Seaman Apprentice Joseph Louis Adams
United States Navy, World War I – Died Nonbattle
Great Lakes Naval Training Center
September 3, 2024 - Joseph “Joe” Louis Adams was born in the far East Texas town of Shelbyville, Shelby County, on Friday, July 21, 1893. His parents were Ula “Minnie” and Isaac Newton Adams, and he joined the family with two older sisters, Eula Mae “Tabby” and Euda. Minnie would have four more children, Clara, Earnest, Willie, and Alton, before her death around 1905/6. His father remarried Viola Elizabeth Fitzgerald on August 2, 1900, and they had five children: Louie, Edna, May Bell, Winnie, and Iva. By 1910, the family lived on a farm on Arcadia Road, Precinct 1, Shelby County, Texas.
With the United States declaring war on Germany on April 6, 1917, nearly three years after the World War began in Europe, a national army through conscription was needed, and the Selective Service Act of 1917 provided for this. The first draft registration day was June 5, 1917, for all men between the ages of 21 and 30. Joe, now twenty-three, registered at Precinct 1 in Shelby County. On the registration card, he stated he was self-employed as a farmer, single, Caucasian, no exemption to the draft claimed, medium height, medium build, blue eyes, light-colored hair, and was not bald.
Rather than wait to be drafted, Joe enlisted in the US Navy at the Dallas, Texas, Recruiting Station. He was then assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois, for basic training. At this time, the 1918 Flu Pandemic was sweeping the globe, killing hundreds of thousands of people. On January 21, 1918, Joseph died of pneumonia at the Great Lakes Naval Station Hospital.
The Champion Newspaper, Center, Texas, published the following on January 23, 1918. “I. N. Adams received a message Monday morning [January 21] stating that his son, Lewis (sic) had died at the hospital at the Great Lakes Training School. Mr. Adams received a first message stating that his son was critically ill with pneumonia. A second message was received stating that there was no hope for him, and in a short time, another stating that he was dead. A message was immediately sent instructing that the remains be sent here. It is presumed that they will arrive by tomorrow or the next day. It is possible that traffic may be tied up on account of snow, and it may even be later before the body is received here [his remains arrived January 25].”
The article continued. “Young Mr. Adams left here on the afternoon of December 13, 1917 for Dallas where he volunteered for service. He was accepted and went at once to the Great Lakes Training School, where he has been since. He is 24 years of age and was reared in this community. The many friends of this family will regret to learn of the untimely death of this young man and will extend sympathy to his father and sisters.”
A follow-up article by the Champion dated Wednesday, January 30, 1918, stated. “The remains were carried to the home of the father, I. N. Adams. The funeral was held at New Hope Saturday morning [January 26], Rev. C. H. Adams conducting the religious services and the W.O.W. [Woodmen of the World] having in charge of the funeral.”
Joe Louis is buried in the New Hope Cemetery, Center, Shelby County, Texas, with his father, Issac, and stepmother, Viola. The final resting place of his mother, Minnie, could not be found. Day is done, God is nigh.
Sources:
(1): Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Shelby, Texas; Roll: T624_1588; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0144; FHL microfilm: 1375601
(2): Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
(3): "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-896N-WGPS?cc=2202707&wc=334P-BZS%3A1560656202%2C1560660801 : 26 March 2015), Navy, enlisted men > Aalen, Lester Will-Bunch, Henry Joshua, 1917-1920 > image 79 of 2202; Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin.
