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NC WWI Service Card
Commodore Clarence Chinnis was born in Northwest, Brunswick County, the son of Augustus Marion Chinnis and Nellie Brew.

A previous post introduced the multiple draft registrations which occurred in 1917 and 1918, and the Students’ Army Training Corps.

Commodore did not become eligible for the draft until the registration of September 12, 1918. His draft registration was actually dated September 7, 1918, and shows he had already started his SATC training at Plattsburgh Barracks, NY. But the SATC program did not officially begin until October 1, 1918.

To determine the reason behind this discrepancy, college yearbooks were used. The North Carolina University at Chapel Hill (now known as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) yearbook Yackety-Yack provides the sequence of events.

The UNC Department of Military Science training and the Students’ Army Training Corps at UNC were two different programs. Commodore participated in the military training in 1917 when it first became available, then volunteered for the SATC in 1918 when it became available. The following shows Commodore’s activities in chronological order.

According to The Wilmington Dispatch (1916, May 27; p. 5), Commodore graduated from Wilmington High School on May 26, 1916.

He was a freshman in the 1916-1917 year at UNC Chapel Hill, according to the 1917 yearbook, Yackety-Yack, p. 147.

The 1918 yearbook, page 262, indicates that Commodore was in the Class of 1920. He is included in the list of sophomores on page 92.

Page 168 begins with the description of the formation of the Department of Military Science at the school and the enthusiasm in which the students responded. Several excerpts are shown below.

“It is not the nature of the North Carolinian to remain neutral when a ‘first-class scrap’ is in progress nearby. …his blood seethes with a desire to take part in the conflict.”

“When the suggestion was made, in the fall of nineteen-fifteen, that a course in military training be introduced in the University of North Carolina, it met with little favor among either Faculty or students. War was not regarded as imminent, and in our ignorance we failed to realize the importance of making ready for its coming.”

“…the sudden severance of diplomatic relations with Germany swept away all remaining opposition.”

“The total number of students registered in the University for the [1917] fall term was 820. Of these, 565 have been taking the course, devoting twelve hours a week to the work.”

Photos of the military training in Chapel Hill are located in the 1918 yearbook. Pvt Commodore served in Company B, which begins on page 176.

A diagram of the trenches that were created on campus is shown here.

The following summer (1918), 125 students, including Commodore, trained at the camp at Plattsburgh Barracks, NY. This explains why Commodore registered for the draft on September 7, 1918, from Plattsburgh Barracks.

Commodore Clarence Chinnis’ signature on his draft registration:

Photos from the summer of 1918 at Plattsburgh are shown in the 1919 Yearbook. This section of the yearbook is also located online at https://docsouth.unc.edu/wwi/yack1919/yack1919.html. Commodore has not been identified in the photo below, but he was described as a “likeable giant” in the local newspaper and stood at 6’1″, according to his WWI Draft Registration.

When the SATC became active in October 1918, Commodore, along with William Asbury Rourk, Jr, met the physical and educational admission requirements and volunteered. Both were accepted and ordered to report for duty on October 5, 1918, at the University of North Carolina, a Collegiate Section from NC. Click image at right to enlarge.

Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Registrants who are graduates of standard four-year secondary schools or have equivalent educational qualifications are eligible for Collegiate Sections and will be inducted at the institutions to which they secure admission. The admission requirements into the colleges, and hence into the Students Army Training Corps, have been left substantially as they were. Young men seeking information as to how to join a Collegiate Unit of the Corps should apply not to the War Department, but to the Dean or Registrar of the college of their choice.

Members of both sections will attend courses on the Issues of the War.

These excerpts are taken from the description of the Students’ Army Training Corps at Carolina on page 183.

From the first days in October, when the system was started, it seemed that fate was against a speedy organization of the units into efficient, spirited bodies. Equipment was hard to secure, personnel of the staffs were slow in assembling, and upon everything that scourge of scourges, the “flu” descended. The men were compelled to keep a strict quarantine, pleasures and freedoms were cut off. Sickness is a breeder of slow inertia and lack of spirit. Morale was hard to maintain, on the campus, when the atmosphere was full of dread.

