You'd be surprised what you can find on Ebay. It's not just for random items that people are trying to get rid of. Doing just the right search can lead you to some heirlooms, antiques, vintage items, etc. I've had quite a bit of luck with finding some items related to my family. On my one blog post about White Line Laundry, I talk about a special piece I found related to the Laundry business that was based here in St. Louis. Since then, I've found a few more pieces to add to my collection. I search often on Ebay for anything related to both mine and my husband's family. Since Christmas coming, I looked up something specifically that my husband was looking for, and was surprised to find it was available.
Let me start with a bit of background information. My husband's 2nd great grandfather was Joseph Henry Rickards. He lived in Liberty, Missouri in the mid-late 1800s. He married his first wife, Eliza Barkley before he went off to war. Amelia Barkley was the sister of Eliza and married a James M Jones. Joseph & Eliza were very close to James & Amelia. They named their first daughter Maggie, after Amelia. Sadly, Eliza passed when Maggie was just a baby, so Amelia took on the motherly role of raising the baby until she also passed when she was just a few years old, from blood poisoning. Joseph married Sarah soon after and their children were also named after James & Amelia. Joseph, Eliza, & Maggie are buried right next to James & Amelia.
So in the 1800s, James M. Jones owned and operated a distillery in Liberty called A.M. Jones Distillery. Mark was so excited to learn this. Thanks to my friend Chris Harris, an archivist and genealogist that works for the Clay County Archives, he has provided me with some information about the Distillery. I hope to go back to Liberty to do more research about it. I took a picture of Mark in front of the old Distillery before they finished taking it down. I also have a few photos from a book from the Clay County Archives. Chris gave this information on the Liberty Missouri Facebook page:
The property you are referring to is the Jones Distillery. A. M. Jones distilled Whisky there. Murray Road is named after Judge Murray who was a total Temperance guy who hated that his road had a distillery on it. The old cabin on the property is a log cabin. In danger of falling down. Most of the old distillery buildings are gone if not all of them. At one time the property was attached to the Moss property (on Moss Road) which at one time grew grapes and made wine. Murray Road was also at one time before they paved it, a rail spur that led to the old Hanger Plant which in WW I or WW II was used as a coffin factory. Hence the narrowness of the road. They basically covered up the tressell with dirt and paved it. - Chris Harris, I remember when... Liberty Missouri
A few years ago, I tracked down a whiskey shot glass from the distillery and gave it to my husband. After receiving that, he has been interested in finding actual bottles from the distillery. I've searched for years, but finally came across two of them. So I gave them to him for Christmas. I posted videos on YouTube of my Christmas Special of him opening up his gift. Check them out below:
The day is the 20th of December. It's almost Christmas time. What are you doing? Are you wrapping presents? Are you working? Are you finishing up some last minute shopping? Are you volunteering? Whatever you are doing, you are anticipating the Christmas holiday that is approaching. It's a time of celebration... for most everyone. But to my 2nd great grandma, this would be one of the worst days of her life.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, also known as the Great War. The end of the war came with an Armistice that occurred on November 11, 1918. Soon, the boys would be coming home to their families. It was also a time of celebration. This would be the first Christmas after the war. I can imagine my Great Great Grandma Pauline Ilg waiting with great anticipation for news about when her son, William Ilg, would be coming home. Unfortunately, the news she received was not what she was expecting.
On this day, 100 years ago, Great Great Grandma Pauline learned that her son, Willie, would not be coming home. She would learn that he had been killed in action just three days before the end of the war. How devastating. She would not be able to hug her son again. She would not be able to celebrate Christmas with him. All her dreams of seeing him again were just dashed. Her life would never be the same again. Here is one of the newspaper announcements about his death:
We all get so caught up in how things don't always go the way we had hoped or planned. Well, maybe this Christmas, we remember that things aren't as bad as they could be. Maybe this Christmas we remember to pray for those who are hurting and are not able celebrate with family. Maybe we hug our family a little tighter this Christmas and be grateful for the time we do have with them. Maybe this Christmas we remember the sacrifices of our ancestors so we are able to celebrate Christmas.
