James Leo Farrell

James Leo "Red" Farrell was born September 1, 1898, the son of John and Sarah Costello Farrell. He was the fourth of six children including, Catherine, Robert Joseph, Rose Irene, Mary and Helena "Nell".

He was a member of St. Ann's Catholic Church of Waynesburg. He attended Waynesburg High School, Waynesburg College and Bellefonte Academy. While attending the academy he attracted considerable attention by his outstanding athletic ability on the football field. When World War I began, Jim, along with many of his friends joined the local unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard Company K, 110th Infantry.

On September 7, 1917, along with 154 fellow soldiers, Jim departed from Waynesburg for Camp Hancock, Georgia to prepare for war. Only history would know that only 130 of them would return. On April 24, 1918, the men left Camp Hancock for New York where they boarded the Ausonia, an English transport, and sailed for thirteen days before arriving in Liverpool, England. They were immediately taken by train to Dover where they crossed the English Channel to Calais, France on May 17, 1918.

In June, the regiment was transferred to the French sector and by June 14 was located south of Chateau Thierry. Ten days later Company K was sent to Artonges, south of the Marne River near Montmiral, to help the French repel an unexpected massive German offensive. By July 24, after several days of marching, they crossed the Marne River near Chateau Thierry.

On the night of July 27, the regiment was ordered to relieve the French on the front lines. Early on the morning of July 28, Company K and the other companies of the 110th Infantry found themselves on the front lines near Courmont, north of the Ourcq River and south of the Grimpettes Woods-the Germans only 1,500 feet away. Their mission was to charge up a 700-yard slope and attack the German lines at the top of the hill (military Hill 212). It would take six separate attacks before the hill was taken.

Jim Farrell was at the Headquarters of the 28th Division in Fresnes-en-Tardenois, France, when it was shelled on July 28, 1918. Along with several comrades, including the Colonel of the Division, he lost his life in the attack. The men were given temporary burial in the small village until after the war. Though Jim's was not the first to be reported to families back home, his death was the first loss of life from Waynesburg, and second from the whole of Greene County, in the Great War. His sister, Catherine, was at the time an employee of Western Union and it was she who transcribed the tragic news when it was teletyped from France.

This Memory Medallion was donated in 2003 by the Cornerstone Genealogical Society, and was compiled by Maureen O. Rohanna. The battle information was taken from History of Greene County Pennsylvania, by Dr. G. Wayne Smith (Waynesburg, Pennsylvania: Cornerstone Genealogical Society, 1996).

James Leo Farrell

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for publication in "The Rain Day Boys: The Greene That Lay Near Grimpettes Woods" (2017). Learn more at www.RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 1 September 1898 Freedom, Beaver County, Pennsylvania[i]

Parents: John Joseph Farrell and Sarah Ellen Costello[ii]

Residence at time of enlistment: 303 Huffman Street, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[iii]

Physical description: 5 feet 9 ½ inches tall, fair complexion, brown eyes, auburn hair[iv]

Death: Killed in action 28 July 1918, Fresnes-en-Tardenois, Picardie, France[v]

Age at death: 19 years old

Last resting place: 25 July 1921 St. Ann Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[vi]

Military rank: Serial No. 1239058. Private. Headquarters Company, 110th Infantry, 28th Division.

Witness account of death: Statement given by Sgt. Major Joseph J. King. “I arrived at Fresnes, France, on the afternoon of July 28, 1918, enroute to Regimental Headquarters. On arrival at Fresnes I was told by several parties that Regimental Headquarters had been blown up that morning by enemy shell fire, several casualties resulting. My informants told me that Private James L. Farrell had been killed. I went to the location of Regt. Hqrs. The corpse of Farrell was lying near where he was killed. He was buried at Fresnes.”[vii]

Additional information:

James was a good student and revered athlete. He was particularly known for talents on the football field and basketball court.[viii]

His tombstone in St. Ann Cemetery, aptly identifies him as “The First Waynesburg Boy To Make Supreme Sacrifice In World War.”[ix]

James was first buried with his comrades in the small village of Fresnes-en-Tardenois, France, near the location where the bombed Regimental Headquarters had stood.[x] In 1921, he was finally returned home for interment in the Farrell family lot at St. Ann Roman Catholic Church Cemetery in Waynesburg. Members of the James Farrell American Legion Post No. 330, so-named in his honor, attended as a body to conduct full military rites. The town of Waynesburg closed the doors of all businesses so that community members were free to attend the ten o’clock, Monday morning service.[xi]

In 1934, Sarah Ellen Farrell, James's mother, was granted $10.00 a month for 20 months as part of the Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Act, on behalf of her son.[xii]