Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Fall/Section017/John M. Thomason

Overview

John M. Thomason was born in 1889 on a farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He grew up as a normal country boy and attended the local public schools. He spent two years in the State agricultural and mechanical college studying mechanical engineering until he enlisted in the army around the start of WWI. He was made a sergeant major in the army and was eventually sent off to France where he served as an observer on the front lines with British and French troops. He fought in the Hundred Days Offensive which finally broke the Hindenburg Line. After the end of the war, Thomason was discharged from the military, married his wife, and started multiple lumber supplying/manufacturing businesses.

Biography

Early Life

John grew up in the countryside in Hendersonville. He does not go into too much detail about his childhood, but he describes his family as "well off" and did not seem to struggle growing up. He described himself as "just a country boy" and attended the local public schools until he went off to college at the State agricultural and mechanical college. He spent two years there until he decided to take a job from a general building contractor he was friends with. John learned the business from him and traveled all across the South building post offices, college buildings, office buildings, etc. His time as a general contractor ended when WWI broke out in 1914 and he enlisted in the army.

Military Life

Following his enlistment in the army, John was sent to the newly established Camp Sevier. Upon his arrival, he met an old friend of his who happened to be the colonel. John was made a sergeant major, a title he held until his discharge from the military. John's expertise in the building business landed him the job of issuing lumber to various military units. Later on, John was sent to Texas to take a bayonet instructor training course, which he never got to use since he was shortly sent off to France. John traveled back through his home county and up to New York City where he departed for France aboard a British ship called the Miltiades. There were 2000 soldiers on board and he details that on the first day "nearly everybody got drunk."  The bar closed the following day, but with John's seemingly infinite connections, he managed to pool enough money together and bribe the bartender for enough whiskey to last the trip. The ship docked in England and John was immediately sent to the front lines in France where he served as an observer for the British troops. Soon after, he was transferred to the French army where he could hardly communicate with them but enjoyed lots of wine and cognac. John was in many of the large battles his division fought, including the Hundred Days Offensive in September 1918, breaking the Hindenburg Line. Following the signing of the armistice two months later, John bounced around France for some time, always in charge of something, forcing him to stay sober. Overall, John enjoyed his experience in the army and even said he would do it again.

Post-Military and Career Life

Following his discharge at the end of the war in 1919, John returned to the contracting business for several years, until deciding to open a building-supply enterprise. John felt it was the right time to start his own business, something he had always wanted to do. And so, he opened a warehouse supplying lumber and other materials. He worked at this for a few years before realizing there was more money in the lumber manufacturing business. He sold his role in the lumber supplying business and bought the equipment to cut and saw hardwoods. Around this time, in 1925, John married his wife and bought a permanent home. John has stayed in the lumber manufacturing business since. John always voted for the Democratic ticket but said he did not concern himself much with politics.

Social Context

Lumber Industry During Great Depression

John was not the type of person to detail his struggles. He said himself he is a very self-sufficient person, and because of this, he does not mention much about how the Great Depression affected him personally. However, given his profession as a lumber manufacturer, it is certain that his business was greatly affected. The lumber industry operates on very low profits, so increased costs during the depression greatly hurt gross income. Gross income fell from $2.8 billion in 1929 to $850 million in 1932. During the same period, the industry saw a total decline in production of 72.6%. These declines were mostly due to a fall in consumption of lumber and the increased costs of transportation which already ran on thin profits. The Great Depression was certainly the main cause for these sharp declines, however, the emergence of steel and cement for construction also played a role. Leading up to the start of the depression, the steel and cement industries had seen considerable growth while the lumber industry saw a steady decline since they began tracking the statistics in 1907. The interview took place in 1939 in which Thomason described that "Business is coming back pretty good."  This statement indicates that the Great Depression likely affected John's business considering the lumber industry did not fully recover until many years after the Great Depression formally "ended" in 1933.

WWI Military Conditions

Military conditions during WWI can only be described as hellish. “Long, narrow trenches dug into the ground at the front, usually by the infantry soldiers who would occupy them for weeks at a time, were designed to protect World War I troops from machine-gun fire and artillery attack from the air." The vast usage of trench warfare on the Western Front resulted in casualties unseen in any major war before it. Trench warfare involved sitting in narrow trenches for days with little food or water and mounting offensives by climbing over into "no man's land" in an attempt to storm enemy lines. This tactic was of course very ineffective and often resulted in mass casualties without any significant gain. As a result, WWI was the first major war to result in more casualties from actual fighting than casualties by disease. Trench conditions were extremely unclean and waste could not be properly managed. Diseases including dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever rapidly spread. Trench foot was another common disease among soldiers whose feet were constantly wet, often resulting in amputation. Shell shock, a term synonymous with PTSD today, affected many soldiers who were constantly under bombardment and stressful conditions.

Government and Military Mistrust

Government mistrust spread rapidly during WWI as new laws were passed to silence those either against the war or those speaking out against government or military practices. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it illegal to spread information that may be useful to a foreign nation. The Sedition Act of 1918 expanded on this by making it illegal for anyone to spread false information, insult the US and its war efforts, or speak out against the government or military actions. These laws imposed harsh penalties on anyone found guilty with fines of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years. These laws greatly discouraged citizens from speaking out or protesting government actions in any way, and they effectively restricted the first amendment right of freedom of speech. These laws allowed for government/military officials to get away with numerous illegal activities with no repercussions.

References

Asp, David. 2019. "Espionage Act Of 1917". Mtsu.Edu. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1045/espionage-act-of-1917.

Cebula, Adam. 2020. "The Legacy And Consequences Of World War I". Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15027570.2020.1796311.

Dunleavy, Brian. 2018. "Life In The Trenches Of World War I". HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/life-in-the-trenches-of-world-war-i.

McElroy, Wendy. 2002. "World War I And The Suppression Of Dissent | Wendy Mcelroy". The Independent Institute. https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=1207.

Simpson, J.P., and Edmund Swan. 2021. "Improvements In The Lumber Industry - J.P. Simpson, Edmund L.C. Swan, 1937". SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000271623719300112.