To my 2nd Great Uncle who gave his life for my freedom, I wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for your sacrifice. To my 2nd Great Grandma who lost her son right before Christmas, I will never forget your sacrifice as well or the pain you went through.
Hello my friends and family! Hope this year has been a great one for you! This year sure started out with a mixture of excitement and frustration for us. Through it all, we have been blessed. God has been with us every step of the way. We ended last year moving out of our apartment and into our new home in Union. Sadly, we were also involved in an accident five days after we closed on the house. We all gratefully walked away from the collision. Things were rough in the beginning, but we are pretty settled now. The house is so much better than the apartment for sure. God is so good!
If you have never been to my blog before, welcome! This is where I share my genealogy discoveries and some helpful tips as well. If you have some time, take a few minutes and check out some of the entries I have made about family. Genealogy has become my passion. I love playing detective, trying to solve mysteries and put the pieces together. I've found I have a real knack for it. Let me share some discoveries I've made over the past year.
Starting with my 3rd great grandma, Maggie Helfrich. That name probably sounds familiar to some of you. She is traced up on Grandma Ruth Wheeler's side. I've had a hard time trying to find more information about her as she came from Tennessee; born during the Civil War. This year brought great discoveries. I was able to locate her divorce record from her first husband, Logan Dennis, and her marriage record to her second husband, Jacob Helfrich. In the divorce record, I came across some very shocking news about her relationship to her daughter Oma Mae. If you would like to read about it, click here: The Search for Maggie Molten continues. Through all this though, I have not been able to trace back any farther than Maggie. I may need to actually take a trip to the Archives in Nashville, Tennessee to see if I can find anything.
As I stated above, we moved into our new house end of last year. One thing this house has is a dedicated Laundry Room. I was beyond ecstatic. I decided to dedicate that Laundry Room to Grandma & Grandpa Wheeler. Mom told me the story that they met while working together at White Line Laundry located on Chippewa. I loved the story as it related to my own with my husband. We met while working together at a bookstore 17 years ago. To read the story about While Line Laundry and to see the decorations, click here: White Line Laundry.
I hope you are enjoying the stories so far. My journey through genealogy research has not only taken me through the United States, but overseas as well. With some help from some Facebook groups I am a member of, I was able to trace Grandma Ruth Wheeler's Ilg Family back into Germany for a few more generations. I have copies of the original church records written in German. Those were fun to read haha! Google Translate became my friend. I'm familiar with many French and German words, but reading the old writing was difficult. But I was able to go back to my 5th Great Grandfather & Grandmother from Seitingen, Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Read the story here: The Ilg's have been located.
I know it seems like I've only researched my side of the family this year, but I promise you I've been researching Mark's as well. In the past, a lot of time has been spent on finding his family. Here is a video I made about that research.
One big discovery I made this past year on Mark's family was he had family that came from Silverton, Colorado! We lived in Delta, Colorado for a few years and had even visited Silverton before we knew he had family that lived there and was buried there. Talk about small world! Read about this story here: Relatives in Silverton, Colorado?!
And the final family member I have been researching has been the most interesting of the year. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. I remembered we had a family member that fought and died in World War I, so I dedicated some time to getting to know him and all about his sacrifice. William Ilg is the brother of Great Grandpa Joseph Ilg (Grandma Ruth Wheeler's father). He died three days before the end of World War I. That fact alone caused me to want to find out more. Read his story here: William Ilg, the gone but not forgotten Uncle. I am not done researching him yet. There is still something I need to try to finish. It's a surprise!
Like I said, this blog was started to share my journey through Genealogy. I've taken a few research trips over the years and have taken lots of photos. It's hard to share all of them through the blog itself so something else that I decided to do was to create my own YouTube Channel. I take the photos and videos I capture, and create small interesting videos to share. It really brings everything to life. As time goes on, I am hoping to take more trips, and once I do I will be making and uploading more videos. I will also be uploading family videos so they are preserved for years to come. Please take some time and visit my YouTube Channel & take a second to subscribe so you don't miss any uploads.
I know I've shared quite a bit of information with you. If anyone has any questions about the research I have done, or wants copies, or anything, please let me know. I am happy to share all my research with you, my family. My family is also your family. Love you all and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!
