Edited by C. Vernon Eddy
The original draft of this war history of the city of Winchester and the county of Frederick was by Frank H. Krebs, of Winchester. This draft was revised and rewritten by Oren F. Morton, who was living in Winchester when the history was undertaken. The source material was also, in part, collected by Mr. Morton.
Very much of the material for this history was derived from the files of the Evening Star of Winchester. No other newspaper was thus used. The editorial management of the Star is, therefore, a leading authority. So far as certain articles appear anonymously, it is because the revisor is unable to locate the exact authority.
C. VERNON EDDY
MISS AUGUSTA F. CONRAD
MRS. ALFRED WRIGHT
War History Commission of Winchester and Frederick County
This city and county is replete with historical traditions. Its background furnishes a splendid setting for the heroic deeds of its men and women. The county in which James Wood, Thomas Lord Fairfax, General Daniel Morgan and George Washington lived and served their country, the scene later of the famous Valley campaign in the Civil War, could not help but be loyal in any national crisis.
Company I, composed of Winchester and Frederick County men, was recalled from the Mexican Border and mustered out of service the last of February, 1917. At nine o'clock on the morning of March 26, the whistle of the Virginia Woolen Company sounded the signal-the call to the colors, and the company was once more mustered into service. This company was commanded by Captain Robert Y. Conrad, "Captain Bob" as his men lovingly called him.1
While Captain Robert Y. Conrad was commanding his company on the Mexican Border he wrote from Brownsville, Texas, on the inadequacy of the National Guard in the event of real war, declaring that compulsory military training was the only way out. The burden must rest equally and equitably on all classes of the people. His remarks at that time attracted much attention. It is interesting to note that in less than six months America was in the war and compulsory military training had been put in effect through the operation of the selective draft.
The people of Frederick County and the city of Winchester were not long in taking steps to back up Congress and the President in their attitude toward the World War. A mass meeting of citizens gathered on the night of March 13, 1917, and the audience was addressed by Captain Conrad, Hon. R. Gray Williams, Judge T. W. Harrison, Major B. M. Roszel and the Rev. J. H. Lacy. The policies of the President were indorsed.
As was the case with most other parts of the country, Winchester and Frederick County had their share of rumors regarding the, presence of German spies within the community. Some of these alleged spies were detained, but always succeeded in proving their innocence. It was rumored that a prominent fruit grower in the county who was a German had installed a high-powered wireless outfit, capable of sending messages direct to Germany, in the chimney of his house. There were those who alleged that they had seen the equipment in his chimney. It was also declared that this man had plans of Harper's Ferry and its railroad tunnels, an important artery of freight traffic to the East. All of these rumors proved false, but suspicion was so strong that the German and his wife sold out and removed from this section, the wife returning to her old home in Germany before the ports of that country were closed.
F. A. Beck, a prominent apple buyer and the operator of a large bakery in Winchester, affirmed his own loyalty and that of his sons through the columns of the local newspaper. However, under the regulations for the identification of enemy aliens he was photographed and his finger prints taken. Later on, two of the sons of Mr. Beck enlisted and served in the American Army.
In contrast to this loyalty, it cannot be, denied that there were a number of people in the community who were either outwardly pro-German in their sympathies, or pacifists or obstructionists. There were the usual number of people who sought to evade military service under any one or more of a number of pleas, and there were still others who were perfectly willing that the war should be fought by the sons of other men, and who balked when it came to sending their own offspring to the service of their country. Some of this disloyalty reached into the churches of the community. There is the story of a prominent minister who resigned his charge after a quarrel with members of his congregation, because the organist insisted upon playing patriotic airs on the organ before and during the Sunday services.
While these reactionaries existed in the community, they were, in a small minority and could do little or no harm to the cause at large. They are being remembered for their attitude during the war.
The war activities of the churches of Winchester were carried on through a well-organized plan of team work. Few records have been preserved in regard to their separate efforts. The strain of war work was tense, and after the Armistice it would seem there was a tacit decision to retire war memories to the background, and it has proven exceedingly difficult to secure authoritative data. All the congregations were active, though the record as here presented is fragmentary.
The churches showed their active interest in the war by their service flags, by touching exercises accompanying the raising and lowering of these flags, by letters to the boys in camp, by sending Christmas boxes under the direction of Mrs. M. M. Lynch and her workers, and in many other ways. In compliance with a proclamation of President Wilson, union services of all the churches in WInchester were held October 28, 1917, in which prayer was offered for the success of the Allied arms.
A beautiful service flag was placed in the Church of the Sacred Heart (Catholic) in May, 1918, with special religious services conducted by the priest, the Rev. John McVerry. Special services were held on the first Friday of each month to pray for the boys in the service. There were thirty-three stars in the flag. The following boys were overseas in the service from this church: Thomas A. Fenton, Bernard F. Groves, Denis M. Kaine, Annie N. McFadden (nurse), John R. McFadden, Earle Noonan, Mahlon Noonan, Daniel C. O'Leary, Harry L. Reardon, Leo Russell, John A. Stuart, Bernard Sullivan Donald Weems, E. V. Weems. A number of the ladies of the congregation took an active part in Red Cross work, in knitting and surgical dressings, and had charge of boxes and comfort kits sent from the Sunday school. The children assisted in knitting and making outfits for the children in Europe, and also in sending Christmas boxes overseas.
The Christian church had a service flag of eight stars. Special services were held to put across the various war relief campaigns and there were six special services of prayer and devotion. There was co-operation with other church units.
The Reformed Church had the following members in service: Alfred Curtis, Marion Goss, William Goss, Allen Gray (aviator), Clarence Peffer and Frank Shirley.
The pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1920 had been a supply sergeant in the 313th Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, from May to July, 1918 ; a student at the Chaplain's Training School at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky, in July and August of the same year, and chaplain in the 151st Depot Brigade at Camp Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts, from August to December.
There were 57 stars on the service flag of Christ Episcopal Church-53 for soldiers, one for a sailor and three for nurses. There was not a gold star among them. Nearly all members in the service went overseas and made splendid records. The head nurse of Winchester Memorial Hospital, Miss Angelica Didier, served overseas; the assistant head nurse, Miss Anne Carson, was decorated by the British Red Cross for her valuable work; Miss Helen Day, from the same hospital, served overseas and was decorated by our government. All of these were members of Christ Church. Miss Kate Harrison, another member, was also a nurse in France.
The Rev. W. D. Smith, D. D., rector of Christ Church, was head of one of the Liberty Loan drives and made such a success that he was asked to be chairman of the Red Cross and to head the Contribution Committee for the War Chest. In October he sailed for France, reaching there after the Armistice. So he worked in the camps, holding a series of services and returned to Winchester in June, 1919.
The women of this church did splendid work. The surgical dressings work was started by Episcopalians in the house of Mrs. Holmes Conrad. Later when it was merged into the Red Cross, a room in the parish house of Christ Church was used. Mrs. Hunter McGuire was put in charge. Most of the heads of the war work in Winchester were Episcopalians. The directors of the War Savings Stamps, Rev. W. D. Smith and Miss Augusta Conrad, were Episcopalians.
Mr. Gray Williams, an Episcopalian and lawyer, gave up a great part of his time to help in the drives. The Boy Scouts, with an Episcopalian at their head, Marshall Baker, did splendid work. The head of the draft board, Mr. S. R. Fay, was a member of Christ Church and served faithfully, declining to accept pay. The woman's committee of several of the Liberty Loans was in charge of members of Christ Church. The head of the nurses of the Red Cross has been and still is under Mrs. H. Douglas Fuller, a member of this church. Another member, Miss Caroline Hunter, gave lessons in surgical dressings to women of Winchester. Mr. Harry Byrd was fuel administrator for the State of Virginia.
