Allen Loughery Melton

Allen Loughery Melton was born on January 7, 1892 in Coushatta, Louisiana to Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Melton. He decided to become a teacher and enrolled at the State Normal School (now Northwestern State University) in Natchitoches in 1910. Melton was a member of the Eclectic Literary Society and helped form the school’s first band. He graduated in 1912 and spent the next four years teaching at Dry Creek and Longville, both in Beauregard Parish. On September 22, 1916, Melton enrolled in the LSU Law School and on May 9, 1917, enlisted in the U.S. Army and entered the First Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Logan H. Roots in Arkansas. He became a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and was later stationed at Camp Pike, Arkansas. By November 1917, Melton was ordered to Camp Merritt, New Jersey and on December 9, sailed for St. Nazaire, France where he became a part of Base Section No. 1. He died there on December 20, 1918. He is buried in France.

Research conducted by Jane Ainsley Rothschild