Edward Newell Ware (1892-1919): A Unique Life of Selfless Service
By Gustavo Azevedo
In 1930, the first Gold Star pilgrimage took place. Hundreds of American mothers and widows of fallen soldiers were offered the opportunity to visit the graves of their family members. The trip was meant to show appreciation and allow mothers and wives who chose an overseas burial ground to visit their husband’s or son’s final resting place amongst others who fought in World War I.[1]
For most of the women, the last stop was in France, where each would go to one of that nation’s many American cemeteries. Cora Willis Ware, however, found herself traveling much farther east, traversing half a dozen countries in her journey.
She arrived at Bellu Cemetery, in the center of Bucharest, the capital of the Kingdom of Romania, to visit the only American soldier to be buried there, given a place of honor between a Romanian general and a French major.[2]
A Family History of Service in War and Peace
The Ware family was familiar with war. Cora’s husband, Edward Newell Ware, was born in Richmond, Kentucky, on July 2, 1860. Two years later, during the Civil War, toddler Edward was hidden in the fireplace while a battle occurred around his family home.[3]
After the war, Edward’s family moved to Illinois. Once he matured, Edward began his journey to join the ministry. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and then the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago to study Christianity. By 1889, Edward was an ordained Presbyterian minister in Bloomington, Illinois when he married Cora Willis.
Soon after, the newlyweds moved to Florence, Wisconsin, where Edward served as a minister until 1896.[4] In Florence, their family grew. In February 1890, their first child, Willis, was born.[5] On April 5, 1892, Edward Newell Ware Jr. known in the family as Newell, was born.[6] And in the winter of 1893, they had their first daughter, Jean.[7] In 1897, they moved to Bedford, Iowa, where another daughter, Marion, completed the family.[8]
By 1906, the Wares moved back to Chicago. Edward became the pastor at the Endeavor Church at 1709 West Cornelia in Roscoe Village. On Memorial Sunday in 1907, Edward gave a sermon to Civil War veterans that grabbed the attention of the Chicago Tribune.[9]
“Men of this generation, the ‘voices of the dead’ call heroically to us to preserve our noble commonwealth,” Edward said, “to forget not the love and dying sacrifice of our heroic dead.”
In 1912, Edward was named chaplain for the Chicago Presbyterian Hospital, one of the largest in the city, leaving Endeavor Church behind. He would remain the hospital’s chaplain until his retirement in 1938.[10]
The Pastor's Wife Has Her Own Musical Interests
Before Edward’s time as a chaplain, Cora was a typical pastor’s wife, engaging in community-facing activities that ranged from helping with social events to teaching bible study classes. Rid of those responsibilities due to Edward’s new role as hospital chaplain, Cora used her newly-found free time to explore her own interests, becoming a notable musician and composer of religious songs and other pieces.
Her compositions were performed in events sponsored by groups such as the Englewood Woman’s Club,[11] Illinois Woman’s Press Association,[12] a reception for the board of directors of the Lake View Musical Society,[13] and an Easter song and musical festival.[14] She participated in other social clubs and volunteer organizations throughout her life.
In May 1914, Cora was chosen to be the Recording Secretary for the Lake View Musical Society,[15] a women’s club focused on music. It held recitals and sponsored visiting musicians, among other things. By November of that same year, she had been promoted to second vice president, climbing the ranks of responsibility.
In 1916, the Wares moved into their Rogers Park home at 1430 West Howard.[16] In May 1917, Cora was elected the president of the Lake View Musical Society, a couple of weeks after the United States joined World War I.[17]
Cora Willis Ware’s music was published as early as 1911, the date of this songbook. Maddie Bowers, Loyola University student, recorded her song “My God, I Thank Thee” for RPWRHS on Octber 30, 2024. Click below to hear Maddie’s piano interpretation.
The Great War Touches the Whole Ware Family
Before the late 1930s, before Hitler invaded Poland, there was nothing that matched “The Great War.” Now known as World War I, the Great War was meant to end all wars; at least, that was the innocent perception of the time. Many men from all over the globe rallied against a common cause and left their lives behind to fight.
