Private James Bennett Larkin

Profile
Parents: Mark V. and Minnie Larkin
Birth: June 19, 1898, Columbus, Ind
Occupation: Machinist
Enlisted: U.S. Regualar Army January 8, 1918, Indianapolis, Indiana
Sent to: Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Assigned to: Motor Mehanic Signal Corps
Transferred to: Camp Hancock, Georgia
Death: pneumonia February 10, 1918
The first soldier whose body was brought hone to Columbus for burial
Burial: with military honors in Garland Brook, Columbus

The Columbus Republican
Columbus, Indiana
Thursday, February 14, 1918
Page 8

LOCAL SOLDIER DIES OF DREAD PNEUMONIA

James B. Larkin, Who Enlisted as a Motor Mechanic, Died at Camp Hancock, Augusta, Georgia

Another Bartholomew county soldier has answered the final roll call without having had the chance to do the work for which he enlisted. A telegram was received here Sunday telling of the death of James B. Larkin, aged 19 years, at Camp hancock, Augusta, Ga. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark V. Larkin, of this city. Pneumonia was the cause of death.

About a moth ago Mr. Larkin enlisted as a motor mechanic and was sent to Camp Hancock for training. Word was received last week that he was sick and shortly afterward the telegram came that he was dead. Arrangements were made Sunday for the body to be shipped home for burial.

Mr Larkin is the second Bartholomew county soldier to die in camp, the first being John W. Hovis, who died at Camp Shelby. He makes the third native of the county who is known to have lost his life since the war began. Orville George Moyer who was born in Columbus, was killed while serving his gun, as a member of a Canadian battery at the battle of Vimy Ridge, in France.

Young Mr. Larkin was a splendid young man in every way and had a great many friends in Columbus and throughout the county. They were greatly shocked at the news of his death.

The Republic
Columbus, Indiana
Thursday, February 14, 1918
Page 1

TRIBUTE WILL BE PAID HERE

Military Funeral Saturday Morning For James B. Larkin, Who Died In Camp

BUSINESS TO STOP AS MARK OF RESPECT THEN

Five Minute Shut Down Is Planned And Will Be Requested-Efforts Being Made To Provide Soldier Escort For Body

The funeral of James B. Larkin, aged 19 years, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark V. Larkin, of this city, will be a military affair. This community will join in paying homage to the memory of the city's first soldier whose body has come back home since the war began. Mr. Larkin died at Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga., last Sunday. The body did not arrive here until this morning. It being taken directly to the Larkin home, 325 Eighth street.

As soon as the body arrived here it was removed from the cheap coffin in which it had been shipped and was placed in a more suitable casket. The casket will be open at the Larkin home tonight and tomorrow. Late tomorrow afternoon it will be taken to the Hege & Flanigan chapel, on Fifth street, where it will lie in state from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 9 o'clock at night.

The funeral proper will be held at St. Bartholomew's Catholic church, Saturday morning at 9:30 o'clock. The Rev. Father J.B. Delaney will officiate and in addition to the funeral mass, the priest will deliver a patriotic address.

Plans for the funeral were largely in the hands of John E. Northway and Julian Sharpnack today. Mr. Northway is making an effort to have an escort of soldiers sent here from Camp Zachary Taylor.

Later this afternoon Mr. Northway got word from Camp Taylor that unless something unforeseen happened, twenty Bartholomew county soldiers, now stationed there, would be permitted to come home and act as an escort for the Larkin body. Permission had to be secured of the colonel of the regiment, but Capt. Reilly, in command of the company in which the local boys are stationed, said he thought there would be no difficulty about that. He said the Bartholomew county soldiers would arrive here Friday evening, fully equipped, and would be permitted to remain until after the funeral, Saturday morning.

The Columbus Band will play for the procession which will escort the body to the Garland Brook cemetery.

William G. Irwin, chairman of the local chapter of the Red Cross, has issued a statement suggesting that as many members as possible, attend the funeral as a mark of respect to the first soldier of this city whose body has come back since ware started. The member of Isham Keith Post No. 13, Grand Army of the Republic, will attend. It is planned to have the members of the Red Cross Girls' auxiliary take charge of the flowers. The Bartholomew County Council of Defense also is expected to attend in a body.