"After our entrance into the war a number of the teachers and the high school boys who were old enough entered military training schools, or spent the summer at a training camp, in order to be ready for active service when the call should come. The public schools of the county felt severely the drawing of the teachers into government service and for positions of trust at Washington and elsewhere. The problem of keeping the schools supplied with teachers became a serious one. The superintendent of schools, Leslie D. Kline, was chosen by the government for a position of high honor and responsibility, but continued at his post in Frederick County, feeling it his most patriotic duty to stay by the schools."2
The school children took an interested part in the War Saving; and Thrift Stamps campaigns in which they showed keen rivalry. Throughout Frederick County many schools gave entertainments and thus raised large sums of money for supplies. In Winchester a course of lectures was given under the auspices of the high school, the aim of the lectures being a better understanding of the problems abroad and America's need for service. The proceeds were turned over to the Red Cross to keep men in the service well and to care for them in case of illness.
In the fall of 1918, the schools in the county opened late and the town schools were adjourned for nearly a month in order that the boys and girls might help harvest the apple crop. This saved many thousands of dollars to the county.
The work of the school children in the junior Red Cross is given in the Red Cross section of this narrative.
The daily flag salute, the drills and the patriotic music of the schools had an echo in the home and on the street. The school children were fitting comrades for their brothers in arms, and were the loyal "second line of defense."
On April 2, 1917, two corps of Winchester High School cadets, over the age of fifteen years, went into training under the direction of the principal, Hugh S. Duffey. The purpose was to make themselves the nucleus of a Home Guard. The history of the Home Guard is included elsewhere in this narrative.
Few, if any, of the educational institutions in America had a more creditable record in the World War than the Shenandoah Valley Academy of Winchester. Of the entire personnel of the Academy subject to war service every single student was in some branch of the service. An editorial in the Winchester Star makes the following comment:
"During the eleven years the Shenandoah Valley Academy has been under the management of Major B. M. Roszel, the school has had 408 registered cadets, excepting eight who cannot be located. Of the total registered cadets, as above, the following were either not eligible for war service or could not properly be charged to the Academy: foreign born, 11; died, 6; expelled, 9; physically disqualified, 13; at Academy less than one year, 16; too young to serve, 175; total, 230. The difference between 230 and the total number of students is 178, and that number entered the military service-one hundred per cent patriotism!. Of the 178 entering the military service, six were commissioned as captains, 37 as lieutenants, 19 as non-commissioned officers and 116 as privates. Nine were decorated by the Allied governments for bravery. Of the faculty, 16 were eligible for service, and 16 entered the service. One hundred per cent Americans of both student body and factulty at the most crucial test in the history of the United States!. A remarkable record which should be most gratifying, not only to Major Roszel, but to the whole community. Nothing could more fully demonstrate the high standards and ideals of the institution."
Out of a total population of 19,000 in county and city, nearly five per cent was contributed to the actual fighting forces, either through voluntary enlistment or by the selective draft. In proportion to the number of men in the military service, the city of Winchester and the county of Frederick had more commissioned officers than any other area in Virginia-a high testimonial to the patriotism and efficiency of our citizens.
The registration board for Winchester was appointed in April, 1917, and was composed of the following members: Dr. J. F. Ward, J. Brad Beverley, J. L. Maphis, Joseph B. Newlin, and Dr. P. W. Boyd.
The registration board of Frederick County was named at the same time, and consisted of Luther Pannett, Philip H. Gold, and Dr. Charles R. Anderson. Later on (June 21, 1917) the two boards were consolidated with jurisdiction over both Winchester and Frederick County, and consisted of Luther Pannett, sheriff, chairman; Logan R. Fay and Dr. P. W. Boyd. These men had entire charge of the draft for the two communities during the war, until Dr. Boyd resigned to enter she service. Dr. E. C.. Stuart was selected to take his place and served for the remainder of the period. Miss Maude J. Brown acted as chief clerk.
No more loyal, devoted and patriotic service could have been performed by any body of men than was r rendered by the local draft board of Winchester and Frederick County. When a draftee was exempted or placed in deferred classification by this board, it was understood beyond a doubt than he had proven a clear title to such exemption o? deferred classification. It is not too much to say that the unusually large percentage of men taken in the draft from Winchester and Frederick and the small percentage of those exempted were due to the efforts, vigilance and patriotism of Chairman Pannett and Secretary Fay. The chairman and the secretary were the recipients of numerous letters of commendation from the officials of the War Department and the officials of the State Draft Board for their highly efficient work. During the entire time the United States was in the war, these men gave practically all of their time to the work of the board. They had their headquarters at first in the County Clerk's office and later at the City Hall.
Up to the time that he entered the service, T. Russell Cather, afterward Lieutenant Cather, served as counsel for the draft board, and when he entered the service John Steck was appointed in his place. All the members of the Winchester bar served on the legal advisory board and assisted in filling up the questionnaires and in giving such legal advice as the board and the registrants required.
As has been said, Winchester and Frederick County had an unusually large number of men who, by reason of their eminent fitness for positions of responsibility and leadership received commissions in the Army and Navy. Among those receiving commissions were: Charles R. Anderson, W. Alexander Baker, Robert T. Barton, Philip B. Boyd, Claude R. Cammer, Thomas R. Cather, C Weeden Cochran, George B. Conrad, Robert Y. Conrad, Andrew B. Drum, Benjamin B. Dutton, George H. Grimm, Harry H. Lynch, Louis McC. Nulton, W. -NTelson Page, Charles A. Robinson, Brantz M. Roszel, George B. Roszel, William D. Smith, Louis E. Snapp, Donald M. Weems, and Philip Williams.
Few people, not even the soldiers themselves, performed more heroic service and made more personal sacrifice than the nurses, whether they served overseas, on the battle fronts, or at home in the camps or in the home communities and in local hospitals. Among this heroic band were several women who claim either Winchester or Frederick County as thcir birthplace, and -who still call these localities "home."
Winchester Memorial Hospital had at least the following nurses in active service: Miss Anne L. Carson, Miss Angelina P. Didier, and Miss Helen M. Day. Miss Day was with the United States Army Base Hospital 45, St. Luke's Unit, and was stationed at Toul, France, from the summer of 1918 to the spring of 1919. Other nurses going out from the community were Miss Katherine Y. Harrison. who nursed in France and Belgium, Miss Stella V. Hicks, Base Hospital 41, and Miss Anne E. McFadden who was attached to Base Hospital No. 1 in Brest, France.
Company I was among the first military organizations of the State National Guard to be sent into Mexico and to perform duty on the border. The men had scarcely returned to their homes here when, on March 25, 1917, they were again called into the service of the United States as the initial step on the road to France.
The company was formed by the consolidation of Companies B and I of the Second Virginia National Guard, into Company I, 116th Infantry, with the additional of 23 enlisted men transferred from the Fourth Virginia National Guard. This consolidation was completed on October 4, 1917, at Camp McClellan, with the following officers: Robert Y. Conrad, captain; Harold R. Dinges, Herbert D. May, Harry A. Macon, first lieutenants; George H. Grimm, Joseph W. Bennett, second lieutenants. The company was organized at its full war strength of 251 enlisted men. Eight months of hard training followed, at the end of which time the company was considered one of the best disciplined and physically fit units in the regiment. It embarked for overseas service on the U. S. S. Finland, June 15, 1918.
