Ivan Vernon Higby Corporal Company ‘A’, 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Division, US Army November 4, 1895 Yarmouth, NS 1917 Massachusetts Boston, Mass. US 22 (estimated) fair light brown light blue Single unknown Baptist unknown October 27, 1918 23 Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France G Row 5 Grave 24 Listed on the Yarmouth War Memorial Corporal Ivan Vernon Higby was the son of Samuel Ernest Higby (b. 1865) and Adorah Mae (Crowell) Higby (b.1871-1952) of Chegoggin, Yarmouth Co., NS. His father was a stove-fitter. With the death of his father, his mother remarried Harry Hall in 1913. His siblings were Mabel S. Higby (b. 1890-1919), Mildred E. Higby (1893-1918), Charles Ernest Higby (1894-1958), Margaret Elizabeth (Higby) Holmes (1897-1985), James Albert Higby (1900-1980), and John Clark Higby (1902-1977). Ivan’s brother James Albert Higby (Service Number 46922) served with the 64th Battalion of the Canada Expeditionary Forces and his brother Charles Ernest Higby (Service Number 734220) served with the Royal Canadian Regiment, both in WWI. In 1910 he was living with his aunt, Mrs. Leo Sherman in Yarmouth. He left Yarmouth on January 26, 1910 at the age of fourteen travelling with his grandmother, Margaret Higby, to live with his aunt, Mrs. Clair E. Beveridge, of 45 Saratoga St, East Boston, Mass. Ivan was a student at that time and intended to live in the United States permanently. The 26th Infantry Division was formed on July 18, 1917 and activated on August 22, 1917 at Camp Edwards, MA, consisting of units from the New England area. The division's commander selected the nickname "Yankee Division" to highlight the division's geographic make-up. Sent to Europe in World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, the division saw extensive combat in France. The division was part of the offensive at St. Mihiel, during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel (1918) and the division then moved in position for the last major offensive of the war, at Meuse- Argonne. Corporal Higby was killed in action on October 27, 1918.

findagrave.com American Battle Monuments Commission Photo: Ivan Higby

The Boston Globe Boston, Massachusetts · Tuesday, November 11, 1919