Gerald Austin of Mainesburg was killed in France in June of 1918. John Cox of Mansfield died in Washington, D.C. of pneumonia in September 1918. The Austin-Cox American Legion Post, chartered in November 1919, is named for these two local people. Both are buried in Prospect Cemetery.
Many communities created memorial exhibits for those who participated. While many of these have fallen into disrepair or have vanished, thanks to continued care and refurbishment by the American Legion and the V.F.W., the memorial wall in Mansfield remains intact and in its original location on the south wall of what was then Strait’s Hardware Store and is now Night & Day Coffee Shop.
The 200 plus people named on the wall came from Mansfield, Richmond, Sullivan, Rutland and Covington.
At least 45 of them are buried in town in Prospect or Oakwood cemeteries and many more in the county. Thirty six graduated from Mansfield High School and 33 from Mansfield State Normal School. Thirty two or more became members of Mansfield’s American Legion post.
Three of these people lived into the 1990s. Oscar Sherman, who lived locally in Rutland, died in 1990 at the age of 90. Roy Nash also died in 1990 at the age of 97.
The last to die, that we have information on, was Carl Webster, brother of Dr. Myron Webster. He died in Bath in 1992 at the age of 97.
Bruce Dart of the American Legion and Joyce M. Tice of the History Center on Main Street are preparing a book about these people due out in 1919. We welcome any photos or biographical information about them. Send to
[email protected].
