Louis Moomaw Layman (1893 - 1916)

Born 6 Feb 1893 in Amsterdam, Botetourt County, Virginia, United States of America

Ancestors

Died 13 Aug 1916 at age 23 in Ypres, Belgium

Louis Layman has German Roots.

Biography

LCpl Louis Layman served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I
Service started: Dec 1914
Unit(s):
Service ended: Aug 13, 1916 (KIA)

Louis Layman was Killed in Action during World War I.

Born in Amsterdam, Botetourt County, Virginia, on 6 February 1893, Louis was the oldest of five children and the only son of George and Mary Lydia Salome "Lillie" Moomaw Layman. For the first ten years of his life Louis lived in Amsterdam, where his father owned a farm. There four

Louis with his sisters Marie and Genevieve

more children were born, all girls. His father, who did not much care for farming, decided to sell his farm and invest in a factory making tin cans and also in a tomato cannery, both in Troutville, about a mile and a half due east of Amsterdam. By 1910 the family was living in a large house George had bought in Troutville. One year, when George made his usual contracts with local farmers to buy all of their tomatoes, winter was late arriving-- there was no frost until mid-November and George was forced to buy pounds and pounds of small, hard tomatoes unsuitable for canning. He feared he might have to declare bankruptcy, but managed to avoid that. But he got out of the canning businesses and went into banking.

Louis graduated from Daleville Academy in 1911.

In the meantime, in 1911, Louis graduated from high school at the Brethren school, Daleville Academy, about three miles from Troutville. He attended

Louis lived in this house in Troutville when he was in high school.

Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, for two years, then took a forestry course at the University of Michigan for one year. In June, 1914, he went to work in a lumber camp near Saskatoon, Canada, then -- caught up by the patriotic rhetoric that followed the outbreak of the "Great War," he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in December, 1914. He gave his name as Louis Maurice Layman because his middle name, Moomaw, was German and he was afraid that would prejudice the authorities against him. He gave his religious affiliation as Church of England although he had been brought up in -- and was probably still a member of -- the Church of the Brethren. He was just over six feet tall, with blue eyes, fair hair and a fair complexion. A lover of history, he had bought a multi-volumed history of Western civilization and probably looked forward to seeing something of Europe.

His father, a German Baptist Brethren pacifist, was upset to learn of his enlistment, fearing for the eternal destination of his son's soul, but his mother embroidered a gold star and hung it in the Troutville Church of the Brethren.

Louis wrote home regularly and his letters were published in both the Fincastle Herald and the Roanoke Times.

Ypres, Belgium, several months before Louis was killed in nearby trenches

Louis was killed in action near Ypres,Belgium, on 13 August 1916, before the United States entered the war. He is buried in a Canadian cemetery, Railway Dugout #2, near Ypres.

Railway Dugouts Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium

His chaplain and his commanding officers wrote letters of condolence to his family, assuring them that he had given his life in a glorious cause, a war "that would end all wars" and "make the world safe for democracy."^[1]

Adolph Hitler came to power less than 17 years later.

From Findagrave.com

Lance Corporal Louis Moomaw Layman

Birth: 6 Feb 1893; Death: 13 Aug 1916; Burial: Railway Dugouts Cemetery, Ypres (Ieper), Arrondissement Ieper, West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium. Plot: VI. K. 11. Memorial #: 12325036.

Bio: Louis was the only son and oldest child of George Layman and Lillie Moomaw.Louis graduated from high school at the Brethren school, Daleville Academy, in Botetourt County, VA, in 1911. He attended Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA, for two years, then took a forestry course at the University of Michigan for one year. In June, 1914, he went to work in a lumber camp near Saskatoon, Canada, then -- caught up by the patriotic rhetoric that followed the outbreak of the "Great War," he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in December, 1914. He gave his name as Louis Maurice Layman because his middle name, Moomaw, was German and he was afraid that would prejudice the authorities against him. He gave his religious affiliation as Church of England although he had been brought up in the Church of the Brethren. He was just over six feet tall, with blue eyes, fair hair and a fair complexion. A lover of history, he probably looked forward to seeing something of Europe. His father, a German Baptist Brethren pacifist, was upset to learn of his enlistment, fearing for the eternal destination of his son's soul, but his mother embroidered a gold star and hung it in the Troutville Church of the Brethren. Louis wrote home regularly and his letters were published in both the Fincastle Herald and the Roanoke Times. Louis was killed in action near Ypres, Belgium, on 13 August 1916, before the United States entered the war. He is buried in a Canadian cemetery, Railway Dugout #2, near Ypres. His chaplain and his commanding officers wrote letters of condolence to his family, assuring them that he had given his life in a glorious cause, a war "that would end all wars" and "make the world safe for democracy."Sources: Patricia Hickin, firsthand knowledge. Prickett-Layman Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA.Service No: 106353 Age: 23 Regiment/Service: 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion.^[2]

Citations

1. ↑ Personal recollections of Patricia Hickin from stories I heard and a scrapbook of letters and letters published in The Fincastle Herald and The Roanoke Times that I remember seeing. Also in July 1962 I went by his grave in Ypres, Belgium, and about ten years ago I got some papers from the Canadian government (one of which showed him as being hospitalized for syphilis while he was in Canada.
2. ↑ International Wargraves Photography Project (46770518), maintained by IWPP Custodial Account (48586138), "Lance Corporal Louis Moomaw Layman," Findagrave.com. Record added 13 Nov 2005. Find A Grave: Memorial #12325036 Accessed 01 January 2018.

Acknowledgments

• Patricia Hickin created Louis Layman on 21 Sept 2012.

Sources

• Canada, Records of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, "Soldiers of the First World War: 1914-1918 [in re Louis M. Layman" (Library and Archives Canada).
• Personal recollections of Patricia Hickin from stories I heard and a scrapbook of letters and letters published in The Fincastle Herald and The Roanoke Times that I remember seeing. Also in July 1962 I went by his grave in Ypres, Belgium, and about ten years ago I got some papers from the Canadian government.
• Patricia Hickin, firsthand knowledge.
• Prickett-Layman Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA.