Calhoun Soldier Last Missouri Casualty of WWI
Next Monday, November 11, we will observe Veterans Day. Originally, November 11 was celebrated as Armistice Day because the armistice ending the World War I hostilities was signed on the 11th hour, 11th day, and the 11th month of 1918. Later, that day was renamed as “Veterans Day” to honor all veterans.
This column is reviewing the life of Wayman “Wayne” Miner, born in Calhoun, Missouri, in recognition of his service in World War I,and we appreciate Tom Colwell telling about Wayne Miller’s WW I service at the October Calhoun Historical Tour.
There wsas no mention of Wayne Miner in any of the Henry County, MO newspapers until some years later when the first African American American Legion post in Kansas City was named as the Wayne Miner Post in his honor. The information about Wayman’s military record was reported in Appanoose County, Iowa newspapers and small notes in Kansas City newspapers, both of which claimed Wayne Miner as one of its citizens.[1],[2]_
Wayman “Wayne” Miner was born in Calhoun, MO, on August 27 1890, one of 13 children born to former slaves, Ned and Emily (Bradley) Miner. Newspaper and military articles give his name as “Wayne Miner,” but his actual name was “Wayman Miner.” Some of his family members spelled their last name as “Minor.” [1]
When Wayman was about ten years old, his parents and children still living at home moved to Diamond, Iowa, in Appanoose County, Iowa, near the Drum and Monkey Mine where his father farmed and worked as a coal miner. A sister, Minnie Minor Shockley (1873-1894), and a brother, Curtis “Curt” Minor (1878-1899, are buried in Calhoun Cemetery. Likely, his father, Ned Minor, had worked in the clay fields or coal mines near Calhoun before moving to the mines in Iowa. [1]
Wayne Miner later began working as a coal miner in Harkes, Iowa, in Appanoose County, Iowa. In 1911, when he was 21, he married Belle Carter. Some accounts indicate that Belle Carter had been born at Clinton, Missour. It is possible that Belle Carter’s relatives had moved to the Appanoose County mines as had Wayne’s parents. At the time of Wayne’s death on November 11, 1918, Belle Carter Miner was living in Kansas City,making her home with her mother. The Kansas City newspapers gave Wayman Miner’s K.C. address as 673 Troost Ave. which was probably the address of his wife. Wayman and Bell had no children.[2],[3]
Biographer Gary D. Craver tells that Wayne was drafted into the U.S. Army at Centerville, IA with five other African Americans, and they were trained at Camp Dodge, Iowa. Miner was appointed as Private First Class on January 1, 1918, and he and his Company A, 366th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Division, were shipped to France on June 15, 1918. This all-black combat unit’s insignia was a charging buffalo, whose slogan was “Deeds, Not Words.”[3]
Wayman was serving with the 1st platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion of the 366th Infantry, with the 30,000 all-black 92nd division, commanded by 1st Lt. William H. Clark. First Lt. Oscar Brown of the 351st Machine Gun Company had sent Lt. Clark a request for four men to carry gun ammunition to their machine gun outpost in the final hours of the war. 1st Lt. Clark recalled 45 years later that he got no volunteers, so he told the men if he didn’t get volunteers he would go with a lottery system. At that point, Private Wayne Miner stepped forward as the first volunteer, followed by three others. [3]
Lt. Clark remembered Miner as a “fine young man, a good man, courageous, well liked and much respected by everyone in the outfit.” As Miner and his three fellow soldiers carried the ammunition with rifles slung across their back, Wayne Miner was hit by bursting shrapnel just three hours before the armistice was signed at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918, and was one of the last soldiers to die in World War I.[3]
Lt. Clark had recommended Private Miner for the Distinguished Service Cross, but somehow the captain never received the request, and Private Miner never received his recognition, even posthumously. Private Miner was buried at the Saint Mihiel American Cemetery at Thiaucort, France.[3]
On Dec. 6, 1918, the Kansas City Journal listed Wayne Miner as one of 13 Kansas City men listed as casualties. By May 12, 1919, the first Kansas City African-American American Legion post was named as the Wayne Miner Post. Kansas City also had a drum & bugle corps named as the Wayne Miner Drum & Bugle Corps in the 1930s which received complimentary reviews.[2]
The Liberty War Memorial used his name and picture in an advertisement which said, in part, “Wayne Miner’s sacrifice will not be forgotten in Kansas City. An obligation to properly respect his memory rests upon his fellow citizens, and they are going to respond gladly by subscribing liberally to the Liberty War Memorial.”[2]
On November 11, 2024, we honor Wayman “Wayne” Miner and the other men and women for their sacrifice. “For deeds, not words!”
Sources: [1] The Centerville Semi Weekly Iowegian, June 23, 1919. [2] Kansas City Journal, (1918-1919). [3] Gary D. Craver, Biography, Find a Grave, Saint Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucort, France.
