The Leighr A. Wright American Legion Post #53 and WW I
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The Feb. 18, 1918 edition of the Jackson Citizen Patriot read: Hillsdale Boy is Lost on Tuscania. 19 year old Leighr A. Wright, the only son of Mrs. Mary Wright of Hillsdale Street, was lost in the sinking of the Tuscania by an enemy torpedo, the first ship carrying American troops to be sunk. Over 200 lives were lost and the reaction of the citizens at home was outrage.
The original charter for the Leighr A. Wright American Legion Post #53 showed that the first name on the Legion certificate was that of John Robert Sutton, who was a neighborhood friend of Leighr Wright.
John Robert Sutton, Jr.
Before acquiring the property at Baw Beese Lake for their club house, the Leighr A. Wright Post #53 held meetings in the upstairs of the old fire barn on McCollum Street.
Ensign George W. Woodard of Hillsdale died during the sinking of the Ticonderoga in September 1918. He was principal of schools in Litchfield before enlisting.
Nov. 11, 1918, the first Armistice Day, brought citizens out into the streets of Hillsdale. People congregated outside City Hall because the "Hillsdale War Board" was housed there. The Board shared a part of the Chamber of Commerce room with the Red Cross.
Carol A. Lackey