Private, Co B, 59th Infantry, 4th Division.
Died of pneumonia in a hospital at Aix-les-Bains, France, November 9, 1918. Age 28.
Town: LeRoy/Pavilion
Burial: St. Francis Cemetery, LeRoy, Genesee County, New York
Note: Variant spellings of the name Kaine (Kain, Cain, Caine, etc) in censuses and other sources, and conflicting information within those sources (for example, Edward Kaine is variously listed as from Batavia, Pavilion, Oakfield, and LeRoy; see main text) posed challenges when researching this individual. Further complicating matters, Edward Kaine’s middle initial is given as “L” in many sources (including Honor Roll Lists 2 and 3, the NY Roll of Honor, and the majority of documents in his Burial Case File) while other sources give the initial “T” or the middle name “Thomas.”
Despite these differences among sources, which might lead one to wonder whether there were two Edward Kaines, enough common links exist—his parents’ and siblings’ names and ages across censuses, for example, and his unit designation and Army serial number in military documents—to indicate that all sources do refer to the same Edward Kaine. Also, because the middle initial “L” is used in Kaine’s name not only in the majority of official sources but also on his tombstone, which undoubtedly was inscribed as his parents wished, that is the middle initial used here. It is not known why Kaine signed his name on his draft registration card as Edward Thomas Kaine; area newspaper articles covering his death in 1918 and funeral service in 1921 also gave that middle name. Perhaps Thomas was simply an alternative that Kaine used.
Edward Kaine was born in Pavilion (Genesee County), New York. Virtually all source documents give his birth date as June 2, 1891, but his tombstone reads, “1890 – 1918,” so again in deference to his parents, who likely ordered that inscription (see note above), 1890 is the year used here to calculate his age when he died. Kaine was the eldest son of Patrick Kaine and Catherine (spelled variously in sources) nee Cantwell Kaine. According to the November 27, 1918 Batavia Daily News and November 27, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News, Edward spent most of his life in Pavilion and LeRoy. Both articles, as well as most area newspaper articles regarding his death and burial, refer to him as a “LeRoy boy.” Honor Roll Lists 1 and 4 also list him under LeRoy. However, when Kaine filled in his draft registration card on June 5, 1917, he listed Oakfield as his address and Alabama as his place of employment. Articles in the March 8, 1918 and March 9, 1918 Batavia Daily News refer to him as from Batavia, as do his NYSS, the NY Roll of Honor, and Honor Roll Lists 2 and 3.
Nonetheless, census data and the predominance of newspaper reports strongly suggest that Kaine likely resided only briefly in Batavia or Oakfield. It is most accurate to list his home town as “LeRoy/Pavilion.”
The 1892 NY Census (taken in February) lists Edward at age one and his parents under the spelling Cain in Pavilion. The 1900 US Census also lists the family as Cain, and shows Edward with two younger siblings, sister Marie and brother Francis. The 1905 NY Census records the family still in Pavilion, under the name Cane. The 1910 US Census shows an Edward Cane, age 18, living with a family as a hired man in Pavilion. The 1915 NY Census lists Edward Kain [sic] in LeRoy, employed as a farm laborer. Most newspaper reports from 1918 give the Kaine family’s address as 89 Wolcott Street, LeRoy—the same given as a contact address on Edward’s NYSS, and the same listed for the Patrick Kaine family in LeRoy in the 1920 US Census. Correspondence between the government and Kaine’s father in Edward’s Burial Case File indicate that by January 1921 the address had changed to 85 Wolcott Street.
On March 8, 1918, Edward Kaine voluntarily enlisted in the Army through the Genesee County draft board and left immediately for Camp Greene, North Carolina, where he was assigned to Company B of the 4th Division’s 59th Infantry. Two months later, in late April and early May 1918, the 4th Division left the United States for France.
After surviving months of combat with the 59th Infantry, which in July and August took heavy casualties in the Aisne-Marne offensive and at the Vesle River, and was in the attacking front line for 24 days during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in September and October, Private Kaine died of pneumonia on November 9, only two days before the signing of the Armistice and the end of the war. His death occurred in a hospital at Aix-les-Bains, a large former resort complex in southeastern France organized by the Army as a rest area for AEF soldiers on leave.
In a letter to Edward Kaine’s parents published in the March 8, 1919 Batavia Daily News, Captain Francis T Brewster of the 59th Infantry wrote: “I take this opportunity of expressing my deep appreciation of your son’s services. He served with me right through the thick of the terrible Argonne drive. He was fearless and conscientious in everything he did. He was always on duty and could be counted upon in every emergency; ever ready to volunteer for some special task after a hard day’s fight.
“When we came out of the drive he was run down physically. Thinking a little rest and change would do him good, we sent him among the first ‘leaves.’ By some unknown cause he caught pneumonia and not having recovered his reserve, he succumbed. It may be truly said he gave of his best to our great cause.”
Private Edward Kaine was buried at Aix-les-Bains on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. In June, 1921, his remains were returned to the United States under military escort and interred at LeRoy’s St. Francis Cemetery.
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November 27, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News p8 c4
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November 27, 1918 Batavia Daily News p8 c4
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June 4, 1921 Batavia Daily News p8 c3
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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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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Edward L Kaine headstone, Saint Francis Cemetery, LeRoy, Genesee County, New York
GPS Coordinates: Lat 42° 58’ 4.07” N, Long 77° 59’ 9.46” W (DD: 42.967797, -77.985961)
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Edward L Kaine Sources:
– All County Lists
– Mar 8, 1918 BD p1 c7
– Mar 9, 1918 BD p2 c1
– Nov 27, 1918 LG p8 c4*
– Nov 27, 1918 BD p8 c4
– Mar 8, 1919 BD p8 c4
– May 18, 1921 BD p2 c3
– Jun 3, 1921 BD p1 c7
– Jun 4, 1921 BD p8 c3
– Jan 8, 1936 LG p8 c1 [father obit]
– “New York State Census, 1892.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Edward Cain, age 1, citing Census Records, Pavilion, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 10.
– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Patrick Cain (head) and Edward Cain (son, age 8), citing Census Records, Pavilion, Genesee, New York; sheet number 9, line numbers 24 and 26, microfilm series T623, Roll 1038, page 308.
– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Edward Cane [misspelling of Kaine], age 14, citing Census Records, Pavilion, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 658, line 3.
– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entry for Edward Cane (age 18), citing Census Records, Pavilion, Genesee, New York; sheet number 2, line number 49, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 265.
– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Edward Kain, age 26, citing Census Records, LeRoy, A.D. 01, E.D. 02, Genesee, New York; page number 47, line 33.
– “United States Census, 1920.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for household of Patrick Kaine (head), citing Census Records, LeRoy, Genesee, New York; sheet number 5, line numbers 12 through 14, microfilm series T625, Roll 1114, page 244.
– “New York, County Marriages, 1908 – 1935.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org; Genesee County record entry No. 2311, 2 March 1916 (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FF5Y-54W). Catherine Cantwell [Kaine mother maiden name] in entry for Clarence E Hill and Marie E Caine [sic].
– NYSS
– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 65
– World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Ancestry.com)
– Brief Histories of Divisions, U.S. Army 1917-1918 pp 10-11
– 4th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 5-34, 46-71
– The Fourth Division: Its Services and Achievements, pp 38-39, 66-90, 106-28, 152-204
– 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.