Solomon Raymond
Solomon Raymond was an African American who served with the 10th
service corp in the US Army WWI Army Expeditionary Force. Records show that he was born on January 15, 1895 in North Carolina. He registered for the draft on June 5th, 1917. Raymond's occupation was farming in Clito, GA, a town just outside of Statesboro, where he worked for J.W. Hart. Single at the time of his registration for the draft, he later married Evaline Raymond.
He was included in the first call for conscripts from Bulloch County. The Bulloch Times and Statesboro News reported "This number completes the first call of 209 men from Bulloch County Last summer and nine of the second call. The negroes were of the first call, and in their selection, no exemptions were made on account of agricultural occupations, therefore, many of them were taken from the farms." Raymond was conscripted in 1918 and sent to Fort Gordon for training on April 1st. Then, on July 10, 1918, Solomon Raymond embarked on the Aeolus with Company “B” 517th Engineers from Newport News, VA for service in Europe.
After arriving in Europe, Raymond was assigned to the 10th Battalion, 20th Engineers Company in Europe. The 10th Battalion, 20th Engineers was a forestry unit tasked with cutting timber and using logs to help construct and repair structures including bridges, trenches, and roads for the main army. Raymond died in service in Europe on February 11, 1919, from pneumonia, several months after the war’s end. he was buried in the French military cemetery in St. Dizier. On May 26, 1921, he was disinterred and returned to his wife for burial in the United States.
Raymond’s story resembles most African Americans who served in the Great War. Aside from the 92nd and 93rd divisions, all African American service members were subjugated to labor and service units for the Army, and most were stationed in the rear of American vanguards in the war.
Works Cited
Dexter Allen American Auxiliary. Box 1, Folder 7. “War Saving Certificates and Stamps.” Zach
S. Henderson Library Special Collections, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA.
Thompson, E. B, photographer. Negro soldier reading to boys who can't read. Camp Gordon, Ga.18. Camp Gordon Dekalb County Georgia, None. [Between 1917 and 1918]
"Georgia, World War I, Statement of Service Cards, 1920-1929", FamilySearch Entry for
Solomon Raymond, 1 April 1918.FamilySearch.com
"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, Access March 9th, Solomon Raymond, 1917-1918.FamilySearch.com
"United States, World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919", accessed March 9th, Entry for Solomon Raymond.FamilySearch.com
"The United States, Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939",accessed March 9th , FamilySearch Entry for Solomon Raymond, 31 March 1919.FamilySearch.com.
Ancestry.com. U.S. Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com. American Soldiers of World War I. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 003.Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Ancestry.com
AU.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.Ancestry.com
Davies, Alfred H , Twentieth Engineers, France, 1917-1918-1919,(DIMM 6- SONS PRINTING CO. Henry BIdg., Portland, Oregon) National Archives