Name: Edward Stanley Gavel Rank: Sergeant Service Number: 369148 Service: 6th Co., 152nd Depot Brigade 50th Co., 20th Engineer Regiment, United States Army Date of Birth: October 6, 1894 Place of Birth: Richfield, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: May 2, 1918 Place of Enlistment: Houlton, Aroostook County, Maine Address at Enlistment: Maine Age at Enlistment: 23 Date of Discharge: January 17, 1919 Address at Discharge: Haynesville, Aroostook County, Maine Age at Discharge: 24 Date of Death: February 1, 1974 Age: 79 Cemetery: Evergreen Cemetery, Alfred, York County, Maine Edward ‘Ned’ Stanley Gavel was the son of Enos Gardner Gavel (1860-1916) and Annie Jane (Brittain) Gavel (1863-1940), and the husband of Ida May (Orser) Gavel, (1893-1982). Edward’s father was born in Gavelton, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia, and his mother was born in Forest Glen, Yarmouth Co., NS. His father was born in Tusket but moved to Richfield (known as Upper Carleton), when Edward was seven years old in 1867. His siblings were Melvina Hatfield Gavel 1883–1974, Charlotte Gavel (1885-1921), George Enos Gavel (1886- 1970), John Wesley Gavel (1887-1945), Ethel Gavel (b. 1890), Cecil Keith Gavel (1890-1949), William Weed Gavel (1892-1959), Harold Vernon Gavel (1899-1960), Loran Austin Gavel (1905-1986) and Elsie Mae Gavel (1912-1912). On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. Later that year, the United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. Edward enlisted in May of 1918. Secretary of War Newton Baker authorized Major General Franklin Bell to organize the 152nd Depot Brigade, an element of the 77th Division. The brigade was later detached and placed directly under Camp Upton, New York, as an independent unit. The depot brigade filled two purposes: one was to function as a receiving unit for men sent to camps by local draft boards; the other was to train replacements for the American Expeditionary Forces. Edward’s record indicates he was assigned to the 6th Company of the 152nd Depot Brigade. Interestingly, Irving Berlin wrote the musical revue "Yip Yip Yaphank", including the song "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" while assigned to a unit of the 152d Depot Brigade at Camp Upton in 1918. Edward was also assigned to the 50th Company of the 20th Engineer Regiment. The 20th Engineers were organized with the mission to provide lumber for combat and support operations for the American Expeditionary Force and its allies, thereby earning the name "Lumberjacks". With war having ended on November 11, 1918, Edward was honorably discharged with demobilization on January 17, 1919. Fifteen months later, he married Ida May Orser on June 1, 1920, in Maine. Edward Stanley Gavel died in Sanford, York County, Maine on February 1, 1974. He is interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Alfred, York County, Maine.

Sources: findagrave