Old World War I Photos From The Collection of a Soldier Who Served Well

The suitcase, full of papers and photos, contains some history that may not have been told by any other source....well, maybe.  To me, these are one of a kind.

 The suitcase, handed over to my husband from his mother on Thanksgiving on 2013, is filled with wonderful images of the War To End All Wars....World War I.  LeRoy Hessler Reif, grandfather of my husband, served as a medic in the U.S.Army during this conflict in Europe.  He saved many of the photos that he had snapped, and others that were acquired through other means, during his service to our nation in Europe.

LeRoy Hessler Reif in France 1918

My late father-in-law, Ken Reif, wrote an article in 1967 for the Veterans Day issue of a company newsletter.  He outlined the duties and experiences of his father's participation in the War.  As a medic, he saw unspeakable injuries inflicted on his fellow servicemen.  So many suffered.  So many perished.

U.S. Army ambulance used to transport the injured

U.S. Army hospital ward in France 1918

Nurses who diligently cared for the sick and injured during the War

Perhaps we always think that wounds heal  after time, but with injuries that were sustained on both sides, I can only imagine that they never truly heal.  Here is a man who did survive, but only after a new jaw was constructed from silver to replace the one that he no longer had......

And, then there were those who did not survive, but were buried with dignity and grace in a foreign land where they gave the ultimate sacrifice.  A freshly laid cemetery for those who did not return....

It is Valentines Day.  I hope that the Valentines of these servicemen were comforted in a way that helped them to carry on their lives.  What sorrow they must have experienced.  How proud they should be of those laid to rest in foreign lands.  Happy Valentines Day to all those who served, are serving and who will serve and sacrifice.  May God and St. Valentine watch over you.

A Civil War Account Leads to Missing Family Tree Data

 There was an old typed account of one Corp. Gilmer Young, along with many family papers found in an old suitcase at the home of my husband's parents. The page was entitled : Corp. Gilmer Young of Company F. First Regiment Kansas Vol. Infantry -- taken from An Early Kansas History and Atlas by A. T. A.   In a handwritten note at the top of the page, the following was scribed : "Mother's Brother Killed at Battle of Wilson's Creek". Who penned this?  Why would this paper be important to my husband's family?

I jumped on www.ancestry.com to look at my Reif-Fuston Family Tree data.  Gilmer Young did not sound familiar to me, but the Young surname did.  Doing a quick search of individuals on the tree, I found Gilmer listed.  Apparently I had placed him on the tree, along with the birth year of 1834.  Referring to the handwritten note, I found that he was a sibling of several persons listed, but one in particular....Amanda Young.  Amanda Young Tipton was the mother of Anna Tipton.  Anna married Dr. Joseph H. Downing, who was the great grandfather of my husband.  The note must have been written by Anna, my husband's great grandmother.  Wow.  How cool is that.  Apparently Anna Tipton Downing was interested in family history.  Thank goodness.  I decided that this paper did indeed have some worth.  Time to read further....

"An account of the Battle of Wilson's Creek in which Gilmer Young was killed on August 10, 1861."
Well, now I know the date of his death, which I did not know before today.  And I had heard about the battle of Wilson's Creek, previously.  According to the National Park Service website (www.nps.gov/wicr/), Wilson's Creek was the first major Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi River. The first Union general was killed there, and the Confederate victory over the Union army made the nation pay closer attention to this war between the States.

In the second paragraph, noted as from page 181, the soldiers of Company F killed at Wilson's Creek are mentioned.  There, Corp. Gilmer Young of Lawrence, Kansas is mentioned.  Another handwritten notation at the side of the page notes "Mother's Brother" next to the name, with a bracket drawn at the location of his name.

The third, and last lengthy paragraph, taken from page 180 of the referenced text, introduces the First Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry.  The names of the Kansas Governor and the Regiment officers are mentioned after a brief history of the unit, which began in 1861.  Corporal Gilmer Young is mentioned with these men.  They left Fort Leavenworth on to Kansas City and then to Springfield, Missouri. They met the enemy at Wilson's Creek, just 12 miles outside of Springfield.  The rebels were entrenched and waiting to
rout the Union army.  After 6 hours of battle, the First Kansas lost 77 men...Gilmer Young was one of them. It goes on to say that 333  men were wounded.

To further my research on Corporal Young, I will search various websites to find his mention.  He must have been a brave soul to participate in such a horrible battle and lose his life after being in the service of our country for just a few short months.  At least he is at rest... and I have another person on the family tree with a conclusion to the story of his life.

Thanks to the research completed by Anna Tipton Downing (1859-1945), a sincere patriot has been uncovered. We honor him today, and always.

The last notation states that the lost members of the First Kansas Volunteers are buried at the National Cemetery in Springfield.  A handwritten note follows, " No names on markers at cemetery".  Really?  I need to check this out.  Where would I look?  Let's see...  I looked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/springfield.asp, and here's what I found :

Many men who died at the Battle of Wilson Creek would eventually be buried at Springfield National Cemetery, established in 1867 when the city purchased five acres for a burial plot. In 1911, the Confederate Cemetery Association (CCA) donated six acres, two of which were enclosed by a stone wall. Along with the land came the provision that burials would be restricted to men who died serving the Confederacy. Through a series of amendments to this provision in 1948, 1957 and 1984, all eligible veterans are now permitted in this portion of the cemetery. An 1871 cemetery inspection report recorded 832 known and 689 unknown interments in the cemetery. It continued, “A very worthless superintendent was in charge last year, and the cemetery was sadly neglected. This year it has been put in good order.”

A Family Letter From a Voice of the Past Part 2

Continued from last week's post - Focusing on the remainder of the letter from M.C. Bates to his nephew,  Dr. Joseph H. Downing :

Madison states that he wondered who was the father of Joseph Bates (as I learned prior to reading this letter, Joseph  was a father of a Revolutionary War veteran),  and where he came from to America.  He supposes that this family had gone into the wilderness area of Virginia a bit before most new settlers, as there were American Indians in the area, and they were forced to head back to the east where European settlers were more prevalent.  Madison goes on, "we know that James Bates was born in Prince Edward County in 1764.  We also learn from the Revolutionary War records the James Bates, first son of Joseph, was listed among the soldiers from Halifax County.  So, we are justified in concluding that the ancestral home of the Bates family was in Prince Edward and Halifax Counties and in that region." Now, if I wanted to find if Madison's conclusion has some basis, I'd check the databases on the website for the New England Historic and Genealogical Society website, www.Americanancestors.org

Let's take a look at the second page of this letter :

Madison Bates writes that there is no doubt that the above mentioned James Bates had a son, also named James Bates, who served with the Virginia troops for three years.  I am not sure that this is correct but I believe that NARA  and Fold3 just might have something that could confirm or disprove his theory.  Fold 3, found at www.fold3.com, is a fabulous website that has a main focus on military records, but other valuable items are also on this site.

Immediately after this statement, Madison writes that he is not sure of any resource to confirm this military service.  He refers to the daughter of Dr. Downing, who apparently is involved with the DAR, and is interested in this research.  Could it be that Dr. Downing originally wrote to his uncles in Illinois, on behalf of his daughters research for the DAR.  Probably. He supposes that James Bates, both father and son, could have served in the military during the Revolutionary War, but that they would not be in their direct blood line.

Madison changes subjects at this point in the letter.  He's glad to have this opportunity to communicate with his nephew, and to learn of the good health and prosperity of the family.  Dr. Downing must have mentioned having some discouraged feelings in his life, but Madison replies that it is a common feeling.  "Perhaps it is better for us that it is so, lest we might neglect to prepare for the life to come after this is over, a life that I have no doubt will be better than the one we live now", writes Madison Bates.

He signs off as " I am as ever your uncle, M. C. Bates".

Madison Bates, author of this letter, passed away 16 years after he wrote to his nephew, Dr. Joseph H. Downing.  His is buried in the Cherry Grove Cemetery in Knox County, Illinois.

Dr. Joseph H. Downing, born 1856, passed away in 1942, and is laid to rest in Circle Mound Cemetery, in Rising City, Butler County, Nebraska.

