George Lansing Fox (abt. 1900 - 1943)

Born about 15 Mar 1900 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, United States

Husband of Isadore Gertrude (Hurlbut) Fox — married 1923 in Winona Lake, Illinois

Died 3 Feb 1943 at about age 42 in At Sea

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Biography

George Fox is Notable.

George Fox has German Roots.

George Fox has Italian Roots.

Methodist minister and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester during World War II.

"He was born March 15, 1900 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. His father, a Sicilian, worked at the Altoona railroad shop and his mother was a very religious German. George was one of four sons and he had one sister.

At the start of World War I, George was 17 and wanted to enlist. He lied about his age and joined the Army. He was assigned to the ambulance corps and was sent to Camp Baker, Tennessee for training. On December 3, 1917 he was shipped to Europe on the USS Huron. On November 10, 1918 a shell hit the building he was in at Giraucourt and his back was nearly broken from flying bricks. For his service and injuries George was awarded the Silver Star, the Croix de Guerre and the Purple Heart.

Receiving a 29-percent disability he was returned to the states in August 1919 where he worked at the Guarantee Title and Trust Co. in Brooklyn, New York. George worked his way up to auditor. In 1923, he felt the call to the ministry and attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. There he met and married Isadora G. Hurlbut of Vermont. They moved to Vermont where he was a circuit rider along the Canadian border for two years. He then attended Illinois Wesleyan College where he earned his BA degree. He went on to Boston University School of Theology for his theology degree.

After graduation, he was ordained a Methodist minister, on June 10, 1934. He served parishes in Union Village and Gilman, Vermont and was appointed state chaplain and historian for the American Legion in Vermont. During the next ten years he had two children, Wyatt and Mary Louise.

After Pearl Harbor, at the age of 41, he re-entered the Army, the same day his son enlisted in the Marine Corps, and was sent to Chaplain School at Harvard. Upon completion of Chaplain School, George was assigned to the 411th Coast Artillery Battalion. He was not happy there and felt he needed to be near the battlefield. He wrote many letters requesting a transfer and finally was ordered to Camp Myles Standish, Taunton, Mass. for special assignment on January 3, 1943." ^[1]

In 1943, he died in the sinking of the American troop transport S.S. Dorchester. All four chaplains had given up their lifejackets so that other men could live.^[2]

The US Postal Service issued a stamp in their honor in 1948. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ The Four Chaplains Medal
2. ↑ John Brinsfield, "Chaplain Corps History: The Four Chaplains," Army.mil, January 28, 2014.
3. ↑ Four Chaplains Issue (1948), Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

• Wikipedia: George L. Fox
• Wikipedia: Four_Chaplains
• Wikipedia: Four Chaplains' Medal

• "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNRX-GHQ : 24 September 2017), Geo Fox in entry for Mary Elizabeth Fox, 29 Jan 1928, Birth; State Capitol Building, Montpelier; FHL microfilm 1,992,702.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XST1-RPV : accessed 27 October 2017), George Fox, Wapella, Dewitt, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 19, sheet 2B, line 87, family 61, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 509; FHL microfilm 2,340,244.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYH8-4W6 : accessed 27 October 2017), George L Fox, Lunenburg Town, Essex, Vermont, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 5-18, sheet 13A, line 8, family 104, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4232.

• "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VN5Y-WG2 : 25 September 2017), George Lansing Fox in entry for Robert Murray and Mary Elizabeth Fox, 17 Apr 1949, Marriage; State Capitol Building, Montpelier; FHL microfilm 1,985,064.

• Chaplain Corps History: The Four Chaplains [1]

• The courage of George Fox, an ‘Immortal Chaplain’

• George Lansing Fox Historical Marker

• https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=261560

• http://www.leg.state.vt.us/DOCS/1994/ACTS/ACTR013.HTM

• Masonic Historian “Patriotism” The Four Immortal Chaplains

• Sons of The American Legion

• http://www.fourchaplains.org/

• Arlington Cemetery

• Find A Grave: Memorial #8432 1LT George Lansing Fox

• Find A Grave: Memorial #41661955 George A. Lansing Fox

• Find A Grave: Memorial #62499153 1LT George Lansing Fox

• Pedigree Resource File - Washburn-Moren Family Tree by Jonathan Moren