Company I took part in the following battles: Malbrouck Hill, Molleville Farm, Attack on Bois d'Ormont, Grande Montaigne, Capture of Etraye Ridge, Attack on Bois Bellau. The following members of the company were killed in action or died of wounds: Captain Robert Y. Conrad, Sergeant Milford J. Bolner, Sergeant James F. Hinton, Earle D. Airhart, Clifford Gray, Charles W. Findley, Adam J. Gretchman, Walter Hitchcock, Walter K. Kupthal, Robert L. Lafferty, Floyd Lucas, Edgar Southerland, James Wilbourn, Robert P. Wilson, Clyde H. Burton, Clarence Derflinger, Howard Jackson, Roscoe C. Peck, and Raymond S. Shonk.3
The following members of Company I were decorated: Captain Robert Y. Conrad, Sergeant Louis Snapp, Corporal Isaac F. Allemong, Corporal Joseph Reid, Private Jesse Fry, Private Isaac Ingrain. All of these, with the exception of Isaac Ingrain, were Winchester and Frederick County men and their awards are given in the Distinguished Service list a little further on in this narrative. Private Ingrain received a Distinguished Service Cross.
Captain Harold R. Dinges who became commanding officer of the company after Captain Robert Y. Conrad died from wounds received in action on October 8, 1918, wrote a narrative covering the career of the company. This narrative discloses some interesting facts. It shows that the company was a part of the Third Battalion, commanded by Major H. L. Opie and known as "The Fighting Third"; that when the company was brought to full war strength it was exclusively Virginian; that the company went into action several mornings without breakfast, and was under fire for twelve days in succession, suffering severe losses but keeping up a splendid morale. As a history of the Third Battalion, 116th Infantry, is given in Volume V, "Virginia Military Organizations in the World War," no detailed account of Company I is given here.
The Home Guard of Winchester was organized March 29, 1917. Robert T. Barton was elected captain, L. Marshall Baker, first lieutenant, and Carlin Gray, second lieutenant. There were forty enrolled privates at the time of organization, but this number was finally increased to 100. When Captain Barton went to military camp, Logan R. Fay, who was a member of the draft board, was elected to take his place. On several occasions the services of these men were utilized to quell local disturbances. When the Virginia Volunteers were organized the Home Guards joined theta and were equipped with rifles.
Middletown quickly followed Winchester in the organization of Home Guards, a company at that place being formed on August 29, 1917. W. E. Coffman was captain, R. R. Tolbert, first lieutenant, and George G. Keith, second lieutenant.
The history and roster of the Winchester State Volunteers known as the "Winchester State Guards" will be found in Volume IV of the Virginia War History Commission publications, "Virginia War Agencies, Selective Draft and Volunteers."
The following service men from Winchester and Frederick County are recorded in the Virginia War History Commission's Source Volume I, as having received military distinction: Corporal Isaac F. Allemong, Distinguished Service Cross and French Croix de Guerre; Henry Southworth Baker, Jr., cited by Division Commander; Captain Thomas Bolling Byrd, cited by Division Commander and Silver Star citation; Lieutenant Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., commended by Secretary of the Navy; First Lieutenant Claude R. Cammer, cited by Division Commander and by Brigade Commander; Capt. Robert Young Conrad (deceased), Distinguished Service Cross; Evan Creswell, cited by Division Commander; First Lieutenant Harold H. Dinges, cited by Division Commander and Silver Star citation; First Lieutenant Benjamin Bland Dutton, cited by Brigade Commander; Sergeant Jesse A. Fry, Silver Star Citation, French Croix de Guerre; Captain Edward Johnston, Distinguished Service Cross; Captain Louis McCoy Nulton, Navy Cross; Sergeant Joseph William Reid (deceased), Distinguished Service Cross and Italian War Cross; John Ritter, cited by Brigade Commander; Claude Hoyt Ryan, Navy Cross; Sergeant Louis Edward Snapp (deceased), French Croix de Guerre; Sergeant Charles F. Carbaugh, French Croix de Guerre.
The Winchester Star, which is quoted frequently in these pages, states that Corporal Fred M. Affleck, of Winchester, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Miss Anne L. Carson, who was awarded the British Royal Red Cross, is recorded in "Virginians of Distinguished Service" as a native of Warren County. She is now Mrs. Benjamin B. Dutton, Jr., of `Winchester. The writer has information to the effect that Lieutenant Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., in addition to his commendation by the Navy, was decorated by several European governments for his exploits in long-distance flying.
More or less complete records of a number of Winchester and Frederick County men who seemed to stand out above their fellows in point of Service have been included in the original draft of this history furnished the Virginia War History- Commission. Space will not permit of these records being included in this sketch, but they cover Dr. Charles B. Anderson, Captain W. Alexander Baker, Captain Robert T. Barton, Dr. Philip W. Boyd, Sergeant Leslie M. Brown, Dr. H. V. Canter, Lieutenant Thomas Russell Cather, Lieutenant Eugene E. Chiles, Major C. Weeden Cochran, Major Bryan Conrad, Lieutenant George Bryan Conrad, Captain Andrew B. Drum, Dr. Benjamin B. Dutton, Captain George H. Grimm, Lieutenant Matthew Harrison, Rear Admiral Louis McCoy Nulton, Edward C. Oldham. Lieutenant W. Nelson Page, Mayor Brantz Mayer Roszel, Captain George Bosley Roszel, Claude H. Ryan, U. S. N., Chaplain William D. Smith, Lieutenant Philip Williams, Captain Thomas Cover Barton. A very complete and detailed record of Captain Robert Y. Conrad's service and death is also given.
The following is the list of Winchester and Frederick County men who lost their lives in the World War as furnished by the Adjutant General's office at Richmond, Virginia. This list is probably incomplete, since there are at least several persons who died or were killed in action whose names do not appear. The list is as follows: Captain Robert Y. Conrad, Sergeant Milford J. Bolner, Sergeant James F. Hinton, Corporal Miles D. Sanger , Corporal Richard C. Stewart, and Privates Thomas Adams, Clifton W. Anderson, Clifton C. Baker, Vernon Bowers, Isaac Byrd Dix, Silas E. Fauver, Benjamin Ford, George Barrow Grim, Smith Luttrell, Charles H. Orndorff, Raymond E. Shenk, Joseph Wiggenton, Walter G. Wingfield, Carson Wisecarver, Thurman C. Fletcher.
The following colored men died in service: Solomon Johnson, Clifton A. Nelson, Charles Scott and Joseph Willis.
So far as is known the only man from Winchester and Frederick County who died in the service of the United States Navy was Samuel Dean Baker, of Cross Junction.
The First Liberty Loan was taken wholly by the Handley Board of Trustees; the Second was managed by the banks quota, $425,000; the Third was conducted by Rev. W. D. Smith, quota $785,000, raised $815,000; the Fourth was conducted by H. B. McCormac, quota $896,000, raised $1,006,000 ; the Fifth was conducted by Arthur Fields. In all the five Liberty Loans Winchester and Frederick County oversubscribed their quotas by many thousands of dollars and they contributed much more than their quotas to every activity calling for money and supplies. The total population of the two communities is but 19,344 (Census of 1920), yet they subscribed for more than $5,000,000 in Liberty Bonds.
The information given above does not agree in any particular with the report of the Federal Reserve Bank for Frederick County. The report referred to is as follows: No report for the First Loan; Second Loan, quota, $745,000, subscribed, $708,600 ; Third Loan, quota, $418,300, subscribed, $449,750 ; Fourth Loan, quota, $983,700 subscribed, 976,700; Victory Loan, quota, $708,300, subscribed, $776,500; total apportionment for the last four loans, $2,855,800, total subscribed for the last four loans, $2,911,500. It is suggested that all subscriptions were not taken through local banks, which may account for the discrepancy.
The following incident of the Liberty Loan campaign in the county had a decided influence in completing the quotas for the county. Erasmus Baker, an aged resident of the mountain section of Frederick County, had managed to scrape together and save during a lifetime of seventy-four years about $3,000 in money. He was unlettered, but patriotic. He was told in his little mountain home of the German menace, and of the needs of America for money to prosecute the war. Mr. Baker was not a believer in banks, so he kept his money hidden in a shoe. On a cold day the aged mountaineer walked over the rough roads of that section of the county to Winchester, a distance of over fifteen miles, and invested his $3,000 in Liberty Bonds. This act served as an inspiration to many at a time when the sale of bonds was lagging.