Willis Ware married Margaret Greenawalt on April 5, 1917,[18] a day before America entered the war.[19] The next month, Willis registered for the draft,[20] but was exempt from active duty due to his marital status; a 1930 census also indicates he was not a veteran.[21]
Meanwhile, the younger brother, Newell, eagerly joined the war effort even before the United States instigated a draft. At the time, he was an engineering student at Northwestern University, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.[22] In May 1917, Newell was one of the 125 students who dropped out from Northwestern to join the American forces abroad; one of four classmates to join the American Ambulance Field Service in France.[23] The decision to pause his studies to fight in the war is a story shared by thousands of young men of the era.
The American Ambulance Field Service was started by Americans who lived in France and volunteered to operate French and British ambulances at the front. When the U.S. entered the war, Ambulance Field Service volunteers acted as medics bringing aid to the wounded, a job of high honor but extreme danger.[24]
The war touched not only Newell’s youthful heart but also his father, who soon followed in his footsteps. In 1918, Edward Ware and colleagues from the Presbyterian Hospital were sent to man Base Hospital No. 13 in Limoges, France. There, Edward would be the chaplain.[25] Enroute to Limoges, Edward served as chaplain for the Red Cross in Liverpool, London, Paris, and Sorcy.
In Chicago, with two men of her family drawn into this treacherous war, Cora was eager to aid in her own way. Among other avenues of support, she turned to music. She was named one of the women holding tickets for a violin recital at Orchestra Hall for the benefit of the war-torn French.[26]
In June 1918, Mrs. Clarence Poole of Evanston announced Newell’s engagement to her daughter, Dorothy, who had just graduated from Northwestern University, where the couple met.[27] Like many young men on the battlefield, seeing victory on the horizon, Newell started laying out plans for his future.
About the time his engagement was announced, Newell was severely gassed during a battle. One of World War I’s innovations was its use of chemical warfare. Most commonly called “mustard gas,” these agents lead to eye irritation, which results in “uncontrolled tearing” or “temporary blindness.” In the long term, the irritants could lead to respiratory problems, such as emphysema, chronic asthma, and chronic bronchitis.[28] In 1925, the Geneva Protocol prohibited the use of poisonous gasses, labeling it as a “war crime.”[29] Unfortunately, many exposed in World War I were left scarred for life before these weapons were forbidden.
For his efforts, Newell was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.[30] Translating to the “War Cross,” this French decoration was created in 1914 to highlight acts of bravery by members of the armed forces, other French or foreign citizens, and on special occasions, to entire military units or towns. An updated version of the medal was also awarded during World War II.[31]
Edward Ware Becomes an Eye Witness to History
On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed between the Central Powers and the Allies, ending the Great War.[32] Edward wrote a letter to a friend published in a Nebraska newspaper, The Pawnee Republican, relaying his feeling of being amongst the French when the armistice was signed.[33]
“I saw the windows begin to open, and flags were unfurled, and in a moment, there was a blaze of red, white, and blue of French, American and English Flags. I knew then that the Hun had acknowledged defeat and that the war was won,” Edward wrote. “The joy of deliverance broke forth, and the streets became a howling, singing, happy procession going everywhere and arriving at nowhere.”
The same letter described Newell’s visit to Edward’s hospital in Limoges a few months earlier.
“It is given to comparatively few fathers to greet their sons amidst the scenes of war,” Edward wrote as a proud father. “He had developed in all so satisfactory (ways) that my cup of joy was full.” Looking forward to reuniting at home, he went on to say “I have not seen France as he has, for his service with the ambulance corps has taken him far afield in all that northern country. We will have some stories to tell when we get home.”[34]
Father and son were given this rare opportunity to check on each other during these tense times. They could see how much war had reshaped them, building Newell into a kind but hardened man right before his father’s eyes.
