An article in the May 29, 2016 edition of Greenville's
Herald-Banner (see Website) covers two of the county's best-known war memorials, this one here and the other at the American Cotton Museum, also in Greenville. Be sure to visit the Roll of Honor inside the courthouse on the second floor.
According to the article, the Greenville's Mayflower Club (a women's club) commissioned the monument, originally intended to be a drinking fountain. Donations covered the $1,500 cost of the project, with the memorial's being built by the North Texas Granite and Marble Works. While the monument is in excellent condition, the drinking fountain no longer functions. Forty-two Hunt County natives were listed on both sides of the monument, and the article continues:
"According to a newspaper account, the dedication ceremony began at 2 p.m. Jan. 1, 1920. Rev. M.L Hamilton delivered the benediction followed by the playing of “Taps.” The reading of each of the names followed. “And as each name was called, the response was made, ‘Died on the field of honor’ or ‘Died in the service of his country’”, according to the report.
Mrs. George B. Jackson of Wesley College made the presentation speech for the club, which included a recitation of a poem, apparently an adaptation of a verse from the Civil War era, “The Toast” by George Morrow Mayo, also known as “The Poem of the Blue and Gray”, with a final stanza attributed to Mrs. Jackson herself."
The memorial stands about twelve feet high, with an eagle clutching crossed American flags and an ivy branch at the top. The title, "To Our Hunt County Heroes" (duplicated on the reverse) is followed by the names of those memorialized:
Otho Morgan
Floyd Davenport
I.S. Addington
Henry H. Grimes
William F. Lutts
T.R. Ridley
Steward Thompson
Rollins Mansfield
Eugene de Jernett
Benjamos Amos
Lawrence Bickley
John Ferrell
Joseph Jernigan
James Jones
Carrie Neighbors
Frank Pace
Estel E. Simpson
Frank Yost
James R. Young
Ira O. Young
B.F. Neighbors
Continued on the reverse:
Marshall Boyd
Herman E. Patterson
Corbet Stevenson
Clifford R. Smith
J. Frank Tipps
W.G. Turner
Cleo Turner
W.H. Weatherly
Delbert Wilburn
Floyd Jackson
Joe Stevens
John E. Kirby
Coy Harwell
Frank Mulkey
Isaac Reece
Bruce Williams
Died in Camp
Aubrey Gee
Jake Eiland
Herbert McGuire
W.O. Turner
Stars separate 1917 and 1919 on the front, and below are crossed torches superimposed upon a wreath. The emblem of the Mayflower Club, a women's club established in 1919, is superimposed upon a branch, followed by:
Mrs. H.L. Carpenter, Pres.
Mrs. Jno. Fox Holt, Sec.
Mrs. Geo. Fear, Treas.
Of those listed, Otho Morgan, Herman E. Patterson, and Aubrey Gee are buried here in Greenville, in the city's oldest cemetery, East Mount Cemetery. All three graves are actually easy to located, although only those of Morgan and Patterson identify them as casualties of the Great War.