Frederick Erastus Humphreys

Infobox Person
name = Frederick Erastus Humphreys


image_size = 150px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1883|9|16
birth_place = Summit, New Jersey
death_date = death date and age|1941|1|20|1883|9|16
death_place = Miami Beach, Florida
occupation = Aviator
spouse =
parents = Jay Humphreys Fannie Brush
children =

Frederick Erastus Humphreys (September 16, 1883 – January 20, 1941) was one of the original three military pilots trained by the Wright brothers and the first to fly solo.

Biography

Frederick was born in 1883 in Summit, New Jersey, the only child of Jay Humphreys and Fannie Brush. He attended the Pennsylvania Military College, and won an appointment from New York to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He was made Cadet Captain, he lettered in fencing, and was the top eighth student of seventy-eight in the West Point Class of 1906. After graduation and commissioning, he was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers and sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he worked in bridge construction. 2nd Lt. Humphreys deployed to Cuba during the Pacification Expedition, and a year later, returned to attend the Engineer Officer Basic Course.

Humphreys volunteered for assignment to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps and was chosen to replace Benjamin Foulois in pilot training by the Wright brothers. On October 26, 1909, after three hours of instruction by Wilbur Wright, he became the first Army aviator to solo in a heavier-than-air craft, and thus the first pilot of the first progenitor of the United States Air Force. The Army's sole military airplane crashed on November 5, 1909, after which Humphreys returned to the Corps of Engineers.

In 1910, Humphreys resigned his commission to attend to his father's business, the Humphreys Homeopathic Medicine Company, founded by his grandfather in 1853. Thereafter he served as an officer of the company, the last twelve years of his life as its president.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Colonel F.E. Humphreys To Quit Military Post |url= |quote=Albany, New York; May 25, 1939 (Associated Press) The resignation application of Colonel Frederic E. Humphreys, 102d Engineers, New York National Guard, senior officer of his rank in the State, awaited action of Governor Lehman today. He was appointed colonel Oct. 28, 1920. |publisher=New York Times |date=May 26, 1939 |accessdate=2007-06-21]

National Guard

In June 1915, Humphreys joined the New York National Guard's 22d Engineers Regiment as a First Lieutenant. He was called up with his regiment for Mexican Border service after Pancho Villa's raids in 1916, he served as an aide to Major General John F. O'Ryan, Commanding General of the New York (later 27th) Division. Shortly after his return to New York, the regiment was inducted into federal service for World War I.

After initial service with his regiment at the divisional training post at Spartanburg, South Carolina, he was recalled and was transferred to the Air Service in January 1918. After flight training at Rockwell Field in San Diego, California he was assigned to the first class of the School of Military Aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for advanced technical training. He remained at MIT as head of the school's Department of Practical Aircraft Design, and then was made school commander. At about the time of the Armistice, he was assigned to the newly founded Technical Section, Engineering Division, at McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio, remaining there until he was demobilized in February 1919.

He returned to New York, and was appointed Colonel of the 102d Engineers, a position he had until his retirement due to ill health on July 11, 1939. At the time he was the senior Colonel of New York. He was advanced to Brigadier General on the State Retired List.

Death

Recuperating from pneumonia in Miami Beach, Florida he had a heart attack and died in 1941. He was 57 years old, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=F.E. Humphreys, 57, First Army Flier |url= |quote=Flew Initial Military Plane in 1909. Ex-Brig. General in National Guard Dies. Graduate of West Point. Retired Head of Humphreys Homeopathic Medicine Co. Founded by Grandfather |publisher=New York Times |date=January 21, 1941, Tuesday |accessdate=2007-06-21]

Organizations

*National Foreign Trade Council
*New York Board of Trade
*American Museum of Natural History
*National Geographic Society
*American Legion
*Institute of Aeronautical Science
*Association of Graduates at West Point

References

External links

* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/fehumphreys.htm Arlington Cemetery]
* [http://www.earlyaviators.com/ehumphre.htm Early Aviators: Humphreys]
* [http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/articles/humphrey.htm DMNA: Humphreys]
*findagrave|1531525 Retrieved on 2008-02-10