W. D. Smith was chairman of the War Savings Stamps campaign. The school children, as has been said, had a large part in this work. In Winchester over $2,500 was raised, while in the county the total was brought to more than $4,000.*
The city of Winchester and its vicinity were peculiarly fortunate in securing the ablest speakers sent from abroad to boost the Liberty Loans. In large measure this was due to the fact that the Handley Foundation had at its disposal a large fund set aside for educational purposes, one of which is to pay public speakers to talk on educational topics. It appealed to our people to be able to hear at first hand the experiences of distinguished soldiers who had been at the fighting front. The two communities had a rare opportunity offered them and they responded by their unstinted subscriptions and contributions. The Handley Foundation itself subscribed to over half a million dollars in Liberty Bonds and has them now among its investments.
When it was seen at the beginning of the war that some systematic plan would have to be adopted to prevent overlapping of effort in the various directions which presented themselves, the people of Winchester and Frederick decided that this could best be accomplished through a general fund covering all war relief work, the Red Cross included. The Winchester and Frederick County War Chest was the outcome of this plan, and the Rev. W. 11. Smith was unanimously chosen as chairman. The drive was agitated in June, 1918, and later in the season it was carried to success. Mr. Smith aimed to raise a total of $25,000 by voluntary contributions, and succeeded in raising nearly $60,000, the fund being in charge of Mr. H. B. McCormac. Under any other circumstance than a World War the raising of this sutra would have staggered the most patriotic and philanthropic citizens. This War Chest money was expended for the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights of Columbus, and other worthy objects.
Food production was increased fully 50 per cent and eggs and poultry 100 per cent. There were food demonstrations at all fairs, and undernourished children were looked after. There was a twenty-five per cent increase in milk and a fifty per cent increase in milk products. War gardens were universal and the increase in output was 100 per cent. There were gardens where none were ever before known. Mill hands worked vacant lots. The impetus continued two or three years. In 1918 there was co-operative harvesting. Fertilizers were purchased by the car lot and tested here. There were co-operative shipments and there was much purchasing in large quantities. The testing of seeds was extensively practiced. There were several labor surveys, the labor bureau being conducted by Charles Connor. The census for this survey was taken by women. Trucks were much used. Women and girls did as much work on the farms as did the men. Men went to work who had never worked before when confronted with the alternative of "work or go to jail." School boys worked on the farms.
The flower garden became a potato patch; crops were planted and harvested in greater abundance than ever before. Food conservation occupied a large portion of time and thought. Public meetings were held, much publicity was given by means of the local newspaper, a house-to-house canvass was made under the leadership of Mrs. Robert T. Barton, who was chairman of food conservation. Mrs. Lucien Lupton was secretary.
During the autumn of 1918 the apple crop in Frederick County its most valuable asset, was in great danger of being an entire loss because of the scarcity of labor. The action of the school children in this connection has already been stated in treating the schools section. In addition to the work of the school children, hundreds of women, representing all classes of society, volunteered to help save the apples. They donned knickers and went to work in the orchards, asking no quarter and no consideration of their sex, but every morning at daylight they went into the orchards in frost and wet and worked throughout the day, just the same as the men. At many places pretentious quarters had been erected for them. Here they slept and ate, but every detail of military discipline was enforced with regard to their daily life, and every safeguard and protection were thrown. around them. From September 11 till November 24, 1918, there: was an orchard unit of 43 girls and two cooks; another of 75 soldiers. In the barracks there were no fatalities from influenza. Women were paid 25 cents an hour for 10 hours a day in the orchard-the same as men-and they did excellent work. There were 25 girls from outside of the community in the industrial army, some of them coming from New England. One of the girls was from Honduras. Another was the daughter of a major general, and still another was the daughter of an attache at Vienna. The apple crop was saved.
Mrs. F. L. Harris was director of canning clubs.
The conservation of fuel was carefully observed. Offices were closed one day each week, stores closed at an early hour, electric lights were restricted, unnecessary rooms were unheated. Winchester reminded one of the old-time village with beams of light straggling through occasional windows.
April 6, 1917, the Boy Scouts of Winchester held a meeting at the home of the Rev. W. D. Smith, rector of the Episcopal Church and president of the local Scouts, and formed plans to offer their services to the mayor. Scoutmaster L. Marshall Baker presided. Five days later, one hundred Scouts marched to the City Hall plaza and formally dedicated their services to the town and to the nation. The mayor accepted their offer. The report of the Winchester Boy Scouts to May 20, 1919, is as follows : Bonds sold, $455,800; members given emblems by Treasury Department, 32; every Scout sold Thrift Stamps; every boy gave $5 in the Victory' Boys Campaign; a troop War Savings Bank was organized: to the Red Cross was given over $2,000; to the Y.M.C.A. over $1,000; fruit pits were collected and clothing for the Belgians; in the Army and Navy were eight Scouts and three of them were given commissions.
The Boy Scouts were so effective in soliciting for the Third Liberty Loan as to rank first in Virginia, and thereby win the President's flag for the State of Virginia. Their workers were always present at the appointments for public speaking throughout the county, and canvassed the crowd on each occasion.
The latter half of the year, 1918, was a black one indeed for the community as for the nation at large. The appalling influenza epidemic was at its height and an unusual circumstance associated the fatalities in this vicinity with those in the camps. The farmers, and particularly the fruit growers, appealed to the Federal authorities for assistance in gathering the enormous crops that year. They argued that their sons and their employees had been called away from them by the draft, and that the crops threatened to rot in the fields and orchards for lack of necessary help to harvest them. Accordingly, the War Department sent several hundred soldiers from the training camps to assist our people to harvest their crops. Even before they arrived, some of these soldiers were suffering with influenza and nearly all the others were stricken with the malady shortly after they were assigned to the farmers and fruit growers. Many deaths occurred among them. One of the selective draft men who died here was an Eskimo, conscripted from the northernmost part of Alaska.
To add to the general seriousness of the situation, many of the trained nurses connected with the Winchester Memorial Hospital had enlisted in the army for hospital work overseas, while voluntary enlistments in the same branch of the fighting forces had called away nearly every doctor and surgeon in the city. To relieve the condition many volunteers qualified as practical nurses, while the old family doctor, fast becoming extinct, and the country physician, had their services and skill commandeered for the relief of the sufferers. At one time there were only three. physicians in Winchester, a town of 7,000 people, while in the county the proportion of doctors to population was even less.
All churches, theaters, moving picture halls, and other public places were closed, while the assembling of people in public was strictly forbidden. This was going on while people were on rations of food, fuel, lights and other necessities, the partaking of a luxury being regarded as little short of traitorous.
During the single month of October Miss Mary K. Strickler, the district nurse, with two or three helpers for only two weeks, had charge of 428 patients, 410 of whom had influenza. Many of these cases were very severe, although but five of the patients died. Mrs. H. D. Fuller was chairman of this work. She performed a heroic service, giving practically her entire time to it and doing the undesirable work in connection with the care of the sick. In some families seven or eight were ill with the influenza at one time, none being able to assist the others. Miss Strickler resigned in December, 1919, to become county school nurse, and was succeeded by Miss Gertrude Higgens.
Significant of the reality of a united North and South, National Memorial Day, May 30, 1918, was attended by a large throng of people in which the children and the grandchildren of those who wore the gray in 1861-1865 participated. One week later, June 6, came Confederate Memorial Day, the most important occasion in the local calendar. Scores of people whose sympathies were with the North then participated in paying a tribute to the dead soldiers of the South. Returning the tribute, the Confederates, for the first time in local history, placed the Stars and Stripes upon the North's great monument to the Unknown and Unrecorded dead in Stonewall Cemetery.
