Private Van Buren Shofner
United States Army, World War I
Battery C, 131 Field Artillery, 36 Division
August 19, 2024 - Van Buren was born on Monday, February 24, 1896, in the far east Texas county of Shelby, where his parents, Sallie Brittain and William Oliver Shofner, were married on February 9, 1888. He grew up on a farm his father owned and worked in the rural part of the county with ten siblings. All but one, Jewel, who died when she was twenty-one months old, grew to adulthood. No doubt, times were hard, and everyone had to pitch in and do their part.
The World War had been raging in Europe since 1914, and on April 6, 1917, the United States joined it by declaring war on Germany. The Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men ages 21 to 30 to register for the military draft on June 5, and Buren did so at Precinct 10, Shelby County. His registration card (Form 1, draft # 231) noted: his age as 21; home address RFD 2, Shelbyville; natural born citizen; employed as a farm hand for B J Whitten in Patroon; single; Caucasian; no prior military service and no exemption to the draft was claimed. He was described as of medium height and built with light blue eyes and light brown hair (not bald). His mother, Sallie, died later that year, September 26, at the age of 49, and was buried in the Latham Cemetery in Shelby County.
On Saturday, October 6, 1917, Van Buren took the oath of enlistment at the Shelby County Courthouse becoming US Army Private Shofner, serial # 1494189. The following is a newspaper account of the activity.
The Champion, October 10, 1917, Center, Shelby County, Texas
Third Increment Of This County In Training
Left Monday Morning For Camp Travis – 28 In Number
“The third increment of drafted soldier from Shelby county left here Monday [October 8] for Camp Travis. [Van Buren Shofner was among the 28 names listed]. The men leaving here Monday morning were given an informal entertainment at the Christian church Sunday night and a very large audience was present. A number of splendid and timely talks were made.” [Of the 28 named, John B. Norman and Boss Turner would not survive the war].
The 28 inductees were sent by train to Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas, to begin basic training with the 165 Depot Brigade. Following basic, Private Shofner was sent to Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, Texas where he joined Battery C, 131 Field Artillery, 61 Field Artillery Brigade, 36 Division. On July 31, 1918, Buren and the 131 Artillery boarded the transport ship USS Siboney and departed the port of Hoboken, New Jersey bound for the war in France. He listed his father, William of Shelbyville, as the next of kin.
Arriving some eleven days later via Liverpool, England, they moved into a training area near Redon. French training officers at the famous French artillery training area, Coetquidan, reported the regiment ready for service in only six weeks of the eight-week training course. The unit did not reach the front before the end of the war, November 11, 1918, although it was determined to be in "perfect condition for service" by the commander of the 61st Field Artillery Brigade General John F. Stephens. Following the end of hostilities, Van Buren and his unit remained in France until February 25, 1919, when they departed St. Nazaire aboard the transport USS Aeolus [formerly the German liner Grosser Kurfurst] for the journey home to the United States. They arrived at the port of Newport News, Virginia, with 3,029 men of the 131 Field Artillery and were taken to a nearby Army camp for physicals, pay, and discharge processing. On March 30, 1919, after seventeen months of military service Private Van Buren Shofner was honorably discharged and awarded the World War I Victory Medal.
Following his discharge, Buren returned to Shelby County and the family farm where he and five of his siblings helped his widowed father. During the Christmas season of 1921, he and Miss Susie Corbell were married in Shelby County on December 17, and they would be blessed with two daughters, Mavis (1922) and Avis (1924). Future years would find him living in Panola County and then back to Shelby with employment as a drug salesman, farmer, and grocery merchant. On April 27, 1942, Buren would once again register for a military draft and although not called to service at the age of 46, he would see for the second time in his life the beginning and ending of a world war.
Buren died at the relatively early age of 54 with cancer. The Shreveport Journal, June 17, 1950, Saturday gave this account “Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Thursday at the West Hamilton Church for Buren Shofner who died at 8 p.m. Wednesday [June 14] at his home near Center. Rev. J. Carroll Chadwick and Rev. Wieler Adams officiated. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Susie Shofner; two daughters, Mrs. Harold Hughes and Mrs. Donice Ramsey; three grandchildren; three sisters, Mrs. Clifton Rivers, Mrs. Wayne Jamerson and Mrs. Junius Lout; and four brothers, Frank, Arvis, Oscar and Marvin Shofner.” He was buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas, where his wife Susie joined him in 1993. Day is done, God is nigh.
Sources:
(1): Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 3, Shelby, Texas; Roll: T624_1588; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0149; FHL microfilm: 1375601
(2): Registration State: Texas; Registration County: Shelby County
(3): "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MN-CSHM-S?cc=2202707&wc=334L-6TL%3A1560656702%2C1561272101 : 26 March 2015), Enlisted men > Setser, Daniel J-Simmons, Olin Woolsey, 1917-1920 > image 3144 of 4449; Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin.
(4): 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: 578
(5): Brief Histories of Divisions, US Army 1917-1918.Historical Branch, War Plans Division, General Staff. June, 1921
(6): 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: 2
