Wiley Ainsworth World War I Letters

Wiley Peter Ainsworth was born on February 9, 1893, in Jasper County, Mississippi. During his youth, his family moved to the Goodwater Community in Simpson County. Shortly thereafter, he went to work on Mr. David Tullos' cattle farm, and it was there that he met his future wife, Miss Celia Tullos.

Ainsworth enlisted in the Army in May 1918 and trained at Camp Pike, Arkansas, where he was assigned to Company A, 346th Infantry. On September 3, 1918, he arrived in Le Mans, France, and was assigned to a new unit -- the 329th Infantry, Headquarters Company. In October, 1918, he was reassigned to the 28th Division, 112th Infantry, Headquarters Company. In a letter written during the occupation of 1919, Ainsworth divulged that he had seen action at the Front.

He was discharged from the army in the spring of 1919, and he married Miss Celia Tullos soon thereafter. Two daughters, Sadie and Lucia, were born of the union. Ainsworth acquired more than 300 acres of farmland in Simpson County, and spent the remainder of his life as a farmer and lumberjack. He died in 1961.