Jessie Butler June 8, 1892 – June 17, 1926 Grave 728 Jessie Butler was born in 1892 in Georgia to Lemmie Grant Butler and Joseph Butler. By 1910, Lemmie Butler was widowed and had moved with her three children to Jacksonville, where they lived in a boarding house. Mrs. Butler and her teenage daughter, Sallie, worked as laundresses. Brother Joe worked as a laborer and 17 year old Jessie listed his occupation as bartender. Butler served in World War I as part of the 807th Pioneer Regiment, an elite regiment of African-American enlisted men and Caucasian-American officers. The regiments were designed to free Caucasian-American troops for infantry service. They served in a technical capacity, building roads and bridges, in France near the front lines. His Veterans Administration record shows that Butler served as a wagoneer. Butler returned to Duval County after the war. The 1920 U.S. Census shows that he and his mother were living on South Eighth Street in what was then known as Pablo Beach, now known as Jacksonville Beach. He listed his occupation as laborer. His 1926 death record indicates that he died as a victim of homicide from a shotgun blast to his abdomen. In 1932, his brother, Joseph Butler, applied for a veteran’s headstone. [Information from U.S. Census and vital records. Note that his death certificate lists his father’s name as Jessie, but the U.S. Census in 1900 lists his name as Joseph.]

On his 1917 draft registration card, Jessie Butler, then 25, listed his occupation as a teamster, a driver of a team of horses or mules, for the Buckman and Pritchard Mining Company in Mineral City or what is now Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Driving mule teams was a skill that was sought after by Army supply units during World War I.

After Butler was inducted into World War I service in August 1918, he achieved the rank of wagoner and was assigned to the 807th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, a replacement unit formed late in the war to construct roads, bridges, and railroads, often behind enemy lines.

The 807th was one of 14 African American units that served overseas and one of seven that saw combat, taking part in the infamous Meuse Argonne Offensive in October 1918, the last major battle before the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918.After the armistice was signed, a number of Pioneer units, including Butler's, remained overseas building new roads and other infrastructure.

Butler's unit stayed in France until June 1919, departing from the port city of Breast on the USS Orizaba, a Navy transport ship. The 807th was officially discharged from service in July 1919 at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. During World War I, more than 200,000 African Americans served with the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Jessie Butler was one of them.

McMahon, Ph.D., Margaret M.. "A Guide to U.S. Pioneer Infantry Regiments in WWI". Margaret M. McMahon Teaching & Training Co., LLC, 2018.

Beaches Museum. "A rifle and a shovel -- As a wagoner in World War I, early Pablo Beach resident made his mark in history", February 10th, 2021. Accessed August 15th, 2024. https://www.beachesmuseum.org/a-rifle-and-a-shovel-as-a-wagoner-in-world-war-i-early-pablo-beach-resident-made-his-mark-in-history/.