Denson Hugh Copeland 1891

Hugh copeland Denson MD
1891-1957

Father Nm: Oscar G Denson BIRTH MAY 1862 • Alabama, USA
DEATH 18 APR 1924 • Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama,

Mother Nm: Vida E. Mccain BIRTH MAY 1870 • Alabama, USA
DEATH 9 JUL 1926 • Alabama

Marriage Dt: October 1918 Vicksburg

K comments: Son’s Hugh Copeland  Jnr and  Kenneth Blincoe served in WW2
Spouse comments: Mildred K Blincoe [2562] born 14/2/1898 Mississippi died 7.5.1976 Los Angeles

Children. Hugh C Denson was born 1921, and Kenneth Blincoe Denson was born 1926

BORN 1891

23 JUL 1891 • Alabama

1910 CENSUS

Jefferson, Alabama
Oscar G Denson 47 Head
Vida Denson 39 Wife
Fred Denson 20 Son
Hugh Denson 18 Son
Pauline Denson 16 Daughter
John Denson 13 Son
Margarite Denson 10 Daughter
Robert Denson 8 Son
Kate Denson 6 Daughter
Clyde Denson 4 Son
Ruth Denson 2 Daughter

WW1

 

US Army Medical Corps uniform buttons

Hugh C Denson, 1st Lieutenant, Captain, US Army Medical Corps

1918
  • Practising Medicine at the Vicksburg Mississippi Infirmary when drafted Hugh claims an exemption because of this role but this was declined.
  • October. Due to being shipped to Europe, Hugh marries Mildred Blincoe in Vicksburg before departing.
  • Assigned to Base Hospital No 121 as a Lieutenant Physician. Hugh attended camp in LA before getting married and assembling at Camp Upton in New York on 2 November. Note this is just 9 days before the Armistice so the tour of duty was to address the wounded and sick (Influenza).
  • 12 November. 121 Base Hospital unit embarked on the SS Adriatic, leaving the following day, November 13, for Europe. It arrived at Liverpool, England, November 24; immediately proceeded by rail to Winchester and thence to Southampton; arrived November 25; crossed the English Channel the same night and landed at Le Havre, France, November 26.

    The Adriatic a temporary troopship in 1918
  • 27 November, the unit entrained for its permanent station, the hospital centre at Beau Desert, Department of Gironde, base section No. 2, where it arrived on November 29. Base Hospital No. 121 was the sixth hospital unit to arrive at the Beau  Desert Hospital Centre, where it took over a type A, 1,000-bed hospital.
    A view of hospital buildings at Beau desert, Gironde
    The Army Hospital Complex of Beau desert
    Typical huts of the Hospitals based at Beau Desert

     

  • There was a wide range of treatments for the soldiers sent to 121 base hospital and Hugh would have been exposed to much more variety of medical conditions than at home including the relatively new and evolving medical prosthesis for missing limbs.
    Amputees at Beau Desert

     

  • Sometime in the tour of duty, Hugh is promoted to Captain.
1919
  • 21 June. The 121 Base Operation comes to an end, and the unit is shipped back to the USA on the ship Huron on the 29th June. Hugh gives Birmingham Alabama as his new home address.

MEDALS

At the very least Hugh was awarded the US Victory Medal
SOURCES
    1. Ancestry  and BFA database
    2. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/
    3. U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939
AFTER THE WAR
1930 CENSUS

Living in Newellton with mother-in-law Beulah and by now two boys. MD occupation
Beulah Blincoe Age58
Hugh C Denson Age38
Mildred K Denson Age30
Hugh C Denson Age9
Kenneth B Denson Age3

1940 census

Newellton

There is no record found for a divorce but by 1940 Mildred is head of household and Hugh may be retired in California. Mother Beulah is still living with Mildred.

DEATH 1957

Hughs’s death is given as 8 April 1957, and he is buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama,

Reference
BASE HOSPITAL NO. 121  extracted from the Office of Medical History

Base Hospital No. 121 was organized in August, 1918, at Camp Beauregard, La., from officers and enlisted men of the Army at large. The organization trained at Camp Beauregard until October 29, when it proceeded by rail to Camp Upton, N. Y., and arrived November 2, 1918. At Camp Upton, the unit remained for 10 days, completing its overseas equipment, and on November 12 it embarked on the Adriatic, leaving the following day, November 13, for Europe. It arrived at Liverpool, England, November 24; immediately proceeded by rail to Winchester and thence to Southampton; arrived November 25; crossed the English Channel the same night and landed at Le Havre, France, November 26. On November 27, the unit entrained for its permanent station, the hospital center at Beau Desert, Department of Gironde, base section No. 2, where it arrived November 29. Base Hospital No. 121 was the sixth hospital unit to arrive at the Beau
Desert hospital center, where it took over a type A, 1,000-bed hospital. The hospital did not receive patients until January 24, 1919, and up to March 31, 1919, a total of 2,629 medical and surgical cases had been admitted.

Base Hospital No. 121 ceased to function as a hospital June 21, 1919, and its personnel proceeded on June 24, 1919, to Bordeaux for transportation to the United States; sailed from Bordeaux June 29, 1919, on the Huron; arrived in the United States July 11, and were demobilized at Camp Dodge, Iowa, July 17, 1919.

Gallery
Mildred died in California 19 years after Hugh

Photos from Beau desert 1918-1919