William C. Blevins

William Charles Blevins (Feb. 23, 1896 – Oct. 15, 1918) was a Helenwood man killed in action during World War I.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born Feb. 23, 1896, William Blevins was the son of Abraham B. “Abe” Blevins (1863-1938) and Polly Ann Miller (1863-1950) of Oneida. He was one of nine children. His siblings included Thomas Jefferson Blevins (1884-1922), Armpstead Blevins (1891-1922), Henley Blevins (1893-1978), Daniel Blevins (1900-1917), John Sherman Blevins (1902-1932), Frona Blevins Douglas (1902-1953), Tirl Monroe Blevins (1904-1989) and Crawford Lee Blevins (1906-1999)

Blevins was not married.

World War I

Pvt. Blevins enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I and was assigned to Company M, 7th Infantry. He enlisted at Burnside, Ky. on April 23, 1917.

Blevins was killed on Oct. 15, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France. It was the final Allied offensive of the war, lasting from Sept. 26, 1918 until the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918. It was the largest in U.S. military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, sailors and marines, along with French and Siamese personnel. It remains the deadliest battle in the history of the U.S. Army. There were more than 350,000 casualties, including 26,277 American lives.

Complicating the losses for the American troops were inexperience and the onset of the Spanish flu pandemic.

The American forces were commanded by Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing.

Blevins’ death came during the second phase of the battle, as American troops launched a frontal assault that proved successful in breaking through the main German defenses, but also costly.

Blevins was killed exactly one week after Cpl. (later Sgt.) Alvin C. York made his capture of 132 German prisoners near Cornay as part of the same battle.

October 1918 at the Argonne Forest was a deadly month for Scott Countians. Prior to Pvt. Blevins’ death, William Brown of Smokey Creek was killed on Oct. 5. Hugh Lewallen of Glenmary was killed on Oct. 6. Clovis Jeffers of Winona was killed on Oct. 9. Lonus Reed died on Dec. 8, 1918 from wounds he suffered during the battle. It was likely at the same battle that Sherman Stanley, of Oneida, was killed on Oct. 1.

Aftermath

Blevins’ father, Abe, was informed of his death by officials from the U.S. Army. Three years later, in 1921, Blevins’ body was returned home and buried at Grave Hill Cemetery west of Oneida.

On Aug. 1, 1937, the United States unveiled the Meuse-Argonne American Memorial near Montfaucon, France. It is the largest American war memorial in Europe. An observation platform offers a view of the battlefield at the top of 234 stairs. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a radio address for the unveiling from Washington, D.C.

In 1922, two of Blevins’ brothers died just days apart after being shot by law enforcement. Armpstead “Armp” Blevins died on Aug. 21 in Mt. Pisgah, Ky. at age 31. His brother, Thomas Jefferson “Jeff” Blevins, lived in Mt. Pisgah and was wanted for murder. Armp — who was a sergeant in the U.S. Army and wounded in France during the war, which left him disabled — had been summoned from his home in Louisville, Ky. to his mother’s bedside in Oneida. As he was returning home, he stopped at Jeff’s home to visit. A posse showed up — consisting of sheriff’s deputies and prohibition officers — with a warrant for Jeff’s arrest and also to raid a moonshine still they believed to be on the property. Newspapers reported that the posse was led by Wayne County Sheriff George Ryan and Prohibition Agent John F. Marcum of Lexington. (A separate newspaper article identified another officer as deputy sheriff H.H. Marcum.)

A gunfight ensued, though it’s not clear who did the shooting. Newspaper accounts indicated that Armp was not a participant in the gunfight. He was said to closely resemble Jeff, and had been twice arrested due to mistaken identity before being able to prove himself and be released. Armp died four hours later from wounds sustained in the battle. Another man, Tom Huntley (who was married to Jeff Blevins’ daughter, Cora), was also killed. A third man was shot in the ankle.

Jeff Blevins was wounded in the fight. It was said that one of his arms was broken by a bullet in the battle, and he was also wounded in the other arm. Law enforcement said he was attempting to fire a pistol when he was shot with a shotgun. He denied the accusation, saying he was shot in his right arm and hid in bushes. When he was approached by two men and was ordered to put his hands up, he allegedly said he could not because he was shot in the arms, and was shot again. Law enforcement officers said he was resting his pistol on his right forearm and attempting to shoot it with his left hand after being shot in the right arm.

He was taken to a jail in Fayette County, Ky. He visited a hospital to have his wounds dressed and returned to the jail, but developed blood poisoning due to complications from the wounds. He died at a hospital in Lexington, Ky. on Sept. 4, 1922.

The man Jeff Blevins was accused of killing was Fox Lovelace. The murder took place in Monticello, Ky. in September 1921. Blevins was a deputy sheriff at the time. He had been arrested, but escaped from jail in December 1921 and had been a wanted man for months.

Both Armp and Jeff were buried at Grave Hill Cemetery, near their brother, William. Another brother, Daniel, had died in 1917 at age 17 and is also buried at the cemetery.

Tragedies continued to befall the family. In 1932, John Sherman Blevins — a brother to William, Armp, Jess and Daniel — was fatally stabbed during an argument with a merchant in Casey County, Ky. He was 30. He also served and was wounded in WWI.

Abe Blevins died in 1938 in Casey County, Ky. Polly Ann died in 1950 and is buried at Grave Hill.

The Blevins family moved back and forth between Tennessee and Kentucky. They moved to Wayne County in 1910, were living back in Scott County in 1920, and were in Casey County, Ky. in 1930. In the last years of her life, Polly lived with her son, Crawford, in Casey County.

One of the Blevins siblings — Tirl Monroe Blevins — remained in Scott County. He died in 1989 and is buried at Marcum-Kidd Cemetery in Oneida. He served as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II.