Memorial Day: William Harvey Toler

William Harvey Toler, son of Lorenzo Lewis Toler and Sarah Cayton Toler, was born on September 19, 1894. He was known by most as Harvey. He attended Friendship School for his primary schooling.

In 1914 he began a correspondence course with The National Railway Instruction Bureau out of East St. Louis, Illinois. [Toler family papers in possession of V.T. Jones, Jr.] It appears he never completed the course, and like many young men in the Zorah neighborhood he worked as a farm laborer and in the log woods.

As the United States appeared closer to entering World War I, the nation began a draft registration, and Harvey registered in Ernul in June 1917. He listed his birthplace as Blounts Creek, North Carolina, and his occupation as a farm laborer with I.R. Whitford. The registrar, A.R. Whitford, described Toler as short, with a medium build and light brown eyes and light hair. [Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.]

By late July, Toler had been called up in the draft and was to report to New Bern to join the 113th Field Artillery. He caught the train in Askins bound for New Bern on July 25. By July 31, 1917, he was ill with blood poisoning, as reported in the Morning New Bernian:”Removed Splinter With A Brass Pin. W.H. Toler, Member of Field Artillery, Suffering From Blood Poisoning.  As a result of removing a splinter from his arm with a brass pin, Mr. W.H. Toler, a member of Battery A, Field Artillery of the North Carolina National Guard, is critically ill at St. Lukes hospital. His condition last night, however, was reported as being somewhat improved.” Full article is here.

He died on 1 Aug 1917 at New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, at age 22. The headlines of The Morning New Bernian on August 3, 1917 stated “Removing a Splinter With Brass Pin Fatal–W.H. Toler, of Near Askins, Succumbs to Blood Poisoning at Local Hospital.” Full article is here.

He was buried at High Bridge Cemetery, Caton, Craven County, North Carolina. Upon his death, his personal effects consisted of a Swiss Movement Gold Case watch and $39.75, which apparently were given to his parents. The National Guard allowed up to $35 for funeral expenses. [Capt. John H. Weddell to C.O. Lst N.C.F.A.N.G., August 9, 1917, Military Papers, Box 15, Folder 2, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, N.C.]

In January 1918, a Board of Officers to investigate the death of Private William H. Toler, commenced at Camp Sevier, Greenville, South Carolina. The purpose of the investigation was to determine if Toler died while officially in service. Captain James Weddell, testified that “We were drilling the men out, as I remember, near the National Cemetery at New Bern, N.C., and he [Toler] stated to me when I sent him to the hospital that he had gotten a brier in his arm and that one of the boys had picked it out with a pin. The arm was swollen up and the cords were red and he was suffering with pain from his arm. I sent him up to the St. Lukes Hospital, which was the Government Hospital, where they treated the sailors.” When asked “Do you consider that his death was in the line of duty?” Weddell responded, “From his statement and from what I know personally about the case, I do.”

When asked if he knew anything else about the case, Weddell stated “…we sent him to the hospital and he was treated there for about two days. It developed so rapidly that they had to slash his arm to drain it and put a salt water bag and a tube in his arm. He suffered a great deal for about twenty-four hours and then he became unconscious and died.”

First Lieutenant David R. Morris testified that “We had a good deal of sickness in our battery–malaria, risings, and all sorts of trouble. We kept the hospital full most all the time and he [Toler] was among those. I called to see him two times and both times he was delirious. After I found out he had blood poison, I hired an automobile and [went] out to his people’s farm and brought his two brothers in to see him, and very shortly after that he died.”

Private Shem Lewis  testified, “We came in on the train together July 25, 1917, …We got to the warehouse and they sent us both around to Mrs. Godwin’s for dinner. There I met him and he showed my his right arm and it was a little festered then. We went on to the warehouse there and he was excused from duty. When he showed me the place, he said he had stuck a splinter or something in his arm and that it had caused a rising in it. We went back to the warehouse that afternoon and I do not remember seeing him since.”

Private Alexander Cuthrell testified that Toler told him he received the splinter in the log woods.  Private Norwood Burrus, who accompanied the body to the graveyard, reported that “I went–I think there were six of us–to Askins, his home, to bury him about three miles from Askins at the cemetery, and a fellow Jim O’Neal…told me that this young fellow Toler stuck a splinter in his arm and that they were coming to New Bern…[and] that he helped him to pick this splinter out of his arm.”

Based on the evidence of the inquiry, the officers found:
“1. That William H. Toler, a resident of Askins, North Carolina, enlisted in Battery A, First Field Artillery, North Carolina National Guard, at New Bern, North Carolina, on the 5th day of July, 1917, and responded to the call of the President, July 5, 1917, and reported for duty with his battery rendezvous at New Bern, North Carolina, on the 25th day of July, 1917.|
2. That Private William H. Toler, Battery A, First Field Artillery, North Carolina National Guard, died at St. Lukes Hospital in the City of New Bern, North Carolina, on the 1st day of August, 1917, after the call into Federal Service and prior to being mustered into Federal Service. That the cause of his death was blood poison.
“3. That prior to the 25th day of July, 1917, and before he reported for duty at his Battery rendezvous in New Bern, North Carolina, the said Private William H. Toler, from some manner, had a splinter in his right arm, and the either he, with a knife, or James O’Neal, of Askins, North Carolina, with a pin, attempted to remove the splinter from his right arm, thereby causing an infection which resulted in blood poisoning, which ultimately caused his death.
“4. The arm of Private William H. Toler having been injured prior to the 25th day of July, 1917, and prior to the date of his reporting for duty to his Battery Commander under the call of the President, it is found that the death of Private William H. Toler was not in line of duty.
“5. It is also found that the death of Private William H. Toler was not the result of his own misconduct, the injury being caused in private life and not during the time that he was a soldier.” [All testimony and results from Board of Investigation, January 7, 1918, Military Papers, Box 15, Folder 2, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, N.C.]

Despite his death being found not in the line of duty, the American Legion marked Toler’s grave with a bronze marker and frequently visited the grave each Memorial Day. He is also remembered on the Craven County World War I monument in front of the Court House in New Bern.

So it is on this Memorial Day that we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.