD p1 c3, p6 c3*

– Oct 23, 1918 RDC p9 c3

– Nov 7, 1918 Wyoming County Times p8 c1

– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Lyman Clark (head) and Herbert J Clark (son, age 8), citing Census Records, Covington Town, Wyoming, New York; sheet number 1B, line numbers 91 and 95, microfilm series T623, Roll 1179, page 93.

– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Lyman Clark (head) and Herbert J Clark (son, age 17), citing Census Records, Covington Town, Wyoming, New York; sheet number 9, line numbers 16 and 20, microfilm series T624, Roll 1087, page 35.

– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Herbert J Clark, age 22, citing Census Records, Covington, A.D. 01, E.D. 01, Wyoming, New York; page number 5, line 42.

– List of Names of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines of Wyoming County, N.Y., p 28

– NYSS

– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 182

– WWI database, American Battle Monuments Commission website (www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php)

– World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Ancestry.com)

– 77th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 18-20, 26-41

– History of the Seventy-Seventh Division, p 111

– BCF

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Click for Key to Source Abbreviations. See the Bibliography for complete title, author, and publisher information, with links to online access when available.