Family searching for fallen ancestor’s ‘death penny’
Trail of WWI plaque awarded to black soldier posthumously has gone cold
For years, the only family memento Calgarian Stephanie Watts had of her great-great-grandfather was a photo.
She yearned to know more about the only black man who was pictured with a musical troupe during the First World War.
Stephanie said her family was reluctant to share stories about their ancestry because of the racism they faced. It wasn’t until after years of research that Watts was able to paint a picture of Samuel Daniel Watts.
Samuel was one of only a few black Canadians who served during the global conflict and took on a combat role against enemy soldiers. He was killed in the line of duty after taking the place of a young soldier on the front lines.
“He was a man with integrity,” said Stephanie, choking back tears. “As a citizen of this country, I have a free life because of men and women like him — a man that came to this country for a better life, and even though he wasn’t fully accepted because of the colour of his skin, he still chose to go fight and die.”
Following his death, a memorial plaque — also known as a “death penny” for its similarities to the coin — was awarded posthumously. Until recently, Stephanie and her family were unaware it existed but are now dedicated to finding it, to honour Samuel.
“It would be the only piece of Samuel that we would have other than a few pictures. It would be celebrated, cherished and displayed in our home as a reminder — as a daily reminder — to live our lives freely and fully because of the sacrifice he made,” she said.
Samuel’s death penny was found in 1980 in a mound of dirt that was delivered to a home in Red Deer. Although Stephanie will never know for sure how it ended up there, she reckons when her greatgreat-grandmother was killed in a house fire in 1968, the plaque was caught up in the rubble or it could have been dug up from the backyard when the land was repurposed for a new property.
It remained with the family who found it for about 30 years but was eventually sold to a collector in Ontario, who then traded it to an unknown collector in Alberta.
Despite her best efforts, Stephanie has been unable to locate it.
“There’s so much more than just the death penny. There’s the story behind it,” she explained.
Samuel served in the 187th and 50th battalions during the First World War.
Despite being a member of the regimental band, he died on the front lines after taking the place of a young soldier.
Veteran Vernon Mcdougall said in an interview, “We were going to do a trench raid. I didn’t really want (to) go, so Sam Watts says to me, ‘I’ll go for you this time and you take my turn next time.’ Watts went over the top and never came back.”
Stephanie doesn’t only want her great-great-grandfather to be remembered as a courageous soldier, but for his brilliant mind as an inventor and passion for music.
“It was Sam’s ambition to make something of himself and towards this end he laboured hard,” read a Windsor Star article published in 1918. “As a songwriter he ‘broke into’ Western musical circles with no little success and, had it not been for the war, probably many of the inventions on which he burns the midnight oil would have been successful. He was a genius in his way, a man with more than the usual share of originality.”
One of his patented inventions was a letter-stamping machine to cut, lick and place postage stamps.
Stephanie said his rich history is something she wants to pass on to her son and nieces, so they not only understand the sacrifices that were made for their freedom but how Samuel overcame discrimination, and the hardships that accompany it, to make something of himself.
“I don’t want this ancestry to die with me,” said Stephanie. “I am so proud of who he was, who he died as and I think that needs to be remembered.”
A cross bearing Samuel’s name is placed among thousands at the Field of Crosses Memorial on Memorial Drive N.W.
Even though he wasn’t fully accepted because of the colour of his skin, he still chose to go fight and die.