Hendrix, Stafford

Stafford Hendrix

Early Life

Stafford Hendrix was born on July 26, 1893, in Highland Park, Illinois, the son of Wilbur Fisk Hendrix and Mary Augusta Stafford. He later moved with his family to Rye, New York, where they resided on Milton Road, becoming part of a well-established and civically engaged household. His father was active in local business and banking, reflecting the family’s position within the community.

Hendrix was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City and later attended the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. By early adulthood, he had entered the business world, becoming associated with a New York investment firm, part of the financial sector that defined much of the region’s economic life in the early twentieth century.

World War I Service

Hendrix entered military service on August 15, 1917, when he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps following training at the Plattsburgh Training Camp, one of the principal officer training programs for the United States Army during the war. The Coast Artillery Corps was responsible for the defense of key coastal installations and for operating heavy artillery used to protect harbors and strategic locations.

He was assigned to the 58th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps, a regiment organized in December 1917 from existing coastal defense units and subsequently converted into heavy field artillery for overseas service.

The unit trained at Fort Totten and Fort Schuyler in New York before deploying to France in May 1918 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Once in France, the regiment trained with French forces and was equipped with heavy 8-inch howitzers mounted on tractor-drawn “caterpillar” systems, reflecting the increasing mechanization of modern artillery. It was assigned to the 32nd Artillery Brigade and participated in operations supporting major offensives late in the war.

During the St. Mihiel Offensive and subsequent operations in the Meuse-Argonne region, elements of the regiment established forward positions, camouflaged batteries, and conducted sustained bombardment of German positions. The unit operated under hazardous conditions, including enemy shelling and aerial attacks, while delivering heavy artillery support in the closing phase of the war.

Hendrix served overseas from May 10, 1918, to April 28, 1919, during which time he was promoted to First Lieutenant (temporary) in November 1918. His service placed him within a technically advanced and actively engaged heavy artillery unit supporting front-line operations during the final Allied offensives.

He served overseas and was not wounded in action. Hendrix was honorably discharged on May 12, 1919, following the conclusion of his service.

Life After Service

Following his return from military service, Hendrix resumed his career in the financial industry, maintaining business offices at 72 Wall Street in New York City. He later settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he lived for many years and became active in local social life.

He was a member of the Round Hill Club in Greenwich and maintained strong ties to Rye, where his family connections remained significant. On October 3, 1925, he married Beatrice Pynchon, and together they had one daughter, Georgia Hendrix.

Stafford Hendrix died on January 12, 1953, in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of fifty-nine, after being overcome by smoke while attempting to respond to a fire at a building on his property.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Beatrice Pynchon Hendrix; his daughter, Miss Georgia Hendrix of Boston; his mother, Mary Augusta Stafford Hendrix of Rye; his sister, Mrs. Jane H. TenEyck of Rye; and several nieces and nephews. He was buried in Rye, New York.