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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, September 16, 2018, pg. 14 It will be good to be back on Superior St. for this year’s Festival of the Forks this coming Saturday, September 22. Yours truly will be stationed at my Albion History Booth Saturday morning and early afternoon in front of Huntington Bank (formerly First Merit Bank, formerly Citizen’s Bank, formerly City Bank & Trust Company, formerly the Commercial & Savings Bank) at 205 S. Superior St. Come stop by. I’m always looking for "Albion stuff,"especially photographs, old city directories, high school yearbooks, etc. I’ll see you there. If you read my September 2, 2018 "00 Years Ago"column you many have noticed a couple of our local World War I soldiers were killed in action. The first soldier from Albion killed in that War was Corporal Patrick Leo Hanlon (1894-1918), in France on August 28, 1918. Patrick was a 1913 graduate of Albion High School, and was the son of Patrick H. and Frances (Robbins) Hanlon. The family lived at 803 Burr Oak St. Patrick was serving in Company G of the 126th Infantry, 32nd Division at the time of his death. Also killed shortly thereafter in the same battle was friend and fellow Albionite, Hazael Choate, whom he grew up with here. Patrick originally enlisted in the Michigan National Guard at Jackson on July 7, 1917, and was later placed in the 126th and sent to Europe in January, 1918. His death was not known by his parents until they were notified nearly a month later when they received the dreaded telegram from the War Department on September 26, 1918. A year later, the first meeting of Post No. 55 of the local American Legion occurred on September 10, 1919. Shortly thereafter during the second meeting, members voted to name the post in honor of Corporal Patrick Leo Hanlon. The Post remains named so to this day, and next year (2019) will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Patrick Leo Hanlon was interred in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in Picardie, France, where his remains lay buried today. His gravesite memorial there consists of an engraved white cross. His burial is listed on the www.findagrave.com website Memorial No. 56637673. Just type in those numbers and you should be able to get directly to his memorial there. Be sure to post "virtual flowers"and a note in his memory while you are there. Here in Albion however, a cenotaph stone was erected in the Hanlon family plot in Catholic Block 1, Lot 6 in Riverside cemetery in his memory. The stone states, "Patrick Hanlon, Died in France 1918, Corp. Co. G 126th Inf. 32 Div."A cenotaph is a memorial erected for someone who is interred elsewhere. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of Patrick Leo Hanlon. Also pictured is his gravesite marker in the Oisne-Aisne American Cemetery in Picardie, France from the Findagrave listing.  Patrick Leo Hanlon (1894-1918)
 Patrick Hanlon tombstone in Picardie, France
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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