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Henry Weston Farnsworth
Henry Weston Farnsworth
Born	August 7, 1890; Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 28, 1915 (aged 25); near Tahure, France
Battles / wars	Second Battle of Champagne
Awards	Médaille militaire
Alma mater	Groton School; Harvard College;

Henry Weston Farnsworth (August 7, 1890 – September 28, 1915^[1]) was one of the first Americans killed as a soldier in World War I.^[2]^[3] He was a "newspaper correspondent, world traveler, adventure-seeker, avid reader, and member of the French Foreign Legion."^[4]

Early life

Farnsworth was born on August 7, 1890, in Dedham, Massachusetts.^[1] He attended Groton School and then Harvard College where he was graduated in 1912.^[3]^[5] After graduating, he toured Vienna, Budapest, Constantinople, Odessa, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.^[5]

Family

Farnsworth came from a Boston Brahmin family.^[6] His parents, William and Lucy Holman (née Burgess) Farnsworth, also had a daughter, Ellen Holman Farnsworth, who was said to be "the prettiest girl in Boston."^[6] Henry and Ellen were very close.^[2] Ellen was married to Alfred Lee Loomis, Henry's classmate at Harvard University.^[6]^[7] Ellen's great-grandson, Reed Hastings, was a co-founder of Netflix. Farnsworth was described as "bookish and idealistic."^[2]

The Farnsworths had homes on Westfield Street in Dedham^[3]^[6] and Beacon Street in Boston.^[7] The family purchased the Beacon Street home from Charles Winslow.^[7]

Career

Farnsworth worked as a reporter for Collier's and The Providence Journal during the Balkan War.^[2] He was working as a reporter in Mexico when US troops occupied Veracruz in 1914 and when World War I began.^[5]^[3] He wrote a book about his experiences in the Balkans, The Log of a Would-be War Correspondent^[2]^[3] as well as several plays and five volumes of short stories.^[5] His letters were also posthumously published by his father.^[3]

After returning home, he worked for his father, a wool merchant in Boston.^[3]^[7]^[5]

World War I

In the fall of 1914, Farnsworth sailed back from the United States to Europe^[2] before his family could object.^[5] He "got caught up in the military fever that was sweeping London and Paris."^[2] Preferring to fight, he refused to be a war correspondent.^[5]

Farnsworth enlisted with the French Foreign Legion on January 5, 1915,^[1]^[2]^[3]^[5] and served in several battles.^[5] He was hospitalized several times, but always showed an eagerness to return to the front.^[5] He often served the night patrol in no man's land.^[3] On one such occasion, after Italy declared war against the Central Powers, Farnsworth was part of a group who put newspapers announcing the declaration on the barbed wire near the German trenches.^[5] On March 15, 1915, he wrote to his mother: "I long to be with you all again, once the war ends. I think it will be this summer some time; then for the rest and peace of Dedham."^[3]

Farnsworth was killed in action at the battle of Fortin de Navarin near Tahure, France, on September 28, 1915, in the Second Battle of Champagne.^[2]^[3]^[5]^[7]^[8] He was shot in the neck and the spine by a machine gun.^[1] Sukuna, a Fijian comrade, pulled Farnsworth into a trench but was unable to save him.^[1] After watching Farnsworth die, Sukuna vowed to avenge his death, advanced towards the German line, and was shot in the leg.^[1]

Farnsworth was one of 642 men from Dedham who served in the war, and one of 18 who died.^[8] After his death, those with whom he served spoke of his spirit and bravery.^[3] He was posthumously awarded the Médaille militaire on October 1, 1915.^[1]

Legacy

At Harvard's Lamont Library, the Farnsworth Room is dedicated in Farnsworth's honor.^[1]^[4]^[5] The room, which is "devoted to non-curricular leisure reading, houses approximately 4,000 eclectic titles."^[4] It "is a treasure trove of bizarre finds."^[4] Originally opened in Widener Library in 1916, and moved to Lamont upon the latter's opening in 1949, it was the first American college reading room dedicated to extracurricular reading.^[4] Alumnus Thomas Wolfe says he learned more in the Farnsworth Room than anywhere else at Harvard.^[4]

In 1920, Farnsworth's family erected a monument to him and the 130 Foreign Legionnaires from the 1st and 2nd Régiment Etrangers who died in the Battle of Champagne in Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus.^[1]^[3] It is an ossuary and holds the remains of the 130 Legionnaires.^[1] The stones for the monument came from the same quarry as those that form the Arc de Triomphe.^[1] The monument, which was designed by Alexandre Marcel, measures 17 metres (56 ft) by 22 metres (72 ft), with the entrance on the north.^[1] Due to the poor soil quality in Champagne, fertile soil from Seine-et-Marne was trucked in to plant fir and pine trees, as well as a thick hedge.^[1] An inscription on the memorial was written by Charles W. Eliot, and another contains the names of the men buried in it.^[1]

It was dedicated on November 3, 1920, by Joseph-Marie Tissier, bishop of Châlons.^[1] Present at the dedication were Farnsworth's parents, sister, Pierre-Georges Duport, and representatives of the French government.^[1] Darius Milhaud gave a speech.^[1] It is known today as the "American Monument" by the residents of Souain.^[1]