June 14, 1918, Flag Day was appropriately observed by the Winchester Lodge of Elks, a large number of other citizens participating. America was now in the war, and patriotism was at fever pitch, the outlook for a successful issue with Germany was at that time, however, depressing. There were special days for prayer and fasting, for patriotic speeches, for appeals to the purse, the energies and the sacrifices of all the people, to the end that the war might be won speedily. These special days were frequent and fervent.
The Fourth of July of the wine year was an occasion for a great outburst of patriotism in Winchester, and on the Sunday nearest the Fourth, Angelus bells were rung in every church in the town, and citizens offered prayer for "our soldiers and sailors and the nation, and lead us to victory."
"America" was rendered on church chimes and church organs and was played by the bands and sung by the people everywhere assembled. Flags floated from all public buildings and from places of historic interest in and around the city, while many business places were decorated with the Stars and Stripes, kept floating throughout the period of the war. Three-minute speakers appealed nightly in the moving picture houses and theaters, and in the open air for subscriptions to Liberty Loans, and other war causes.
Before America entered the war the women of Winchester and Frederick County were busily knitting under two committees, one for the army, under the direction of Mrs. Holmes Conrad, Mrs. Julian F. Ward, and Mrs. R. T. Barton, and the other for the navy, under the direction of Mrs. Herbert S. Larrick. After the Red Cross was formed these two organizations became the knitting unit of that organization. Over 8,000 garments were made.
On September 27, 1917, a meeting was held in Winchester preliminary to the organization of a Red Cross chapter. Mr. Lynde acted as chairman of the meeting and Mr. C. Vernon Eddy was secretary. Team captains were appointed for the county and town to solicit contributions, their goal being the raising of $10.000 payable in monthly installments.
A permanent organization was effected and the following officers were elected : Chairman, Rev. Dr. William D. Smith; vice-chairman, R. Gray Williams; secretary, C. Vernon Eddy; treasurer, J. C. McCarthy.
The money goal was quickly oversubscribed.
On May 28, 1918, the officers were re-elected, with the exception of Mr. McCarthy who had permanently left town. Mr. John M. Snyder was selected in his place and served throughout the war period. The executive committee was as follows: L. Marshall Baker, P. H. Gold, H. B. McCormac, Harry F. Byrd, R. L. Gray, W. J. Whitlock, Mrs. R. T. Barton, Mrs. Carroll Carver, Mrs. H. H. McGuire, Mrs. Walker McC. Bond, Mrs. W. E. Cooper, Mrs. J. M. Steck.
At a largely attended meeting in November the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Chairman, W. R. Talbot; vice-chairman, R. Gray Williams; secretary, C. Vernon Eddy; treasurer, Philip H. Gold.
The city executive committee members were: R. T. Barton, Philip Williams, L. Marshall Baker, Harry F. Byrd, Leslie D. Kline, Robert L. Gray, Mrs. H. B. McCormac, Mrs. J. M. Snyder, Mrs. J. C. Cather, Mrs. M. M. Lynch, Mrs. R. T. Barton, Mrs. W. McC. Bond, Mrs. Carroll Carver, Mrs. H. D. Fuller, Mrs. Virginia Lines, Mrs. H. H. McGuire, Miss Lucy Kurtz, and Miss Lucy Russell.
County executive committee: J. W. Richards, Mrs. Hunter Stine, Mrs. Alfred Wright, Mrs. Ada Shryock, Mrs. Clark Whitacre, Mrs. Howard Gri Crim, Mrs. W. C. Crim Mrs. B. F. Kern, Mrs. Luther Brill, Mrs. Edith Pannett, Mrs. S. F. Rhodes, Mrs. J. W. Herrell, Mrs. T. D. Wright, and Miss Beal Garvin. Mrs. A. D. Griffith was executive secretary during this term.
From the report of Mrs. Bond on the Red Cross in Frederick County and the city of Winchester, are taken the following data:
A wool auxiliary was appointed, consisting of Mrs. Walker McC. Bond, Mrs. Robert T. Barton, and Mrs. Carroll C. Carver. They were instructed to purchase yarn and to obtain volunteer knitters to provide sweaters, socks, and scarves for the local soldiers. The knitting auxiliary became an amalgamation of the Red Cross committee on wool, the army knitting committee, and the Navy League Branch official representatives.
From September 16, 1917, to September 2, 1918, a total of 3,266 articles were made by 600 women; 1,740 people came to get yarn, and at least one more trip was made to return the finished article, so a conservative estimate was 3,480 visits to headquarters in the Professional Building on West Water Street. Dr. Walter D. Myers, the owner of the building, donated an office for the headquarters, and Mrs. Bond was in charge of the work until she resigned to give all her time to home service work. From September 2, 1918, to December 1, 1918, there were made 871 articles. The Navy League had a grand total of 393 articles before their amalgamation with the Red Cross. Therefore the grand total to December 1 was 4,539 articles, with the work of the Army Committee making over 5,000 knitted articles sent from our chapter to the boys. From October, 1918, to October, 1919, 280 knitted garments were sent to refugee women and children.
During this entire time, Miss Mamie Spellman was in active charge of the headquarters, her working hours being usually from eight in the morning until a late hour every day. She devoted practically her entire time to the work, handing out the yarn, checking it, keeping the accounts straight, and receiving back the finished garment and rechecking it, besides acting as a bureau of general information upon many subjects.
The surgical dressings workers, under the direction of Mrs. H. H. McGuire, made 187,000 dressings during the year 1918. The Winchester branch, with a membership of 250 women, completed 164,000 of these; Middletown with 30 women, made 500 dressings; Stephens City with 20 women, made 11,000. The $150 worth of unused material on hand December 6, 1918. was turned over to Winchester Memorial Hospital with the understanding that should any wounded men from Winchester or Frederick County require any surgical dressings, they could obtain these from the hospital free of charge.
Mrs. S. L. Lupton, supervisor of the hospital supply section, reported for 1917-1918 that the section was organized in November, 1917, and was invited by Mrs. George W. Kurtz to establish a workroom in her house on South Main Street. Three cutting units and one sewing unit worked regularly during the winter and spring. Twenty-seven cutters prepared material, besides the cutting done at the Lewis Jones Knitting Factory. Two sewing machines were hired, and by November 1, 1918, 4,625 articles were completed, more than half being made in the county. There were sewing auxiliaries at Pleasant Valley, Middletown, Clearbrook, Nineveh, Grimes, Welltown, and White Hall. For the soldiers 570 comfort kits were furnished, and 185,000 surgical dressings made. The sum of $63,424.83 in War Savings Stamps was raised in Winchester, and $22,424.97 in Frederick County. The United Welfare Campaign brought in $14,880.
The work for refugees was under the direction of Mrs. S. L. Lupton. After the Armistice the work was continued for the refugees under the direction of Miss Lucy Kurtz. During the war Mrs. John M. Snyder sent out to refugee children 456 garments.
During 1917 and 1918, 496 comfort kits and 34 bags, 530 in all were given to soldiers and sailors, and 256 Christmas boxes were sent to our men, Mrs. M. M. Lynch having charge of this work.
In June, 1918, the home service section was organized. From June to September, 1918, 412 families had received calls, giving service of some kind, and 322 calls giving information alone-a total of 774. During 1918 an average of 350 to 400 calls were made each month by volunteer workers until the arrival of the executive secretary who handled this work through her office.
