The Spanish-American War (1898) - Version B

No. 1

The Spanish-American War (1898) Park University's Collection of Student and Alumni Veterans

A Collaborative Series between the Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections and George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University

Overview of the Collection The

names

of

Park

University

students

and

alumni

that

served

during

the

Spanish-

American War were collected from publications of The Stylus (Park's student newspaper; Volume 7, 1901-02) as well as various volumes of the Narva yearbook.

Surviving personnel files held in the University's Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections, along with the genealogical expertise of researchers in Parks' George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War, finalized biographical information, service information and sketches on each servicemember.

Photos, documents or letter held in the personnel files and in public records provided assistance with the narratives authored in this collection.

Digital editions of the Narva can be accessed at: library.park.edu/home/archives.

The Spanish-American War The Spanish-American War was a conflict involving the United States, Spain, the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Revolving around Spanish colonial rule in the Western Hemisphere

and the governments of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, war was declared on Spain on April 25, 1898.

American support of revolutionaries in Cuba and the Philippines demanding independence from Spain prompted intervention.

The war ended on August 13, 1898, and established the

United States Military Government of Cuba. and Guam from the Spanish.

The U.S. acquired Puerto Rico, the Philippines

Park University's Students and Alumni of the SpanishAmerican War BERT BARKHURST (Unknown) Barkhurst attended Park Academy or Park College in the early 1900s and served in the U.S. Army. from

His birth/death information and burial location is unknown. files

held

in

the

Fishburn

Archives

and

public

record

have

Lack of information made

biographical

information impossible to determine.

D. BYBEE (Unknown) Bybee attended Park Academy in 1900 and served in the U. S. Army. His birth/death information and burial location is unknown. Lack of information from files held in the Fishburn Archives and public record have made biographical information impossible to determine.

HOMER DERR (Unknown) Derr attended Park Academy or Park College in the early 1900s and served in the U.S. Army. from

His birth/death information and burial location is unknown. files

held

in

the

Fishburn

Archives

and

public

record

have

Lack of information made

biographical

information impossible to determine.

FRANK R HART (1878-Unknown) Hart was born in Iowa in 1878 and attended Park College in 1900,

but it is unknown if he

graduated. Hart served in the U, S. Army. His death information and burial location is unknown. Lack of information from files held in the Fishburn Archives and public record have made late-life biographical information impossible to determine.

ROBERT JOHNSTON LAMME (July 6, 1876-Sept. 14, 1965)

Lamme was born in El Paso, Ill., to David (1840-1882) and Jennie Adams (1844-1887.

Lamme, the fourth of six children. Lamme and his siblings (ages 7-15) were orphaned with the death of their parents. Lamme lived for a time with Jamison Graham (1857-1938), a homesteader most likely connected through the Presbyterian Church. Lamme enlisted in the U. S. Army on May 10, 1898, serving as a corporal in Company I, 20th U.S. Infantry, regimentally stationed at Camp Poplar River, Mont. He was honorably discharged on Oct. 16,

1898.

Sometime

between

1899

and

1901,

Lamme

attended

Park

College,

but

it

is

unknown if he graduated. He married Mabelle Vankirk (1879-1954) on March 27, 1902, in Grant, Ind., soon moving to South Dakota, where he established a dentistry practice. The couple had two sons, Charles Wendell (1904-85) and

Robert

Benedict

(1908-34),

and

resided n South Dakota until the early 1930s before moving to San Diego, Calif., in 1935, remaining there until both of their deaths. Lamme is buried at Fort Rosencrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON LAW (June 30, 1875-Oct. 6, 1960)

Law was born in Fountain Green, Ill., to Robert Isaac (1845-1927) and Alice Walker (18441885) Law, the oldest of six children. Raised in Hancock County, Ill., Law enlisted in the U. S. Army on June 14, 1898, serving in Company B, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Infantry until his honorable discharge as a private on Nov. 7, 1898. After his discharge, Law attended Park College from 1899-1902, becoming a member of the Lowell Literary Club, serving as its secretary in 1901 the Oratorical Club, the College Military Department (an early version of World War I’s Student Army Training Corps) and the Narva yearbook editing team, serving as its assistant business manager in 1901. After graduating, Law

lived for

a time

in Tatitlek Village, Alaska, an Alutiiq populated region along the

southern coast of the state. By 1911, Law had moved to Bentonville, Ark., where he met and married Minnie Searcy (1893-1985) and became a farmer.

The couple had had four

children, Robert Archibald, Jr. (1912-72), Louis Edward (1919-2012), Alice Kathryn (19202002) and Fredrick Duncan (1924-2011).

They continued to live in Benton County, Ark.,

until Law's death from heart disease. Law is buried in Bentonville Cemetery.

CHARLES MORRIS PIPKIN (Nov. 14, 1875-Dec. 8, 1941)

Pipkin was born in Jameson, Mo.,, to Charles Morris Sr. (1847-1923) and Mary Frances Garrett (1851-1939) Pipkin, the second of five children. Pipkin was accepted into Park College in 1897, but left midway to begin his service, enlisting in the U. S. Army on June 14, 1898. He served in Company B, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Infantry until his honorable discharge as a private on November 7, 1898. He returned to complete his bachelor's degree, and became president of the Lowell Literary Club, a member of the baseball team, Philosophical

Club,

the

College

Military Department, the Narva

editing team, serving as business manager in 1901 and an actor in several class plays.

Pipkin married Mary Katherine White (1881-1971), a Park classmate, on Dec. 12, 1901, in Kansas City, Mo. Garrett

(1904-81),

The couple remained in Kansas City and had four children, Francis Katherine

Charles Morris III (1915-98).

1940.