Thanksgiving has now passed here in the United States. We were able to spend time with wonderful friends and family... and eat lots of turkey haha! Since we have a bigger house now, we are able to host Thanksgiving. Although, our small apartment couldn't stop me from hosting before. But it is nice to have room for everyone without tripping over each other and the dog. Oh and a dishwasher! How I am so thankful for us now having a dishwasher! It's the little things I tell ya!
One tradition we started a few years ago is our Thankful Tree. I got the idea from Pinterest. Every day, each one of us takes a leaf, writes what we are thankful for on a piece of paper, attaches that to the leaf, then hangs it on the tree. Everyone participates, including guests who come over for dinner during the month of November. Every year, the tree looks different. I create it using sticks from our yard; arranging them in a vase.
My daughter, who is almost 15, loves doing this. She makes sure we don't forget to do our leaves by reminding us after dinner every night. I love seeing the things that she is most thankful for. They range from the normal teenager things like "YouTube", "Wi-Fi", "Dr. Pepper", etc. to the more heartwarming ones like, "Hugs from Mom", "Time with family", "My home", "Warm food to eat", etc. I am so thankful she is appreciating many things in life that can't be bought.
We still have two days left of doing our leaves, and because we've had many people come through our home this month, we have almost run out of leaves. While I was worried at first, I took it as a positive thing. That mean, we all have so many things to be thankful for. So many, that we are running out of leaves to write them on. I look at our tree, and it's so full, the leaves are falling off. I can definitely say, my heart is full this Holiday season. We are beyond blessed in so many ways.
So, what am I thankful for this year? I'm thankful for another year full of blessings. I'm thankful for my Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for my friends and family. I'm thankful for where my journey through genealogy has taken me. And I'm thankful for all of you.
The Thanksgiving holiday is almost here. Just a few days until we get to stuff ourselves with Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, different styles of vegetables, Cranberries, and then of course pie (Pumpkin, Apple, Pecan, etc.) Although many households have a mixture of different menu items, these are usually some of the basic staples that are included. That got me thinking: Was it always this way? How has the Thanksgiving Menu changed over the years? So I did a quick search to find out what was commonly served for Thanksgiving started back in the early 1900s.
These are two examples of typical menus from 1905. These copies are from the "Fannie Farmer's Cookbook, 'What To Have For Dinner' ". The first thing that cause my eye was the Oyster Stew on the first menu. Then on the second menu, the Clam soup and Halibut Rolls. What stands out to you?
Now onto a 1920s Thanksgiving Menu:
This menu still looks pretty similar to the menu above, maybe with a few differences. Again with the Oysters. Can you tell, I'm not a big fan of them. You can find this menu here.
Now, let's jump ahead to a 1938 Menu:
I see some difference in this one. Got some Cream of French Tomato Soup and Oxtail Soup. My dad loves Oxtail soup. Lobster Thermidor? Fascinating. But the main section is pretty close to what we have for our Thanksgiving. I can't imagine making all this food from scratch just for one meal.
Ok let's look at a 1942 Thanksgiving Menu:
There is considerably less food listed on this menu. Don't forget this is when the war started, so rations would be put in place. As the war went on, food was rationed even more. Items included Sugar, Butter, Meat, etc. People would have to get creative with their cooking.
Moving on to after the war, to a 1952 thanksgiving:
These menus are based on your size kitchen. Never seen that before. This is also the first menu where oysters were not served. Coffee was always served. Years ago, it was just as popular as soda is today. Wait, what is molded mincemeat salad? I'm afraid to ask.
Ok onto 1961. Let's see what they are serving for Thanksgiving:
Not too much is different. Some of the more exotic (at least to me) items are not here anymore. Looking at the different varieties of the sides really makes me feel plain. Most we do these days is open a can of vegetables and heat them up. I haven't seen a mushroom green bean casserole anywhere yet. hmmm....
Ok moving on to 1970s. I was having troubles coming up with some menus for that time, but I found this one from Amtrak:
From here on, I couldn't find any particular menus for the 1980s on. I was born in 1982 and I remember my Thanksgivings including Turkey, Stuffing, Carrots, Peas, Cauliflower with cheese, sliced pears with cherry cream cheese, cranberries, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy and pies.