Just as the training went into full swing, the November 11, 1918, Armistice ended it.

In the days of disappointment that followed the signing of the armistice, when the urge of the desire for service overseas was suddenly removed, every student soldier felt that the Students’ Army Training Corps was of no value.

The SATC was demobilized. Pvt Chinnis was honorably discharged on December 9, 1918.

The government did a very wise thing when it created this Students’ Army Training Corps, and could the experiment have been carried out its benefits would by now have been too obvious to point out.

Commodore did not complete his junior year in college. He is not listed among the juniors in the 1919 yearbook. This is confirmed by the 1940 Census which shows he had completed two years of college education.

The 1920 Census shows that he was living at home in Northwest. He and his sister Lila were clerks at a bank. His father was a merchant of groceries. The family home was on Wilmington and Charlotte Road, near Leland Road.

Commodore married and was the father of two sons who served in WWII, Carter Cabell Chinnis, whose findagrave entry includes an impressive obituary, and Hobson D Chinnis.

Commodore Clarence Chinnis passed away on July 8, 1960. He was laid to rest in New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Leland. No military marker is shown.

To view this or an earlier profile or snapshot at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.

If you would like to help us honor Commodore Clarence Chinnis or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:

Click here for the announcement:
Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran:
How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran

John Rivers Smith lies in an unmarked grave in Smith Cemetery in Southport, NC. Census records including him with his wife and children have not been located. As a result, more details and historical records than usual are presented below in order to link him to his descendants and preserve the details of his WWI service.

NC WWI Service Card
John Rivers Smith was born in Southport, son of Robert Calvin Smith and Eliza Jane Galloway. In the 1900 Census, his father is listed as a carpenter.

The 1910 Census shows that his family lived at 318 Rhett St. Another WWI veteran, Robert Leroy Stratmon, was his neighbor. Robert Leroy Stratmon died while serving in WWII.

John’s parents are listed as “baker” and “assistant baker.” Attempts to discover if they operated a bakery inside their home were unsuccessful.

Previous posts introduced the Students’ Army Training Corps and his fellow corps members from Southport, Oliver Banks and Elmer Davis.

Like Oliver and Elmer, John did not become eligible for the draft until the registration of September 12, 1918. His draft registration shows he was employed as a cook in Southport.

John Rivers Smith’s signature on his draft registration:

Oliver, Elmer, and John met the physical and educational requirements of the SATC, volunteered, and were accepted. All three served in the SATC at Negro Agricultural and Technical College (now NC A&T State University) in Greensboro. Read the previous posts linked above for details.

John was honorably discharged on December 12, 1918.

No additional census records could be located for John. However, his family’s 1930 Census record shows his sister Marion Jane Smith had married William L. Davis in Southport and was living in Chadbourn, Columbus County, NC. Their sister Katy Ruth and mother Eliza lived with them. William Davis worked as a fireman at a railroad and Marion ran a filling station. Marion was described as attending school. As the 1940 Census shows, she eventually completed four years of college.

William Lee Davis was also a WWI veteran. His service card from Georgia is shown at right. Click to enlarge. He was born in Tennessee and was a resident of Savannah, Georgia (at least one son from a previous marriage was born there). Corporal Davis served stateside in the 425 Labor Battalion.

The 1940 Census indicates that William continued working for the railroad as a fireman. As mentioned, Marion’s educational level is shown as 4 years of college. Marion’s and John’s mother Eliza was still living with them. Katy Ruth was not and efforts to find records for her were unsuccessful.

Nephew John Robert Smith, age 8, also lived with Marion and William. Quite a few records exist that indicate this is John Rivers’ son. These include not only John Robert’s records listed in the paragraph below, but John Rivers’ son Charles Fredrick Smith‘s records and his wife Bernice McBride Smith Gore‘s records.

