John Milton Paden

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: 29 January 1885 Greene County, Pennsylvania[i]

Parents: Jesse Randolph Paden[ii] and Hannah Jane “Jennie” Waters[iii]

Residence at time of enlistment: Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[iv]

Physical description: 5 feet 10 ½ inches tall, dark complexion, brown eyes, dark hair[v]

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

Age at death: 33 years old

Last resting place: Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Fère-en-Tardenois, Picardie, France[vii]

Military rank: Serial No. 1241360. Mess Sergeant. Company K, 110th Infantry, 28th Division.

Witness account of death: Statement given by Cpl. Edgar Wright. “Sergeant Paden was wounded the 28th July, 1918, between the Ourcq river and the Grimpette woods. I saw him when some comrades were carrying him back to first aid. He was wounded in the spina column. He died while being carried back.”[viii]

Based on the timeline of events related to Company K and the ensuing battle July 28 – July 30, the date of John’s wound and death in this statement appears to be an error, with the actual date being July 29.

Additional information:

John was an athlete and known best for several seasons as a member of the Waynesburg College football team.[ix] He served with Company K on the Mexican border ahead of World War I[x] and advanced to the rank of Mess Sergeant prior to his death.[xi]

Hannah Jane “Jennie” (Waters) Paden, John’s mother, died when he was only an infant. Her death date is noted as April 1886, on the marriage license of her widower, Jesse Randolph Paden, when he remarried in 22 January 1887, to Malinda Asten.[xii]

Records show John’s time was spent divided between his father’s and mother’s families. Where he lived most of the time in his early years is difficult to know. John appears listed with his father, stepmother, and half-siblings, in the 1900 Census at their home in Morris Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.[xiii] However, in the 1910 Census he is living with his maternal aunt Elizabeth “Lizzy” Waters in Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.[xiv] Lizzy was one of his mother’s older sisters. The girls were both daughters of Israel Waters and Anna Tate.[xv] This aunt is the contact person John listed consistently on his Mexican Border and World War I military records,[xvi] and the person to whom the notice of his death was delivered by telegram from the War Department.[xvii]

John’s father died in 1921[xviii] and Aunt Lizzy in 1926.[xix] No application was made for John’s share of the Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Act in 1934.

 

[i] U.S. Veteran's Bureau Index Card.

1900 U.S. census, Morris Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, enumeration district (ED) 158, page 57B (stamped)/2 (written), dwelling 32, family 32, Jesse R. Paden household; National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 1494.

[ii] "Sergt. John M. Paden Dies of Wounds" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 26 September 1918.

1900 U.S. census, Morris Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, ED 158, page 57B (stamped)/2 (written), dwelling 32, family 32, Jesse R. Paden household.

[iii] No one source was discovered to explicitly name Hannah Jane Waters as John’s mother. Instead an investigation was conducted, which followed John’s maternal aunt Elizabeth “Lizzy” Waters, with whom he lived at the time of his military enlistment and who he listed as his emergency contact on his World War I military records. Her parents and siblings were identified and followed from birth to death through Census, courthouse, newspaper, and cemetery records. By process of elimination, Hannah was discovered to be the best and only likely fit for John’s mother, who died during his infancy. See further references in the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section.

1870 U.S. census, Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Waynesburg post office, page 228 (stamped)/18 (written), dwelling 135, family 135, Ann Waters household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 14 October 2017); National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 1348.

1880 U.S. census, Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, enumeration district (ED) 11, page 197B (stamped)/14 (written), dwelling 122, family 131, Annie Watters household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 14 October 2017); National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 1133.

[iv] "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 14 October 2017), John M. Paden entry, line 14, page 30 (stamped), Ausonia, box 373; citing Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAI: 6234477. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. John listed his aunt, “Miss Lizzie Waters,” with whom he likely lived at the time of his enlistment. He gave her address as “Waynesburg, PA.”

[v] "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), John M. Paden, Private, Co K, 10th Inf., P. N. G.; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.135.

[vi] "Sergeant John M. Paden, of Company K, Is Dead," article, Washington (Pennsylvania) Reporter, 25 September 1918, page 5, column 3; online images, Google news (www.news.google.com : viewed 7 October 2017), Observer-Reporter Collection.

"Sergt. John M. Paden Dies of Wounds" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 26 September 1918.

"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), John M. Paden file (no application for compensation submitted); citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

[vii] Oise-Aisne American Cemetery (Fère-en-Tardenois, Picardie, France), John M. Paden tombstone, Plot A Row 8 Grave 12; personally read by Candice Buchanan and Glenn Toothman, 6 September 2017.

[viii] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, John M. Paden file (no application for compensation submitted.

[ix] "Sergt. John M. Paden Dies of Wounds" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 26 September 1918.

[x] "Mexican Border Campaign Veterans' Card File," index and record 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), John M. Paden, Corporal, 10th Inf., Co. K; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.110.

[xi] “WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, John M. Paden file (no application for compensation submitted.

[xii] Greene County, Pennsylvania, Marriage License Dockets, vol. 1: 191, Jesse Randolph Paden – Malinda Asten; Office of the Orphans' Court, Greene County Courthouse, Waynesburg.

[xiii] 1900 U.S. census, Morris Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, ED 158, page 57B (stamped)/2 (written), dwelling 32, family 32, Jesse R. Paden household.

[xiv] 1910 U.S. census, Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, rural, enumeration district (ED) 102, page 220B (stamped)/11 (written), dwelling 190, family 198, Gordon's farm, Lizzy Waters household; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2017); National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 1348.

[xv] Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963, no. 11463, Elizabeth Waters, 1926; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 14 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.

[xvi] "Mexican Border Campaign Veterans' Card File," index and record images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System, John M. Paden, Corporal, 10th Inf., Co. K.

"United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com), John M. Paden entry, line 14, page 30 (stamped), Ausonia, box 373.

"WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, John M. Paden file (no application for compensation submitted.

[xvii] "Sergt. John M. Paden Dies of Wounds" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 26 September 1918.

[xviii] Jesse R. Paden obituary, Washington (Pennsylvania) Reporter, 2 November 1921, page 6, column 1; online images, Google news (www.news.google.com : viewed 7 October 2017), Observer-Reporter Collection.

[xix] Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963, no. 11463, Elizabeth Waters, 1926; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 14 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.