Memorials › Thomas Wayne McFatter Jr

Thomas Wayne McFatter Jr

4 Dec 1895 – 26 Mar 1979

Birth4 Dec 1895
Death26 Mar 1979
CemeteryOaklawn Memorial Park
Center , Shelby County , Texas , USA
Added byLarry Hume on 25 Mar 2018
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179263542

Bio

Thomas Wayne McFatter, Jr. was born on December 4, 1895, in Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, to Thomas Wayne McFatter, Sr., and Mary Ellen Lyles McFatter. He was the youngest of five children, with four older sisters: Mattie Ann, Clevie O., Beulah Ivory, and Louisa Rebecca. The family lived in the rural Piney Woods community of Sugartown, Louisiana, where his father farmed. By 1910 the McFatter's had moved to Justice Precinct 2 in Shelby County, Texas, where Thomas, then 14, attended school and could read and write. The household remained centered on farming in East Texas. At age 21, Thomas registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, in Shelby County, Texas. Described as slender with medium height, light brown hair, and light blue eyes, he lived at Choice R.F.D. 1 and claimed no exemption to the draft. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on September 19, 1917, in Center, Texas, and initially assigned to Company B, 315th Engineers at Camp Travis. On March 15, 1918, he transferred to Company L, 58th Infantry Regiment, part of the 8th Infantry Brigade in the 4th Infantry Division (the "Ivy Division"). The 58 Infantry saw heavy combat in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. Thomas departed New York Harbor on May 7, 1918, aboard the HMS Brisbane with elements of the regiment. He served nine months overseas and participated in major operations including the Aisne-Marne Offensive, the Vesle Sector, the Toulon Sector, the Somme Offensive, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He was promoted to Corporal on November 10, 1918, one day before the war ended. During combat operations the division took 2,756 prisoners and its own casualties totaled 12,504. The division was now assigned to the Army of Occupation and began the march toward Germany on November 20. Passing through Luxembourg it entered Germany on December 3 and completed the occupation of its area about Cochem on December 17. From this area it was subsequently moved to relieve the 42 Division along the banks of the Rhine with headquarters at Nieder Breisig. After the occupation duties, he returned to the United States, departing Brest, France, on July 24, 1919, aboard the USS Mount Vernon and arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on August 1. He received an honorable discharge on August 13, 1919, at age 23, along with the World War I Victory Medal with battle clasps and the honorable discharge lapel pin. Back in Shelby County, Thomas lived with his parents and sister in 1920. On October 16, 1921, at age 25, he married Jimmie W. Whittlesey in Center, Texas. The couple settled into rural life in Precinct 1, Shelby County. By the 1930 census Thomas, then 34, owned a farm on Henrietta Road and worked as a carpenter in building construction. The household included Jimmie and their three young children: Edith Florence (later Mary Florence), Leon Dair, and Ella Margaret. A fourth child, Curtis Wayne, was born in 1930. The family remained in Center through the Great Depression of the 1930's. The 1940 census shows them on Sanders Street in a home valued at $1,200; Thomas continued as a carpenter, working 44 weeks in 1939 for $880. His parents died two years apart in 1936 and 1938, and were buried in Short Cemetery. His sister Clevie passed in 1948 and was also interred there. In 1942, at age 46, Thomas registered for the World War II "Old Man's Draft" which enrolled men born between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 for the purpose of assessing manpower for stateside defense and war-supporting industries, while employed by the Gulf Oil Corporation in Center. The record listed Jimmie as his spouse and described him as 5'8", 138 pounds, with a ruddy complexion and partly bald. After World War II the family moved to the Gulf Coast. The 1950 census placed Thomas and Jimmie at 2401 Eighth Street in Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas, where he worked as a carpenter for a building contractor. City directories from 1951 and 1958 list the same occupation and later residence at 1549 De Queen Boulevard, noting employment with Turner Construction Company. His sister Louisa died in 1969 and was buried in Bleakwood, Texas. Jimmie passed away on September 29, 1977, at age 71 in Nacogdoches, Texas, and was buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park in Center. Thomas returned to Center, where he lived until his death at age 83 on March 26, 1979, at Memorial Hospital. His occupation was listed as a building carpenter on his Texas death certificate. Services were held at Bartle Funeral Home, with burial beside Jimmie in Oaklawn Memorial Park. His obituary only noted one surviving sister, Mattie Whittlesey of Shreveport. In 1979 his daughter Florence Rudd submitted a U.S. Headstone Application for a flat bronze military marker with a Latin Cross, which was placed at his grave. Thomas Wayne McFatter, Jr., lived a life that spanned rural Southern farming communities, the battlefields of World War I, and the postwar growth of East Texas and the Gulf Coast. From his early years in Louisiana and Texas to his service with the 58 Infantry in France and his long career as a carpenter, he embodied the experiences of a generation shaped by migration, war, and quiet resilience in the American South. He was remembered as a U.S. Army World War I veteran whose nine months overseas contributed to the campaigns that helped secure victory in 1918. Day is done, God is nigh. This biography was compiled (written) by Grok 4.1, an artificial intelligence developed by xAI, using historical records, including U.S. Census data, marriage records, military service documents, and newspaper archives, researched and provided by the user, Larry E. Hume, VFW Post 8904, Center, Texas. For more information on Grok 4.1, visit https://x.ai/grok. SOURCES: 1.     Year: 1900; Census Place: Sugartown, Calcasieu, Louisiana; Roll: 561; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0021 URL:https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/17639681?tid=9558353&pid=6039531344&ssrc=pt 2.     Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 2, Shelby, Texas; Roll: T624_1588; Page: 2b; Enumeration District: 0148; FHL microfilm: 1375601 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/122084995 3.     Registration State: Texas; Registration County: Shelby County. URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482/records/17109372 4.     "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 22 January 2025. Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin. 5.     The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 217 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174/records/10113002?tid=&pid=&queryId=b4d7caca-6b9b-463f-ac20-35bde678cbc8&_phsrc=ITX2105&_phstart=successSource 6.     Genealogy of the Whittelsey-Whittlesey Family; Author: Whittelsey, Charles Barney, b. 1869 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62282/records/4556924477 7.     Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 1, Shelby, Texas; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0003; FHL microfilm: 2342124 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/61164031 8.     Year: 1940; Census Place: Center, Shelby, Texas; Roll: m-t0627-04136; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 210-2 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/156112053 9.     National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of Texas; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1002/records/12593742 10.  National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Port Arthur, Jefferson, Texas; Roll: 839; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 264-56 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/191558193 11.  Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/386278291 12.  Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. URL:https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/408803821?tid=&pid=&queryId=0522abe6-4b0e-4f44-83cd-d7c4d73780b7&_phsrc=ITX2109&_phstart=successSource 13.  Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA; Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982 URL:https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2272/records/474545?tid=&pid=&queryId=59cc39d2-591b-4989-a101-83e62c0956a8&_phsrc=ITX2101&_phstart=successSource 14.  The Times; Publication Date: 28 Mar 1979; Publication Place: Shreveport, Louisiana, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/211655304/?article=bfeda91a-4921-4075-ac2a-ae2598177e82&focus=0.24293059,0.4990218,0.4588582,0.5262617&xid=3355 15.  National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007 URL: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2375/records/5247806

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