Post-War Crisis Inspires Continuing Service and Leads to Tragedy
The war left widespread famine and destruction in its wake, and Europe was in shambles. That’s why, in 1919, instead of returning home to his family, instead of getting married, Newell joined the U.S. Food Administration.[35] Established by President Wilson in 1917 and led by future president Herbert Hoover, the U.S. Food Administration sought to conserve, supply, and distribute food. As one of America’s first attempts at foreign aid, the U.S. Food Administration encouraged Americans to decrease their household consumption to preserve food to be sent to overseas troops and war-torn Europeans.[36]
Newell assignment was in Bucharest, Romania. where the nation’s combined military and civilian losses during World War I were estimated to be 680,000, a loss of 9.3% of the nation’s pre-war population. War-time casualties not only robbed mothers and wives of their sons and husbands, but robbed Romania — and other war-torn nations — of an entire generation of its young men. Romanian industry and agriculture were destroyed after the war. Approximately 75% of businesses that received government support in 1915 were closed by 1918. The country’s grain production had drastically declined. Once a significant exporter, Romania was now forced to import grain, alongside other supplies, to feed its struggling population.[37] Romania needed all the help it could get.
In March 1919, Newell left Paris for Bucharest. He was sent to help feed the starving people and to manage the rising smallpox epidemic. Used to doing his job amid explosions and chaos, Newell was glad to help struggling Romanians.
On May 16th, Edward, still in France, received the following cablegram from Bucharest:
“We deeply regret to inform you that your son, Edward Newell Ware, died at ten o’clock p.m., May 7th. at the military hospital in Bucharest of smallpox,” the cablegram read. “The Romanian Government very generously offered the services of a band and an infantry detachment, so it was possible to give your son a military funeral with full honors, which he so richly deserved as a result of his faithful service.”[38]
News reached Cora and the family in Chicago at around the same time. Edward was set to return to the U.S. but stayed a few days longer, awaiting delivery of Newell’s effects. Once he’d received them, he sadly returned to his home in Rogers Park.
At the Request of a Queen
Cora’s 1930 journey to Romania was unique in many ways.
Cora traveled farther than most other widows and mothers, whose final destination was France. Typically, the protocol would be to transport a fallen soldier to the burial site of the family’s choice. Newell’s burial in Bucharest was different. It was symbolic.
Most Romanians, led by Dowager Queen Marie, who requested Newell be buried in Bucharest, saw his actions and unfortunate sacrifice as great acts of kindness. Newell’s death exemplified the feeling of international friendship that bonded nations over their tragic losses and the significant need to rebuild. This friendship was personified in the many men who died selflessly helping other countries recover.
“It was at her special request that my son remained buried in Bucharest as the only American soldier on Romanian soil,” Cora said in an interview for the Chicago Tribune. “The Romanians feel that he actually gave his life for Romania and cannot do enough for him and me.”[42]
The Aftermath
Edward died on August 20, 1941, three years after his retirement.[39] Soon after, Cora moved out of their Rogers Park home. She remained active in the Lake View Musical Society[40] and died on September 25, 1955. She was survived by three of her four children, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.[41]
To this day, Edward Newell Ware Jr. lies at the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, his final resting place amongst heroes. After much death and destruction, many soldiers would seek refuge and calm back in their homesteads, but Newell knew that his job was not done. For that, he was recognized and honored by royalty and ordinary people, as he and all fallen soldiers should be.
Although time has nearly erased our recollection of Newell’s sacrifice, history will remind us of his kindness in dark, trying times. The loss endured by Edward, Cora, and all who mourned Newell is a pain shared by all the families of those who risked and, sometimes, gave their lives fighting for our country.
After Newell’s death, Cora composed a song expressing her grief, dedicating it “To Newell.”
To hear her music, click below on the rendition by Maddie Bowers, Loyola University student, recorded for RPWRHS on October 30, 2024.
Sources Cited in this article
[1] “Women and World War I Commemoration: The Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimages, 1930-33,” American Battle Monuments Commission, March 23, 2015.
[2] “Mother to View Son’s Grave Kept Up By a Queen,” Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1930, p. 13.
[3] “Rev. E.N. Ware, Ex-Chaplain of Hospital, Dies,” Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1941, p. 12.
[4] 1932 Princeton Theological Seminary Biographical Catalogue, previously cited.
[5] Willis Craig Ware, Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928.
[6] Edward Newell Ware Jr., Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928.
[7] Jean Stuart Ware, Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928.
