Triplett, George Vest, Jr. (1888-1935) Papers, 1918-1966 (bulk: 1918-1919)
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Triplett, George Vest, Jr., 1888-1935
Title: Papers, 1918-1966 (bulk: 1918-1919)
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: .33 cu. ft.
Location Number: Mss. A T835
Scope and Content Note
Collection consists of over 70 letters written by George Triplett, Jr., mostly to his mother during his service as an officer in the Judge Advocates General branch and the War Risk Section of the American Expeditionary Force in France during and following World War I. Also in the collection are letters to his law partner in 1921 and his brother, W. Beckham Triplett, in the early 1930s. The collection includes several newspaper clippings from Owensboro, Ky., and Louisville, Ky., papers concerning Triplett and other members of his family.
Biographical Note
George V. Triplett, Jr. was born 7 Sept. 1888 in Owensboro, Ky., the second of three sons born to George V. and Nannie B. Triplett. He received an undergraduate degree from Centre College and a law degree from George Washington University. In 1917 he served as a secretary in the Washington D.C. office of his uncle, U.S. Senator John C. W. Beckham. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, George enlisted as a private in the aviation service. Soon after his arrival in France he was transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s branch of the army. In late November, 1918, he was appointed to the War Risk Section of the American Expeditionary Force. His primary duty was to review the status of risk insurance coverage of U.S. military personnel. This effort required travel to various regions of France. Following the armistice, he accompanied occupation troops of the 3rd Army to Germany where he spent a few weeks over the Christmas holidays. In January 1919, he was appointed Chief of the War Risk Section of the A.E.F. During the next few months he was sent to Italy and Britain where he completed his War Risk assignments in Europe. Upon returning to the U.S. he was appointed Assistant to the Director of the War Risk Bureau in Washington, D.C. In 1920 he established a law partnership with David Karrick in Billings, Mt. There he met and married Elizabeth Hathhorn. They had three sons, George III, Frederick and Henry. The family moved to Bethesda, Md. while George Jr. was employed in the legal department of the New York Telephone Co. He died 31 May 1935 at the age of 46 and is buried in Rosehill Elmwood Cemetery in Owensboro, Ky.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1918 [59 items (includes 2 pp. photocopies)]
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1919 [56 items]
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1921-1932, printed documents [22 items (includes 14 pp. photocopies)]
Folder 4: Newspaper clippings [22 items (includes 7 pp. photocopies)]
Subject Headings
Beckham, John Crepps Wickliffe, 1869-1940
Charles A. Wickliffe (Ship)
Courts-martial and courts of inquiry – United States.
Germany – Description and travel
Influenza epidemic, 1918-1919
Judge advocates – United States
Law partnership – Montana
League of Nations
Legal correspondence – Montana
Racism – United States
Trout, Allan M., 1903-1972
United States. Army – African American troops
United States. Army – Demobilization
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces
United States. Army. American Forces in Germany, 1918-1923
Vesuvius (Italy)
War risk insurance – United States
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1914-1918 – African Americans
World War, 1914-1918 – Armistices
World War, 1914-1918 – Battlefields – Europe
World War, 1914-1918 – Destruction and pillage
World War, 1914-1918 – France – Verdun
World War, 1914-1918 – Occupied territories
