Calvin DeWitt Jr.

Calvin DeWitt Jr. (August 25, 1894 – January 10, 1989) was a brigadier general in the United States Army. He received the Army Distinguished Service Medal. DeWitt commanded the Boston Port of Embarkation from 1943 to 1945. After World War II was over, he commanded the New York Port of Embarkation. DeWitt's brother was John L. DeWitt.^[1][2][3]

Life[]

DeWitt was born August 25, 1894, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where his father, Brigadier General Calvin DeWitt, Sr. (1840-1908), was stationed. His mother, Josephine Lesesne DeWitt (1856-1952), was a native of Charleston, South Carolina. DeWitt and his family moved around quite a bit due to his father's military career.

He appears in the 1900 United States Census living with his family at Fort Monroe, Virginia; the 1930 Census places him at Fort Riley, Kansas; the 1940 Census places him at El Paso, Texas.

He died on January 10, 1989, in Alexandria, Virginia. DeWitt was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, where his parents and all three siblings are also buried.

Personal life and family[]

On February 14, 1925, in Manhattan, New York, DeWitt married Marjorie Anderson (1900-1979), daughter of Major William Hart Anderson, U.S. Army and his wife Elizabeth. Her grandfather, Charles Marley Anderson, was a United States Congressman from Ohio; her brother, William Hart Anderson Jr., was also a Major in the United States Army. They had three children together:

• Marjorie Robin DeWitt (b. 1930); married William Guy Macfarlane Robertson (1929-2008) on June 26, 1971, in Arlington, Virginia; one son, William D. Robertson
• Calvin DeWitt III (b. 1932); married Barbara Ann Fowler (b. 1937) on April 7, 1962, at Fort Monroe, Virginia
• William DeWitt (1939-2013); married Mary Lou Brady; two children, Tyler and Erica; was Professor at Williams College from 1977 until his death

His brothers were General John Lesesne DeWitt and Brigadier General Wallace DeWitt (1878-1949). His sister, Mary Wallace DeWitt (1884-1957), married Robert Moore Blanchard (1874-1959), who served as a colonel in the United States Army Medical Corps; their son, Brigadier General Robert Moore Blanchard Jr. (1909-1999), served during World War II and Korea, and was a 1933 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Wallace's son, Wallace DeWitt Jr. (1908-1957), served as a major in the United States Army; and John's son, John Lesesne DeWitt Jr., served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army.

His paternal grandfather, Rev. William Radcliffe DeWitt (1792-1867), was a Presbyterian pastor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 1818 to 1867, and had served in the War of 1812 prior to this. His wife, DeWitt's paternal grandmother, was Mary Elizabeth (Wallace) DeWitt (1807-1881), granddaughter of United States Senator William Maclay, great-granddaughter of John Harris Jr. and great-great-granddaughter of John Harris Sr., both of whom Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is named for. His paternal uncle, Major William Radcliffe DeWitt Jr. (1827-1891) was a surgeon in the United States Army during the Civil War.

His paternal great-grandfather, John Radcliffe DeWitt (1752-1808), served as a Captain for the United States in the Revolutionary War, and as a New York State Representative from 1785 to 1788. It is through this DeWitt line that Calvin DeWitt Jr. is also a second cousin, three times removed of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton.

His first cousin, twice removed, William Radcliffe DeWitt V, served in the United States Marine Corps as a Private during the Korean War. His first cousin, three times removed, Robert George Schoenkopf III, served as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

References[]

External links[]

• Generals of World War II