William George "Bunker" "Will" Haan (1863-1924)
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The following October 30, 1924 Lowell Tribune article appeared on page 1, column 3:
Gen. Haan Passes Away
DIES VERY SUDDENLY IN HOSPITAL IN NATIONAL CAPITOL
General Will G. Haan, formerly of Lake County and the most notable military figure Lake county has produced, died early Monday morning at St. Alto hospital in Washington, D.C. His death came as a great shock to his many relatives and friends in Lake county, as it was known that he was enjoying good health up to a few weeks ago. He had been ill for a short time but it was not thought to be serious. The message telling of his death was received by his brother, Nicholas Haan of Hammond.Gen. Haan was born on a farm north of Lowell 62 years ago. He was the son of Nicholas and Anna Mary Haan. He attended the township schools for a time and then decided to come to Lowell and attend the public school and for two years walked the five miles to Lowell daily. His high school course was completed in the Crown Point schools.
Through the influence of Thomas Wood, then member of Congress from this district, he received the appointment to the West Point military academy. He graduated from West Point in 1880 and from that time his life was filled with many changes incident to army life. He served with distinction in the Spanish-America war and won promotions through his service. He, in company with the man who was his room-mate at West Point, were sent to the Panama when the government purchased that tract of land for the Panama canal He was stationed in California for awhile and it was there that he met and married his wife. They had no children.
General Haan was on duty on the Mexican border when the United States entered the world war and was placed in charge of the 32nd Division at MacArthur, Texas, and commanded the division when it was sent over seas. His outfit saw some of the severest fighting of the war, having spent 35 days in active fighting in active sectors on the French front.
He was one of the best known commanders of the American army and was decorate by the French and Belgian governments and also the American government.
For a time after the war he was in charge of vocational work instituted by the government for the benefit of the soldiers.
The division of which he had command was recruited from Wisconsin and Michigan and after his retirement from active service two years ago Gen. Haan thought he would go and settle down among the men who had served with him in the world war and take life easy. But it was not all rest for him, as the Milwaukee Journal soon sought him out and induced him to take the associate editorship of that paper, and he had made the trip this time in the interest of that paper. His work on the paper consisted largely in preparing a series of articles on military subjects which attracted wide attention.
Go to William George "Bunker" Haan, "Pioneer History Index," for further information.
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