John Robert Smith’s birth record lists his father as John Smith. His Social Security Application and Claims [Source: Ancestry] shows his father as “John R Smith” and mother “Bernice McBride” and birth date and place as August 23, 1931, and Chadbourn, NC.

[Note: The 1930 Census indicates William L Davis was born in Tennessee. The 1940 Census shows him born in North Carolina but shows that John Roberts Smith was born in Tennessee. John Roberts Smith’s birth record verifies that he was born in Chadbourn, NC. The assumption is a transcription error on the 1940 Census: William L Davis was born in Tennessee (see his WWI Service Card above) and John Roberts Smith was born in Chadbourn, NC (see his birth record above).]

John Rivers Smith’s WWII Draft Registration of February 16, 1942, shows he was living in Chadbourn, Columbus County, employed by Columbus Manufacturing Company. His wife Bernice Smith was listed as his nearest living relative.

He was described as 5’7″, 148 pounds, with a scar in front of his right ear.

On November 7, 1943, John’s and Bernice’s son, Charles Fredrick Smith, was born. His death certificate from 1993 lists his parents as John Rivers Smith and Bernice Smith Gore, which shows Bernice remarried after John’s death. Her obituary found on her findagrave page shows there were additional children with John Rivers Smith as well as stepchildren from her second marriage. A complete list is unavailable.

John’s and Marion’s mother Eliza passed away on July 30, 1943, and is buried in Smith Cemetery. The specific location of her gravesite is unknown.

John Rivers Smith passed away on September 30, 1956, of stomach cancer in the VA Hospital in Fayetteville. His death certificate lists his father and mother as Robert C. Smith and Eliza Gallaway, and his wife as Bernice Smith. He was laid to rest in Smith Cemetery in Southport. The exact location of his gravesite is unknown.

His sister, Marion Jane Smith Davis, passed away in 1969 and was also buried in Smith Cemetery. Her death certificate lists her former occupation as teacher. The exact location of her gravesite is also unknown.

John’s sons and wife were laid to rest in Belvue Cemetery in Columbus County, NC. His son William David Smith passed away after 9 days in 1938. Charles Fredrick Smith passed away in 1993. His son 2nd Lt John Robert Smith served in the Korean War and passed away in 2001. His wife, Bernice McBride Smith Gore passed away in 2012 at age 96.

To view this or an earlier profile or snapshot at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.

If you would like to help us honor John Rivers Smith or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:

Click here for the announcement:
Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran:
How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran

NC WWI Service Card
Elmer Davis was born in Southport, the son of Reverend John Richard Davis and Mary Swain.

Previous posts introduced the Students’ Army Training Corps and his fellow corps member from Southport, Oliver Banks.

Like Oliver Banks, Elmer did not become eligible for the draft until the registration of September 12, 1918. His draft registration shows he was living in Southport, employed as a fisherman for a fishery based in Jacksonville, FL.

Elmer Davis’ signature on his draft registration:

Elmer met the physical and educational requirements of the SATC, volunteered, and was accepted. Oliver, Elmer, and John Rivers Smith served in the SATC at Negro Agricultural and Technical College (now NC A&T State University) in Greensboro. Read the previous posts for details.

Elmer was honorably discharged on December 12, 1918.

The 1920 Census shows that he had returned to Southport to live with his parents and resume fishing.

In 1930, he was living in Fernadina Beach, FL, with his wife and children, again employed as a fisherman. His employer was a fertilizer plant.

This photo is from 1938, courtesy of the Southport Historical Society. “Menhaden workers playing checkers – Nehi Gore, Elmer Davis, Frank Jackson, Joe Reaves, Joseph Parker, Rapael Parker, Capt. John Erikson C. 1938”

John Eriksen is also a WWI veteran from Brunswick County.

Elmer had returned to Southport when the 1940 Census was taken, living on St. George Street with his family.

He passed away on July 17, 1970. He is described on his death certificate as a retired storekeeper. Details such as this allow more specific searches to be performed. Several references to him were found.