One can only wonder if these two men ever communicated again, and if any further correspondence revealed that either of them were able to answer their questions from this letter.

This letter was such a neat find.  To hold a letter written in 1911, over 100 years ago.  Wow.

A Family Letter from a Voice of the Past

As I posted last week, I was able to scan some old personal papers and photos that had been in a suitcase belonging to my in-law family.  Among the fascinating papers was a handwritten letter from one M. C. Bates,  of Illinois, which was written to my husband's great grandfather, Dr. Joseph H. Downing, of Rising City, Nebraska.  The letter was dated 11 March 1919 :

As the letter begins, " My dear Nephew", it is apparent that Bates would have been a sibling of  Dr. Downing's parent or grandparent.  After searching for M. C. Bates in www.ancestry.com, I found that he was indeed Madison C. Bates (1836-1927), son of Joseph C. Bates and Nancy Bryan Goodpasture.  He was a younger brother of Mary Elzada Bates, mother of Dr. Joseph Downing.  So now we know the relationship between the author of the letter to the recipient...indeed an uncle who was writing to his nephew.

The letter begins stating that Dr. Downing had previously written to Madison's brother, T.J.   Again, checking the family tree on Ancestry.com, I find that Madison was referring to his older brother, Thomas Jefferson Bates (b. 1833).  T.J. had given the note from Dr. Downing to Madison, asking that he make the requested reply.  Evidently, Dr. Downing had sent an inquiry to his relatives in Illinois, regarding the genealogical history of the Bates family.  In his response, Madison  refers to a book of the Bates family, that Dr. Downing had in his possession.  Really?  I wish I could find that!!!

"Mary Murphy was the maiden name of my grandmother, who was the wife of my grandfather, James Bates", Madison writes.  "...only the given name is given of my great grandmother, who was the wife William Bates,  my great grandfather", he goes on.  Now, I suppose that Madison is referring to the Bates family book that he spoke of, but without a copy of that, I am not sure.

I will end this post here.  We will pick up where I left off next week. We have already uncovered much information in  just a short period of time.  Meanwhile, I will make an inquiry to www.familysearch.org to find a copy, or a reference to this Bates family book that Madison has referred to in his letter.

And the suspense continues....til next time.

As for you readers....don't throw out those old family papers!!!! Look for your family history in the hand-written words of your family members.

A 1910 Wedding Invitation Adds Family Data

Over the past Thanksgiving holiday, my husband's family shared a suitcase full of old photos and documents.  After opening the suitcase, my eyes glazed over just at the sight of what seemed like tons of photographs from so many years ago.  The majority of them were from the World War I career of my husband's grandfather, Leroy Hessler Reif.  But, then I saw some envelopes stuffed with old documents.  I thought to myself, "Jackpot!!!"  As I flipped through the yellowing papers, I realized that I had just been handed some very interesting pieces of information....just the thing that you can't get from any book or website.

I scanned the documents recently, and found one that kept my interest more than the others.  Here it is :

A wedding invitation that had been sent to my husband's great grandparents, Dr.and Mrs. J.H. Downing, dated 1910

I was only familiar with the surname Tipton, as that was the maiden name of Mrs. Downing (Anna).
So, naturally, I thought that Mr. Claudius Jones Tipton, mentioned here as the groom, would have been related to her.  But I had no other information.  Time to do a little magic with my fingers and check to see what I could find on Ancestry.com.  I found  plenty.

Claudius was the son of Frank Tipton (brother of Anna Tipton Downing) and Harriet Jones, making him the nephew of Mrs. Downing.  He was born in Seward, Nebraska.  Harriet, his mother, passed away in 1906, and his father, Frank, had remarried by the time of this wedding in 1910.

Claudius was rather handsome.  Here is a photo of him

His bride, Florence Cattle, was the daughter of Walter and Bessie Cattle, of Seward, Nebraska.  Walter and his brother were operators of the State Bank of Nebraska in Seward.  The grandfather of Claudius Tipton, who was Claudius Jones, operated the bank until he became ill in the late 1870s.  He sold the bank to another businessman, who then sold the bank to the Cattle family.  Walter Cattle, father of the bride Florence, became one of those bank owners.  Funny how these banking families had close ties.

The union of Claudius Tipton and Florence Cattle seemed to work out well.  They raised a fine family.

The bank remained in the family, being named the Cattle National Bank and Trust Company.

See what you can find out about people who just seemed to be names printed on a wedding invitation.  How nice it is to put faces with those names in your family tree.

Now, if anyone in your family says that they have a suitcase full of old photos and papers, don't turn down the opportunity to take a peek at just what is in there.  You, too, just might hit the "Jackpot".

Extracting Data from Vital Records

How many copies of vital records do you have?  Birth, Marriage and Death records are the bread and butter of genealogy research and family history.  Do you really read everything that is mentioned on those documents?  I thought that I did...until I read the Sicilian matrimony records of my 2nd great grandparents one more time.  I had glazed over something very important the previous times that I read these wonderful pages.

I had assumed that my 2nd great grandmother, Salvatora LoCoco, was born in Campofelice, the same town that she had been married.  You know what happens when you assume something.....don't you?

Here is the copy of the document that had revealed what I had missed :

Salvadora Coco, highlighted in mid page location, is followed by her information :

She was single and at the age of Twenty-two (ventidue), born in Villalba (nata), living in Campofelice (domicilate), daughter of Nicolo (figlia di) etc.

So now we know, she was born in Villalba, not Campofelice.  But where is Villalba?  A quick search tells me : Villalba (Sicilian: Villarba) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about 51 km northwest of Caltanissetta.

The couple was married in 1857.  The documents mentions that the bride was age 22 years.  To find her birth record, I would have to search for the nascite (birth record) for approximately the time period of 1834-1836.

Remember, read, and read and read once again. Don't miss out on important information.  Don't Assume any piece of information.  Documentation is paramount.

End of lesson.

New Year Resolutions.....Sigh

Here we are now, in 2014.  Yes, I am about to say that nasty word.....Resolution.  Who keeps them?  I usually don't.  But, as I look at my age, and my past record of crapping out on previous decades of New Year Resolutions, I decided that I had better make good on a group of resolutions for this year, 2014.
If I don't make good on them, then I will prove to myself that I am just a lowlife.  A person who talks, but doesn't walk the walk.  So, I am challenging myself this year.  And kicking my own butt if I fall off the wagon.

Here is a list of my new 2014 Resolutions, that I challenge myself to keep :

1.  In an attempt to lose weight this year, I challenge myself to walk on the treadmill and ride the recumbent bike machine for 30 minutes each, at least 3 days per week.  I already enjoy a MWF warm water exercise class and a TTh chair aerobics class.  I am supposed to join my group of fellow walkers on TTh mornings, but don't often make it to the walk.  I hope to increase my attendance to this activity, too.  If I lose weight with this plan, great.  If not, oh, well, at least I tried.

2.  I will write on this blog page every Friday of every week throughout 2014, no matter what.  Okay, this is one task that will require a swift kick in the butt.  I will post whatever I have been working on regarding research, and perhaps I will be able to enlighten someone out there with their research, too.

3.  I will work with the FamilySearch Italian Transcription project on 5 days each week.  The plan is to transcribe one batch of records each time I log onto the website.  I don't think this will be very hard for me as long as I plant little reminders for myself.

4. I will add photos and memorials to the FindaGrave website at least 5 days each week.  I have been doing this for a little while now, in tandem with the item 3 resolution above.  I have over 10,000 photos from a local cemetery, and have added almost 4,000 of those already.

5.  I will scan all of my vital record documents that I have gathered for my family trees, and add them to my FTM and Ancestry.com account.  It will eliminate so much paper that I have accumulated.  And, it will hopefully get me organized and happy with what I have uncovered over the past 12 years.

OK.  That is enough.  I don't want to overwhelm myself.  And I don't want to make anyone laugh too hard, either.  I will try to keep these resolutions, and at the end of the year, be very proud of myself.  My self esteem will be bursting at the seams.  oh, yeah, if any unforeseen accident happens that may keep me from fulfilling my  resolutions, then I release myself from any of the obligations I have mentioned above.

Smiling as I write this.......