Ben F. Dismore, age 21, is one of Lucas County's four Spanish-American War fatalities, all victims of diseases contracted while in service rather than combat during that now-obscure military outing, remembered principally for the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor and Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. The others are John W. Mauk and brothers William T. and Walter A. Black. All are buried in the Chariton Cemetery.
Ben's is the only tombstone on a large lot sold as individual gravesites at the turn of the 20th century to hold the remains of people who were alone or poor --- or both. I stopped there Monday while trying to figure out who his neighbors were.
You have to look carefully at the small civilian tombstone to see the inscription at the bottom, "Musician, Co. B, 39 Reg. of Inf." When Doris Christensen photographed the stone some years ago for Find a Grave, there was a flag holder. But that has vanished.
Ben, whose parents were John and Emma (Wick) Dismore, was born in Kansas on Oct. 19, 1879 (the date on his tombstone is a year off), but the family had moved to Lawrence County, Missouri, by the time the 1880 federal census was taken. Soon thereafter, they moved briefly to Chariton and then to Afton, Iowa, where Emma apparently died. There were two brothers, Arthur, a year older; and James Nathaniel, a year or two younger.
During 1888, John married as his second wife Adelia (Wagner) Parker and the couple settled in Chariton. The Dismore sons, however, may not have been part of the equation.
John was serving at Manila in the Philippines when he became ill and after hospitalization there was transferred to Letterman General Hospital, the Presidio, San Francisco, and remained there until discharge on Sept. 14, 1900, when it was decided he was well enough to travel. He died in Chariton less than four months later. Cemetery burial records give the cause as dysentery.
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Here's Ben's obituary from The Chariton Herald of Jan. 4, 1901:
The funeral service of the late Ben Dismore, son of John Dismore, of this place, was conducted Monday afternoon from the home of his parents, by Rev. P. J. Vollmar of the M. E. church.
Ben was 20 years old last October, having been born in Kansas but later removing to Chariton with his father. He was not well known here, having spent most of his time at Eldora.
In September, 1899, he enlisted from Des Moines in the 39th U.S. Infantry and went over to Manila where he served nine months, when he was stricken with the fever. After spending two months in the field hospital he was sent to San Francisco where he remained in the military hospital for three months.
Being well enough to travel, he was then given a disability discharge and brought to his home in Chariton where he has been for the past month. His stepmother gave him the kindest of treatment and best of care, but in spite of the tender home life, he continued to waste away and at his death was but a walking skeleton.
His remains were interred in the Chariton cemetery and Co. H, 50th Reg. I.N.G., accompanied them to the burial place as a military escort. It is especially sad to think that one so young should be compelled to sacrifice his life to the cruel god of war, and the sorrowing relatives have the sympathy of a host of Chariton friends.
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