A home service course was given to women representing sixteen sections of the county, by Mrs. W. McC. Bond, a graduate of the Summer School for Social Work in Richmond. This work was carried on during November and December. Mrs. H. Clay DeGrange was the first chairman of the home service section. She was succeeded by Mrs. Philip Williams, with Mrs. Mason Snapp as assistant for Winchester and Mrs. Alfred Wright for the county. The executive secretary of the Red Cross now handles all the work, and her office thus becomes a clearing house for all Red Cross and welfare work in the community. In February, 1919, the Potomac Division of the American Red Cross gave authority to extend the work to civilian cases.
A rest room was maintained by the executive committee for returned soldiers, during 1918, in the City Hall. This rest room has now become the secretary's office.
In March, 1918, it was decided to set aside $2,500 for a nurse's fund to assist with the city nurse's work, and to support a county school nurse, her work to commence September 1, 1918. Miss Ruth Easley served until her health failed, when she was succeeded by Miss Mary K. Strickler.
During a part of the war period Miss B. C. Sheckells was executive secretary but she soon resigned and Miss Anna F. Haines was her successor. She resigned to go to Russia for relief work for the Society of Friends. Miss Stowers is the present executive secretary.
Red Cross certificates were awarded to the following:
Mrs. M. S. Appleby, Miss Minnie C. Baker, Mrs. W. K. Baker, Mrs. Robert T. Barton, Mrs. J. B. Beverley, Mrs. P. W. Boyd, Mrs. H. R. Bryarly, Mrs. C. L. Carver, Mrs. John C. Cather, Mrs. T. R. Cather, Miss Augusta Conrad, Miss Carter B. Conrad, Mrs. Holmes Conrad, Mrs. William H. Crim, Mrs. John W. Darlington, Mrs. H. Clay DeGrange, Mrs. Jennie DeHaven, Miss Edith Dinges, Miss Edna M. Dinges, Mrs. R. B. Emmert, Mrs. H. D. Fuller, Mrs. P. H. Gold, Miss Jennie M. Green. Mrs. M. B. Richards, Mrs. R. B. Slomaker, Mrs. J. M. Snyder, Mrs. J. M. Steck, Mrs. Hunter Stine, Mrs. Julian F. Ward, Mrs. Martin Wisecarver, Mrs. F. L. Harris, Miss Mabel Haynes, Mrs. J. E. Herrell, Miss Annie Hollingsworth, Mrs. A. T. Jones, Mrs. H. R. Kern, Mrs. John A. Kiger, Miss Lucy G. Kurtz, Mrs. H. S. Larrick, Mrs. Virginia Lines, Miss Carrie B. Lupton, Mrs. S. Lucien L upton, Mrs. M. M. Lynch, Mrs. H. B. McCormac, Miss Charlotte McCormick, Mrs. H. H. McGuire, Mrs. C. F. Massey, Mrs. Leota Moore, Miss Mary V. Muse, Miss Frances P. Page, Mrs. S. F. Rhodes, Mrs. Warren Rice, Mrs. J. A. Richards, Miss Irene Slonaker, Miss Caroline Smith, Miss Mamie Spellman, Miss Alva Steele, Mrs. James Taylor, Mrs. Briscoe Williams, and Mrs. Alfred Wright.
April 2, 1917, the National Surgical Dressings Committee was organized with Mrs. Hunter H. McGuire at the head, Miss Frances Page, treasurer, and Miss Augusta Conrad, secretary. Mrs. Holmes Conrad gave the use of a room in her house, and in that room for a year, one hundred women worked faithfully to aid the suffering boys in France. On the executive committee were Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. W. A. Baker, Mrs. James Easthom Mrs. M. M. Lynch, and Mrs. C. Vernon Eddy. On the packing and inspection committee were Mrs. John Meade Snyder, Mrs. Alexander Barrie, and Miss Lucy Kurtz.
The following had charge of units: Mrs. C. Vernon Eddy, Miss Lucy Kurtz, Mrs. John M. Snyder, Mrs. William E. Cooper, Mrs. Martin Wisecarver, Miss Nan Maynard, Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. Philip W. Boyd, Mrs. Harry Lupton, Mrs. W. A. Baker, Mrs. Roland Bryarly, Mrs. H. B. McCormac, Miss Carter Conrad, Miss Augusta Conrad, and Miss Gertrude Schneider.
Twice a month a committee inspected the dressings, packed them, and sent them to Richmond, Virginia. In November it was decided to organize a Red Cross chapter, so Miss Caroline S. Hunter was asked to come up from Washington and give a course in surgical dressings. The following are those who took and successfully passed the examinations and then became instructors in the Red Cross: Mrs. John M. Snyder, Mrs. Martin Wisecarver, Miss Gertrude Schneider, Mrs. Harry Lupton, Miss Carter Conrad, Miss Augusta Conrad, Miss Hilda Dean, Mrs. Carroll Carver, Miss Lucy Kurtz, Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. P. W. Boyd, Mrs. H. B. McCormac, Mrs. Warren Rice, Miss Minnie Baker, Miss Rena Keckley, Mrs. H. H. McGuire, Miss Lizzie Jones, Miss .______. Rawson, Mrs. Harry K. Russell, Mrs. _____ Appleby, Mrs. Robert M. Ward, Miss _____ Warren, Miss Frances Page, Mrs. M. M. Lynch, Misses Slonaker, Mrs. ._____ Eastham, Mrs. _____ Sreck, Mrs. L. E. Rice, Mrs. Lewis Hyde, Mrs. J. Horace Lacy, Mrs. Henry R. Bryarly, Miss Lucy Russell, Mrs. R. E. Griffith, Miss Charlotte McCormick, Miss Jacquelin Smith, Miss Gertrude Wheat, Mrs. W. D. Smith, Mrs. Fred L. Glaize, and Miss Bessie Conrad.
Early in the following spring the parish house of Christ Church was used by the surgical dressings units. The headquarters for the sweaters, socks, helmets, etc., was in the office building of Dr. Walter D. Myers, who kindly gave the rooms. Work began in the surgical dressings rooms every morning at ten o'clock and continued until six in the afternoon. There was one night unit composed of girls who worked all day. Mrs. McGuire has charge of all surgical dressings made in the county, so she went to Stephens City, Kernstown, and every other place where this work was done, and gave instructions. All work was inspected in Winchester, so every week the work would be brought to the parish house, where it was inspected, packed, and sent to Washington. This work was continued until early in 1919, when the rooms were closed. The knitting and making of garments were continued well into the spring.**
A first aid class was organized with Dr. Walter Cox as instructor, and Dr. B. B. Dutton, examiner. The following took the class: Mrs. Lewis Hyde, Miss Mary Lynch, Miss Augusta Conrad, Miss Jacquelin Smith, Miss Katherine Kern, Mrs. W. Nelson Page, Miss Frances Page, and Mrs. P. W. Boyd.
Colored people who did good work in this department were Bettie Jackson, Emma Parks Robinson, and Amanda Gilbert.
The report in this department is as follows:
As soon as the Red Cross was organized in Winchester, every branch of war relief work was started. Mrs. Lucien Lupton was appointed director of all hospital garment work in Winchester and Frederick County. Under her very efficient direction a splendid organization was established.
Mrs. Philip W. Boyd and Mrs. Herbert Larrick were in charge of all hospital garments made in Winchester. From this unit work was distributed throughout the town to those who could not attend the sewing room. Mr. and Mrs. Lucien Lupton entered generously and patriotically into this work and offered their spacious home on Stewart Street for cutting and packing purposes. At their residence all cutting was done and all work sent out to the country units.
Mrs. Boyd and Mrs. Larrick had charge of all cutting, and were ably assisted by Miss Nan Leafe, Mrs. Bruce Slonaker, Mrs. John Snyder, Mrs. Lucien Lupton, and Mrs. Harry Lupton.
