Memorial Arch - 1919 - Cabool, MO
N 37° 07.310 W 092° 06.105
15S E 579795 N 4108765
The 1919 Memorial Arch stands in Cabool's Freedom Park, honoring those area servicemen who served their country in the "World War". On the arch's feet, "1919" appears four times, twice up front, twice in back.
Waymark Code: WMYY54
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2018
Views: 0
Funded by a proverbial passing of the hat among local citizens and organizations, the arch was mostly constructed of native stone and concrete in 1919. It originally stood in the intersection of Main St and Cedar Ave, a block east, once the site of the city well and a bandstand that replaced the well. Despite rainy weather that delayed its completion, it was dedicated on September 26, 1919 to open Cabool's Fair and Stock Show. It originally had lights -- 48 ten watt bulbs -- and was first illuminated in October of that year, but the vibrations of passing trains was found to destroy the fragile bulbs.
On March 4, 1920, the brass plates were put into place, costing about $300, and the final cost of the arch itself was about $1000. In June of the same year, work was finalized with the completion of a concrete platform around the arch, decorated at each corner by flower pots. Interestingly, the arch drew attention in Kansas City, where an editorial in the Kansas City Post praised the memorial and the work put into it by a town of only about a thousand people, while Kansas City's own ideas paled by comparison for such a large city as theirs. The call went out for the citizens of Kansas City to equal Cabool in terms of their own devotion to their boys who had died during the World War.
The arch was hit by a car in 1923, prompting calls for better awareness and safer driving, but by 1941, it was considered an obstruction to traffic, and relocated here.
As for the memorial itself, the year of construction, 1919, is visible on the arch's feet, appearing a total of four times, twice in front, twice in back. Across the concrete on both sides reads "Cabool" and "In Honor of Our Boys". The four bronze plaques are attached to the arch's legs, two in front, two in back, and they read:
[West leg, front]
Dedicated by the
people of Cabool
to those of our
number who served
in the World War
April 8, 1917 Nov. 11, 1918
Captain
Louis M. Edens
Captain
Richard H. Stogsdill
Captain
Walter W. Durnell
Lieutenant
Alva R. Teater
Red Cross Nurses
Sophia Beck
Ethel Bley
[East leg, front]
In Memoriam
"For those who sleep
in Flanders Fields
where poppies grow"
John L. Vollmar
Walter Coats
Warren Skyles
Earl Foster
Alva Carten
Clarence Colvin
Sam D. Floyd
Those who died in
United States camps
Robert L. Varner
Jesse Ellis
Elmer B. Weatherman
Wille E. Brown
[East leg, back...still legible despite a vandal's paint]
Service Roll
"Ils ne passeront pas"
Clarence L. Hunt
Ira J. Carman
Clifford Turner
Richard M. Robertson
Melvin J. Vollmar
Vernon R. Dix
James W. Womack
Benjamin A. True
Benjamin Cox
William J. Moss
Thomas A. Hubble
George Skyles
James M. Hale
Guy A. Humeston
Wade Simmons
David Hansen
Ray Mitchell
Ewart Wagner
Fred O. Timmerman
Richard D. Roberts
Delmer Andrews
Grover F. Brown
Walter F. Stewart
Clovis Cunningham
Elvin S. Hunter
John W. Harman
Irvin S. Degler
A. Hanks
Lovell E. Laws
T.A. Stouse
Homer A. Greenwood
Oscar A. Hunter
Skeet A. Altis
Jesse M. Harman
David A. Loftis
Clarence Wood
Willard C. Philibaum
William L. Loftis
Fred W. Niewohner
Paul S. Grant
Francis E. Lohman
Walter C. Sweet
Alvin J. Hunter
Ruben J. Beck
Earl Chaney
Ezra Hall
Leonard S. Amundson
Joe F. Wade
George W. Beck
Isreal Altis
Harry B. Timmerman
Chauncey E. Davis
George Ray
Frank R. Fox
Erwin McMillen
John Goforth
[West leg, back]
Service Roll
"To the members of F Co., 140th"
"Lafayette, we are here" -- (Pershing)
Leonard C. Caylor
Clark E. Brawner
Walter Bradshaw
Louis R. Bridge
Ben C. Collins
Joseph W. Duckworth
Nathan J. Goddard
Fred B. Hengel
Bob Hill
Carl J. Hengel
Elum O. James
Martin L. Lease
Thomas B. Lane
Jasper C. McBowen
Glenn D. Mixlow
Cecil L. Norris
Charles E. Plemmons
Archie F. Rust
William E. Shannon
George W. Skyles
William H. Stewart
Warren W. Taylor
Claud E. Wiles
Thomas Willoughby
Lynn Lamar
Raymond Winch
Bert Pennington
Walter S. Lingle
Ernest L. Anglin
Ollie E. Abbott
Clyde O. Beck
Walter J. Chaney
Fred E. Dove
Clifford E. Ferrell
Charles A. Gray
Herman H. Higginbotham
George E. Holden
Delbert E. Holt
Orval G. Laws
Evert Winch
Ralph K. McClellan
Mahlon G. Marcellus
Thomas E. Noblitt
James B. Orr
John O. Reed
Lou W. Sanders
Charles Sheltion
Jasper L. Stewart
Odis H. Taff
L.L. Whetstine
Franklin W. Stogsdill
Hilbert H. Nease
Wellie E. Holt
Fengler Holden
William L. Loch
Orval O. Reed