A First War State of Vermont Certificate of Service to Franklyn B. Wade; 833rd Aero Squadron

United States; Masthead entitled "The State of Vermont" flanked by the United States coat-of-arms on the left and the State of Vermont coat-of-arms on the right, inscribed "In Recognition of the honorable and patriotic service performed by Franklyn B. Wade in the War against the Empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary resulting in the triumph of the Allied and the United States Armies presents this record of service as a testimonial of gratitude and appreciation. / Entered Federal Service Dec. 11. 1917 / Honorably Discharged Dec. 14. 1918 / - Organizations - / 833rd Aero Squadron / Overseas May 11. 1918 to Dec. 4. 1918" / Done pursuant to Act. No. 233 of the General Assembly approved the twenty-eighth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen. / Certified Jan. 5 1921 by / H.T. Johnson The Adjutant General / Percival W. Clement Governor", with the signatures of both men, State of Vermont gold seal at the lower left, printer marked "JOHN A. LOWELL BANK NOTE CO. BOSTON." at the bottom, printed in black ink on an off-white paper stock, with the individual inscriptions in handwritten black ink, card-mounted, 302 mm x 377 mm, extremely fine.

Footnote: Percival Wood Clement (July 7, 1846 - January 9, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 57th Governor of the U.S. state of Vermont from 1919 to 1921. Clement worked as a clerk in the business office of Clement and Sons Marble, the family business and a prominent company in Rutland County. He became a partner in 1871 and was also president of the Clement National Bank and the Rutland Board of Trade, along with being an owner of numerous railroad interests. A Republican, Clement served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1892 to 1893, and helped secure the charter for Rutland City to incorporate separately from Rutland Town. He served as Mayor of Rutland City from 1897 to 1898, and was succeeded by William Y. W. Ripley. Clement served in the Vermont Senate from 1900 to 1901, and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1902 and 1906, in the latter year as a Democrat. From 1911 to 1912, Clement served again as Rutland's Mayor. In 1912, he was chairman of the New England Railroad Conference Commission. The following year, he served on the Vermont Educational Commission, and in 1917, he was a member of the executive committee of the Vermont Committee of Public Safety. Elected in 1918, Clement served as Governor of Vermont from January 9, 1919 to January 6, 1921. During his term, the state legislature appropriated one million dollars to pay military draftees. He opposed women's suffrage and Prohibition, but Vermont ratified the Prohibition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Clement also pardoned his predecessor as governor, Horace F. Graham, who had been convicted of embezzlement while serving as State Auditor. When his term of office ended, he returned to his business affairs. Brigadier General Herbert Thomas Johnson (January 27, 1872 - November 4, 1942) was a military officer who served as Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard. He was veteran of the Spanish-American War, serving with the 1st Vermont Volunteer Infantry. Johnson retired from the National Guard in 1915, but remained active in the Vermont State Guard, a volunteer home guard organization. In 1917, he was appointed to organize and command the 1st Vermont Militia Regiment, a home guard unit. Later that year, he was appointed acting Adjutant General, succeeding Lee Stephen Tillotson, who resigned to join the regular Army for service in the First World War. Johnson served as Adjutant General throughout the war, and was responsible for mobilizing and transporting National Guard members, enlistees and draftees from Vermont to initial entry centers for in processing and training before departing for France. He also oversaw operations of the home guard which assumed many of the Vermont National Guard's duties while the National Guard was overseas. Following the war, Johnson and his staff were also responsible for receiving newly discharged soldiers back in Vermont, and for reorganizing the National Guard.