Douglas Williams Neff Gravesite

Douglas Williams Neff was born on October 8, 1891 in Harrisonburg, Virginia to Dr. John Henry Neff and Brownie Elizabeth Morrison. Neff attended Harrisonburg High School and went on to the University of Virginia where he received a B.S. and C.E. At UVA, Captain of UVA's baseball team, Neff went on in 1914 and 1915 to become a major league baseball player with the Washington Senators (a percursor to the Washington Nationals). Neff’s professional athletic success was a source of great pride for his hometown of Harrisonburg. But, his professional baseball career was short lived, and on October 10, 1915 the Staunton Daily Leader reported that he had expressed "his intention of giving up professional ball and going into business.”

Douglass Neff did not enter into business. Instead, he enrolled as a student at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. On November 17, 1917 when duty called, Neff received his commission as a First Lieutenant in the US Army Infantry. He was sent to train at Camp Lee from December 15, 1917 to May 26, 1918. Neff did not offer many details of his time at Camp Lee, but he gained weight and strength and believed it was possible that coming out of the experience he was “better able to concentrate mentally.” Neff left for war on the SS Mongolia out of Newport News, VA. He saw action at Picardy, Saint-Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. 

Reports suggest that at some point Neff was gassed leading, later in his life, to what today would be considered post-traumatic stress disorder. Neff’s own comments on the Virginia War History Questionnaire show that the war took a toll on him. “The fighting did not have a positive effect upon me. And what good I have gained there from was lost in the desultory life after the armistice.” Further Neff wrote. “I do not believe the experiences that I underwent have given me a much better mind to face the problems of life, because of the nullifying effect of the army life after the armistice.”

After returning from war in June of 1919, Neff finished his studies as a divinity student. Following his graduation from the seminary, Reverend Neff was put in charge of Abington and Ware parishes in Gloucester, Virginia. In 1932, Neff was set to take a ship from Norfolk to New York in May of 1932. When the ship arrived in New York, he did not disembark and when his father did not hear from him, Neff was reported as missing on May 26, 1932. Three weeks later, Neff’s body washed up on the shore of Cobb Island. His death certificate indicates “accidental(?) drowning” as the cause of death. It is unclear whether he jumped or fell off of the boat however, evidence indicates that Neff was preparing for this death in the days leading up to it. 

Neff’s writings indicate that he struggled in adjusting to life after returning home from war. Many soldiers who returned from fighting in World War I experienced what was then referred to as "shell shock" and today what is known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Shell shock encompassed both the “organic injuries from blast force” and “a psychiatric disorder inflicted by the terrors of modern warfare.” It was not uncommon for those who experienced the trauma of World War I to come home with more than just physical battle scars. 

“Douglas Neff Signs to Join Washington,” The Times Dispatch Richmond, VA, (May 10, 1914). 

“Neff to Quit Diamond,” Staunton Daily Leader, (October 19, 1915). 

Neff, Douglas Williams. War History Commission State of Virginia Military Service Record. Library of Virginia, Virginia War History Commission.

 “Orange Rector Missing on Trip to New York,” The Times Dispatch Richmond, VA, (May 26, 1932).

Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014, Douglass Williams Neff. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Caroline Alexander, “The Shock of War,” Smithsonian Magazine, (September 2010).