Jack Bamforth

(June 27, 1898 - June 15, 1918)

Born John Bamforth on June 27, 1898, "Jack" was the first student enrolled at the New York State School of Agriculture at Farmingdale, Long Island, now Farmingdale State College, to die while in service to the United States in the Great War (WWI). Jack was killed in action in Chateau-Thierry, France on June 15, 1918. He served with the 5th Regiment of the United States Marine Corp (USMC). Jack was the son of Harry Bamforth and Mary "Mollie" Eggleton-Bamforth of New York City and later Yorktown Heights, NY. It is not certain if Jack's body was brought home from France and interred in Hillside Cemetery in Cortland Manor, Westchester County, NY but there is a headstone there recording him along with his father and brother. The following year Jack's younger brother, James, also a student at Farmingdale, died at age 19. It is likely he succumbed to the Spanish flu epidemic. James is buried beside his father, Harry, in the aforementioned cemetery in the Evergreen Section, Lot #196. Harry Bamforth was a noteworth cave photographer. Harry died on June 19, 1938, close to 20 years after his sons.