Mitchel Sexton

Mitchel Sexton (April 4, 1888 – Oct. 21, 1918) was a Huntsville man who died of appendicitis stateside during World War I.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born April 8, 1888 in the Cordell area, Mitchel Sexton was the son of Robert Sexton (1850-1906) and Florinda Newport (1859-1894). His great-grandfather was Revolutionary War veteran Timothy Sexton.

Mitchel’s father first married Lucinda Hughett (1853-1881). Following her death, he remarried to Florinda Newport in 1883. She was the daughter of Samuel Newport (1813-1899) and Lucinda McPeters (1815-1868).

Mitchel’s siblings included Rebecca Thomas (1874-1934), Jasper Sexton (1876-1945), Tim Toomey Sexton (1880-1963), Carrie Watson (1893-1921), Berry Frank Sexton (1895-1951), Bertha Hembree (1896-1983) and Bertie Ragsdale (1898-1994). Tim Sexton also served in the U.S. Army during World War I.

Mitchel married Helen Hillman in McCreary County, Ky. on Oct. 20, 1917.

World War I

Cpl. Sexton enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jackson Barracks in Louisiana on Jan. 17, 1916. Although listed on both the VFW Post 5669 Memorial Wall in Oneida and the Veterans Memorial Wall in Huntsville as a World War I death, Cpl. Sexton did not see any action overseas during the war. He was stationed at the Jackson Barracks in Louisiana until June 15, 1917, and later was assigned as a guard at the War Prison Barracks at Ft. Oglethorpe in Georgia. He rose to the rank of corporal on July 20, 1917.

Death

Cpl. Sexton fill ill with appendicitis and died at Ft. Oglethorpe in Georgia on Oct. 21, 1918. His brother, Jasper Sexton, was notified of his death back home in Cordell. It isn’t clear where Cpl. Sexton is buried; some think it could be the Rob Sexton Cemetery at Brimstone, which is where his parents are buried.