As you can see, some menu items have been passed down through the years. Some have disappeared while others have been added. Whatever you decide to serve for Thanksgiving, may you be surrounded by friends and family that bring you much joy and happiness.
You read that title right! If you have been following along with my research recently, you will see I've been trying to put together the story of my 2nd Great Uncle, William Ilg. Since the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I was coming, I decided to find out as much as I can about him. He was killed in action three days before the end of the war. So we were also remembering the day he gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. I spent a good couple of weeks learning everything I could about his life from beginning to end.
Sadly, his military record was destroyed in the 1973 fire at the St. Louis National Records office along with millions of other soldier's records. So, I've also been working hard to recreate his military file. My research has taken me down a path of discovery for sure. Yet, even with all I have uncovered, I have not found a picture of him. All I have is his headstone. The headstone was provided by the government since he was a veteran of World War I. I've been able to collect records from Ancestry, Family Search, Fold3, the Missouri State Archives and the National Records office in St. Louis. I was able to copy his burial case file from the National Records office. That file contained more information than I ever thought I would find. His burial information during and after the war, information about his body, his service, etc. There is still information I can look up the next time I go back in regards to rosters and such.
For Veteran's day, I was able to visit his grave at Mount Olive Cemetery to put flowers down. I also visited the World War I memorial at Jefferson Barracks, also known as the Gold Star Court of Honor memorial. Here is a short video I made about the day:
Now, I told you all this information first to lead up to the big news. While we were at Jefferson Barracks, I was talking with my husband and friends about the Purple Heart Memorial that was right next to the Gold Star Court of Honor Memorial. I was under the impression that only those that were wounded during war received the medal. I did not know those who were killed in war were also eligible. I have no clue if William's mother, Pauline Ilg, ever received a Purple Heart for her son since his record was destroyed. But now, I'm curious.
I talked with a friend of my dad's who is in the local VFW. He explained to me the process of trying to get copies of medals for a soldier that has passed on. It sounds like a pretty easy process, but I know anything having to do with the government is not easy. But I am sure going to try. So as of right now, I do not know if I will receive a copy of a medal for him or not. I will definitely update as soon as I know. So check back later... we may have a huge event to celebrate.
Wow, it sure is cold today! What is this weather? It just seems too cold for fall. It feels almost like winter. You know, thinking about the weather and the time of year it is, we are fast approaching the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I (otherwise known as The Great War). Great Grand Uncle William served in that war in 1918. He was at the battle of the Meuse-Argonne. The weather during that time was cold, wet, rainy, foggy.... all around miserable. Can you imagine what Uncle William felt like during those last few days? Brrr…. What's that? You don't know about Uncle William? Well, grab some hot cocoa and come sit with Auntie Jen. Let me tell you the story of Great Grand Uncle William otherwise known as Willie.
Up until I started researching our family in 2012, no one knew who Great Grand Uncle William Ilg was or that he even existed. He is the brother of Great Grandpa Joseph Ilg. But because he died so long ago, no one knew him. Great Grandpa Joe never talked about him as far as I know, because Grandma Ruth never mentioned anything to us. I only learned about him from the little date book Grandma Ruth gave me before she passed. His name was mentioned in the book. That's how I found out he was killed in World War I. Here let me show you. Be careful though, this is a very old book and the pages are falling apart.
Who are all these people, you ask? These are all his brothers and sisters. He was the 4th child of Great Great Grandpa and Grandma Ilg but the oldest of the surviving children. What do I mean by that? Well, Great Great Grandma Pauline had a total of nine children, but only four of them survived childhood. All of Willie's siblings before him had died and he had two more siblings pass away after him as well. See, Great Great Grandpa and Grandma Ilg were poor. Very poor. They could barely afford a place to live, nor could they afford food. They lived in the Carondelet area, which had the nickname "Vide Poche". That translates into "empty pockets" in French. With being so poor, it's not surprising illnesses ran rampant through the family. One of his siblings even died of starvation. Amazingly, Willie survived. If that wasn't bad enough, tragedy struck the family in 1901. Willie's father died in an accident at his job at the Provident Chemical Works factory. Grandma Ruth told me the story one time. She said he was operating a piece of machinery that required two operators. The story goes that the other operator slipped and caused a piece of machinery to come down and crush Great Great Grandpa's head. I know, so tragic.
Willie was only 7 years old when he lost his father and his mother was still pregnant with his youngest brother. He and his surviving brothers were obviously too young to work, so things just got worse. Doing research one day at the library, I found a newspaper article in the Carondelet News about Willie and his family, asking for help. It still breaks my heart to this day. Let me think, yeah it was published right around this time in 1903. Right around winter time and Christmas. Oh, Christmas... Soon you will be making a list for Christmas. Probably will include things like an Amazon gift card, the new iPhone, maybe some CDs, things like that. Willie was probably hoping for food. Or coal to keep warm. Maybe a blanket. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it? Poor Willie. I think... yeah I have a copy of that article right here.
I know, I felt the same way after reading this. So heartbroken. It didn't stay this way forever though. Although I'm sure it felt like it would. Great Great Grandma Pauline got married again to a man named Jacob John Baumgartner. I have to say, I'm not sure which name was his first name, cause the documents kept going back and forth, so we will just call him John. This is where I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I can only speculate. I don't think Pauline's marriage to John was a good one, sadly. In 1910, they were all living together at one address on Tesson in Carondelet. By 1916, Pauline is living at a different address with Willie and her three sons on Virginia Ave. in Carondelet. So I think they separated. I've found no proof of divorce yet, but I'm still looking. I know John was still alive at this point cause I found his death certificate from 1938. It still only mentions his first wife and that's who he was buried with. Pauline took her original last name of Ilg. The whole situation makes me wonder, but that's all I can do right now... it is a wonder.
So now Willie, being the oldest, is supporting his family. It is 1917. He is 22 now and working as a cook and bartender. He also worked during the summer at Mannion's Park there on Broadway as a waiter. What's Mannion's Park? It's an old theme park. Yes! I was surprised too, to learn they had an amusement park in Carondelet. So I guess it runs in the family. I used to work at Six Flags in Eureka during the summer. I wasn't a waiter though. I didn't want food service, haha! Sorry, I was chasing a rabbit there. Anyway, Willie has been working since at least the age of 17. Can you imagine? Being 22, and having to not only support yourself, but your mother, who is partially blind, and your three brothers as well. Do you know any 22 years old doing that? Great Grand Uncle Otto was the second oldest child but was unable to work for some reason. How do I know that? Well, sadly this would be the year Otto passed away from Pneumonia. On his death certificate, it states he was unable to work; that he helps at home. This was right before the time the 1918 Spanish Flu ran rampant throughout the world. Poor Uncle Otto. And poor Uncle Willie. He was the informant on the death certificate. I can't imagine going through that pain again, of losing a sibling. But he was the man of the family, so you have to do what you have to do. Anyway, he didn't have much time to grieve. He had bigger fish to fry. Cause Willie would soon be drafted for World War I; otherwise known as "The Great War".
By now, the war had been going on for three years. The U.S. didn't declare war on Germany until April 6, 1917. After intercepting a message sent from Germany to Mexico asking to form an alliance against the US, President Woodrow Wilson thought it was time to step up and fight. And when that was decided, the Selective Service Act went into effect; otherwise known as the draft. Oh gosh, my heart would just drop. I can't imagine how Great Great Grandma Pauline felt. Knowing there was a possibility that her sons could be drafted. When the draft was enacted, Willie was forced to register. I saw newspaper articles threatening police involvement if anyone tried to avoid registering. What could Willie do? He had to register. Great-grandpa Joe and Great uncle John were still too young to register at that time. Willie was hoping he could claim hardship and not have to serve in the war. On his draft card, he stated that he was the "sole support of Mother". You want to see a copy of that card? Here you go. There is information on the front and back.
The first lotto occurred around June of 1917. Willie must have been relieved when his number wasn't called. He could go on living his normal (or close to normal) life. I wish that could be where my story ended. But it doesn't, cause there was another draft coming in 1918. And this time around, they weren't so lenient. In June 1918, there was a second lotto, and this time, Willie wouldn't be exempt. The US Army was in serious need of soldiers, so some that were exempt before, were not exempt this time, except for serious circumstances. I've had a hard time finding out what his draft number was, but I believe it was 774. I found the List of Men Ordered to Report for Duty for 1917-1918. His name was listed with the order number being 774. So Willie would look for that number in the newspaper.
During my research, I came across more articles talking about the draft. This included photos of the draft. I also found some vintage videos on YouTube. Here let me show you. It really makes it seem more real.
The draft began in the morning on June 5th, 1918. It took hours for them to go through and draw the capsules out of the bowl. When it as all said and done, it would be published in the newspaper. Willie would have been notified by mail that his number had been selected and was expected to report to his local board for service. Sadly, I don't have any of Willie's documents (except for his registration card I already showed you), but I did find a few samples online of what would have been sent out. Would you like to see them? These are possibly some of the documents Willie would have received.
So, William Christian Ilg was inducted into the U.S. Army on July 6, 1918, at Jefferson Barracks. Just after the fourth of July celebration. The days leading up to him leaving must have been miserable for Great-Great Grandma Pauline. Helping her son pack. Discussing the plans with him. Him telling her what she needs to do while he is gone. Her saying she will be praying for him. I'm sure many tears were shed as she hugged her son with the intent of never wanting to let go. He probably spoke with his brothers, preparing them to be the men of the house now and to take care of mom. Great-grandpa Joe would have to get a job and look after the family now. Willie probably told his family he would write them the soonest chance he got. As he walked off, I'm sure Great Great Grandma Pauline cried, wondering if she would ever see her baby again. And just like that, he was gone. Off to serve his country. Off to War.
According to the List of Men Ordered to Report that mentioned earlier, He was ordered to report to his Jefferson Barracks for induction, then he would be off to Union Station to take the train to Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas. I wondered what was going on in his head as he left his family. Was he scared? Was he excited? Worried? Sad? I wonder if he had some friends that were drafted with him. The train ride took quite a while. Probably making stops along the way, picking up more soldiers. All before their final destination. Once arriving at Camp MacArthur, he probably didn't have much time to get settled in before training began. Training took a little less than 12 weeks, which was the standard. Here are some photos I found of Camp MacArthur during that time. Camp MacArthur was also known as "Tent City"; you can see this from the photos. The living conditions were pretty primitive as most of the men lived in those tents. Yes next time you have to do laundry, maybe you won't complain. How would you like to do laundry like that? But this would be luxurious compared to what was ahead.
Now from this point, most of what I tell you is based on my research of soldiers in World War I and the facts about his unit. I can only speculate his feelings through this whole ordeal. After training, they would have taken a train up to New York for the next leg of their trip. Willie boarded the S.S. France from New York at Pier 86. Embarkment began on September 25 at 1:30 pm until 5:07 pm, then resumed on September 26 at 10:25 am until they finished at 11:45 am. Finally, at 3:35 pm on September 26, 1918, they began their journey. From what I've learned, the journey would have taken approximately 8 days to get from New York to France. I bet the sight of the Statue of Liberty was a beautiful sight. A reminder why Willie was going to fight. I wonder if he stood on the deck as they sailed away. I wonder if he ever got seasick. I've never been out on the ocean for that long on a ship that big. I do love being on the water, but I don't know how I would have handled it. The anxiety alone of knowing where I was heading and what I was about to face would be torturous enough. I wonder how they passed the time.
Approximately 8 days later, they would arrive in France, then probably take another form of transportation to their next destination. Train most likely. I've had quite a bit of difficulty trying to trace where Willie would have been. On the few military records I do have for him it lists a few different Companies and Units he was a part of. It was hard enough trying to find out which Division he was in. Most of all the information having to do with the battle was divided up by Divisions first. Once I learned what Division he was in, that made it somewhat easier. First, he was part of the 83rd division, then he was part of the 5th Division, also known as the “Red Diamond” Division because of their Red Diamond Shoulder insignia. Since Willie was part of the Replacement Infantry, he came into the Division after they were already in France fighting. First, he was listed with Company E 49th Infantry, then with Company I 11th Infantry.
