271. Henry Lewis Peake, USN WWI, 1918

US Navy 2nd Class Electrician Henry Lewis Peake, son of Mrs. Frances Louisa Hahn (1877-1951) and Charles Henry Peake (1864-1896), never got into WWI before dying of Spanish Influenza in the US Naval Hospital on League Island, PA. He enlisted in New Orleans, LA on February 4, 1916 and passed away on March 10, 1918. What became known as "Spanish Influenza" began in America in January 1918, with the first soldier coming down with it on the 4th of March. The estimates of fatalities from the pandemic was 50-100 million people worldwide. This figure encompasses 670.000 Americans of which Henry Lewis Peake was one. Three weeks after his death, America declared war on Germany. Many ascribe World War I as the main vehicle that spread the horrific disease to every corner of the planet!

Henry was born in Pensacola in 1895, however his father passed away the following year and was buried in St. John's Cemetery. By 1899, he and his mother had moved to Jackson County, Mississippi with William H. Walker who worked at a variety of jobs throughout his life. His mother Frances, was the daughter of William F. and Ary Loper Hahn whose father supported his family as a laborer out of their home at 213 East Government Street.

He enlisted in the Navy on February 4, 1916 in New Orleans, LA and was stationed aboard the USS Hancock. He and his ship had just made a return trip from France and was docked at the Naval Base in Philadelphia. Having caught the virus in France, the young sailor's condition worsened thus his transportation to the US Naval Hospital. He would finally join millions of other influenza victims by succumbing to the disease on March 10, 1918. His remains were placed upon a south bound train and arrived by mistake in Defuniak Springs where his mother was living. They were immediately placed on a west bound L&N train, arriving at their proper destination in Pensacola. He was off loaded that night and carried to the home of his aunt and uncle, George Herman and Mae Hahn, at 737 South E. Street. On the day of his funeral, his casket was escorted from the Hahn home to Christ church at 2:30 o'clock by a US Navy guard and thence to St. John's cemetery, where he was buried with military honors.