The End of Company K

The bad news came to Captain Charles Reeve late in January 1919: Co. K was doomed. The adjutant general of Indiana had ordered more than a dozen state militia companies mustered out of service, and Hobart's was one of them. (Valparaiso's was another.)

Co. K had over a hundred men in its ranks, with uniforms and rifles; several hundred dollars in its treasury; a silk flag, and a great deal of pride.

Captain Reeve set about preparing for the end, whenever it might officially come. He had to prepare discharge papers for all his men, compile muster rolls, and collect, list and pack up any company property that had to be returned to the state, such as uniforms. Early in February he notified the Indiana attorney general that by the 11th his work would be done and his company ready to be mustered out at the state's pleasure.

A week or so later, Captain Reeve heard back from the state. February 27 was set as the day.

But the captain's preparations were not quite complete. A young Michigan City man named Pedroski (first name not given) had at one point joined Company K and received a uniform; he still had that uniform and failed, or outright refused, to return it. After tracking Pvt. Pedroski down in South Bend, Captain Reeve sent Sgt. Kenneth Humes and Pvt. Milton Ballantyne after him. They returned the evening of Sunday, February 16, with their prisoner, and put him in the Hobart jail. On Tuesday night, facing a court martial, Pvt. Pedroski told a "hard luck tale," presumably to the effect that he was hanging onto his uniform because he had no other clothes to wear and no money to buy them. The court's response was to give him a suit of civilian clothes, make him promise to pay back $20 in costs, and — once he had changed his uniform for the civvies — let him go.

(Incidentally, beside this story in the News ran a short article reporting that the subject of the previous summer's manhunt had been caught, and tried and convicted of the assault on Mrs. Davenport: one John Sims of Gary, a former serviceman who appeared in court in uniform. The article did not say how he had been found.)

February 27 arrived at last, and brought with it Colonel Charles A. Garrard of the Indiana militia. That evening he completed the mustering-out of all of Co. K's members, excepting the captain and two lieutenants. Some $700 in the company's treasury was distributed among its members in proportion to their attendance at drills. The silk flag was given into the custody of the members who were Odd Fellows; they intended to display it, and a membership roster, in a glass case at the Hobart public library.

Afterwards, the former militiamen and their families held a dance in celebration of the adventure and companionship of Co. K, and the little company marched into history.

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The following Co. K membership list comes from a list on display at the Hobart Historical Society. It may be the membership roster mentioned above, but I don't know for certain. I promise it's the last Co. K membership list I'm going to post!

Militia Roster 1917-1919


Sources:
♦ "Co. K Militia Boy Given Summary Courtmartial." Hobart News 20 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Co. K Mustered Out." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Co. K Ready to Be Mustered Out." Hobart Gazette 7 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Hobart Militia Co. One of Fourteen to Be Mustered Out." Hobart News 30 Jan. 1919.
♦ "Hobart Militia Co. to Disband." Hobart Gazette 31 Jan. 1919.
♦ "The Negro Assaulter of Mrs. Davenport Convicted and Sentenced." Hobart News 20 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Will Muster Out Co. K February 27." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1919.