Private First Class, Co D, 108th Infantry, 27th Division.
Killed in action near Hindenburg Line at Bony, France, September 29, 1918. Age 20.
Town: Corfu (also Erie County; see text)
Burial: Evergreen Hill Cemetery, Corfu, Genesee County, New York
Samuel George Welch was born on September 5, 1898. According to the November 16, 1918 Batavia Daily News, he was born in West Batavia (Genesee County), New York, “and spent most of his life there and in Corfu.” Welch’s NYSS and 74th Infantry enlistment card, however, give his birthplace as Forks, New York, which is a community in Cheektowaga (Erie County), near Buffalo. Welch apparently did live in Erie County during his youngest years before moving to Corfu. The 1900 US Census shows him as an infant living with his parents, George S Welch Sr. and Mary Welch, and two brothers (George Jr. and Frank), in Depew (Cheektowaga, Erie County). The 1905 NY Census shows Samuel at age 6 still living in Cheektowaga with his family (including a new brother, John), but in the village of Sloan. In both censuses his father’s occupation is listed as stone mason. By the 1910 US Census, Samuel G and John, the two youngest children, are shown living in Darien (Genesee County) with their grandparents, Samuel Welch and Ursilla Welch. An April 25, 1912 Batavia Daily News article refers to the family as “of Corfu,” and reports of the grandparents that “Mr. and Mrs. Welch have taken care of the children since they were very young,” elaborating that their mother was in a hospital and their father had been living in Erie County. The 1915 NY Census, however, lists the two brothers living with their father in Darien; Samuel, at age 17, is shown working as a mason’s helper—presumably for his father.
In 1916, when Samuel G Welch enlisted at age 18 in the New York National Guard’s 74th Regiment in Buffalo, he gave a Buffalo address and his occupation as printer for the McKinnon Dash Company. Welch enlisted on June 26, 1916, at the height of an enlistment campaign to raise enough troops to send to the Mexican border to fight Pancho Villa’s raiders, and just two days after Buffalo’s massive “Preparedness Parade,” in which thousands lined downtown streets while guardsmen, home defense units and civic organizations marched in patriotic support of military readiness.
On July 5, 1916, eight days after he enlisted, the 74th left for Texas and served on the border until its return in late February, 1917. War on Germany was declared six weeks later, and in mid-July, all National Guard units were called into federal service. At the end of September, the 74th Regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, where it became part of the newly formed 27th Division’s 108th Infantry. On May 10, 1918, Welch’s Company D, along with the rest of the 108th Infantry’s 1st Battalion, left the United States for France from Newport News, Virginia, aboard HMS Kurtz.
Pfc. Welch and six others from Genesee County were among at least 192 men of the 108th Infantry who died on September 29, 1918, in fierce combat that helped break the strongest point of the infamous Hindenburg Line, a complex of defenses including 30-foot-deep concrete bunkers, the St. Quentin canal and tunnel, miles of hidden passageways, and fortified trench systems fronted by fields of heavy twisted barbed wire.
Assigned the task of mopping up concealed machine-gun nests and enemy troops, and fighting 50 to 100 yards behind the lead assault wave through thick smoke and fog, the 108th’s 1st Battalion, including Welch’s Company D, at the far left of the battalion’s line, faced devastating machine-gun and rifle fire from all directions and a deadly enemy artillery counterbarrage of gas and high-explosive shells. A searcher’s report in Pfc. Welch’s Burial Case File gives testimony from Corporal James W Kirby of Welch’s Company D: “Instantly killed in action, September 29, 1918, at BONY, France. Buried near Saint-Emilie, France. Informer saw body carried off field.” Similarly, under “Engagements,” Welch’s NYSS states, “Hindenburg at Dvick Valley,” a likely misspelling of Dirk Valley, the scene of heavy fighting a short distance south of Bony.
A July 16, 1919 Batavia Daily News article reported that Welch’s grandmother, Ursilla Welch, had placed a memorial headstone for her grandson in Corfu’s Evergreen Hill Cemetery, and that the soldier was buried at St. Emilie, France. The headstone today bears that burial location on the epitaph. However, documents in Pfc. Welch’s Burial Case File show that his body was returned to his father in Corfu under military escort almost three years later, on April 21, 1922. An article in the April 24, 1922 Batavia Daily News reported his funeral the day before, April 23, when he was interred with honors at Evergreen Hill. (It is not known why the middle initial “J” rather than “G” was inscribed on this later grave’s headstone.)
– – – – –
—— [CLICK ON DOCUMENTS TO OPEN FULL VIEW IN SEPARATE TAB] ——
November 16, 1918 Batavia Daily News p7 c3
– – – – –
July 16, 1919 Batavia Daily News p5 c3
– – – – –
April 24, 1922 Batavia Daily News p7 c2
– – – – –
Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York
– – – – –
Identity Tag in Samuel G Welch Burial Case File, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives – St. Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Source: Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), U.S. Army, Archival (conserved burned file), National Archives – St. Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Source: Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), U.S. Army, Archival (conserved burned file), National Archives – St. Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
– – – – –
Samuel G Welch Memorial Stone (placed 1919), Evergreen Hill Cemetery, Corfu, Genesee County, New York
GPS Coordinates: Lat 42° 57’ 54.589” N, Long 78° 24’ 26.919” W (DD: 42.965164, -78.407478)
– – – – –
Samuel J Welch headstone, (placed 1922), Evergreen Hill Cemetery, Corfu, Genesee County, New York. It is not known why the middle initial “J” was used on this later stone.
GPS Coordinates: Lat 42° 57’ 55.899” N, Long 78° 24’ 30” W (DD: 42.965528, -78.408333)
– – – – –
Samuel G Welch Sources:
– County List 1
– Apr 25, 1912 BD p6 c5
– Jul 5, 1912 BD p7 c3
– Nov 16, 1918 BD p7 c3*
– Jul 16, 1919 BD p5 c3
– Apr 24, 1922 BD p7 c2
– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for George S Welch (head) and Samuel Welch (son, age obscured), citing Census Records, Depew, Cheektowaga, Erie, New York; sheet number 4B, line numbers 96 and 100, microfilm series T623, Roll 1033, page 126.
– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Samuel Welch, age 6, citing Census Records, Sloan, Cheektowaga, E.D. 03, Erie, New York; page number 15, line 27.
– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Samuel Welch (head) and Samuel Welch (grandson, age 11), citing Census Records, Darien, Genesee, New York; sheet number 8, line numbers 36 and 38, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 64.
– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Samuel G Welch, age 17, citing Census Records, Darien, A.D. 01, E.D. 02, Genesee, New York; page number 21, line 31.
– History of Buffalo and Erie County 1914-1919, pp 37-40
– New York, 74th Infantry National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1889-1917 (Ancestry.com)
– NYSS
– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 55
– “Welch, Samuel G,” Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), U.S. Army, Archival (conserved burned file); National Archives – St. Louis, Missouri.
– Short History and Illustrated Roster of the 108th Infantry, p 65
– 27th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 13-26
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 1, pp 39, 146, 300-313, 328a
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 2, pp 573, 1089, 1102
– BCF
– Evergreen Cemetery (Corfu, NY) online tombstone transcriptions, US GenWeb,http://files.usgwarchives.net/ny/genesee/cemeteries/evergreen.txt
– “Samuel G Welch” tombstone transcription and photo, Findagrave.com online database (photo ©Donna Bonning, used by permission)
– – – – –
Click for Key to Source Abbreviations. See the Bibliography for complete title, author, and publisher information, with links to online access when available.