In a March 16, 2001 article on the online State Port Pilot, an Elmer Davis’ Cafe was mentioned, located at the corner of St. George and Caswell streets in Southport. This is apparently the cafe of Elmer Davis, WWI veteran. Excerpt shown below.

The [McKenzie’s] confectionery was the oldest venture in the heart of what once was Southport’s district of black-owned, black-operated businesses, around the intersection of Howe and St. George streets, in the early 1900s.

Twenty-five of them — grocery stores, cafés, dance halls, dry cleaners, a mortuary and more — thrived into the mid-20th century or later with as much success as their white counterparts.

Today, each is listed by name on a marker the Southport Historical Society installed outside LeClerc’s Ladies Boutique, whose building is the former site of McKenzie’s Confectionery. The building — and the ice shaver — remains in Adams’s possession.

The Southport Historical Society has a map available to locate the black businesses during that time period. A small section is shown here. Elmer Davis’ Cafe is marked as #14. To see the full map and description, click on the link.

On March 12, 1941, State Port Pilot included this sentence in the Not Exactly News section on page 4. “Elmer Davis, colored fisherman, has opened up a Cafe and we can bear witness that his wife’s cooking is swell.”

He was chosen as an air raid warden in Southport during WWII, according to this article in the December 17, 1941, edition of the State Port Pilot.

In February 10, 1943, the State Port Pilot article, “Raise Funds for New Sterilizer” lists Elmer and wife Maverick as donors for the new sterilizer at Dosher Memorial Hospital.

And finally, according to Liz Fuller from the Southport Historical Society, he served on the executive board of the Southport Colored Citizens League in the 1940s, working for justice and equality in the schools.

Elmer Davis was laid to rest in Smith Cemetery in Southport. A small flat marker is located there. However, there is no indication of his military service or his many contributions and leadership in the Southport community.

To view this or an earlier profile or snapshot at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.

If you would like to help us honor Elmer Davis or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:

Click here for the announcement:
Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran:
How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran

NC WWI Service Card
Oliver Banks was born in Southport, the son of Ada Gardner.

The previous post introduced the Students’ Army Training Corps and the multiple draft registrations in 1917 and 1918.

Oliver did not become eligible for the draft until the registration of September 12, 1918. His draft registration shows he was employed as a Porter by a dry goods store, HW Hood & Sons, in Southport.

Oliver’s brother, James Banks, was called to duty on April 30, 1918, but was one of three men of the eleven called who were not accepted into service that day. No details are available.

Oliver Banks’ signature on his draft registration:

When the SATC became active in October 1918, Oliver, along with Elmer Davis and John Rivers Smith, met the physical and educational admission requirements and volunteered. All three were accepted and ordered to report for duty on October 30, 1918, at the Negro Agricultural & Technical College (now NC A&T State University) in Greensboro, the only Vocational Section of the SATC in NC. Click image at right to enlarge.

Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Registrants who have a grammar school education or equivalent trade experience are eligible for Vocational Sections.

Members of Vocational Sections will ordinarily remain at the institution for two months and will then be assigned to various branches of the service in which technicians are needed.

Members of Vocational Sections will pursue such subjects as auto-driving, auto-repair, bench woodwork, sheet metal work and electrical work, etc., in addition to 15 1/2 hours per week of military training.

Members of both sections will attend courses on the Issues of the War.

The November 11 Armistice ended their training and the SATC was demobilized. Oliver was honorably discharged on December 12, 1918.

The 1920 Census shows him living in Southport with his widowed mother. Oliver and his brother James are listed as fishermen.

No additional census records could be located. However, his WWII Draft Registration of February 16, 1942, shows he was unemployed and living in Southport. His brother James, also in Southport, was listed as his nearest living relative.

Oliver Banks passed away on June 15, 1964. He was laid to rest in Smith Cemetery in Southport. The specific location of his and his family’s gravesite are unknown. According to his death certificate, he never married.

To view this or an earlier profile or snapshot at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.

If you would like to help us honor Oliver Banks or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:

Click here for the announcement:
Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran:
How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran