Memorial Day 2017: David M. Prince

DAVID M. PRINCE

A member of the Goldsboro Rifles, 30th Infantry Division, "Old Hickory Division."  Went to France with the AEF and fought in the trenches.  He was hurt by poison gas, but survived and returned home to Goldsboro, North Carolina.

He lost his life a short time later saving a child from a flooded river and received the Carnegie Medal.

David M. Prince was my great uncle.

Spanish-American War Memorial Dedicated in Goldsboro, NC-- Part 5: The Goldsboro Rifles

The Goldsboro Rifles were a company of volunteers for the Confederacy in the Civil War from the local area.  They were disbanded after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, but reestablished in the 1870s.  It was a company of soldiers and eventually T.H. Bain became their commanding officer with the rank of captain.

When war with Spain broke out in 1898, the U.S. government called for volunteers and many members of the Goldsboro Rifles answered the call.  Diseases in tropical camps claimed as many of the American troops as bullets on the battlefield.

Bain made his request to honor his fallen men in the local newspaper, but nothing ever came of it...until now.

My Great Uncle David M. Prince, whom I wrote about last week, was a member of the Goldsboro Rifles during World War I.

A Big Thanks to Logan Tillman.  --Cooter

Spanish-American War Memorial Dedicated in Goldsboro, NC-- Part 3: All Four Died of Disease

Members of the Bain family were on hand to witness the event.  T.H. Bain, the great grandson of T.H. Bain came to the event from Florida and said, "We're really extremely honored that Mr. Tillman not only honored the four men who died but honored Theodore Bain and the Bain family and we're very appreciative as well."

Great granddaughter of Captain T.H. Bain, Georgia Bain Reese, from Wilmington, N.C., was also on hand.

The four men honored on the memorial are: Pvt. Archer C. Hayes, Pvt. Newman P. Jones, Pvt. Charles R. Barnes and Pvt. Thomas R. Edwards.  Hayes and Jones died in a Florida camp and Barnes and Edwards died in Havana, Cuba.

--Cooter

Spanish-American War Memorial Dedicated in Goldsboro, NC-- Part 2: Fulfilled Their Captain's Wish 117 Years Later

"One-hundred and seventeen years ago, T.H. Bain, the captain of the Goldsboro Rifles, made a public plea for a monument to be raised in the memory of the four members of his unit who died during the Spanish-American War.

"On Saturday, that wish was finally fulfilled."

I sure would have been there had I known about it and not has a 90th birthday party for my Aunt Louise to attend.

A monument bearing their names was dedicated in the Bain family plot in Goldsboro's Willowdale Cemetery.  The project was guided by Eagle Scout candidate Logan Tillman of Troop 581.

One more reason to like the Boy Scouts.

All four members of the Goldsboro Rifles died of disease.

--Cooter

Spanish-American War Memorial Dedicated in Goldsboro, N.C.-- Part 1

From the May 8, 2016, Goldsboro (NC) News-Argus "Memorial to four men that died during the Spanish-American War dedicated" by Dennis Hall.

**  Eagle Scout candidate Logan Tillman leads project to honor Goldsboro Rifles.

**  Photograph:  Georgia Bain Reese and her brother J.D. Bain stand next to a monument erected in the memory of members of the Goldsboro Rifles who died during the Spanish-American War.

--DaCoot

World War I's Lt. David M. Prince-- Part 2: Died Saving a Young Boy's Life

Lt. Prince returned to the United States in April 1919 and worked as a salesman for Smith Hardware in Goldsboro, N.C..

A few months later, he drowned in a flooded field near the junction of the Little and Neuse rivers near Goldsboro on July 26, 1919.  He was trying to rescue Jefferson Merritt, age 12,  Mr. Prince held the boy's head above the rampaging waters and saved him, but drowned in the process.

David Prince was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.

He is buried next to his parents at Goldsboro's Willow Dale Cemetery.

Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry (FILI) Company

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

I wrote about this unit's formation in 1793 and history up to the Civil War and Spanish-American War, when it officially changed its Confederate gray uniforms for United States blue before shipping out for service.

They trained at Camp Dan Russell at Tybee Island, Georgia, but never got to Cuba. They were mustered out at Macon, Ga., 8 Feb. 1899. In 1917, FILI, went to Camp Stewart at El Paso, Texas, to defend the U.S. border from raids by Mexican leader Pancho Villa.

During World War I, FILI served as Company F of the 119th Infantry Regiment, part of the Thirtieth Division. This is the same unit that the Goldsboro Rifles, which also served during the Civil War and Spanish-American War fought with in World War I.

The unit was involved in the bloody fighting around Flanders. This was the last action the FILI was involved in. Since then, they have existed primarily as a fraternal organization. They maintained an armory where Fort Bragg soldiers were often entertained and they also have established a museum to house their artifacts.

--Cooter