First Lieutenant, US Army, William Howard Shuster
November 26,1893 – November 10, 2009
Burial Site: SFNC, Plot V0 1355
F
irst Lieutenant, US Army, Company L, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th “Cross of Lorraine” Division, National Army, A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force)
William Howard Shuster (1893-1969) was known as much for his eccentricity of life as for his artistic accomplishment. He remains the quintessential Santa Fe artist.
He was born in Philadelphia to WIlliam Howard Shuster, Sr. and Elizabeth Steck. He was married to Helen Ernestine Hasenfus and their son Don Byron Shuster was born. July 17, 1921 at St. Vincent’s Sanatorium, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He entered military service on May 12, 1917 and was assigned to 1st Company, 4th Provisional Training Regiment (Reserve Officers Training Corps) as a cadet. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant Infantry, National Army on August 15, 1917.
On January 23, 1918 he was married to Helen Elizabeth Hasenfus in St. Barnabas’ Rectory, Kensington Philadelphia, PA. They were divorced September 11, 1935 at Santa Fe, NM.
He was sent to Camp Meade, Maryland and assigned to Company A, 314th Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned 1st Lieutenant May 12, 1918 and transferred to Company L, same regiment.
He left with his unit from Hoboken, NJ to France on July 8, 1918 on the “S.S. Leviathan.” The unit landed at Brest, France on July 15, 1918. The first of the Division’s troops were now in France.
From there he went to Nesle-et-Massoult and then to Gilley. While in Gilley he was ordered on special duty to Division Headquarters to serve as assistant to the G-3 (operations). He proceeded to Prauthoy, France and reported for duty to Colonel George A. Wildrick (G-3 for the 79th Division) on August 7, 1918. While there he organized the Division Message Center.
The Division moved to the Robert-Espagne area and from there to the Avocourt-Malancourt Sector (Sector 304) about September 13, 1918. The Division Command Post (C.P.) moved to Blercourt, where Shuster developed a system of reports for the Division. The Division C.P. moved to Juoy-en-Argonne.
The troops of the Division went “over the top” at 5:00 a.m. on September 26, 1918. This was the beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The C.P followed the troops. The 79th Division was relieved by the 3rd Division on September 30. It was the deadliest action for the Division. 22 Officers were killed, 77 wounded and 9 were gassed. 278 men were killed, 2,150 wounded, 138 were gassed and 749 were missing.
Shuster received credit for two engagements: Meuse-Argonne (Montfaucon) and Meuse-Argonne (Montagne). He was in the thick of the fighting just mentioned.
The actions of the Division were summarized as follows: “The 79th Division came under fire for the first time since its organization. More than half of its strength was made up of draftees of not more than four months’ service, and considerable loss of actual training, due to time lost in transport from the United States and in moving about while in France. So far as courage and self-sacrifice are concerned, the conduct of both officers and men was above all reproach; but, as in the case with all green troops, there was lacking the experience, which comes only from actual contact with the enemy. In view of the difficulties of the terrain and the inexperience of the troops, I believe both officers and men fought well.” <<p. 147, “Philadelphia in the World War, 1914-1919, published for The Philadelphia War History Committee, by Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., New York, 1922>>
The Division C.P. moved to Thillombois then to Troyon-sur-Meuse. The Division occupied the Troyon sector, relieving the 26th Division until about October 28. The 79th relieved the 29th Division and part of the 26th Division in front of Damvilliers. The Division was in this sector when hostilities ceased at 11:11 a.m, November 11, 1918.
Officially, he was not wounded and was never treated at a hospital. He did state that he was gassed at Vaucherauville, in early November 1918. The irritating effects of being gassed led to him being diagnosed with a chronic disease of the lungs. The thousands of veterans who received the same diagnosis were commonly referred to as “lungers”. His fight for disability was disapproved many times. It wasn’t approved until 1935.
The Division remained in this position until December 26th then moved to the Souilly area. From there it moved to Reynel, Rezé, to St. Nazaire, France. He was placed on special duty to bring back 51 Gen. Prisoners from St. Nazaire to Ft. Jay, N.Y. The Division boarded the “U.S.S. Princess Matoika” for the United States on May 15, 1919. The return trip was uneventful, and it arrived at Hoboken, NJ on May 26, 1919. He delivered the prisoners, was declared a casual in Hoboken, NJ and ordered to Casual Officers Detachment at Camp Dix, NJ. He was discharged on May 29, 1919.
He returned home to Philadelphia and studied art with J. William Server. After receiving his diagnosis for tuberculosis, his doctor told him that he had a year to live unless he moved to the dry, high-desert climate of Santa Fe. Shuster, who had only minor experience with painting before reaching Santa Fe, soon met the Ashcan painter, John Sloan, who annually spent time in Santa Fe for most of his professional life. Sloan served as an artistic mentor if not an actual teacher for Shuster for the rest of their lives.
Soon after arriving in Santa Fe in Spring, 1920, Shuster met four painters with whom his name would become linked. In 1921 Shuster along with Willard Nash, W.E. Mruk, Josef Bakos, and Fremont Ellis formed the original Santa Fe art colony. With a nod in the direction of New York’s The Eight (and decidedly away from Taos’s more famous association of artists), the group called themselves The Five, or Los Cinco Pintores in deference to Santa Fe’s Spanish heritage. The group would come to represent the best in the Northern New Mexican non-academic, primitive tradition.
Though Shuster is widely regarded today as a major regionalist painter, he is known equally for other talents and habits of personality. Shuster was a free spirit of original courage and buoyancy of spirit. He supported his love of painting with metalwork, plastering, and ceramics. He is remembered still in Santa Fe as an accordionist, a newspaper writer, and a vaudevillian. Probably above all and despite his artistic recreations of Indian ceremonies and rituals, Shuster is known for his creation of Old Man Gloom, Zozobra, at the annual Santa Fe Fiesta. Shuster’s personal élan continues to touch Santa Fe, although his taste for the sweetness of living recedes from memory before the tide of commercialism. The artistic climate of Santa Fe is poorer for the loss even as it is richer for the acquaintance.
During the July 1952 Rodeo in Santa Fe, Shuster’s “El Toro Diablo” made its debut to much acclaim with animated bucking, fire-breathing and fireworks and became a symbol of the rodeo. Other New Mexico items which Shuster was involved with included Carlsbad Caverns, Smokey Bear,
He suffered from acute emphysema for many years and the freezing weather exacerbated his condition. He was admitted to the Veterans Hospital in Albuquerque on February 3, 1969 for some tests and treatment. He hoped to return home a few weeks later, but that did not happen. He passed away there on Sunday, February 9th. He was survived by his wife Selma “Sami” Paddock Dingee Shuster (marr. July 21, 1937, she’d. 1987, bur. SFNC); two sons, Donald Byron Shuster, Albuquerque; and John Adam Shuster, who was an engineer in Bangkok, Thailand; and his grandchildren. His funeral services were held at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe on Thursday, February 13, 1969 with burial following in the Santa Fe National Cemetery with military honors. The Montezuma Masonic Lodge conducted graveside services.
Notes:
Biography by Gary Donato
Special thanks to Heather McClure, Librarian/Archivist at the Fray Angelico Chavez History Library at the New
Mexico History Museum and Charles Martinez, historian, archivists, and genealogist.
Joseph Dispenza and Louise Turner, Will Shuster: A Santa Fe Legend,, Museum of NM Press, 1989
