Ellsworth D. Powell

Rank: Wagoner, U.S. Army

Unit: Company B, 1st Gas Regiment

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: October 21, 1918

Ellsworth D. Powell was born in Crisfield, Maryland in 1898. He was living at 36 North 4th Street in Camden when not attending college at American University in Washington, D.C.

In 1917, with America’s entry into World War I, American University gave over to the War Department part of its grounds for use in the war effort. On November 7, 1917, Ellsworth D. Powell enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to the 30th Engineer Regiment (Gas & Flame), which had recently been organized on the school’s grounds, designated Camp American University. In November of 1917 the unit was reorganized as the 1st Gas Regiment. Private Powell went overseas with his unit in December of 1917. On October 21, 1918, he died as a result of wounds received from the explosion of an artillery shell.

Further reading: The Story of the 1st Gas Regiment by James Thayer Addison, 1919.