CAZENOVIA — This past August, Madison County Historian Matthew Urtz released his first book, “Honoring World War Casualties of Madison County, New York.”
Published by The History Press, the book tells the stories of more than 190 soldiers who were killed in the service during the First and Second World Wars. Urtz uses newspapers, personal accounts, military records, census records, and more to describe the veterans’ pre-war lives, their experiences in the service, and how they died.
The author will discuss his book at the Cazenovia Public Library (CPL) on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Betsy Kennedy Community Room.
Urtz was appointed Madison County Historian in April 2010.
He started researching the county’s World War I veterans in 2016 in preparation for the centennial of America’s entry into the war.
The historian limited his research to veterans who were born in, lived in, were buried in, were educated in, worshipped in, and/or worked in Madison County.
While digging up information, Urtz discovered that some soldiers with personal ties to Madison County were not listed in the New York State records.
“Our county clerk at the time had this really neat journal that listed everyone that came through Wampsville and went into the service, whether it was a man or a woman,” he recalled. “. . . I decided to start writing a paragraph about everybody that died while they were in service. The state lists that we had something like 60 people die, and I ended up finding 120 with ties to Madison County who died.”
When he reached out to a publisher about his work, Urtz was urged to expand his book to include World War II veterans.
Using the state records as a starting point again, Urtz worked to compile a list of World War II soldiers with ties to Madison County.
“The state list didn’t incorporate a lot of the colleges,” Urtz said. “[It left out] a lot of young men that went through Colgate’s training program or Morrisville College, [which] had a program where they brought students up from Brooklyn.”
Urtz said he ended up with about double the number of names that were on the state’s list.
“From there, it was just researching the stories behind them and what happened,” he said. “It’s only folks that died while they were in service, so there were no happy endings, [but] we did find a whole lot of compelling stories.”
The amount of space in the book dedicated to each soldier varies depending on the available information.
For each person, Urtz aimed to provide where they lived and what their life was like before the war, their tie to Madison County, where they were educated, whether they were married and had kids, where they trained and served, how they died, and where they were buried.
Urtz explained that while some of the World War I veterans featured in the book have only three or four sentences, other soldiers, like Lloyd Evans of Hamilton, are discussed in greater detail.
During World War I, all of Evans’ letters home were published in a local newspaper. His first-hand accounts of the war offered readers insight into everything from training and trench life to combat.
In addition to letters from soldiers, Urtz gathered information from letters written by chaplains to inform families of when and how their loved ones died. According to Urtz, those letters were often published in newspapers.
He also relied heavily on newspaper interviews and stories for details on the lives and deaths of the soldiers.
One story, which ended up in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, centered on patrol leader George C. Cox, of Canastota, who was part of a group that captured two German snipers.
If a soldier was awarded a medal, particularly a Bronze or Silver Star, their valor was often documented in a newspaper, according to Urtz.
“We ended up with [about] 800 pages in obituaries and newspaper clippings,” Urtz said.
The historian added that one of the most compelling stories he came across was that of Colgate University student Lieutenant Richard Ives East, whose dog made national news.
East, a fighter pilot in World War II, and his best friend Harold F. Taff jointly owned a springer spaniel named Duckworth who accompanied them to North Africa. When East was killed in action in Tunisia, Duckworth was ordered to be found and shipped home to the soldier’s parents in the U.S. Heartbroken, Taff appealed to his commanding officer asking permission to keep his pet. The details of the situation were relayed to General Dwight D. Eisenhower who wrote to East’s parents and advised that the dog should remain in Africa in Taff’s care. Eventually, once he had been sent home, Taff voluntarily handed Duckworth over to the Easts. The letter from Eisenhower to the East family is included in Urtz’s book.
During his presentation at CPL, Urtz will describe his writing process and share a few of the stories of the 200-plus soldiers who were not included in the book. Signed copies will be available for purchase.
“We’re pleased to welcome Matt back to the library for another dive into local history,” said CPL Assistant Director/Archives Coordinator Elisha Davies. “The library seeks any opportunity to learn about our local history, and Matt is able to tell the stories of how Cazenovia fits into our Madison County history. Matt’s book helps keep the names and stories alive of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
Urtz said he plans to donate all proceeds from his book.
“I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to keep the money when I am telling all these [people’s] stories,” he said. “I feel like if I can give it to organizations that help our veterans or celebrate our veterans, that is more important.”
His first donation of $1,000 will go to the Madison County War Veterans Memorial in Wampsville.
Regarding future projects, Urtz said he is planning to write another book in the next few years that will detail the many scandals — including notable murders — in Madison County.
“That’s the number one talk that I get asked to give,” he said. “The funny thing about scandals is that every time I give the talk, somebody comes up and tells me a scandal I’m not aware of.”
“Honoring World War Casualties of Madison County, New York” can be purchased from multiple retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, and Target.
