Arthur Samuel Houts
Submitted by: Claude Humbert {great nephew}
Arthur Samuel Houts born around 1880, Arthur Houts served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1901 and the service was completed in 1918.
Story of Service
Note: The information below is from a trunk found at my great-aunt's home.
Arthur Samuel Houts was born on May 31st, 1880, in Mount Vernon, Posey County, IN. Arthur Houts was the youngest of a family of six: Annie (born in 1865), Alice (born circa 1866), Maud (born in 1868), Oscar (born in 1875), William (born in 1878), and Arthur.
His father, Samuel Houts, was from Illinois. His mother, Margaret, was born in Ireland.
In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, Arthur Houts enlisted as a private with Company I of the 19th Infantry Regiment. The Regiment went to Puerto Rico and stayed at Ponce for a year as an occupying force.
On Jan. 8, 1901, Arthur Houts enlisted in Company K of the 5th Regiment of the Ohio National Guard, based in Cleveland, OH.
On July 13, 1905, Arthur Houts was commissioned second lieutenant. On Nov. 6, 1906, he was commissioned captain. He became a major on Sept. 9, 1913.
While in the O.N.G., Arthur Houts also worked at the Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, Cleveland.
Arthur Houts and his family lived in Euclid, OH.
In 1903, he got married with Georgina Crichton. Their son Kenneth was born on that same year.
O, March 4, 1905, he went to Washington with the 5th O.N.G. for Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration.
In 1910, during a violent strike at a streetcar company, Houts and the 5th Infantry Regiment of the O.N.G. were sent to Columbus, OH, to restore order.
In 1913, during the Great Dayton flood, the 5th O.N.G. was sent to Dayon, OH, to maintain order and prevent looting.
In 1916, during a violent strike at the steelworks of East Youngstown, OH, the 5th O.N.G. was sent to restore order.
Later in 1916, after the attack of Columbus, NM, by Pancho Villa, the O.N.G. went to Fort Bliss, Texas.
In 1917, Houts’ Regiment, the 5th O.N.G., became the 145th Infantry Regiment of the United States, and part of the 37th U.S. Division (or Buckeye Division).
On Aug. 14, 1917, Major Houts, left Cleveland to oversee part of the works at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, AL.
The 37th Division stayed at Camp Sheridan from Sept. 1917 till May 1918.
The last training of the 37th Division on American soil took place in May and June 1918 at Camp Lee (now Fort Lee), VA.
On June 15, 1918, Major Houts, and about one third of the 37th Division, left the port of Hoboken, NJ, and saw the Statue of Liberty fade away as the U.S.S. Leviathan carried them to France. Major Houts landed in Brest, France, on June 22, 1918.
The 37th Division was sent to its final training camp, in Bourmont, Haute-Marne, France. Once its training completed, the 37th Division was sent to the front for its first combat experience. It was a relatively quiet area that awaited them, near Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France.
On Sept. 16, 1918, the headquarters of the division moved to Robert-Espagne, Meuse, France. The regiments stayed in different villages. The 145th was billeted in Trémont-sur-Saulx.
On Sept. 19, the 37th Division left the sector of Robert-Espagne, and was sent to the village of Avocourt.
On Sept. 26, the Meuse-Argonne offensive began. The 37th Division was in the thick of the battle: it was to capture the hill of Montfaucon, a major German stronghold.
On Sept. 29, 1918, Major Houts scribbled a message to General Farnsworth:
"My battalion is going in. Two companies, A and C in advance D and machine gun Company in support."
This was Major Houts’s last message. Major Houts was killed in action on Sept. 29, 1918, on the 4th day of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
Major Houts rests at the Meuse-Argonne cemetery, in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.
More details here: http://hmbrt.pagesperso-orange.fr/goodbye/index-en.html