[8] Iowa State Board of Health, Births in Taylor County, City of Bedford, Marion C. Ware, May 12, 1897.
[9] “Old Soldiers at Church,” Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1907, p. 6.
[10] The Book of Chicagoans, 1917, biographical listing for Edward Newell Ware, p. 705.
[11] “Composers Will Interpret Music,” Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1912, p. 7.
[12] “Will Manage Concert for the Press Women,” Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1913, p. 12.
[13] “North Side Clubs,” Chicago Tribune, March 8, 1914, p. 49.
[14] A Selection of Cora’s Easter Songs, The Inter Ocean, Chicago, Illinois, April 22, 1914, p. 7.
[15] Women’s Clubs Item: Lake View Musical Society Election of officers, Chicago Tribune, May 1, 1914, p. 7.
[16] Howard St. property transfer to Edward N. Ware, Chicago Tribune, April 27, 1916, p. 18.
[17] “North Side Clubs: Lake View Musical Society Annual Meeting/Election,” Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1917, p. 37.
[18] Willis C. Ware, Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920.
[19] “U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917,” Office of The Historian.
[20] WWI Draft Registration, Willis Craig Ware, Chicago Local Board 57, filed June 5, 1917.
[21] United States Census, 1930, Chicago, Ward 50, Enumeration District 16-1929, sheet 24B, Ware at 6121 North Hoyne Avenue.
[22] Engagements: Dorothy Poole-E. Newell Ware, Jr., Chicago Tribune, June 14, 1918, p. 11.
[23] “War Service Claims Northwestern Men,” The Daily Northwestern, May 10, 1917, p. 1.
[24] “WWI U.S. Ambulance Service Patch,” National Museum of the United States Air Force.
[25] “Unit 13 Called to Leave Monday Night for South,” Belvidere Republican-Northwestern, January 15, 1918, p. 5.
[26] Social Item, Musician’s Club of Women benefit, Chicago Tribune, February 27, 1918, p. 15.
[27] Engagements: Dorothy Poole-E. Newell Ware, Jr., previously cited.
[28] “History and Analysis of Mustard Agent and Lewisite Research Programs in the United States,” National Library of Medicine, 1993.
[29] “Gas in The Great War,” James Patton, BS, The University of Kansas Medical Center.
[30] “Dies on Duty: Chicago Youth Gives His Life While Working for the Peace Conference,” Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1919, p. 7.
[31] “Croix de Guerre,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
[32] “This Day in History, November 11, 1918: World War I Ends,” American Battle Monuments Commission.
[33] “Letter from Dr E. N. Ware. Limoges, France, Nov. 15, 1918,” The Pawnee Republican, February 20, 1919.
[34] “Letter from Dr E. N. Ware. Limoges, France, Nov. 15, 1918,” The Pawnee Republican, previously cited.
[35] U.S. Passport Application, Edward N. Ware Jr., filed and issued March 5, 1919.
[36] “In Freedom’s Name: Food Conservation Efforts During World War I,” U.S. National Archives, Educator Resources.
[37] “Post-War Economies (South East Europe),” by Ian Innerhofer, International Encyclopedia of the First World War, last updated October 8, 2014.
[38] “Chicago Letter,” by Rev. E. N. Ware, The Herald and Presbyter, July 30, 1919, p. 8.
[39] “Rev. E.N. Ware, Ex-Chaplain of Hospital, Dies,” Chicago Tribune, previously cited.
[40] “Concert Will Open Lake View Musical Society’s Fall Season,” Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1949, p. 46.
[41] “Obituary for Cora Willis Ware,” Chicago Tribune, September 27, 1955, p. 38.
[42] “Mother to View Son’s Grave Kept Up By a Queen,” Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1930, p. 13.
About the Author: Gustavo Azevedo
Gustavo Azevedo, a student intern with RPWHS, loves telling stories, and during his internship, he is eager to spotlight some of the more noted residents of Rogers Park and West Ridge. He moved to the United States from Brazil in 2013 and to Rogers Park in 2022 after a year abroad. Gustavo is a Multimedia Journalism major at Loyola University Chicago. He loves films, games, and photography, After graduation in December 2024, he hopes to work in video production.