Arthur James Stenger (1895 - 1918)

Born 5 Sep 1895 in Council Grove, Morris, Kansas, United States

Ancestors

Died 14 Sep 1918 at age 23 in Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France

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Fast Facts

Arthur was born in 1895. He was the son of Kit Stenger and Sarah Snodgrass. He passed away in 1918.

• b. 5 Sep 1895, Council Grove, Morris, KS^[1]
• d. 14 Sep 1918 in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France^[2][1]
• bur. Sep 1918 in Ansauville Cemetery, then St. Mihiel American Cemetery in Thiaucourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France^[3]
• reburied 2 Jul 1921 in Greenwood Cemetery in Council Grove, Morris, KS^[2][1][4]

Children

No Children

Biography

After school, Arthur moved to Kansas City in 1915 where he eventually worked at Montgomery Ward in the jewelry department until he was called to service during World War I.^[5] He shipped out in May from Camp Funston (Manhattan, KS) and served as a private in Company C 356th Infantry of the 89th Division.

A joint force of 660,000 American and French troops attacked the German position in September at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. The 89th fought in the main attack on the left front, between Limey and Marvoisin as part of a pincer action which resulted in the capture of 4,000 German prisoners on 15 September and a total of 22,500 German casualties. The American and French forces suffered 7,000 casualties over four days of the battle.^[6] Arthur sustained a wound on the third day, 14 September, and died in France by the next day possibly with complications from the Spanish influenza.^[7] He was the first casualty from Council Grove.^[1]

His pastor wrote of him:

I had the privilege of being the pastor of Arthur Stenger at the time he was a growing boy of about 14 or 15…. As I remember Arthur was ready for anything. A straight forward upstanding, manly sort of boy, ready to do more than his share if it meant work, not easily discouraged, not ready to give up because the thing was hard, a regular good fellow. I am not surprised at all that Arthur went over there at the call of his country. It seems very sad to have so promising a young life cut off. We must not measure the value of a life by years. Some live many years futilely. Others live a few to a great purpose. Besides death is not the end of a good life, but only promotion.^[1]

Arthur was buried in France, but later brought home with a group of 27 Kansans who were honored after the war. He was buried with full military honors in Council Grove.^[2][1]

^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Sources

• Find a Grave Memorial: 101920389
• FamilySearch Profile: L11S-CXZ

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} “Body of Arthur Stenger Arrives Home,” The Weekly Guard (8 Jul 1921): 1.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} “To Return Soldier Dead,” The Topeka State Journal (1 Jul 1921): 12.
3. ↑ The Daily Guard (17 Dec 1920): 4.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101920389/arthur-j-stenger : accessed 21 January 2022), memorial page for Arthur J. Stenger (1895–1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 101920389, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Council Grove, Morris County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by Mae (contributor 47033251).
5. ↑ The Daily Guard (17 Apr 1918): 4.
6. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Battle of Saint-Mihiel," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Saint-Mihiel&oldid=1060054431 (accessed 22 Jan 2022).
7. ↑ Ancestry.com, American Soldiers of World War I [database on-line] in Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61470/images/7399-1-38-0325 (accessed 21 Jan 2022) (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003).
8. ↑ United States Census, 1900, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMYW-PYZ: accessed 22 January 2022), James A Stinger in household of Christopher Stinger, Council Grove Township Council Grove city Ward 1-3, Morris, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 100, sheet 19B, family 432, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,491.
9. ↑ Kansas State Census, 1905, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZX-98F5: 23 September 2019), Arthur Stenger, 1905.
10. ↑ United States Census, 1910, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2CB-MRD: accessed 22 January 2022), Arthur Stenger in household of Christan Stenger, Council Grove Ward 3, Morris, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 81, sheet 14A, family 124, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 449; FHL microfilm 1,374,462.
11. ↑ United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K66D-5V3: 29 December 2021), Arthur James Stenger, 1917-1918.
12. ↑ United States, World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPHW-4TZD: 3 December 2019), James Stenger.
13. ↑ United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W9TZ-X4MM: 26 October 2019), Arthur James Stenger; citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers.