To commemorate the
100th anniversary of the entry of the United States into World War
I, the Kossuth County Genealogical Society has been gathering the names of the
men and women from this county who served.
Over 1400 names have been identified to date. KCGS is researching and gathering information
on each and every one. Many interesting
stories have emerged. Over the next few
weeks, I want to share a few with you.
Here is the first.
The
S. S. Tuscania began its life in 1915 as an English luxury liner that accommodated
2,500 passengers plus crew. It became a
valuable asset to the British war effort in September of 1916 when it was requisitioned
by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop transport. Several successful crossings followed as the
ship moved forces across the ocean. On
January 24, 1918, two Kossuth County boys, Sam Hethershaw from Swea City and
Lewis Rist of Algona, boarded the ship in Hoboken, New Jersey, along with over
2,000 other troops bound for France.
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| 1913 graduation photo of Lewis Rist |
Lewis
came from deep roots in Kossuth County.
He was a descendant of Luther and Betsey Rist, very early settlers who
were the grandparents of his father, Dr. Alfred Rist. His mother, Mary Smith, was the daughter of
Captain L.M.B. Smith, Civil War veteran and local hardware store owner. Lewis was a member of 20th
Engineers, Company E, Forestry Battalion.
His company was headed to Europe with lumber to be used for wartime
needs including barracks, hospitals, bridges, defensive fortifications and even
coffins.
 |
| Sam Hethershaw |
Sam
was born in Swea City, the son of William Hethershaw who died when the boy was
4 years old. He was raised by his
stepmother, Mary Hethershaw. With a
letter of consent from his stepmother in his pocket, Sam enlisted at the age of
17, one of the youngest volunteers from Kossuth County.
An article in the October 31, 1917 issue of the Upper Des Moines
Republican telling of his enlistment described Sam as, “Full of ‘pep’ and a leader in the town’s mischief, nevertheless Sammy
is as good and sound at heart as a Liberty bond of 1917.” He became a member of the 158th
Aero Squadron. His talent with the
trombone had won him a position in the American Air Service Band. He also served as a bugler.
The
ship joined a convoy of troopships and freighters at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and
proceeded toward her destination of Le Havre.
On February 4th eight British destroyers met the convoy to
guide the ships between the cliffs of Scotland and the Irish coast. Around 5 pm the next day, they entered the
submarine zone just off the coast of Scotland.
All of the ships were on high alert due to the area in which they were
sailing. After sighting the convoy seven
miles north of the Rathilin Island lighthouse, German submarine UB-77 quietly
sliced its way through the choppy waters toward it without detection, despite
the watchful eyes of 15 separate lookouts.
At 5:47 p.m., the German sub fired two torpedoes at the ship. The first charge passed harmlessly by the
Tuscania, but the second blew a hole in starboard side between the engines and
the boiler room. The ship began to
rapidly take on water.
Passengers
were scattered throughout vessel. Lewis
Rist was in the mess hall when the torpedo struck. As lights flickered and eventually died,
hundreds of soldiers made their way to their cabins to grab their life preservers
and then back up to the deck for rescue.
 |
| Algona Courier February 7, 1918 |
Lewis
later described the confusion that followed.
Efforts to lower lifeboats were disastrous in many cases due to the
inexperience of the men. Some boats were
let down on others below, crushing those beneath it. Others were let down so quickly that they
were upset, throwing their passengers into the frigid water. In some instances, men who did not know how
else to get the boats loose, cut the ropes used to lower them to the water. Men began jumping overboard and were soon
overcome by hypothermia if they weren’t picked up quickly.
Lewis
did make it on to one of the lifeboats. Tossed
on the rough sea, the tide carried the leaking boat toward the rocky Irish
coast. The men watched in horror as
three lifeboats washed up on the rocks, dumping their cargo into the sea to
drown. After floating for about six hours,
the passengers on his boat were rescued by a minesweeper and taken to Ireland.
Sam
stayed on the Tuscania, awaiting rescue.
After being picked up by a British destroyer, he was taken to the shore
of County Donegal in Northern Ireland.
Two hundred and thirty-one Tuscania passengers lost their lives that day,
including 17 from Sam’s company.
 |
| Picture of the sinking of the Tuscania from Sam's personal scrapbook |
Several
days after the incident, Lewis wrote his parents sharing what he was allowed to
about his experiences on that cold February night. As a part of that letter, he stated: “Have
lived and seen much in the last two weeks that makes me take a more serious
outlook on life. Circumstances, events
and environment have all left their impression upon me and I begin to realize
as I never did before what we are up against.”
Lewis
was stationed in England and then served in France. At the end of his service, he sailed from Bordeaux,
France on the ship Santa Paula on May 14, 1919 and arrived at Camp Merritt in
Brooklyn, New York, on May 28, 1919.
Following the war he returned to college to finish his teaching degree. He
was serving as superintendent of the Hannaford, North Dakota school system when
he met and married Pearl Gaball, a teacher there. After serving as a school
administrator at several schools in the Dakotas and Minnesota, Lewis became
superintendent of the Eau Claire, Wisconsin school system. The couple had one child,
Richard “Dick” Rist. Dick was killed
while serving in WWII.
 |
| Kossuth County Advance March 17, 1918 |
Sam
too was shipped to England following the Tuscania incident. He spent the summer playing with the American
Air Service Band including a six week tour which took him back to Ireland for
several weeks. During his service in
Great Britain he stood honor guard for King George, Queen Mother Mary, and
Prime Minister Lloyd George. The band
was waiting orders to move across the channel into France when the armistice
was signed on November 11, 1918.
Following
the war, Sam became a barber in Swea City.
He was married twice, with a son being born to each union. He belonged to the Tuscania Survivors
Association and was a founding member of American Legion Fisher Post 14. Music continued to be a big part of his
life. He played trombone in the town
band, church orchestra, dance bands and the Estherville Drum & Bugle
Corps. He played taps at funerals. The Swea City Centennial (1895-1995) book
contains this paragraph about the old soldier.
“Although not as smooth or
eloquent in later years as they once were, one could often hear the notes of an
old World War I bugle as they walked down main street. The sounds, filled with memories and love,
drifted out the door of Sam Hethershaw’s barber shop.”
I invite you to visit
the exhibit “WWI-Kossuth County Answers the Call” produced by the Kossuth County Genealogical Society which will be on display Nov.
4th-19th at the Algona Public Library during regular library hours
and 1-4 on Sundays.
Until
next time,
Jean
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