Painting of American soldier with French woman, 1917 from history of the 315th Infantry.
The WWI soldiers in these biographies were credited to a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire. WWI deaths were attributed to a specific town based on a variety of criteria that was not always consistent from town to town. Their attributed location could have been their birth place, or where they married, or where they registered for the World War I Draft. Other reasons were they indicated the town as their last known address, or noted some next of kin or friend living there during wartime.
I’ve made every attempt to identify these heroes of World War I, and have placed some of them in this County Heroes list in order to recognize them. If you find them here, then their name appears on the New Hampshire WWI Honor Roll, in Doric Hall, State House, Concord NH (unless otherwise noted). Let us not forget!
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Heroes of GRAFTON COUNTY
NEW HAMPSHIRE
(Died in Service)
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Arthur W. Currie
Credited to Orford, Grafton Co. NH
Arthur Whiteside Currie was born 4 February 1890 in Piermont NH, son of James & Grace (Dexter) Currie. He married 27 Feb 1913 in E. Kingston NH to Sadie N. Bradstreet-Hunt, daughter of Harry & Stella M. (White) Bradstreet. They divorced in 1915. In the 1900 U.S. Census he was living in Orford, Grafton Co. NH with his widowed father and brothers William and Charles. In 1917 he completed his WWI Registration form, from Exeter NH. At that time he was living at 31 Chestnut St., Exeter NH, farming for McAlpine Brothers of Exeter. He had the support of a child, and noted he was divorced. His physical description was that of medium height and build with brown eyes and dark brown hair. During WWI he served as a Private in Co. I, 309th Infantry, 78th Division. His service number was 1748775. He departed for Europe aboard the ship Mentor from Brooklyn NY on 19 May 1918. He died on 26 October 1918 in France and is buried in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Plot G, Row 40, Grace 8.
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Napoleon Houle
Credited to Groton, New Hampshire
Napoleon Houle was born 14 March 1889 in Haverhill MA, son of Medrick & Leah (Rue) Houle. In the 1910 U.S. Census he was living with his family in Haverhill MA with older siblings Joseph and Edmund. He completed his WWI Registration form on 5 June 1917 at North Groton NH. Farmer, single, short, of medium build with blue eyes and brown hair. During WWI he served overseas in the U.S. Army. Napoleon Houle, Pvt, Co B 309th Inf 78th Divi departed Brooklyn NY for Europe on ship Morvada on 20 May 1918. He listed his residence as 77 High Street Danvers MA, nok, mother Lea Houle. He was killed in action on 5 Nov 1918. When the war ended, his body was returned on the ship, Somme, from Calais France to Hoboken NJ arriving 14 March 1921. P1C in Co. E, 309th Infantry. Service #1749333. I have not been able to discover his burial place. His name is engraved on the NH WWI Honor Roll in Doric Hall, New Hampshire State House, Concord.
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[Editor’s Note: this story is part of an on-going series about heroic New Hampshire men and women of World War I. Look here for the entire listing].
You have a great site! Do you know if there is a book that lists all New Hampshire men that served in WW1? In Maryland we have a two-volume set titled “Maryland in the World War” that has a brief service bio of (almost) all Marylanders that served, and I am wondering if NH might have something similar. thanks!
Hello Stephen! First thanks for reading my blog and commenting. Regarding your question. I can honestly say NO. There is no book that I know of that lists all New Hampshire men who served in WWI. And as for New Hampshire men and women who died in WWI, I have the Adjutant General’s print out of those names, and they are missing quite a few (either because they died of disease or accident but not in battle /or/ because they were born here and attributed elsewhere, but I include them as New Hampshire people). I would guess that COLLECTIVELY, my stories HERE are the most complete though not perfect list of participants and those who gave their all. In my stories and listings I have included all the people from the Adjutant General’s list, from the Halsee books listing those who died during WWI, from countless newspaper clippings and listings, from individual town monuments, etc., and from tombstone listings. My stories are written over the course of almost 3 years, consistently. If I recall from an old newspaper clipping, there was a problem with New Hampshire records, the state historian had difficulty in collecting all the data from the towns, plus the state historian in charge resigned very soon after the end of the war. Every so often I run across a new monument, and I begin to research that town too. Here is a good link on my blog to start rather than the Grafton County one.