Simon Rex "Bud" Oswalt
World War I Veteran
“Served His County”
June 16, 2023 - Simon Rex “Bud” Oswalt was born August 3rd, 1895 to Margaret Bradberry, and Simeon “Simmie” Buford Oswalt after they arrived in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, and later Shelby County, Texas from Mississippi in ox-drawn wagons. Bud was the tenth child of Simmie as his father had been previously married to Nancy Margaret Silvia Daniel who died in 1889 at the age of 29 in Choctaw County, Mississippi. His mother died when he was two years old, in 1893. Bud’s dad Simmie then married for a third time, and he was raised by his stepmother Emma Ophelia Dawson. In all, Bud had a mixture of siblings and half-siblings that totaled thirteen. The family lived on a farm near Shelbyville where no doubt everyone pitched in and helped.
With the United States declaring war on Germany on April 6th, 1917, nearly three years after the World War began in Europe, a national army was needed, and the Selective Service Act of 1917 provided for this through conscription. The first of three draft registrations was held on June 5th, 1917 for men between the ages of 21 and 30. Bud now age 21, and living on Queens Highway in Shreveport, Louisiana registered at Precinct 13 in Caddo Parish. His registration card showed he was employed by the Palmetto Oil Company as a laborer. Although listing sisters and a niece as depending upon him for support, Bud did not claim an exemption to the draft. He was tall with a heavy build, grey eyes, and light color hair.
Two months later on July 3rd, 1918 he was inducted into the US Army in Shreveport, Louisiana, and sent with other inductees to Camp Pike, Arkansas for basic training with the 162 Depot Brigade. Two months later, on September 17th he was assigned to Replacement Company # 7 at Camp Pike and prepared to travel to the war in France. This happened on September 23rd when Bud and others assigned to the Automatic Replacement Company departed the Port of Hoboken, New Jersey aboard the USS Wilhelmina. He listed his half-sister Victoria Monk of 2226 Queens Highway, Shreveport as his next of kin. Arriving in France some eleven days later via Liverpool, England, the unit Private Oswalt joined as a replacement is not clear other than it was abbreviated as “SN Squadron 9”.
The Armistice was signed on November 11th, 1918 that ended the war two months after Bud arrived in France. Following the new year, he joined Casual Company 435 aboard the SS Belgic and departed Brest, France on January 7th, 1919. Upon arrival at the Port of Hoboken, New Jersey where he had departed for the war almost four months earlier, the soldiers were transported to Camp Merritt, New Jersey for discharge processing.
On February 28th, 1919, Bud was once again a civilian and returned to Shreveport where he stayed with his half-sister Victoria and her 21-year-old daughter on Dresser Highway. He also returned to the oil fields for employment. Family stories say in the 1920’s he played baseball in the Texas League catching for major league greats Dizzy and Paul Dean early in their careers. On February 21st, 1933, fourteen years following his Army discharge, he met and married Ettie Strong Permenter. She brought a son, Charles Cecil to the family and they would have two other sons, Dennis Oliver, and Danny Rex.
Simon now aged 46 would see the beginning and end of a Second World War in his lifetime. He registered a second time as the new Selective Service Act required all men between the ages of 18 and 64 to register for the draft. The Fourth Registration, or “Old Man’s Registration” was held on April 27th, 1942. It was not intended that these men be drafted into military service but to determine if their labor skills could be used in the war effort. Bud and his family were now living at 528 Russell Court in Orange, Texas where he was employed by the Levingston Shipyard. He registered on the required day listing his description as five foot, nine inches tall, weighing 185 pounds with blue eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion. To aid in identification he had a scar on his right thigh. Two months later his father Simmie passed at the age of 91 while staying with his daughter Virgie Lovell in the McClelland Community of Shelby County.
Sometime after the end of World War II, Bud and Ettie moved back to Shelby County and settled in Center. The book History of Shelby County, Texas, 1988 by the Shelby County Historical Commission said this of him: “Bud was a self-employed carpenter in and around Shelby County, Texas for most of his life. After retiring he spent a good deal of his days on the Center square with the ‘whittling and spitting’ platoon. Bud loved to devil folks and horse trade. Probably the biggest trade or swap he ever made in his life was a pocket knife, but a trade of this kind could take half a day, and he enjoyed every minute of it”.
Simon Rex “Bud” Oswalt passed at the Shelby General Hospital in Center on January 17th, 1982 at the age of 86. From 1937 to the time of his death, he had been a member of the Sam Houston Masonic Lodge # 32, Shelbyville, Texas. His third wife Ettie lived a long life to age 102 and is buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas with Bud. Day is done, God is nigh.
SOURCES:
(1): Ancestry.com. Mississippi, U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1776-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
(2): Year: 1900; Census Place: Shelbyville, Shelby, Texas; Roll: 1669; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0086
(3): Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 2, Shelby, Texas; Roll: T624_1588; Page: 10b; Enumeration District: 0147; FHL microfilm: 1375601
(4): Registration State: Louisiana; Registration County: Caddo
(5): Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
(6): "Louisiana World War I Service Records, 1917-1920." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 20 April 2023. Citing The Louisiana State Archives, Baton Rouge.
(7): The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 612
(8): The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 47
(9): Year: 1920; Census Place: Shreveport Precinct 13, Caddo, Louisiana; Roll: T625_608; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 69
(10): The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of Texas; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147
(11): United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Shelby, Texas; Roll: 1613; Sheet Number: 71; Enumeration District: 210-10
(12): Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA; Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982
