To view this or an earlier profile at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.
Source: Kathryn Kalmanson, descendant
Lennox Walker Clemmons
Supply, Brunswick County, NC
US Army
Private
Served:
August 7, 1918 – April 25, 1919
Overseas:
September 15, 1918 – March 3, 1919
Lennox Walker Clemmons was born and raised in Lockwoods Folly, Brunswick County, NC. There is a family tree in FamilySearch.
Walker’s father passed away in 1911, leaving his mother to raise many children alone. When Walker registered for the WWI Draft he indicated he was 25, single, and farming for his mother, partly responsible for her. It appears that he was the oldest son living at home at the time.
Lennox Walker Clemmons was ordered to report for military duty on August 7, 1918.
Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013
Walker’s name was typed incorrectly on the Brunswick County Board List excerpt as shown (Leonix Walker Hewett).
His WWI Draft Registration handwritten name shows why his name was misspelled as “Leonix.” And the typewritten Brunswick County Board List was likely typed incorrectly because the name above Walker’s had the last name of “Hewett.”
There are three methods to verify this is Lennox Walker Clemmons.
- An excerpt from his WWI Draft Registration has been edited to highlight the handwritten number on the top left “651.” This can be matched with the highlighted typed number on the Brunswick County Board List.
- The second method is using compiled alphabetical county board lists located in the NC Archives. “Leonix W. Clemmons from Supply” is listed.
- Of course, you can also see these dates on his NC WWI Service Card.
Pvt Clemmons trained in Camp Wadsworth, SC, along with the other Brunswick County men listed in Kendrick Outlaw’s WWI Profile. He embarked with them for France on September 15, 1918.
As mentioned in Elijah Milliken’s WWI Profile, there is no known documentation describing the operations of the 55th Pioneer Infantry. It is also not known whether Pvt Clemmons transferred to the 81st Division for their final operation. Although his NC WWI Service Card does not show he did, it is not sufficient to discount the possibility.
If Pvt Clemmons participated in the grueling hike of the 81st Division as described in Craven Ledrew Sellers’ WWI Profile Post, then it may explain why Pvt Clemmons returned to the US on a Convalescent Detachment from Bordeaux, France. He could also have suffered from gas exposure or the influenza pandemic.
Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
It’s fortunate that the passenger list provides details for those soldiers returning from France on the Convalescent Detachment of February 20, 1919. Pvt Clemmons was suffering from chronic bronchitis. He arrived in the US on March 3, 1919, but was not honorably discharged until April 25, indicating he spent some time recuperating before discharge. Still, he was discharged with a 10% disability, which explains the (D) rating in the passenger list above, “unfit for military service.”
Note: The photograph above of Pvt Clemmons shows him with a gold service stripe on his left sleeve. The stripes are awarded after 6 months overseas service.
Walker Clemmons married in early 1920. The 1920 Census shows he was living with his mother, wife, and some siblings, working on his mother’s farm.
His mother passed away in 1929. A year later, the 1930 Census shows that Walker and his family lived in Southport. He was working as a mechanic.
When Walker’s first wife passed away, he remarried and settled in the Winston-Salem area.
Lennox Walker Clemmons passed away on November 1, 1980, in Winston-Salem. He was laid to rest in Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Forsyth County, NC. No indication of military service is shown.
If you would like to help us honor Lennox Walker Clemmons or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:
Click here for the announcement: Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran: How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
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