Ingham County, MI, WWI Named Death Plaque

Ingham County, MI, WWI Named Death Plaque, bronze uniface plaque, 49.4 mm wide by 81.7 mm tall, 3.8 mm thick. Weight 134.36 grams. Obverse, Full figure of the Goddess of Peace to left of the county seal on a US shield upon which an eagle is perched. Mounted above the eagle’s head is a large gold star. At the bottom on a curved ribbon are the words “WORLD WAR 1917-1918”. Below the design are two bars. The top one is inscribed “IN MEMORIAM” and on the bottom one is the engraved name ”PAUL H. RUSSELL”. There is evidence of a crude attempt to remove the last letter L of the last name. Below the name bar is a quotation of Abraham Lincoln “THE CHERISHED MEMORY OF THE LOVED AND LOST AND THE SOLEMN PRIDETHAT MUST BEYOURS TO HAVE LAID SO COSTLY A SACRIFICE UPON THE ALTAR OF FREEDOM“ with a copy signature of Abraham Lincoln. At the very bottom a ribbon is inscribed “PRESENTED BY THE PEOPLE OF INGHAM COUNTY.” Reverse blank. Planck X 115 and Small unlisted. Based on the 1920 census Ingham county had a population of 81,554. Using Small’s 4.12% formula an estimated 3,360 men served in uniform of which based on the national average 3% of that number died in service which means that I estimate 101 of these plaques were issued. To add insult to injury, the dead man’s wife or mother was given this memorial plaque with the deceased’s name misspelled!