Researched & written by Linda Fluharty.
THOMAS "EARL" STALEY, U. S. Army Private, Company E 145th Infantry, died of Pneumonia on October 27, 1918. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery, Moundsville.
Earl's death was reported in nationwide newspapers as, "Earl Staley, Hastings, W.Va.," which is in Grant District, Wetzel County. That's where his wife was living while he was in the army.
U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 for the ship, Leviathan, June 15, 1918, outgoing, carrying Company E 145th, name Earl's contact as "Miss Mable Staley, sister, Hastings, W.Va." She was his wife, and her original name was Missouri. Thomas E. Staley, 25, married Missouri Barr, 22, in Moundsville on May 26, 1917.
In his World War I Draft Registration, Earl Staley stated that he was born on September 13, 1891 at Moundsville, and was employed as a Door Puller at U.S. Stamping Company, Moundsville. He said he lived in Moundsville and supported his wife and mother. He registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, just ten days after his marriage.
Earl's parents were Jacob Staley and Almira(h) Wilson, married in Wetzel County in 1870. At the time of the 1900 census, the family lived in Moundsville, at which time "Earle" was 7, and his birth was stated as September 1892. The children in the home were listed as Sidney, William, Earle, Winnie and Tillie. In the 1910 census, surname spelled "Stealy," Jacob and Almira's children at home were Thomas, 17, Winnie and Matilda. - Thomas was obviously Thomas Earl Staley, and he was employed at a Glass Factory.
Moundsville Weekly Echo - April 4, 1919 - "EARL STALEY WAS KILLED - Earl Staley, Marshall county draftee, was killed in France October 18, according to word received here. His parents moved to Paden City some time ago. Staley was an employee of the Fostoria glass company. This is the 7th gold star for the Fostoria service flag." - Although he was working at U. S. Stamping when he registered for the draft, according to the 1910 census, he had worked earlier worked in the "Glass Factory."
Earl's wife, Missouri, later "Mable," was the daughter of Joseph Barr and Margaret Jane Yoho, of Grant District, Wetzel County. She is found in the 1900 census as Massurva, or some such misspelling, and her stated birth date was October 1895. In the 1910 census, she lived with her widowed mother, Margaret J. Barr, still in Grant District, Wetzel County, and she is listed as "Zora F." - "Missouri" was a family name; a female relative born in 1869 in Grant District, Wetzel County, also had that name.
"Missouri" became "Mable/Mabel," and as "Mable Staley" she made a will on November 12, 1919, in Wetzel County. She bequeathed her horse and buggy to her brother, Nicholas W., and to her mother, Jane Barr, she bequeathed "all of my personal affects, including my Money-Bonds and Government Insurance."
In the 1920 Wetzel County census, enumerated on January 27, 1920, Mabel Staley, a widow, lived with Nicholas Barr, stated as her father, but he was her older brother. Their mother, Jane, was also in the home.
"Mabel B. Staley," born on October 30, 1895, the daughter of Joseph Barr and Jane Yoho, was a widow when she died February 13, 1920 of Tuberculosis in Wetzel County. She is buried at Shreve Cemetery, Smithfield, Wetzel County.
Earl's brother, Sidney, had a son, Earl Charles Staley, who was KIA in Normandy, France during WWII.