As the demands overseas for the irresistible force and ardor of the American soldiers to be hurried to the rescue of the battered troops of the allies became more urgent, and the United States came to realize what an awful responsibility was upon her, the Goddess arose in her might and wrath, as she always has when Right has thus called upon her and but a history of Portage County is no medium through which to tell what America did for the world's liberty which was in such dire peril. One of the largest accessions to the fighting manpower of the country was accomplished by the passage of the war measure which called to the colors, in the early summer of 1918, all those young men who had reached the age of twenty-one since the previous 5th of June.
It was estimated that in Portage County from 250 to 300 were thus added to those falling within the selective draft. As stated by A. E. Bourn, county clerk and secretary of the registration board, the only exceptions to the operations of the measure were persons then in the military or naval service of the United States, which included "all officers and enlisted men of the regular army, navy, the marine corps, and the National Guard and naval militia, while in the service of the United States, and officers in the officers' reserve corps and enlisted men in the enlisted reserve corps while in active service." The sick were authorized to be registered by persons so deputized, and any person awaiting trial was to be registered by the officers in whose custody they were held.
The registration places selected for Portage County were as follows:
At Stevens Point, at the courthouse, in charge of A. E. Bourn, W: E. Fisher, W. E. Atwell and Dr. C. von Neupert, Sr. - For the city of Stevens Point, the villages of Junction City and Plover and the towns of Eau Pleine, Carson, Linwood; Dewey, Hull, Stockton, Plover, Grant and Buena Vista.
At Almond, at the Portage County Bank, in charge of O. A. Crowell-For the village of Almond and the towns of Almond, Amherst Junction and Nelsonville and the towns of Amherst, New Hope and Lanark.
At Rosholt; at the village hall, in charge of John Kubisiak and Miss Ruth McCallum - For the village of Rosholt and the towns of Alban and Sharon.
No local war organization appealed more closely to the purposes of this publication than the County History Committee, which was really identified with the State Council of Defense. It was organized in March, 1918, for the purpose of systematizing and promoting the collection of any documents, material or other data which had a bearing upon the war in its special relations to Portage County. Its scope was so broad and- the labors involved were so charged with details that, even with peace virtually declared, it will be long before its work can be said to be fairly complete. Professor M. M. Ames, formerly of the State Normal School, was appointed president and secretary of the committee; in fact, was both the administrator, designer and recorder of its activities, and responsible to the State Council of Defense.
The County History Committee was divided into a number of departments, or sub-committees, with the following personnel:
Military Materials-Mrs. N. A. Week and Miss Elida Moen, Stevens Point; Louis A. Pomeroy, Amherst; J. L. Dopp, Almond Township.
Collection of civil personnel of all local movements -- Judge B. B. Park.
Reports of all public war meetings held in the county; also collection of all badges and insignia, specially designed for the war-John W. Strope.
Official records of civilian war and relief work - Professor F; S. Hyer.
Newspaper files and posters; history of the war through the press - Miss Mary Dunegan, librarian of the Free Public Library.
Economic and industrial history of the county in the war period (especially) - Professor M. M. Ames.
Among the most arduous duties connected with the gathering and preservation of facts connected with the war, as they were identified with Portage County, were those which fell to the sub-committee on Military Material, the members of which were charged with the task of perfecting a list of all those who were residents of the county, at the commencement of hostilities and who served in a military capacity. Some had volunteered; some had been drafted; some had gone to Canada, even before the United States was a belligerent; some had joined the overseas forces in England, in France and in Italy; not a few had joined the Polish army; others had gone into the service with friends or relatives from other counties or states. It was a task which required patience, persistence and time, and one of the greatest regrets of the historian of Portage County is that the list is not sufficiently complete at this writing to warrant its publication. To issue an imperfect list would be an injustice to those who would be omitted; and until the work of all the sub-committees of the official County History Committee is completed any account of local war activities cannot approach perfection.
Professor Merlin M. Ames, who has been at the head of numerous important activities of the World war, is well known as an educator in Stevens Point, with a pronounced executive faculty for organization. Before coming to Stevens Point in 1912 to assume the chair in the Normal School of United States history and civics, he had been superintendent of schools of such places in Wisconsin as Hayward, Stanley and Laurel. He is a graduate of the State Normal School at Stevens Point and has a Ph. B. degree from the University of Wisconsin.
Go back to 1919 History of Portage Cty -- WWI - Part I