With many of us excused from work today, our observance of Veterans’ Day and the 100th anniversary of the Armistice continues with this guest post from Cris Baird. This post springs in part from a one-of-a-kind item in Cris’s extensive library.

As you think about the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, I invite you to consider the untimely death of Bryant Stanford Hinckley.

On October 19, 1918, just as World War I was winding down, 24 year old Bryant Stanford Hinckley, the son of prominent Latter-day Saint Bryant Stringham Hinckley, and older half brother of future prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, lay dying of double pneumonia in a battleground hospital in France.

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The family of Bryant Stringham Hinckley. I believe that Stanford, the oldest son, is seated at right.
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Brigadier General Richard W. Young, son of Brigham Young and commander of the 65th Field Artillery Brigade in France, became aware of the presence of a young Latter-day Saint soldier in the hospital, and he invited Elder B. H. Roberts, one of the Presidents of the Seventy who was volunteering as a chaplain at the time, to join him as he visited Stanford in the hospital.

In a letter to Stanford’s father, Young reported the story this way:

There has been much sickness in the camp. I asked Dr. Christopherson for a list of those who had been taken to the hospital and I saw the name of your son among them. I immediately went to the hospital and learned that he had pneumonia (a frequent stage of the sickness) and that both lungs were involved. The doctor felt very hopeless as to his chances for life. I met Chaplain Roberts coming from the hospital, as I was going in, and he had learned of the young man’s desperate condition. I went in to the ward and saw at once that he was very ill. I talked briefly with him and ascertained there was no service that I could render. At my request the hospital kept me advised as to his condition. At noon yesterday I was advised he was dying. I picked up Chaplain Roberts and we went over, but found him barely conscious. Chaplain Roberts raised his head and gave him a drink, as he was burning with fever. He lingered until evening. His funeral will occur tomorrow in the cemetery here. I shall pay my friend B.S. [Bryant Stringham Hinckley] the respect of attending. You have my profound sympathy as who all who know and love him. I have not learned whether he is married; if so, his wife, of course, will be heartbroken.

In fact, Stanford had married Beulah Jenkins Wilcox just the year before, and had become a father just five months earlier. He was buried in France on October 21, 1918. B. H. Roberts delivered the eulogy.

During the year and seven months Pvt. Hinckley has been with us, he has won the name of being a good man and also a good soldier. This name is bestowed upon him by the men of Battery “A”, first because he was always ready to respond to duty and secondly because of his beautiful character. Never was Pvt. Hinckley happier than when he was doing something to help someone who was in need of assistance. He had that cheerfulness of disposition which always goes to help men to think more of each other and his little acts of kindness and also the big things he has done to help make Battery “A” better will never be forgotten.

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Bryant Stanford Hinckley’s grave maker.
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Heber J. Grant, then serving as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, somehow received the news of Stanford’s death. Grant had a beautiful script signature and was a prolific book gifter. He personally inscribed thousands of gift books and directed the gifting of thousands more containing his facsimile signature.

On November 12, 1918, which was the day after the armistice ending World War I hostilities was signed, Grant, who would become the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only five days later, pulled from his supply a copy of one his favorite books and wrote an inscription to the widow. The gift book was The Prince of Peace by William Jennings Bryan.

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The cover of the book gifted to Beulah Hinckley by Heber J. Grant.
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“Mrs. Bryant Stanford Hinckley, My dear sister: Accept with Sister Grant’s and my sympathy this excellent address. I am sure the sentiments on man’s immortality on pages 35 to 39 will deeply interest you. Yours affectionately, Heber J. Grant. Salt Lake City, November 12, 1918.”

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Heber J. Grant’s gift inscription to Beulah Hinckley, the widow of Bryant Stanford Hinckley.
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I hope for Sister Hinckley’s sake, that the words of the book brought substantial solace. Because In a cruel and ironic twist of fate, just one month after Bryant Stanford Hinckley died, Beulah Mae Hinckley, the only daughter of Stanford and Beulah Jenkins Wilcox Hinckley, died of a combination of pneumonia and chicken pox at the age of six months old.

I don’t know much more about Beulah Hinckley. But she later remarried James Clyde Coult, and died on April 4, 1985, at the age of 87 in Bountiful, Utah.

On this Veteran’s Day, I am thankful for and humbled by the sacrifices of our military veterans and their families. Especially those who either paid, or who have been forced to live with, the soul crushing burden of the ultimate price.