Joseph Horner Bissett

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 14 December 1887 Ned, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Parents: Levi Jessie Bissett and Jennie Horner

Residence at time of enlistment: Ned, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Physical description: Tall, slender, light brown eyes, black hair

Death: Killed in action 18 July 1918 near Vierzy, Aisne, Picardie, France

Age at death: 30 years old

Last resting place: 1921, Sand Hill Cemetery, Ned, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Military rank: Serial No. 2106981. Private. Company H, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division.

Additional information:

Before the war, Joseph worked for the Hazel-Atlas Glass Company in Washington, Pennslvania. Upon joining the military in September 1917, he trained first at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio, and then at Camp Pike in Little Rock, Arkansas. He sailed for Europe on 20 June 1918 aboard the Anselm, arriving 6 July 1918, and wasting no time in heading to battle. With Company H, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division, he joined the heavy fighting along the Marne River in France, which began 15 July 1918 and was known as the Second Battle of the Marne. On the morning of 18 July 1918, the 2nd Division moved in an assault towards the French village of Vierzy, as part of the Aisne-Marne Offensive, south of Soissons. Joseph fell fighting for this objective becoming the first Greene County, Pennsylvania, soldier to give his life for his country in World War I.

SOURCES:

  • "A. E. F. Soldier Buried at Sand Hill" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 2 June 1921.
  • W. M. Haulsee, F. G. Howe, and A. C. Doyle, Soldiers of the Great War, 3 volumes (Washington D.C.: Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920), 3: 127, Pvt. Joseph H. Bissett entry.
  • "Ned Soldier Is Buried with Military Honors" article, Democrat Messenger, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 27 May 1921.
  • Sand Hill Cemetery (Ned, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania), Joseph H. Bissett tombstone; personally read and photographed by Candice Buchanan and Glenn Toothman, 2018.
  • "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 4 July 2018), Joseph H. Bissett entry, line 12, page 39 (stamped), Anselm, departure 20 June 1918 Brooklyn, 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.
  • "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482 : accessed 28 May 2018), Joseph Horner Bissett draft card, serial no. 1682, Local Draft Board, Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1509, FHL roll 1892939.
  • "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 28 May 2018), Jennie Bissett, mother of Joseph Horner Bissett - application no. 189611; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.