When first organized, in the early fall of 1917, the sewing unit met in the parish room of Christ Episcopal Church Mrs. J. B. Beverley, Mrs. Frank Crawford, Mrs. Horace Browne, Mr. Lewis Rice, and Mr. R. M. Swimley loaned sewing machines. At every meeting these seven machines were kept busy, and many were sewing by hand. The sewing was continued here until the weather became very cold, and the parish room was needed for the surgical dressings units.
From the Episcopal Church the sewing unit moved to the parlor of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Lucien Lupton gave a stove and fuel to heat the room. During the winter of 19171918 the weather was the most severe ever recorded here. The sewing was carried on under many difficulties. Yet the faithful were never frozen nor snowed in, but pressed on with untiring energy to continue the cutting and sewing. Meanwhile the work had grown tremendously. Units were formed throughout the county. Mrs. A. S. Jett had charge of a unit at Nineveh. Mrs. Samuel Rhodes and Miss Edna Dinges were in charge of a large unit at Middletown. Miss Carrie Lupton had charge of a unit at Clearbrook. All over the county were women sewing, faithfully and diligently.
All cutting was done in Winchester, and a large force of efficient cutters were now trained. They were: Mrs. Philip Boyd, Mrs. Herbert Larrick, Mrs. George Brown Mrs. Hunter Grein, Mrs. Camillus Grien, Mrs. John Sloat Mrs. Robert Barton, Mrs. John Campbell, Mrs. Pansy Shepherd, Mrs. Charles A. Lepton, Mrs. John W. Larrick, Sr., Mrs. Bessie McCann, Mrs. M. B. Richards' Mrs. Harry Miller Mrs. Bruce Slonaker, Miss Mary Slagle, Miss Jennie Green, Miss Katie Miller, Miss Lilly Baker, Miss Minnie Baker, Miss Gertrude Barton, Miss Nan Leafe, Miss Irene Slonaker, Miss Lucy Kurtz, and Mrs. Russell Cather.
Mrs. John Snyder was instructor of all garments. man of the packing committee.
The hardships of war and weather seemed to pursue the sewers. During a very heavy snow in March, 1918, the church began leaking, and the ceiling of the church parlor fell, making it impossible to use the room until repairs were made. Captain George W. Kurtz, the veteran soldier and patriot, offered his house for our sewing. Mrs. Kurtz and Miss Kurtz cleared their two spacious parlors at 21 South Main Street, and the sewing unit was moved from the Presbyterian Church to the hertz residence. This was permanent headquarters thereafter for all cutting and sewing.
The organization of the hospital garment work was splendid. Cut garments were in reach of every woman in Winchester and Frederick County. Space forbids giving the names of all the sewers. But it will always be a pleasure to know that the women were eager for their opportunity to aid our soldiers. Thousands of hospital garments were beautifully made and sent abroad. The work at no time lagged or lacked a patriotic interest.
After the Armistice was signed sewing was continued for our soldiers in hospitals. Soon after this, Mrs. Lucien Lepton had to give up the work, due to a physical breakdown, and was succeeded by Miss Lucy Kurtz. Miss Kurtz had been one of the faithful workers, and she was well fitted to carry on the work so splendidly organized. After war work was over, Miss Kurtz did splendid work directing the sewing done for refugees.
The Junior Red Cross in town and county responded to the call of President Wilson for the aid of even the youngest of "our boys." Schools were organized by the chapter school committee of the Red Cross; the first year 1,981 young people became juniors; the second year over 2,000, and each junior became a health crusader, a soldier for health and health habits. In 1920 there were 4,000 young people of Winchester and Frederick County who were juniors, a 100 per cent enrollment of the schools.
Entertainments were given, window exhibits were arranged, posters were made, floats were gotten up for parades; a bird's eye view of all Red Cross work for juniors was given in an exhibit made by the High School pupils of Winchester. This exhibit was later shown by request of the National Red Cross at the National Educational Association meetings held in Cleveland, Ohio, in February, 1920, and in June of that year at Portland, Maine. A portion of the exhibit was used in an Anti-Tuberclosis Conference at Philadelphia, and later at Washington, D. C.
In the parade on Armistice Day the juniors furnished five floats.
The Juniors of the High School bear the name of Winchester's two nurses from Memorial Hospital who were overseas; Angelica Didier and Ann Carson. They have chosen as their inspiration, "wee Miss Bobbie," the daughter of Captain Robert Y. Conrad.
The women of Winchester and Frederick were anxious to aid in every branch of war relief work. Very soon after the national surgical dressings units were organized, Mrs. Herbert S. Larrick, sister of Captain Louis McC. Nulton, United States Navy, presented to the women the need of having a branch of the Navy League in Winchester. This appeal interested every one, and in May, 1917, a formal organization of the Navy League was made, with Mrs. Herbert Larrick as executive chairman and secretary, and Mrs. T. Russell Cather as treasurer. The following ladies formed the executive committee: Mrs. Herbert S. Larrick Mrs. T. Russell Cather Miss Augusta Conrad, Mrs. Virginia Sines, Mrs. Walker McC. Bond, Miss Lucy Russell, and Mrs. John M. Steck.
The object of the organization was to furnish yarn, and knit sweaters mufflers, wristlets, and helmets for the American seamen. When the United States suddenly entered the war, our seamen's regulation clothing was not adequate for the rigorous cold and exposure of mine-laying in the North Sea and in other cold regions. The volunteer work done by the women of the Navy League met this emergency. Men and women joined in a membership fee of $3 per annum, and also gave much additional money for the purchase of yarn.
Mr. R. Gray Williams gave the use of rooms at 21 West Piccadilly Street. This place was opened every morning as headquarters, and from here yarn was distributed, instructions given, and knit articles returned, packed, and shipped. The executive committee was untiring in its work of organization. All during the summer of 1917 the work progressed increasingly, hundreds of completed articles were shipped to headquarters in Washington, D. C., and from there sent to the seamen. High ranking officers in the Navy volunteered their appreciation of the Winchester branch for the splendid assistance they were giving the seamen. Every boy enlisting in the Navy from Winchester and Frederick was given a knitted outfit.
On Tune 6, Confederate Memorial Day, a "Tag day" was held in order to raise money for yarn for the Navy League, and material for surgical dressings. The spirit of patriotism again prevailed, and many were glad to be tagged with the United States flag. There was raised in this way $150.
In the early fall of 1917 the Red Cross was formally organized here, and the Navy League was merged into that as the knitting unit of the Red Cross. In this way more money could be obtained for yarn, and knitted garments were then needed for men in both army, and navy. The headquarters were then moved in September to the Professional Building on West Water Street, which Dr. Myers had loaned to the Red Cross.
Here the knitting unit of the Red Cross did its splendid work, Mrs. Bond and Miss Lucy Russell being in charge, with Mrs. Herbert Larrick in charge of buying yarn. The knitting started by the Navy League was carried on with increasing patriotism and labor.
Over 2,000 pounds of yarns were made tip in the winter of 1917-1918. The following is a list of charter members of the Navy Lea League, who made it possible to form an organization and order yarn at once: Mrs. J. B. Ames, Mrs. W. A. Baker, Miss Lilly Baker, Mrs. Walker McC. Bond, Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Jr., Miss Mary S. Buchanan, Harry Flood Byrd, Stewart Bell, W. Alexander Baker, Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. Mary Campbell, Mrs. T. R. Cather, Mrs. Holmes Conrad, Miss Carter Conrad, Hopewell Friends' Association, Mrs. Harry R. Kern, Mrs. Herbert S. Larrick, Mrs. M. M. Lynch, Mrs. S. Lucien Lupton, Mrs. Virginia Lines, Mrs. C. F. Massey, Mrs. Hunter H. McGuire, Mrs. W. W. McClaine, Mrs. H. B. McCormac, Mrs. J. A. Richard, Mrs. John DI. Steck Mrs. John Meade Snyder, W. Roy Stephenson, John M. Steck, Miss Clara Wood, Mrs. George L. Washington, Miss Julia Wright, Mrs. Robert M. Ward, Mrs. E. V. Weems Mrs. P. W. Boyd, and Miss Nena Shepherd. All paid the membership fee of $3, many paying additional amounts to buy a larger amount of yarn. All during the summer of 1917 men, women, and children contributed freely to the yarn fund. and the women gave freely of their time, money and labor.
