DOB/DOD: June 5, 1895 (Norwalk, CT) – December 30, 1917; 22 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: Rowayton Avenue, Rowayton, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: October 3, 1917
SERVICE NUMBER: None
UNIT: Headquarters Company, 327th Infantry
FAMILY: Born to William G. James (1863-1942), born in England, and Gertrude Stephens James (1864-1931), born in South Africa. Two sisters, Olive (1889-?) and Ellen Saabye (1892-1989). One brother, William John Gurney James (1884-1896).
CIRCUMSTANCES: Died at Camp Gordon [Fort Eisenhower as of 2023], Atlanta, Georgia, of lobar pneumonia. More than likely related to the Spanish Influenza outbreak.
OTHER: Worked as an auto mechanic for Henry J. Nehrle in South Norwalk prior to service.
From The Bridgeport Telegram July 8, 1918
MEMORIAL FOR HONORED DEAD
A special memorial service for three boys of the parish and for another communicant of the church was held in Trinity Episcopal Church, South Norwalk, tonight at 8 o’clock. The three boys of the parish who have given their lives for the sake of their country were Privates Albert Waller, who recently died of wounds in France, Privates Walter Kenneth Hall, and Lester Guernsey James, who died from disease in their cantonments. The other soldier was Wagoner John Cheshire Burwell, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Burwell of Quintard Avenue, a communicant of the church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who lost his life while driving an ambulance in France. The members of the Trinity Men’s Club, of which all of the young men except Wagoner Burwell were members, attended the church as a body. Ex-Mayor Carl Axel Harstrom gave the address of the evening, and he dwelt particularly upon the gallant sacrifices made by Waller and Burwell. The other two young men also received praise for their act in volunteering their lives to their country, and Dr. Harstrom paid particular stress upon the demand at this time for young men who were brave and fearless to go out and meet the enemy face to face and to conquer or give their life in the attempt. Reverend F. A. Coleman, a rector of the church, gave a short address in which he made particular mention of the pride that the community took in the young men and also of the pride of the church and parish in the sacrifice of their young lives that the cause of freedom and righteousness might live in the world.
Private James is buried in Rowayton Union Cemetery, 212 Rowayton Avenue, Rowayton, Connecticut; Avenue 2, Plot 46. Photo by webmaster.
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