Private, Co A, 108th Infantry, 27th Division.
Killed in action near Hindenburg Line east of Ronssoy, France, September 29, 1918. Age 17.
Town: LeRoy/Stafford
Burial: Morganville Village Cemetery, Stafford, Genesee County, New York
According to the November 13, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News, Alvin A Smith was born on October 6, 1900 in Albion (Orleans County), New York, and moved with his family to Morganville (part of Stafford, Genesee County) in 1907. The 1905 NY Census shows him at age 4 living with his mother, Catherine Smith (listed as Kattie; sometimes spelled Katherine in other sources) and a sister and brother (Lillian P and Clark C) on Allen Street in Albion. Elmer C Hammer, who became Alvin’s stepfather shortly thereafter, is listed in the household as a boarder. The 1910 US Census shows Elmer Hammer and wife Katie living on Morganville Road in Stafford with two toddlers of their own, along with the three Smith children, including Alvin (misspelled Allen) at age 9. The November 13, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News reported that Alvin had attended Morganville and Batavia schools and “came to LeRoy three years ago” and was living in LeRoy and working for George Scott of Roanoke when he enlisted in the 74th New York Infantry, National Guard, on September 11, 1917. Interestingly, Smith’s 74th Infantry Enlistment Card lists his birth date as October 6, 1898, two years prior to his actual birth year, and his age as 18. In fact, Smith would’ve been only 16 years old at the time.
At the end of September, within weeks of Smith’s enlistment, the 74th Regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, where it became part of the 27th Division’s 108th Infantry. On May 10, 1918, Smith’s Company A, along with the rest of the 108th’s 1st Battalion, left for overseas from Newport News, Virginia, aboard HMS Kurtz.
Private Smith and six others from Genesee County were among at least 192 men of the 108th Infantry who died on September 29, 1918, in fierce combat that helped break the strongest point of the infamous Hindenburg Line, a complex of defenses including 30-foot-deep concrete bunkers, the St. Quentin canal and tunnel, miles of hidden passageways, and fortified trench systems fronted by fields of heavy twisted barbed wire.
Assigned the task of mopping up machine-gun nests and concealed enemy troops, and fighting 50 to 100 yards behind the lead assault wave through thick smoke and fog, the 108th’s 1st Battalion, including Company A, faced devastating machine-gun and rifle fire from all directions and a deadly enemy artillery counterbarrage of gas and high-explosive shells.
A searcher’s report in Alvin Smith’s Burial Case File quotes witness Sergeant Robert O Fitzpatrick, Co A, 108th Infantry: “While being sent back with a message, he was shot through the chest, instant death. Hindenburg Line, Sept. 29, 1918.”
Private Smith’s remains were returned to the United States under military escort and interred at Morganville Cemetery on March 20, 1921.
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November 13, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News p1 c4
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March 19, 1921 Batavia Daily News p7 c3
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Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Alvin A Smith headstone, Morganville Village Cemetery, Stafford, Genesee County, New York
GPS Coordinates: Lat 43° 0’ 24.91” N, Long 78° 4’ 41.03” W (DD: 43.006919, -78.078064)
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Alvin A Smith Sources:
– All County Lists
– Nov 13, 1918 LG p1 c4*
– Nov 13, 1918 BD p7 c1
– Nov 15, 1918 RD&C p3 c4
– Nov 20, 1918 LG p1 c4
– Mar 18, 1921 BD p10 c4
– Mar 19, 1921 BD p7 c3
– Mar 23, 1921 LG p1 c2
– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Alvin A Smith, age 4, citing Census Records, Albion, E.D. 02, Orleans, New York; page number 39, line number 28.
– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Elmer Hammer (head) and Allen [Alvin misspelled] Smith (step-son, age 9), citing Census Records, Stafford, Genesee, New York; sheet numbers 5A and 5B, line numbers 50 and 55, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 310.
– New York, 74th Infantry National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1889-1917 (Ancestry.com)
– NYSS
– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 65
– Short History and Illustrated Roster of the 108th Infantry, p 46
– 27th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 13-26
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 1, pp 85-86, 146, 300-313, 328a
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 2, pp 1086, 1102
– BCF
– Morganville Village Cemetery, online tombstone transcriptions, http://genesee.bettysgenealogy.org/morgvill.htm
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Click for Key to Source Abbreviations. See the Bibliography for complete title, author, and publisher information, with links to online access when available.