Two of the major themes we are exploring at the Northfield Historical Society for our centennial commemoration of World War I are service and sacrifice, both at home and abroad. While going through some of the individual soldier records in the Rice County War Records Commission collection at the Rice County Historical Society (2 file cabinets full!) I have already found a few examples of both service and sacrifice from Northfield-area citizens.

Delphine Carpenter in uniform. Rice County Historical Society collection.

Miss Delphine Carpenter is one of the few women included in the files. She was from Northfield and served the U.S. Navy as a Yeoman 3 Class Female, one of the few ways women could directly serve the U.S. military during the war. She was stationed at Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. for the duration of the war until she was discharged in 1920.

Ralph W. Cornell in uniform. Rice County Historical Society collection.

Ralph W. Cornell was drafted on June 25, 1918 in Faribault. He served with the infantry in the battles of Argonne Forest in November of 1918, and was badly wounded by shrapnel in his neck and shoulder. After he returned to civilian life, he only worked two days before his wound opened and he was unable to work consistently for years after he returned. He sent this photograph to the War Records Committee along with a letter describing when it was taken:

Letter from Ralph Cornell to Frank Kaisersatt, 1919. Rice County Historical Society collection.

“From appearances,” he wrote, “you would hardly think me badly injured would you?” He continued, “Still the left arm at that time was paralized [sic] and an ugly hole through the base of neck and left shoulder also a portion of the spine shot away, and since then have had one rib removed etc.” Living with the realities of his wound, he concluded that his arm “hasn’t weakened yet but may get thin some day.”

Arthur H. Drewitz in uniform. Rice County Historical Society collection.

Finally, some of the greatest sacrifices were borne by the families of soldiers. Arthur Drewitz served with the infantry in France from August to October 1918. He was declared missing in action since October 8, 1918.

Telegram sent to Arthur Drewitz’s parents, December 1918. Rice County Historical Society collection.

His mother wrote the following letter in March of 1919 asking the Rice County War Records Committee to track down any information they could about her “Dear boy” Arthur. She asked them to do what they could so that she “may know what has become of him” and to “find out if he is alive yet or if he is in some prisoners camp yet or any place in Germany.” She had not heard from her son since his last letter of September 15, 1918.

Letter from Mrs. Hermann Drewitz, March 26, 1919. Rice County Historical Society collection.

Many of the soldiers initially listed as missing in action were later classified as killed in action, but their bodies were never recovered. Can you imagine the pain of not knowing anything about your son like Mrs. Hermann Drewitz? Or living with chronic pain from shrapnel wounds? Even despite these sacrifices, though, most of those who served remained proud of their service. Even Private Cornell, disabled as he was, said, “I am sure proud to say I did my little bit over there for Minnesota.”

The full records of these individuals, among others, will soon be posted on the Northfield History Collaborative site. You can view more of them in person in Faribault at the Rice County Historical Society.

One of the reasons we chose to focus our digitization efforts on World War I materials this year is the fact that there is a massive collection of documents from the Rice County War Records Commission at the Rice County Historical Society. But they have never been digitized, so our ability to share the information contained within is limited.

I am pleased to say that I have recently begun the long process of scanning one of the most important documents in that collection – a massive bound ledger with two-sided pages dedicated to individual soldiers who came from Rice County, Minnesota. The pages contain family history, enlistment data, department and rank served, and any other miscellaneous information (often including Army serial numbers, name of ship that carried them to Europe, where stationed, which battles fought, and date and location of discharge).

Cover of the Record of Soldiers in World War I, Rice County Historical Society collection (2010.119.04)

The State of Minnesota created the War Records Commission in 1918 to ensure that the activities of Minnesota individuals and units were properly documented in a central location, usually based in each county. In prior wars, there had been no organized system to collect this kind of data, and some veterans had difficulties proving that they had even served in the military. State leadership realized if they did not work to collect this information from this Great War, it would be more difficult to bring it all together before too much time had passed.

The Rice County War Records Commission was based in Faribault and Frank M. Kaisersatt, a prominent citizen from Wheatland Township, was its chairman. Over the course of about five years, the commission located and recorded the information from as many men who served in some capacity during World War I as they could find. Some records exist only as a name, with no other information. Others offer a wealth of knowledge, including even names of commanders or more. A few note that the man was killed “somewhere in France,” which highlights the fact that tracking down some of these men – some of which had no family at home – was very difficult considering the circumstances of conflict and disease.

Excerpt from Thomas Ansems’ record

While going through even just a few of these records, I am amazed by the variety of ways in which these people from Rice County served during the war. Some were cooks. Some joined the medical corps, or sanitation, or the air service. Others were in the ammunition trains. Some barely made it to Europe before the end of the war in November 1918, so they stayed over with the American Expeditionary Force as the Army of Occupation in Germany from 1918 through 1919. One soldier enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.) at Carleton College on October 11, 1918, exactly one month before the armistice. He trained there for only two months before being discharged, but his record exists in this book, as well.

Excerpt from Claude Revier Babcock’s record

And they had a variety of backgrounds, as well. Considering Rice County’s agriculture-based economy, many servicemen were farmers, but there were also teachers, mechanics, a “Proprietor of a Machine Shop and Foundry,” and a professor of chemistry at St. Olaf College who wasn’t even born in Rice County.

Excerpt from Arthur Van Krogh Anderson’s record

While there are many pages to go before this book will be shared in its entirety on the Northfield History Collaborative, I can already see how it will add to our understanding of Northfield-area experiences during World War I – which is exactly the purpose of this digitization project. Stay tuned for more updates!

Note: there are many resources out there on the state level on the War Records Commission in Minnesota, or World War I military service records in general. They include:

• A Library Guide to Military Records of World War I at the Minnesota Historical Society’s Gale Family Library
• Family History Resources for Military Records available from the Minnesota Historical Society based on type of record or particular conflict
• A Finding Aid for World War I soldier photographs from the Minnesota War Records Commission at the Minnesota Historical Society