Oscar William Dorris
(1887-1919)
Embedded Files
Corporal Oscar William Dorris signature on WWI draft registration, with corner of page cut at lower left, indicating “colored” race
SS Agamemnon
Gravestone, Corporal Oscar William Dorris, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
4219 Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois, address given on WWI draft registration
Oscar William Dorris
*No plaque found
*The List of Liberty Row Names indicates the possible original location of the plaque.
*No soldier photograph found in the following book: Doyle, A. C., Haulsee, W. M., Howe, F. G. Soldiers of the Great War. Washington, DC: Soldiers Record Publishing Company, 1920.
Birth: 9/14/1887, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Birth: 9/14/1887, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Address: 4219 Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois at draft registration and 15802 Mandalay Ave., Collinwood [Cleveland], Ohio on deployment record
Demographics: age 29 at draft registration; married with a wife and child; Black; native-born citizen; occupation Unemployed Waiter at time of draft registration; 1906 Chattanooga, TN city directory lists his occupation as Switchman at C N O & T P Railway
Marriage: On 4/25/1918, Corporal Oscar William Dorris, who was age 30 and employed as a Porter, married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fisher, age 29, in Detroit, MI, less than two months prior to his deployment. His widow Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fisher (1892-1941) remarried in 1920 to Robert Jones. In 1941, her death record shows she died of septicemia at the Cleveland State Hospital (asylum for the insane that became notorious in the 1940's for poor treatment of patients, according to clevelandhistorical.org) after she "twisted wrist while turning over in bed." She was buried at East Cleveland Township Cemetery, Cleveland, OH
Appearance: Height medium, Build medium, Eyes black, Hair black
Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; enlistment date not known; Rank Corporal
Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; enlistment date not known; Rank Corporal
Service Number: 2074313
Deployment: 6/10/1918 from Hoboken, New Jersey aboard SS Agamemnon
Action: Corporal Oscar William Dorris served in the Machine Gun Company of the 365th Infantry, a segregated African-American unit in the U.S. Army 92nd Division, also known as the "Buffalo Soldiers," which faced severe discrimination.
Death: January 26, 1919 at age 31; cause of death Died of Disease
Death: January 26, 1919 at age 31; cause of death Died of Disease
Burial: 1/29/1919 buried at American Cemetery, Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France; 3/14/1921 remains disinterred and reburied at the same cemetery; 2/14/1922 remains disinterred and prepared for return to the U.S. arriving Antwerp, Belgium 3/3/1922; 3/19/1922 remains shipped from Antwerp to Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Cambrai arriving Hoboken 3/29/1922; 5/4/1922 remains shipped from Hoboken to Depot Quartermaster, Washington, D.C. arriving 5/5/1922 to the care of D.R. Wolverton, Captain QMC; final burial on 5/11/1922 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Section 19, Site 463 in the "(colored) European Section"
Burial: 1/29/1919 buried at American Cemetery, Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France; 3/14/1921 remains disinterred and reburied at the same cemetery; 2/14/1922 remains disinterred and prepared for return to the U.S. arriving Antwerp, Belgium 3/3/1922; 3/19/1922 remains shipped from Antwerp to Hoboken, NJ aboard SS Cambrai arriving Hoboken 3/29/1922; 5/4/1922 remains shipped from Hoboken to Depot Quartermaster, Washington, D.C. arriving 5/5/1922 to the care of D.R. Wolverton, Captain QMC; final burial on 5/11/1922 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Section 19, Site 463 in the "(colored) European Section"
Next of Kin: Mrs. Lizzie Dorris, 15802 Mandalay Ave., Collinwood [Cleveland], OH
Additional Information: Father: ?William; Mother: ?Mary Mills
Research was impeded by the prevalence of the surname Dorris and possibly the paucity of genealogical records for Black people.
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