Harold Thomas Carey

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 RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: April 15, 1896 Claysville, Donegal Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania[i]

Parents: Thomas Sylvester Carey and Belle Mariah Smith[ii]

Residence at time of enlistment: 153 South West Street, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[iii]

Physical description: 5 feet 9 ½ inches tall, florid complexion (i.e. red or flushed, rosy-cheeked), grey eyes, black hair[iv]

Death: Killed in action 29 July 1918 Cierges, Picardie, France[v]

Age at death: 22 years old

Last resting place: 7 August 1921 Green Mount Cemetery, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[vi]

Military rank: Serial No. 1241472. Private First Class. Company K, 110th Infantry, 28th Division.

Witness account of death: Statement given by Sgt. James Kane. “I was lying down with Harold Carey in front of the Grimpette woods just beyond the Ourcq river when he was hit by machine gun fire. He was hit somewhere in the body and was carried back to the first aid. Later I heard that he had died. This happened about 5:30 o’clock on the morning of July 29th 1918. He was on the end of the platoon and was the first man hit.”[vii]

Additional information:

Harold graduated from Waynesburg High School with the Class of 1917. At the time of his enlistment with Company K on 25 April 1917, his occupation was listed as student.[viii] He also was a member of the Waynesburg  Presbyterian Church and Sunday School.[ix] This congregation still held Sunday services in the building on Church Street, just across from the Courthouse, during those years. (The church was later destroyed in the Downey House fire, 23 December 1925.) From that altar, Harold’s funeral sermon was given on 7 August 1921.[x]

In 1934, Belle M. Carey, Harold’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.[xi]

 

[i] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 9 October 2017), Mrs. Belle M. Carey, mother of Harold T. Carey - application no. 252948; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

[ii] Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963, no. 81121, Thomas Sylvester Cary, 1943 and no. 62519, Belle Mariah Carey, 1947; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2017); Pennsylvania Death certificates, 1906–1963 (Series 11.90), Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (Record Group 11), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

1900 U.S. census, Donegal Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, enumeration district (ED) 144, page 172A (stamped)/1 (written), dwelling 10, family 10, Thos. S. Cary household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2017); National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 1494.

1910 U.S. census, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, South ward, enumeration district (ED) 124, page 138B (stamped)/11 (written), dwelling 261, family 278, 133 South West Street, Thomas Carry household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2017); National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 1349.

[iii] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Mrs. Belle M. Carey, mother of Harold T. Carey - application no. 252948.

[iv] "PA National Guard Veterans' Card File, 1867-1921," digital images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System (www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp: viewed 12 November 2017), Harold Carey, Private, Co K, 10th Inf., P. N. G.; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.135.

[v] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Mrs. Belle M. Carey, mother of Harold T. Carey - application no. 252948.

"Three More Company K Boys" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 10 October 1918, page 1, column 5.

[vi] Green Mount Cemetery (Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania), Thomas S. Carey family tombstone, section N, lot 31 east half; personally read by Candice Buchanan, 2008.

"Funerals of Four Company K Heroes" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 11 August 1921.

[vii] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Mrs. Belle M. Carey, mother of Harold T. Carey - application no. 252948.

[viii] "PA National Guard Veterans' Card File, 1867-1921," digital images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System (www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp: viewed 12 November 2017), Harold Carey, Private, Co K, 10th Inf., P. N. G.; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.135.

[ix] "Three More Company K Boys" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 10 October 1918, page 1, column 5.

[x] "Funerals of Four Company K Heroes" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 11 August 1921.

[xi] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Mrs. Belle M. Carey, mother of Harold T. Carey - application no. 252948.