Kidd, Arthur Samuel Sargent
Biography
Arthur Samuel Sargent Kidd, more commonly known as Archie, was born to Nellie and John Sargent on 24 April 1890 in Golansville, Caroline County, Virginia.[1] He was the only boy in a family of seven children, all of whom converted with their mother, Nellie, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1906.[2] John Clement Farr, from Ogden, Utah, baptized the sixteen-year-old and other family members in a creek in Caroline County. Thomas Edwin Ricks, from Rexburg, Idaho, then confirmed Archie a Latter-day Saint.[3] The Sargent family soon experienced ostracism for joining a “white church.” In fact, Archie’s sister Novella recalled that the family was “shunned” and called “white niggers” because they were Mormon.[4]
Archie frequently moved when he was in his early twenties, likely in search of work. In 1910 he had moved from home to live in Alexandria, Virginia, roughly seventy miles north of Golansville, where he worked as a carpenter.[5] He married Clara Jones in Richmond, Virginia, on 28 February 1916 but used the name “Arthur Kidd” on his marriage license.[6] By the time Archie registered for World War I, he had moved again, this time to Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a laborer for the Lukens Steel Company. On his draft registration, he indicated that he worked to support both his wife and his mother. The registrar described him as tall and slender, with brown eyes and black hair.[7]
Archie served in the U.S. military as an Army Private First Class in the segregated 367th Infantry, 92nd Division, beginning in 1918. He received an honorable discharge the following year.[8]
Archie also registered for the World War II draft, where his registration card indicated that he lived in Washington, D.C. and that a man named Joseph Gibson, his brother-in-law, would always know his address. His draft registration stated that he was unemployed at the time, although the 1940 census indicated that he worked as a plasterer and his wife labored as a tobacco stemmer.[9] Later in life, Archie again found work as a carpenter and eventually returned to Golansville to live.
A niece did not remember Archie attending Latter-day Saint services. However, he appeared in a 1930 church census, which suggests that he may have remained committed to the faith at least until that date. There is no evidence that his wife Clara converted or that the couple worshiped with Latter-day Saint congregations where they lived.[10]
Archie died on 3 December 1956 in Golansville of acute liver failure, which the medical examiner believed was caused by “chronic alcoholism.”[11] Clara and Archie did not have children together and his death certificate indicated that the couple had separated by the time of his death.[12] Although no records confirm his burial location, his sister, Eva Sargent Pendleton, petitioned for a military headstone with a Christian cross to be used at a family gravesite in Caroline County, Virginia.[13]
By: Joseph Stuart with research assistance from Lauren Teeples
Primary Sources:
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Southern States Mission, Virginia District, Microfilm 1995, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
“John Clement Farr.” Missionary Database. Accessed March 18, 2021.
“Kidd,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, 4 December 1956, 35.
Oral history interview with Virginia K. Wright, 1986 October 14, MSS 7752 Series 17 Sub-Series 1, Volume: MSS OH 837. L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
Richards, Debra E. “Open the Gates of the Temple,” The Daily Universe (Provo, Utah), 12 April 1976, 3-4, 6.
“Sargeant.” Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935. C.R. 4 311. Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Thomas Edwin Ricks III.” Missionary Database. Accessed March 18, 2021.
United States. 1900 Census. Virginia, Caroline County, Madison District.
United States. 1910 Census. Virginia, Alexandria, Alexandria Ward 3.
United States. 1930 Census. Virginia, Henrico County, Richmond.
United States. 1940 Census. Virginia, Henrico County, Richmond.
United States. Army. 367th Company, Infantry, World War I. Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. S. Arthur Kidd. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
United States. Pennsylvania. Coalesville. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Arthur Kedd. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
United States. Pennsylvania. Coalesville. Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. Arthur Kidd. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
United States. Pennsylvania. Coalesville. World War II Draft Registration Cards. Arthur Kidd. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
Virginia. State Board of Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificates of Death. File no. 3340. Registered number 28823, Arthur Samuel Kidd. Virginia State Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
Virginia. Richmond. Marriages, 1785-1940. Arthur Kidd and Clara Jones, 28 February 1916.
Wright, Virginia K. Oral interview by Alan Cherry, 14 October 1986. Transcript. Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project. L. Tom Perry Special Collections. Harold B. Lee Library. Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah.
[1] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Southern States Mission, Virginia District, Microfilm 1995, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; United States, 1900 Census, Virginia, Caroline County, Madison district.
[2] United States, 1900 Census, Virginia, Caroline County, Madison district.
[3] Virginia K. Wright, oral interview by Alan Cherry, 14 October 1986, transcript, 1, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Southern States Mission, Virginia District, Microfilm 1995. A later Church census suggests that Farr baptized and confirmed Archie, but the earliest record seems most accurate. See "Sargeant," Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935, CR 4 311, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. On the missionaries, see “John Clement Farr,” Missionary Database. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/john-clement-farr-1884?timelineTabs=all-events. Accessed March 18, 2021; “Thomas Edwin Ricks III.” Missionary Database, https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/thomas-edwin-ricks-iii-1882?lang=eng&timelineTabs=allTabs. Accessed March 18, 2021.
[4] Debra E. Richards, “Open the Gates of the Temple,” The Daily Universe (Provo, Utah), 12 April 1976, 4.
[5] United States, 1910 Census, Virginia, Alexandria, Alexandria Ward 3.
[6] Virginia, Richmond, Marriages, 1785-1940, Arthur Kidd and Clara Jones, 28 February 1916.
[7] United States, Pennsylvania, Coalesville, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Arthur Kedd. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
[8] United States, Pennsylvania, Coalesville, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Arthur Kedd, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
[9] United States, Pennsylvania, Coalesville, World War II Draft Registration Cards, Arthur Kidd.
[10] "Sargeant," Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935. Wright Oral Interview, 18.
[11] Virginia, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificates of Death, File No. 3340, registered number 28823, Arthur Samuel Kidd, Virginia State Archives, Richmond, Virginia; “Kidd,” Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA), 4 December 1956, 35.
[12] Virginia, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificates of Death, File No. 3340, registered number 28823, Arthur Samuel Kidd, Virginia State Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
[13] United States, Army, 367th Company, Infantry, World War I, Applications for Headstones from U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941, S. Arthur Kidd, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
Documents
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