Albert Davis

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for www.RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 17 December 1894 Jefferson, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Parents: Andrew Jackson Davis and Nancy Gossett

Residence at time of enlistment: Jefferson, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Physical description: Medium height, medium build, brown eyes, black hair

Death: Influenza Epidemic, 7 October 1918 aboard Teucer, which was transporting his unit from the United States to Europe.

Age at death: 23 years old

Last resting place: Jefferson Cemetery, Jefferson, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Military rank: Serial No. 3180513. Private. Company D, 2nd Battalion, 605 Engineers.

Additional information:

Before joining the military Albert worked as a coal miner in Millsboro, just across the Washington County line.

Albert's unit left New York harbor 25 September 1918 aboard the British Transport Teucer. The published history of the 56th Engineers in the World War, by Alexander Macomber and Meade Brunet, tells us that:

"The trip across proved to be indeed a hard one, the ship was crowded and the seas very stormy. The "Flu" spread rapidly after a few days out, taking a toll of [five] deaths, Pvt. Clarence J. Popple, Pvt. John T. Hearth, Pvt. Harold B. Emerson, Sergt. Homer D. Zimmerman and Pvt. Albert Davis."

When the Teucer reached Liverpool, England, on 8 October 1918, Albert was given temporary burial in that country. On 26 July 1920, his casket was taken aboard the Antigone, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, 7 August 1920, afterwhich Albert was at last returned to Jefferson to rest. With him on both of these passages, and victim of the same fate, was another Greene County native, Daniel Goodwin Durbin.

SOURCES:

  • Alexander Macomber and Meade Brunet, 56th Engineers in the World War (Albany, New York: Brandow Printing Company, 1920), 20 and 32; digital images, Google Books (https://goo.gl/HXqXY9 : viewed 1 July 2018; Pvt. Albert Davis listed as flu death aboard ship Teucer en route to Europe for service in World War I.
  • Jefferson Cemetery (Jefferson, Jefferson Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania), Albert Davis tombstone, Section 1, Lot 16, Grave 2; personally read and photographed by Candice Buchanan and Glenn Toothman, 2018.
  • "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 30 June 2018), Antigone, sailing from Liverpool 26 July 1920, arriving at Hoboken 7 August 1920, Albert Davis entry, unpaginated, line 18, box 33; citing Lists of Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 360 Boxes. NAI: 6234465. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
  • "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 30 June 2018), Teucer, sailing from New York 25 September 1918, arriving Liverpool 8 October 1918, Albert Davis entry, line 56, page 87 (stamped), box 589; citing Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAI: 6234477. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
  • "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482 : accessed 1 July 2018), Albert Davis draft card, serial no. 1015, Local Draft Board, Jefferson Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1509, FHL roll 1892939.
  • "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 30 June 2018), Albert Davis (no application for compensation submitted); citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.