In 1914 articles of clothing and food were collected for the Belgian Relief by Miss Mary Spottswood Buchanan and Mrs. Elizabeth Conrad Smith. In 1915 Miss Bessie Conrad was made chairman of the War Relief Association of Winchester. Those who gave willingly of their time to this work were the following : Mrs. W. A. Baker, Miss Lilly Baker, Miss Sophye Baker, Mrs. R. T. Barton, Miss Gertrude Barton, Mrs. Alexander Barrie, Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. Robert A. Beverley, Airs. Horace Brown, Misses Boyd, Mrs. William Cornwell, Miss Susan Colston, Mrs. Holmes Conrad, Miss Carter Conrad, Miss Lilly Crum, Miss Ida Crum, Mrs. Emma Eastham, Mrs. James Grammer, Mrs. John M. Snyder, Mrs. P. W. Boyd, Jr., and Mrs. Lucien Carr.
Mrs. John Meade Snyder made a great many dresses for Belgian children out of men's shirts. She had several displays advertised to show what could be done with men's shirts that had worn out, neckbands, arm-cuffs, etc.
March 23, 1918, the women of Virginia organized under the title of the Virginia Branch of the National League for Women's Service, the subchairman for the city of Winchester and the counties of Frederick and Clarke being Mrs. Robert Y. Conrad. Mrs. H. D. Fuller was special assistant to Mrs. Conrad for city and county work.
April 5, 1917, Mrs. Hunter H. McGuire was appointed by the State Association as chairman of the Winchester branch of the War Relief Association of Virginia. Miss Augusta Conrad was made secretary and Miss Frances Page, treasurer. The executive committee consisted of Mrs. R. E. Byrd, Mrs. W. W. Lynch, Mrs. W. A, Baker, Mrs. C. Vernon Eddy and Mrs. Eastham. The committee on inspection and packing was made up of Mrs. John M. Snyder, Mrs. Alexander Barrie and Miss Lucy Kurtz. Mrs. Holmes Conrad gave the use of two rooms in her house and the association met in four groups each week, with a general meeting the first Wednesday in each month. A class in instruction on making bandages and hospital supplies was conducted by Miss Carrie Hunter.
Among the organizations in Winchester during the period of the war, besides those mentioned elsewhere in this sketch were the Y. M: C. A., Mrs. R. T. Barton, chairman; Hebrew Relief Society, Sender Feinberg, chairman; Our Boys in France Tobacco Fund, Miss Augusta Conrad, chairman; Toilet Articles for Recruits, Mrs. M. M. Lynch, chairman ; Library Fund, Miss Carter Conrad, treasurer; Miss Lilly Baker, Mrs. Robert T. Barton, and C. Vernon Eddy. Mr. Eddy started the soldiers' library in Winchester.
The Winchester Memorial Hospital was early designated as an army hospital, and hither were taken all, or nearly all, the soldiers who were stricken with influenza after having come to Frederick to gather the apple crop. Its president, Dr. Hunter H. McGuire, together with his father, Dr. William P. McGuire, and Dr. E. C. Stuart, formed the Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Winchester and Frederick County. They had charge of the medical examination of all drafted men.
The lodges, secret organizations, fire companies and various other societies were active in helping the various phases of war relief work that were undertaken.
Frederick County's quota for library work among the soldiers was $500.00 and it was raised.
All girls of the schools of county and town were asked to become Victory Girls under the leadership of Miss Elizabeth Kern. They willingly responded. The sum of $500 was raised by their personal work. The Camp Fire Girls were active under the same leadership, contributing floats and music in parades, and responding cheerfully to every call. The Boy Scouts were always available for each duty that came along. Their good turns were most numerous, their patriotism ideal. They furnished transportation and interest at meetings innumerable. Their membership doubled.
Harry Flood By rd, of Winchester, was named Fuel Administrator for Virginia and it was due to his wise administration of that important office that all essential industries were kept going and the suffering of the citizens of the State by reason of restrictions placed upon coal was reduced to a minimum.
Richard Evelyn Byrd was United States District Attorney for Virginia throughout the war period and headed the executive committee of the Virginia Council of Defense, while Mrs. R. E. Byrd was actively engaged in Red Cross work in Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D. C.
In addition to numerous local activities Mrs F. L. Harris was chairman of a Bankers' Conference held at Richmond, when Winchester and Frederick County ranked ninth in the State with respect to the amount of Liberty Bonds placed during the sale. She was a member of the Playground and Recreation Association of America, an organization born of the War Camp Community Service.
Personal histories, enumerating the various activities of a few of the most untiring workers of the community, have been furnished the War History Commission and will be found on file in the Commission office in Richmond. It is regretted that space will not permit us to include these personal histories here. They contain much fuller records of those just mentioned and similarly full reports of the work accomplished by Mrs. Philip W. Boyd, Harry Flood Byrd, Mrs. Holmes Conrad, Miss Carter B. Conrad Miss Augusta F. Conrad, Miss Mabel K. Haynes, Miss Lucy Fitzhugh Kurtz, Mrs. C. C. McGuire, and Miss; Lucy Russell.
The war acted as a magnet to draw out much dormant talent and prepare it for post war activities. One great result of the pre-war and war-time periods was the development of women as speakers. The schoolhouses became centers from which men and women, informed by local people as well as by speakers from a distance, went forth as intelligence messengers of service.
The German people have not changed. It is as if a n-tan changed his coat, and claimed that the new coat made him a new man. -Nov. 12. 1918.
Victory boys and Victory girls organized in the present United War Work drive to give a chance to those between twelve and twenty-one. The boys are to earn what they subscribe. H. S. Duffey has charge of the boys and asks the aid of the teachers. Drive closed on the 18th. Hiss Elizabeth Kern has charge of the girls. A $5 subscription will provide for the entertainment and welfare of one soldier five weeks.-Nov. 13.
What is pledged to War Chest if paid promptly and regularly will make another appeal needless.-Nov. 14.
Charity must not stop.-Nov. 16.
Captain Louis N. Nulton is in command of the Pennsylvania, which takes the President to France.-Nov. 19.
Registrants summoned before the 16th and not coming are to be courtmartialed.-Nov. 19.
False rumor that Company I was wiped all out.-Nov. 23.
Winchester ministers pass a resolution that a memorial be built to the killed. Nov. 26.
Thomas W. Marple, slacker, gets 90 days.-Nov. 28.
Major C. E. King, of the British Army, tells a soldier's story of the Red Cross on the battlefield.-Dec. 9.
Mrs. H. H. McGuire says Winchester and Frederick have shipped 185,000 surgical dressings, 21,000 coming from the county.-Dec. 11.
22 out of 77 schools in Frederick organized as junior Red Cross auxiliaries.Dec. 12.
Frequent news as to the killed, wounded, and missing.-Dec. 12.
57 marriage licenses in Winchester, 1918, against 87 in 1917.-Jan. 2, 1919.
C. F. Carbaugh has Croix de Guerre.-Jan. 3.
Selfishness is the national sin of Germany.
A rest room is suggested.-Jan. 29.
Patriotic speeches on Rouss birthday (Feb. 11).
Thomas Skeyhill, Australian soldier and poet, is to speak February 17 on "The Humor and Poetry of the War."
Home demonstration service may be discontinued.-Feb. 18.
NOTES:
* In the Red Cross report it is stated that $63,424.83 in War Savings Stamps was raised in Winchester and $22,424.97 in the county.