ill never fade.
“To the families of these men we extend our heartfelt sympathy, on behalf of the citizens of Galesburg, in the great sorrow that a soldier’s untimely but glorious death must always bring.
“In token of that sympathy, we send these flowers, and beg you to receive them as a tribute glady offered by your fellow citizens to a household that sent forth a hero to give his life for the Great Cause.”
Other Galesburg boys were still in France, writing home.
Chester Griffith was one of them.
“We had more or less excitement until the 13th of September when we went over the top for the first time,” he told his mother.
“We did it again the 14th. I stayed with the boys until the 18th, when I was gassed. I ran into mustard gas while making a run. I was sent to a gas hospital in Toul, but pneumonia set in and they sent me to a base hospital in southern France. I was in bed six weeks. I was on my way to the replacement camp when the armistice was signed.”
A celebration of prosperity occurred in Galesburg during the week.
“The Galesburgh Overland Company with the Galesburgh Machine Works, celebrate today the opening of their fine, new home,” read the Evening Mail.
“The large new building at Seminary and Tompkins streets is one of the finest automobile sales structures in the middle west and a credit to the men who are responsible for it. Fred Peterson and Arthur G. Miller, who have sponsored this big Overland business and developed it to its present position. ... The new building is already one of the points of interest in Galesburgh and the volume of business being done here in the dollars and cents way ranks with the leading firms in other lines of endeavor in the city.”
Mayor William O. Bradley, along with other city leaders such as Max J. Mack and E.B. Jackson spoke at the building’s opening. Today, the building in newly remodeled and home to Cornucopia Natural Market and Deli along with Jimmy’s Pizza.
Fallen soldiers whose families received flowers from the mayor:
• Ralph Noble
• J. Ossian Johnson
• Harold Nelson
• Joseph M.B. Anderson
• Archie LaTourette
• William Mason
• Sam Gumbiner
• Guy H. Allen
• Edwin Palmgren
• Emil T. Linner
• Gustave E. Magnuson
• Herschel Dawson
• Otto Nelson
• Charles Ray Hawley
• Harry Smith
• Charles Gold
• Neil Youngren
• Peter Carr
• Elmer Johnson
• Chauncey Hawkinson
• Leslie Allensworth
• Beirne Coffman
• Dan Rusich
• Gustav Franson
• Chas. Miller
• William Ferris
• William C. Harvey
Talbot Fisher is weekend reporter for The Register-Mail. His weekly column looks at life in Galesburg 100 years ago and its connections to the Great War. Contact him at email@example.com; follow him on twitter at @TalbotFisher16.