Mayor Frank S. Jones and the County Council of Defense will request that business be suspended for five minutes Saturday morning as a tribute to the dead soldier. The request will be that stores close for that period and that all factories shut down for that length of time.

The Republic
Columbus, Indiana
Saturday, February 16, 1918
Page 1

TRIBUNTES PAID TO DEAD YOUTH

Whole City Unites in Military Honors at Funeral of Late James B. Barkin

SQUAD OF SOLDIERS IS USED TO FIRE A SALUTE

Bartholomew County National Army Men Were As Guard of Honor For Dead Columus Soldier-Great Throng at Funeral.

Today the great war really came home to Columbus.

With military honors, the body of James B. Larkin, 19 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark V. Larkin, was laid to rest in the Garland Brook cemetery. In a way this splendid service typified a new note of respect for the American soldier. It was proof of the reverence that fills the hearts of those who stay at home-the reverence they bear for the boys who are brave enough to go to the colors and offer their lives as the supreme sacrifice.

The funeral of Mr. Larkin was that of the first Columbus boy whose body has been sent home since the war began. One other lad, who was born in Columbus, has given his life in this war. He was Orville George Moyer. But his bodyy is buried in a military cemetery in Belgium. The body of Mr. Larkin, who died at Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga., consequently, was the first to come home. And it was the means whereby the seriousness of the war was brought home to the people who are asked to do nothing save make a little personal sacrifice.

Yet to the thousands of people who saw the body as it lay in state and to those who attended the funeral services, there came, in many instances, a personal note. Many of them have relatives and friends in the service. To them there came the thought that in a short time their boy might be meeting the same end and they were filled with a new and more patriotic fervor than ever, to do all they can here at home to bring the war to a hasty and successful culmination.

The body of Mr. Larkin was taken to the city hall Friday afternoon, where it lay in state in the council chamber from 4 o'clock in the afternoon until 9 o'clock at night. At 4:50 o'clock a squad of twenty soldiers arrived from Camp Zachary Taylor, to act as a military guard for the body and to officiate at the grave. This squad was in charge of Sergeant Gordon H. Gilbert, of this city. They marched to the Chamber of Commerce, where they left their effects. A detail was sent to the city hall where Sergt. Gilbert assigned men to stand at attention, near the casket. The council chamber had been beautifully decorated in the national colors and with many floral tribuntes. During the evening and at night, as the bareheaded soldiers stood in the statuesque attitudes in the corridor and around the casket, thousands of people passed by the body and paid their respects to the dead.

In the party of soldiers were: Sergt. Corman, Sergt. Frohman, Corp. Hill, Corp. Lyons, Corp. Wiley, Bugler Burris, Privates Cogilvie, Stamp, Palmer, Leggins, Muir, Sayder, Sierp, Hunter, Steincamp, Maison, Collier and Trimpe.

The soldiers were relieved, at 3 o'clock, until this morning, when they reported at the Chamber of Commerce. At 9 o'clock they fell in, behind the Columbus Band, and marched to the city hall. The band played Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever," as the men swung into step. At the city hall, members of the G.A.R. and W.R.C. were provided with automobiles in which they rode to the funeral. Automobiles also were provided for the Red Cross Girls' Auxillary and for directors of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as others who had a part in arranging for the funeral.

As early as 6:30 o'clock this morning people begun to go to St. Bartholomew's Catholic church, where the Larkin Funeral was held. The church was packed with people and hundreds who desired to attend the services were unable to get inside the building.

The Rev. Father J.B. Delaney conducted the services, he being assisted by several visiting priests. After the solemn high mass was celebrated, Father Delaney made patriotic address. He took occasion to refute the sometimes repeated statement that the members of the Catholic church have not responded readily to the call for service. In this connetion the priest declared that a very large percentage of both the army and navy is made up of Catholic men. A plea for tolerance on the part of the American people was made during the talk. Father Delaney said a man should not be condemned merely because he has a German name and he pointed to the fact that the great majority of people in this countrty who are of German origin or descent, are thoroughly loyal to America.

At the conclusion of the services the bodyy was taken to the Garland Brook cemetery, where furteher services were held and where the squad of soldiers fired a parting salute of honor for the dead soldier.

At 9:30 o'clock this morning-the hour set for the funeral services to begin-numberous business houses in Columbus closed for five minutes, as a mark of respect. The windows at the post office were closed and business stopped there during that period.