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Obituaries and Letters of Fred and George Marshall
Obituaries and Letters of Fred and George Marshall
The primary sources that I selected and analyzed from the West Virginia and Regional History Center were letters and a newspaper article that included the obituaries of Fred and George Marshall. While reading and analyzing this document, I was able to find answers to my previous questions about the Marshall brothers I had developed during my analysis of their life insurance documents. I was able to expand upon my interpretation and connection to World War I, as the Marshall brothers lived in a town very close to the one I grew up in and live in today. I was also able to identify and reflect upon how the deaths of Fred and George not only affected their family and friends, but how their deaths also affected their community.
The newspaper article that included the obituaries of Fred and George Marshall was published in the Waynesburg Republican in 1918. This article commemorated the lives of several other soldiers from Greene County, Pennsylvania who died in battle during World War I as well. This was a special issue written and published in order to honor the lives of local men who sacrificed their lives during the war effort. It was also published to make it public knowledge to the residents of Greene County that members of their community would not be returning home. The obituaries in this article included a picture of each soldier, as well as a description of their life before going to war, their family members, and their position in the army. This article, along with the letters Fred and George wrote to each other and to their family members, their life insurance documents, and other materials regarding the Marshall brothers were donated to the West Virginia and Regional History Center as part of the George W. and Frederick W. Marshall Collection.
The obituaries of Fred and George revealed other information I wanted to know such as their ages and the battles in which they perished. Fred was twenty-one years old while George was twenty-three. Both brothers were school teachers in Greene County, with Fred having taught one term and George having taught three terms before passing. The age of the kids they taught and the school in which they worked were not mentioned in their obituaries.
The final battle Fred fought in was the battle in Grimpettes Woods, France on July 29th, 1918. During this battle, Fred and the rest of the soldiers faced open fire by German soldiers. The eighteen soldiers who lost their lives in this battle were all from Greene County, making this event the largest death toll of soldiers from Greene County who died in a single battle. Today, these men are recognized as the “Rain Day Boys.” This is because July 29th, the day in which these men perished in battle, is National Rain Day. Glen Toothman and Candice Buchanan released a book about these men titled “Rain Day Boys: The Greene That Lay Near Grimpettes Woods,” in December 2017, coining their nickname. George died in a battle near Albert, France on August 17th, 1918, which is less than three weeks later than the death of Fred. George was also a member of the 313th Machine Gun Battalion.
Another noteworthy piece of information found in the obituary of George was that he was originally stationed in Mexico and served along the border as a member of the Company K, 10th Infantry. However, George was discharged on July 20th, 1917 due to an account of disability. Despite being discharged for disability, George was sent to Camp Lee on April 3rd, 1918. He was then stationed in France beginning on June 9th, 1918 for the remainder of his life. The disability in which he was discharged was not specified in the obituary, but there was an official document from the National Guard stating that George was being discharged for physical disability. This document also recommended that George should not reenlist. Obviously, this recommendation did not stop George from reenlisting, which ultimately claimed his life. I am very interested in knowing why George decided to fight again, especially since the war only became more violent as it progressed and he was not in an optimal physical state to fight.
The information found in the obituaries of Fred and George Marshall helped me answer questions I had posed several weeks earlier while reading Fred’s life insurance document that was sent to his mother, Margaret Marshall, from the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. I was able to find information about their family members, as the insurance document I previously read only mentioned their mother. Fred and George were the only sons of the family, leaving behind both of their parents, not just their mother. This made me curious to know if the brothers had a sister, since the obituary did not specify that Fred and George were the only children of their family, just that they were the only sons.
While I was reading through several of the archives in the Fred and George collection during my visit, I found several letters addressed to their sister, Elsie Marshall. Due to the amount of letters sent to her, I deduced that both brothers had a close relationship to her. I found it very interesting that neither of their obituaries mentioned Elsie. It just seems ironic that the world was technologically advanced enough to have an international scale war at this time, but not socially advanced enough to see women as important and as necessary as men. This also could be an example of the newspaper writer not recognizing Elsie’s grief for the loss of her brothers.
During my visit at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, I handled several archives including newspaper articles, letters, and pictures. I found it interesting that the newspapers from the early 1900s looked very similar to newspapers today in terms of font, layout, and style. While reading through letters that Fred and George sent to each other, their sister, and their mother, I became quite sad. Knowing that those letters were the last communication the brothers had with each other and their other family members before tragically dying in the war was upsetting. I was especially moved after reading a letter that Fred wrote to Elsie in which he signed the bottom with, “Your Bro”. At first, I found it funny that people during this time were using slang terms that are still prevalent today. However, it made me sad knowing Fred and Elsie never saw each other again. Their easy going conversations and slang in these letters were the complete opposite of the dark events to come. It was also surreal to hold, touch, and read letters that were sent from war camps in France and written over one hundred years ago. I was impressed that the paper and ink were able to last this long and still appear in good condition.
Through my primary source analysis of the newspaper article that included the letters and obituaries of Fred and George Marshall at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, I was able to find more information on the brothers that helped answer previous questions I had about them as well as develop a closer connection to World War I. This activity helped me realize that the deaths of Fred and George not only affected their family, but also their community as they were schoolteachers. I also learned that Fred and George were only two of many soldiers from Greene County who perished during the war, resulting in a major loss and heavy sadness and grief in their community. This activity helped me focus on the direct effect of the war on families and community members instead of just the sheer number of deaths.
Works Cited
Heinz, Natasha. “Remembering the Rain Day Boys 101 Years Later.” heraldstandard.com, 29 August 2020. https://www.heraldstandard.com/gcm/rain_day/remembering-the-rain-day-boys-101-years-later/article_45c1b8be-ad84-11e9-a439-f3554db2fe7e.html.
Jane Metters LaBarbara, "The Marshall Boys and the Mysteries in the Archives," 18 September 2017, WVU Libraries News. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://news.lib.wvu.edu/2017/09/18/the-marshall-boys-and-the-mysteries-in-archives/.
George W. and Frederick W. Marshall, WWI Letters and Other Material, West Virginia University. Accessed November 7, 2022. https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/6318.
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