52 Ancestors #36: A Soldier Boy's Creed (Updated)

Ancestor Name: Julius Franklin COLLINS

Julius Franklin Collins was one of the young men of the lost generation of World War One. He was killed on 30 September 1918 in Argonne, France, and was newly married and 30 years old at the time of his death.

When he completed his registration card for the draft on 5 June 1917, he was single, lived at 4217 Cook Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, and owned a gift and art shop. He was described as tall, slight of build with brown eyes and black hair. Early the next year he married Edith Audrey Wolff, also of St. Louis.

Before Julius left to fight for the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, he wrote A Soldier's Creed, which was published in several newspapers, including Julius' hometown paper, the Troy Call.

As published in the Troy Call on 12 July 1918

The 56th Infantry Regiment was organized in mid June 1917 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and attached to 3rd Brigade, 7th Infantry Division in World War One. The brigade's infantry and reconnaissance elements were involved with skirmishes with German troops but the division never participated as a whole in any engagements during the war. However, once such "skirmish," which took place on 30 September 1918, was fatal for Julius Franklin Collins.

On 1 November 1918, the story of his death was front page news in the Troy Call:

JULIUS COLLINS DEAD

Reported Killed in Action in France on September 30

Is First Troy Boy to Lose Life on Battlefield "Over There"

Relatives and friends in Troy were shocked and grieved Wednesday upon learning that Julius Collins, a former Troy boy, had lost his life in action in France on Monday, September 30th. He is the first Troy boy to be killed in action in the present war.

The information was received here by John Collins, a brother, from the dead soldier boy's wife who is residing in St. Louis. No further particulars, aside from the usual announcement by the War Department are known but it is hoped these will be received by letter from his superior officer or from some member of his company.

Young Collins went into the army on May 12th in St. Louis and was sent to Camp McArthur at Waco, Texas, for training. He sailed for France on August 1st and was in that country just two months. The last letter received from him by relatives here was written on September 8th.

Julius Collins was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Collins and was born in Troy on August 1, 1888. His mother, whose maiden name was McMakin, died when he was an infant and his father was killed in a mine accident a year ago last July. After receiving a common school education, he went to work and and for a number of years was employed in the office of John Small, a prominent contractor, but for the past several years he had conducted ...[illegible]... Chicago are uncles and Mrs. Clementine Collins of Collinsville his step-mother.

Julius was a young man of exemplary character and habits and was admired by all who knew him. He was an energetic and capable young man and as such was successful in his undertakings. He was the author of "A Soldier Boy's Creed," an outline of nine points for guidance of soldier boys, which was published in The Call in its issue of July 12th. The creed was inspired by thinking over why he was in the army and the part he was to play in the present world undertaking. He admitted that the thoughts outlined had helped him and he had them printed on cards for distribution to other soldier boys in the hope that they would help them, too."

Julius Franklin Collin's headstone; courtesy of
Findagrave.com member DianaR

Julius Franklin Collins was buried in the Troy City Cemetery.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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I have written about Julius and his Creed before but have learned more details about his life since then. Thanks to a contact made as a result of this blog with one of his brother John's descendants.

Julius Franklin Collins was born on 1 August 1888 in Troy, Illinois, to William and Ida May (McMakin) Collins. His father had immigrated to the U.S. from England with his parents as a young boy. His mother died when he was an infant. He married Edith Audrey Wolff on 28 February 1918 and joined the Army on 12 May 1918. He shipped to France with his unit on 1 August 1918 and was killed in France on 30 September 1918.  Julius Franklin Collins was the step-son of my great great grandmother Clementine (Wells) Riggin Collins.

More posts about my ancestors who fought in World War One

Out of Africa: Daniel and the Soldier Ants

My Aunt Joan's father was a missionary in British East Africa in the 1920s. Her older brother, Homer, wrote an unpublished memoir about his life, and included many stories of the family's time in Africa. He followed in his father's footsteps and returned to Africa as a missionary in 1933. This is another story from his memoir:

Bunyore, Kenya is a beautiful place in a tropical equatorial kind of way. The setting is surrounded by small African huts all thatched amidst groves of broad banana leaves. Outcroppings of granite stand out over the area as sentinels and tall eucalyptus sway in the breeze. 

Modern photograph of Bunyore, Kenya

We had good friends at the Bunyore Mission Station and went to visit them for a few days. Our son was a baby at the time. Having finished his last feeding for the evening, he was burped and nicely bedded down for the night. The netting was suitably tucked about the bassinet to shield from the hungry mosquitoes. The whole setting was calm and serene under a starlit, gracious night.

We were aroused from our slumbers by small sounds of pain from the wee one. Mother seemed to be the first of us aware of the baby's cry. She rolled out of bed to see what could be wrong. Turning up the lamp wick, she began the search for the reason. As she turned back the netting, and blankets, she instantly became aware that something was crawling on her feet and legs. Not only crawling, but also biting very hard. By this time she had found soldier ants (also called Army ants) within the baby's diapers, latching on to his little body. 

Drawing of an Army ant; courtesy of PLOS | Biology

This called for help; we had to do something instantly. Mother took hold of those vicious ants to pull them loose, but they clung tight until they came apart. They simply would not give up their hold on the wee body of our son. Baby Dan was most unhappy not knowing what to make of this rude awakening. 

Everyone was up by this time. There was no sleeping in this kind of situation. Getting a kerosene lantern, we began to scout the outside of the home. The ground was covered with soldier ants -- millions of them. We discovered they were using a one-inch piece of rope to make their way up and inside the house. Even the bats in the attic were under attack. They were literally devoured by ants.

The old expression "ants in one's pants" in such a case is not a bit funny. So what was to be done about the situation. Native people back through the dim past had used hot ashes to turn away these attacks and they were what we used that night as well. We took all the ashes from the stove in the kitchen, spread a line about the approach area. We also took the spray gun and used a mixture of kerosene with pyrethrum powder which is a very potent control for insects, but not instantaneous.

Let it be said if a baby were to be left alone and the soldier ants found it, life would not long be sustained. So it was that our night was disturbed, but the wee fellow was soon out of trouble.

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NOTE:  Previous "Out of Africa" posts:

Doctor Livingstone, I Presume
The Kikuyu
The Eland Hunt
The Hippopotamus Hunt 
Kagui and the Python 
Water Buffalo Trouble
Baboon in the Sweet Potato Patch
Breakfast at Kimingini