Smith County Historical Society seeks public’s help documenting WWI stories

Published 11:28 pm Wednesday, April 5, 2017

ROY MAYNARD, rmaynard@tylerpaper.com

James Madison Webb was born in Overton and never thought he would travel very far from his farm. But in 1918, the U.S. Army decided to strengthen its undermanned 369th infantry regiment, Webb was sent as a reinforcement, when the Army sought “exceptional recruits.”

Webb found himself assigned to the French army.

“The great benefit was that the French showed little or no prejudice, and treated the African-American troops as equals,” explains Randy Gilbert of the Smith County Historical Society. “They wore U.S. uniforms, but as they served under the French, they were issued French helmets, accouterments and weapons. These units had the distinction of having the greatest amount of combat time of any American units in the war.”

Webb’s division took part in the Champagne-Marne action in the late summer of 1918. His unit took the town of Fontaine-en-Dormois, despite heavy German opposition. Webb was wounded by machine gun fire, but is credited with saving the life of his unit’s officer.

When he got home, he was interviewed by the Tyler Paper, and he briefly described his experiences. He concluded with, “I’m glad to be home.”

“It is remarkable that he received that kind of recognition when he got home,” Gilbert said. “He died in 1966. And what we hope is that someone out there, born in the 1940s or ’50s will remember him. We want to talk to anyone who has some remembrance of James Madison Webb.”

It’s part of the Historical Society’s World War I project.

That project was launched on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

The date also is appropriate, said the Historical Society’s president, Carol Kehl. Before it was renamed Veterans Day, Nov. 11 was Armistice Day, to commemorate the cessation of hostilities in that war.

The goal of the project, she said, is to collect as much information and artifacts about Smith County’s involvement in World War I – both abroad and on the home front. The Historical Society has identified more than 1,700 Smith County residents who served in the U.S. armed forces during the war. Many more worked for the Red Cross and other agencies, and took part in home-front activities, such as metal drives and victory gardens.

That war began in Europe in August 1914, but America didn’t enter the fray until 1917. The Historical Society plans to commemorate the centennial of the war in 2017 and 2018.

“We will spend the next few months looking for anything people can find,” Ms. Kehl said. “We’re looking for things that can be donated, loaned or just brought in and copied. That includes photos, diaries, letters, posters, objects brought back from the war. Really, anything from the home front or over there.”

THE WAR

About half of the 2,000 or so Smith County residents who entered military service in the next two years enlisted voluntarily.

It wasn’t a long war for most Smith County enlistees and their families at home. And it ended, symbolically, with the sound of a trumpet.

John Franklin “Doc” Witt, a musician who founded the Tyler Municipal Band, the Tyler High School band and the Tyler Junior College band in his time, lived on West Bow Street, in a house that’s still standing.

“At 4 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, he went out on his porch with his trumpet,” Gilbert said. “That was 11 a.m., European time. And to mark the start of the Armistice, he stood out there and played the Star Spangled Banner and other patriotic tunes, until the whole neighborhood was awakened.”

Gilbert hopes that Tyler musicians will step forward to help recreate that moment.

Twitter: @tmt_Roy

TO DONATE

To contact the Smith County Historical Society for more information, or to donate or loan items, call 903-592-5993. The Society’s offices and the Smith County Historical Museum are located at 125 S. College Ave.