Biographical Notes
Joseph Royston Gathings, I, was born July 17, 1894, in Dundee, Mississippi. The son of a doctor, J.C. Gathings, he entered the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in 1913 to study law. Graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from Ole Miss in 1916, he finished his studies shortly before the United States entered World War I in April 1917. Enlisting in the Army on August 27, 1917, Gathings was assigned to Camp Funston, later known as Camp Stanley, in Leon Springs, Texas. Stationed at Camp Stanley for over a year, Gathings was assigned to Battery B of the 13th Field Artillery, 4th Division. Earning the highest rank of 2nd Lieutenant, Gathings actively pushed to receive a commission during his service with the American Expiditionary Forces (AEF) in France and Germany. Deployed with the American Expeditionary Forces in the summer of 1918, he was involved in the Battles of Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which ended the war on November 11, 1918. Gathings remained stationed in France following the Armistice, returning to the United States in 1919. He was discharged from the Army at Camp Pike, Arkansas, on August 20, 1919. He died on June 13, 1978.