He was involved

Jane

(1906-83),

Elizabeth

Georgia

(1909-unknown)

and

Pipkin became an editor at The Kansas City Star, retiring in

in

a streetcar

accident

on

Sept 20, 1940, and died of his

injuries just over a year later. He is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.

H. SLOAN (Unknown) Sloan attended Park College briefly and was scheduled to graduate in 1902, but did not complete his degree.

He served in the U.S. Army.

His birth/death information and burial

location is unknown. Lack of information from files held in the Fishburn Archives and public record have made biographical information impossible to determine.

HORACE EATON STEELE (Oct. 10, 1878-Dec. 25, 1970)

Steele was born in Lawrence, Kan., to Lewis Scott (1833-1916) and Louisa Adele Blakely (1832-96) Steele, the youngest of five children. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 27, 1898, serving in Company B, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Infantry until his honorable discharge as a private on Nov. 7, 1898.

Steele attended Park Academy,

graduating in 1901, then attended the University of Kansas, graduating in 1911.

He was a

teacher in a public school in Conway, Ark., until World War I when he went to France as a civilian aid to the YMCA. school

teacher

until

Steele lived in New Orleans, La., in the 1920s working as a

moving

to

Leadsville,

W.Va.,

in

employed with the West Virginia Division of Forestry.

the

early

where

was

Steele died at his home in

He never married and had no children.

buried in Little Arlington Cemetery in Elkins.

he

By 1940, Steele was retired and

living in Leadsville, as well as spending time in Boulder, Colo.

Elkins, W.Va., outliving all of his siblings.

1930s

Steele is

HARLIN JAMES WOODARD (Dec. 1, 1876-Dec. 25, 1945)

Woodard was born in Pittsburg, Kan., to Orson (1853-1900) and Susan Matilda James (1855-81)

Woodard,

the

couple's

only

child.

After

his

mother's

Woodard's father married Mina Davis in 1884 and had two children.

unexpected

death,

Woodard enlisted in

the U.S. Army on April 30, 1898, in Fort Scott, Kan., serving in Company F, 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry until his honorable discharge as a sergeant on Aug. 20, 1899.

At the

time of his father's death in 1900, Woodard was a student at Park College where he was a member of the Parchevard Literary Society, secretary of the Oratorical Association, and member of the College Military Department.

After graduating in 1903, Woodard became

a real estate broker in Las Vegas, Nev., where he lived until the early 1920s.

Woodard was admitted into Sawtelle

Veterans

Hospital

in

Los

In 1923,

Angeles, Calif. Initially

staying due to minor health concerns, he soon found himself in and out of the hospital over the next 20 years, either as a patient or assistant in several of the facilities on the property.

Woodard married in 1923, but divorced soon afterwards; he never remarried or

had children.

Woodard died in San Mateo County, Calif., is buried in Golden Gate

National Cemetery in San Bruno, Calif.

Researching Veterans of this Era The periods of service between the Civil War and World War I are often the most difficult to track, especially when servicemembers are attached to a state-level militia over a national branch. Conflicts such as the American-Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine or China Insurrections were not just brief in conflict period, but minimal in American interest and national mobilization.

Finding information freely available to the public is extremely limited in reference to veterans of any generation; however, select collections from the Department of Veterans Administration

and Adjutant General's Office within the National Archives and Record

Administration can be helpful in creating a starting base, including confirming military service,

regardless

of

conflict.

Outside

of

national

collections,

certain

states

have

extensive online records accessible for free; Missouri, for example, has a database of individual service cards, muster rolls, and statistical reports regarding servicemembers from the War of 1812 to World War I. Genealogical databases are the best places to begin research, especially if you are unsure of the veteran's basic biographical information.

General Sources Utilized in this Collection Adjutant General of the U. S.. 1798-1914. Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army.

Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

Captain J.N. Coe (no date), 20th Regiment of Infantry. accessed Nov. 30, 2020.

Department of Veterans Affairs. 1960. Veterans Administration Master Index. St. Louis, National Archives and Records Administration..

Library of Congress Hispanic Division. 2011. The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War. accessed Nov. 30, 2020.

Patrick McSherry (no date). The Spanish-American War Centennial Website. accessed Nov. 30, 2020.

Office of the Adjutant General. 1898. State of Missouri Spanish- American War Muster Roll. Jefferson City, Mo., Secretary of State.

Office of the Quartermaster General. 1960. Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1970. Washington, D.C. , National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General's Office. 1898.

General Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War with Spain. Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration.

Provo: Ancestry.com. U. S. Census Bureau. 1900. 12th Census of the United States.

Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration.

U. S. Social Security Administration. 1963. Social Security Applications and Claims.

Provo:

Ancestry.com.Various,

hosted

by

the

Library

of

Congress,

Declarations of War from Around the World, accessed Nov. 30, 2020.

1914-1918.

The George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University The Robb Centre was founded in 2005 by family members of George Seanor Robb (18871972), a 1912 Park graduate, World War I veteran, and Medal of Honor recipient. Robb, a white officer, served in the 369th (Harlem Hellfighters) Infantry Regiment, a segregated regiment composed of African-American troops.

His valorous service earned him the

Purple Heart, Ordre National de la Legion d' Honneur (France), Croix de Guerre with Bronze Palm (France), Croce al Merito di Guerra (Italy) and Order of Prince Danilo I (Montenegro).

Contact: gsrcentre@park.edu (816) 584-6890

The Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections The Fishburn Archives preserves, protects and provides information services related to Park College (1875-2000), Park University (2000 to present), the City of Parkville, Mo., (1844 to present), and the County of Platte, Mo., (1838 to present).

Contact: archives@park.edu (816) 584-6891