Earlie W. Smith Papers, WWI 42

[Item name or title], [Folder Numbers], Early W. Smith Papers, WWI 42, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

The collection contains correspondence, a war diary and military field notebook, collectible postcards, military camp newspapers, real-photo postcards, souvenir French and American postcards, souvenir military camp booklets, a 40th anniversary 81st Division celebration booklet, and miscellaneous items, that document the World War I military service of Earlie W. Smith of Harnett County, NC, during his time in the U.S. Army with the 317th Field Artillery Infantry, 81st Infantry Division. An important part of the collection are Smith's handwritten correspondence, his military diary, and his military field notebook. A large portion of the collection are a number of real-photo postcards taken by or collected by Earlie W. Smith during his time in Europe in WWI.

A particularly interesting item in the collection is a pocket military field notebook that contains Smith's handwritten artillery notes he used in the 317th Field Artillery during WWI. The notes included information and training Smith received on military signaling; artillery measurements and signals for firing; identification and drawings of various types of electrical power lines; French and American circuit boxes; names and addresses of comrades in Smith's unit; and information on the movements of Smith's field artillery unit. The collection also contains a war diary depicting his Smith's military experiences during the war.

Included in this collection are also three issues of the Trench and Camp newspaper, the military camp publication for Camp Jackson, South Carolina. These three issues are dated: November 3, 1917; December 8, 1917; and December 15, 1917. There is also an original copy of the booklet from the 40th anniversary celebration of the 81st Division, held on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, NC, in October 1957. The booklet includes some history of the 81st Division, and extracts from George W. McIver's wartime memoir in chronological order [the State Archives ofhas McIver's Papers, WWI 98].

The collection is arranged in ten folders based on the format of the materials, as well as three oversized folders for the oversized materials.

Earlie Wright Smith was born on February 24, 1892, in Harnett County, NC, to David Emmett and Julia Frances Smith. By 1910, the Smith family was living in Black River Township in Harnett County on the family farm, where David Smith worked as a farmer. At the time of his draft registration for World War I, Earlie Smith was living in what was then called West Durham, NC, and worked at a dairy farm in the same part of Durham.

Earlie Smith was inducted into military service for World War I on October 5, 1917, in Durham, NC. He was sent for basic training to Camp Jackson, SC, where he was attached to Battery C, 317th Field Artillery Regiment, 81st Infantry Division, U.S. Army. He may also have trained at Camp Sevier, SC, during the war. Smith remained in Battery C until June 4, 1918, when he was transferred to Headquarters Company, 317th Field Artillery. Smith stayed with Headquarters Company until the end of his service. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal on July 1, 1918. Smith served overseas with the 81st Division in Europe from August 7, 1918, to June 8, 1919, including time on occupation duty with the U.S. Army of Occupation. He was honorably discharged on June 20, 1919.

After the war, Earlie Smith moved back to his family's Harnett County farm. He married Adna Myrtle Byrd on December 23, 1921, in Lee County, NC. By 1930, the couple was living in Harnett County, NC, while Earlie worked as a farmer. Later in life, Earlie Smith came to live in the city of Fuquay-Varina in Wake County, NC. Earlie W. Smith died on February 26, 1974, and was buried in the Chalybeate Springs Cemetery in Harnett County, NC.

The materials in this collection were received by the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina from Tillman B. Smith, Earlie W. Smith's son, in August 2000, with the donation completed in December 2004. Several items for Earlie Smith were donated with Tillman Smith's military papers at different dates in multiple deposits between 2000 and 2009.