Delaware County, Indiana - Military Annals, 1924 (part 2 of 2)

The first Liberty loan, authorized by the Congress in May, 1917, laid upon Delaware county an obligation to subscribe to $723,000 of the issue of bonds. This quota was absorbed through the banks, the ordinary channels of investment being sufficient to take care of the matter, but so attractive did the loan appear that subscriptions were received aggregating $1,474,300, an oversubscription which gave this county an honor place in the list of Indiana counties. The late Theodore F. Rose, veteran banker, was the chairman of this first loan "drive" in Delaware county. In the following October the second loan came on and Harry L. Kitselman was made chairman of the committee having Delaware county's quota in charge. This quota was $940,000. By this time the people had begun to realize that it required money to carry on a war and all wanted a hand init. A vigorous and interesting publicity campaign was carried on and when the loan was closed it was found that Delaware county people had subscribed the enormous sum of $3,055,950, or more than one-third of the entire banking resources of the county at that time. This large oversubscription placed Delaware county among the banner counties in the country.

The third Liberty loan came on in April, 1918, and Mr. Kitselman was continued as chairman of the Delaware county committee to raise this county's quota of $1,000,000. It was thought that in view of the large subscriptions to the previous loan some difficulty might be encountered in taking up this quota and a somewhat more strenuous campaign was put on. But public enthusiasm easily carried the project and this loan also was oversubscribed, $1,515,000 being taken in the county. When the fourth Liberty loan came on in the following October, J. Lloyd Kimbrough was made chairman of the county organization to carry it through and the county's quota of $2,270,000 was again oversubscribed, the total amount subscribed in the county being $2,488,800. And then in April, 1919, came the Government's call for the people to take up another bond issue. This was the fifth and last, or Victory, loan and Delaware county's quota was $1,650,000. Charles A. Wood was made chairman of the committee having this loan in charge in this county and the county's quota again was oversubscribed, the total subscriptions being $1,970,450. .

In the periods between the various Liberty bond issues the sale of United States treasury certificates of indebtedness to banks throughout the country provided current funds for the Government. These were commonly called 'shock absorbers" for the bond campaigns. It is proper to say that Indiana banks absorbed this state's quota in that behalf. In this connection it is interesting to know that the state manager of this distribution of certificates of indebtedness in Indiana reported that the first county to go on record as underwriting or agreeing to take its full quota of all subsequent issues was Delaware county, and, wrote he, "it may be further stated that no county was more diligent or punctual in the performance of the task assigned to it than Delaware county. Perhaps a large amount of the credit for this record is due to the director of sales, Kar] Oesterle, of the Delaware County National Bank, and the vice-director of sales, Mr. Fred Rose, of the Union National Bank, both of whom were intensely interested in the program and active at all times." The banks of Delaware county subscribed for these treasury certificates of indebtedness to the amount of $1,615,500. Another interesting money-raising campaign was that undertaken in the matter of the sales of the Government's War Savings stamps, or "thrift" stamps, as they came to be known. The "drive" in this behalf was carried on largely through the schools and small investors were urged to subscribe for these stamps with a view to encouraging habits of thrift. Benjamin F. Moore, superintendent of the Muncie city schools, was made chairman of the committee having the campaign in charge and a strenuous effort was made to secure Delaware county's quota of $1,054,360, but at the end of the campaign which ran all through 1918 the aggregate sales were reported something under this amount, the total being $1,018,740.50.

In May, 1917, a "drive" was made in behalf of funds for the welfare work of the Young Men's Christian Association in the army, a nation-wide movement to raise $3,000,000 for the "Y'". Delaware county's quota was $3,000, but so generous were the responses in this behalf that more than $10,000 was subscribed. A second campaign in this same behalf was carried on in 1918 and Delaware county was called on to provide $35,000 of the sum required. This quota also was oversubscribed, the total subscriptions in the county amounting to $62,341. In May, 1918, a similar call was made in behalf of the welfare work of the Knights of Columbus in the army. Delaware county was called on for $4,000 of the sum required, but responded with subscriptions aggregating $6,783. Then in November, 1918, came the call for a general united war work fund, the country being asked to give no less than $170,000,000 to finance the various welfare organizations rendering service in camp and field. Delaware county's quota on this call was $95,000. Karl A. Oesterle was made chairman of the general committee having this "drive" in hand and a total of $124,- 687.44 was raised, another very generous oversubscription. When the Rotary Club "Smileage" book movement came on in February, 1918, Muncie Rotary was called on to raise $1,200 in this behalf. The amount subscribed aggregated $1,500, another generous oversubscription.

Operations Of The Draft Board

The necessity in this war of raising a great national army without delay, systematically and with an orderly regard for absolute fairness to all in the selective operation, brought into being the national selective service law by which every eligible person in the country would be brought under the direction of county draft boards created for that purpose and selections there made by equitable processes for army service. There were two draft boards in this county, Board 1 being made up of William A. O'Harra, former sheriff, chairman; Dr. William Burton, examining surgeon, and Charles F. Bowden, clerk. Samuel Smith was chairman of Board 2, Dr. S. G. Jump examining physician and clerk and William L. Lindsey. When Doctor Jump presently entered the service of the army he was succeeded by Dr. W. P. Mitchell. Board 1 had in charge the registrants from Muncie and Center township and Board 2 had in charge the registrants from the other townships of the county. No fewer than 10,450 men were registered for service in this county during the period of the war, 7,000 being registered by Board 1 and 3,450 by Board 2. These registrants were subject to the call of the draft boards in numerical order, this numerical order having been based upon an ingenious "'lot'' system operated in Washington and automatically and systematically covering the entire country. In the first registration, June 5, 1917, no fewer than 5,000 names were taken. The second registration day, a call for all who had reached the age of twenty-one within the year, was on June 5, 1918; a month later there was another day of registration and the final registration day was on September 12, following, this latter taking in all men from eighteen to forty-five years of age.

Many of those registering and answering the prescribed questionnaires did not wait for the expected call in the sequence of their respective numerical order, but enlisted and got into the service without further ado in the matter. Quite a number of Delaware county men already were in fighting forces before the conscription plan had been worked out. Company G, the local unit of the Indiana National Guard, which the year before had seen service on the Mexican border, automatically went forward into service and was federalized for duty in the national army. Before the year was out and when the state organized a militia force to take the place of the National Guard troops, a local company of militia was organized and was attached, as Company L, to the 8d regiment (infantry) of the Indiana State Militia. The local camp of the United Spanish War Veterans formed the nucleus for this company and Wilbur Ryman was captain. In the summer of 1918 Captain Ryman resigned to become a major in the judge advocate general's department and was succeeded by Frank E. Arnold. In 1919 the Indiana State Militia was mustered out of service and the National Guard was reorganized on a Federal basis. There are now three units of the National Guard at Muncie.

Roster Of Service Men In The World War

In the very nature of things it will perhaps be impossible ever to work out a complete and authentic roster of the men from this county who rendered service in the World war. Quite a number it is known enlisted for service upon the first call to arms and got into the army before the selective service law became operative, but this is an indefinite number and may never be definitely checked up. It would be a hopeless task to attempt to check up War Department records on a county basis, nor can the state adjutant general's office at present offer any assistance along this line, no county classification of service men having been attempted there. The American Legion posts in the county are seeking to make up a definite list of all former service men accredited to Delaware county and in time may accomplish this. From the list already in hand in this connection, from the records of the draft boards and from such other lists as are available, the following names are presented as an incomplete roster of the men from this county who rendered service in that great war:

Condon, Ernest A. Conklin, Oran A. Conn, Ernest Conn, Leo B. Conner, Ernest Conner, Joseph L. Conner, Melvin M. Conner, Virgil M. Canning Vincent

Koons, Ben D. Koontz, Frank T. Kowalski, Joe Peter Kowalski, Frank Kowalski, John F. Kramer, Harry A. Krull, Oliver A. Krull, Raymond J. Krull, Omer Krysinski, Vincent Kuhns, Edward Kuhns, Howard A.

Sayford, March Schafer, Max Reed Schenck, Ebert R. Schesky, Casimir F. Schlenker, Everett A. Schneider, Leslie A. Schneider, Robert A. Schnitt, William J. Schock, Alvan R.

Steed, Russell Steiner, Francis W. Steiner, Michael Steiner, Thomas D. Stephens, Edward R. Stephenson, Avon V. Stephenson, Edward A. Stephenson, Francis M. Stetham, Homer Stetter, G. C. Stevens, Edward A. Steward, Jack 8. Stewart, A.

Wable, Dallas R. Wade, Charles W. Wagoner, Clarence A. Wagoner, Fred R. Wagoner, Sylvester F. Wagoner, William M. Waite, Richard M. Walden, Edgar A.