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Name means alot to Legion post in Pardeeville; Research finds details, relatives of Harry Jerred

This article appeared in the Portage Daily Register on Sat. May 26, 2007

Pardeeville American Legion Post No. 215 meets on the third Monday, 7 p.m., Pardeeville Library

By Jen McCoy, Daily Register

Don Silver's grandmother had a catch phrase about small towns: If you scratch one person, the whole town bleeds.

Silver found this to be true while researching American Legion Post No. 215 in Pardeeville, named after Harry D. Jerred. He learned quickly that history is alive and well.

Silver, the Post 215 historian, was designated to find out who Jerred was and why the post was named after him. Silver completed his research within months, but did not report to the organization until last week, a year after the assignment.

"I had always felt the community was very, very close," Silver, 76, of Pardeeville, said. "I'm considered one of the outsiders and I have lived there for 25 years."

Silver asked village natives to steer him in the right direction. They pointed to descendents of Jerred who still live in the area.

"I talked to some of the family members and they had copies of the Pardeeville Times newspaper clippings," Silver said.

Jerred was the first Pardeeville man to die in action during World War I, according to Silver. He was born in Endeavor on Oct. 31, 1895, as the seventh child of Fred C. and Martha Needham Jerred. Harry's sister, Lucille Jerred, married Charlie Smith, a local plumber.

Eleanor Miller, a native of Pardeeville, is the daughter of Lucille and Charlie Smith. Harry Jerred was her uncle.

"I really didn't know too much about Harry, but I knew he was a carpenter before he entered the service," Miller, 81, said.

Jerred was employed with a local contractor, A.L. Parmelle, before he enlisted on May 15, 1917, with the Army at age 22. Jerred's Company K arrived in France on March, 4, 1917, and attached to the 32nd Division, Company I, 127th Infantry Regiment. During a battle for Fismes, France, Jerred was wounded Aug. 4, 1918, on the Vesle River at the Battle of Chateau Thierry. Jerred was then confined to a base hospital at Nantes, France, according to Silver, where he died of wounds Sept. 6, 1918.

Martha, Jerred's mother, received a letter from her son's attending nurse after her son's death. According to Silver, the letter is still with the family. In the note, the nurse said that, "Everyone who knew Harry was deeply interested because of his pluck and splendid spirit. ... He was a soldier to the last. No one won our admiration more than Corporal Jerred."

Jerred was a member of the Pardee Lodge No. 171, and a memorial service was held in his honor later that year. And two years later, Jerred's body was shipped back to Pardeeville for a burial in 1920 with full military honors next to his father's plot. Martha was laid to rest next to her son and husband nine years later in the Pardeeville Cemetery.

Miller said that descendents of Jerred are proud of the American Legion Post 215, named not only after a local hero, but their bloodlines.

"I remember my grandma (Martha) going over to France after the war," Miller said.

"They did go to see where he had been buried in France," Silver agreed. "I assume there was still a cross for him there to indicate where he had been buried."

The same year Jerred was buried at home, 23 charter members of Pardeeville Post No. 215 met to finalize the naming of the new post, according to Silver -- the Pardeeville Harry D. Jerred Post No. 215, American Legion.

This Memorial Day, the Pardeeville Area Business Association will hold a celebration for more than 50 individuals who died last year. The program will begin at Legion Park at 10:30 a.m. Names of the deceased will be read, and relatives are invited to receive a carnation and release balloons.

Gena Smith, owner of Smith Furniture, will lead the program. The event is free to the public, including food and entertainment.

Not only is Smith running the program, she can also be traced back to the Harry Jerred post. She is related to Jerred and Miller, although she is "not very good at genealogy," and does not know the family history.

"Gena Smith's dad was my cousin," Miller said.

Al Miller, Eleanor's husband, was a World War II Navy veteran and will be one of the names called out Monday. No doubt Harry Jerred's ears will be ringing.

There are eight American Legion Posts in Columbia County, according to Terry Troutman, adjutant for the Wisconsin American Legion.

"When Legion posts are formed, they have to be named after a deceased veteran, generally speaking, a veteran from the area," Troutman said. The posts in the county are located in Pardeeville, Portage, Columbus, Wisconsin Dells, Rio, Lodi, Poynette and Cambria.

jmccoy@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3519