Not much is known about these particular Companies and infantries. I've gone through some morning reports and read up on some of the battles they fought in. Here is just a little information I dug up about the 5th Division:
On September 16, 1918, they “...moved by road and bus to the Argonne front and went into the attack on October 12th east of Montfaucon. The division continued in the attack until October 22d when it was relieved by the 90th Divison, and was withdrawn to the vicinity of Malancourt. On October 27th the division was again brought into the attack southwest of Brieulles, crossed the Meuse river and took Dun-sur-Meuse...” Source
According to a Newspaper article, Willie had written home to his mom about his fighting during this time. Gosh, I so wish I had a copy of that letter. I would have loved to have read, in his own hand, his experiences over there. Now I could continue to bore you with facts and details about the war and his Division which would never give you the full effect of what Willie went through “over there”. Although, I did find a video on YouTube that is a recreation of the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne. Have a look.
Doesn't that just speak volumes? I can't imagine anyone going through that. But look how excited the soldiers were when they announced the end of the War. The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and was put into effect at 11 am. That's it! The war was over. And the 5th Division had such an important role in the final push. By Armistice Day, the 5th Division had advanced further east than any other Allied division. I've got a copy of the Map from the Research Library in St. Louis to show you. See? Look at the spot that says 5th and you can see their line is the farthest.
The celebrations at home began as soon as the Armistice was announced. Parades, dancing, singing, etc. Here is a copy of a newspaper article from the Cardondelet News dated November 15, 1918. I got this copy from the Carondelet Historical Society. It talks about the celebrations going on in Willie's hometown.
Can you imagine how Great Great-grandma Pauline felt, hearing the news? Being woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of noisemakers, yelling, celebrating, etc. Thinking, “Oh my gosh, my son will be coming home...” That last line in the article really got to me. "Never again will a nation so thoroughly celebrate any occasion unless it is when the two million young American soldiers return to their homes."
Why do I look so sad? Well... There is something I haven't told you yet. Great Grand Uncle Willie was killed in action, Today, 100 years ago, November 8, 1918 – 3 days before the end of the war. I can only speculate based on information I have found, that he was shot in the face. In one report, it states his skull was fractured and his upper jaw was missing. I know, it's so awful to think about. I pray he didn't feel anything. When I went to the Soldier's Military Memorial Museum, one quote from a soldier states that you couldn't poke your head out of the trenches because once you did, it was just a mess of what sounded like machinegun fire. Could it be that when Willie stepped out of the trench to fight he was killed instantly? That's a possibility. As of right now, I do not have any reports of what happened. Again, all I can do is speculate from what I do have.
So he would never be part of the end of the war celebrations we saw in that video. He would never come home... And what's worse, Great Great Grandma Pauline would not find out until over a month later. Since the announcement of the end of the war, she would be expecting to hear from her son any day to tell her he was coming home. This whole time, she was waiting for the moment to finally hug her baby again. That moment would never come. On December 20, 1918, it was published in a few newspapers announcing those who were killed in action. Here I have a few newspaper clippings.
This would be the worst Christmas present that Great Great Grandma Pauline has ever received. After all the heartache she has been through in her life already. She now has lost another son. Willie gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. With this war going on, there wasn't much they could do with the dead, so they got buried right where they fought. I got copies of Willie's Burial Case File, which explained more than I ever thought about what happened after he died. I was able to hold these original documents in my hand. The same documents Great Great Grandma Pauline held and signed. It was humbling for sure. I will have to show you the copies I got. As you can see from this paper, Willie was buried on November 12, 1918, at the brow of the hill, north of Liny. He was buried in his uniform with one dog tag and his mess kit. For identification purposes. Then one of his dog tags was placed on a cross marking his burial location.
Once the war was over, the military decided to give the soldiers a more proper burial. Willie was disinterred on July 10th, 1919 to be moved to the Argonne American Cemetery (#1232) in Romagne, Meuse, France. He was buried in a pine box this time. Still in uniform, but "badly decomposed" as the paperwork stated. He was in Grave #29, Sec. #60, Plot #1. A lot of soldiers are still buried over there to this day. Willie was one of the lucky ones to have had his remains shipped back home to be by his family. Great Great Grandma Pauline decided she wanted her son home by her. It took three years before they could start sending the soldiers back. But at least he was coming home.... just not in the way anyone had hoped. Here is a copy of the card she filled out to have her son brought back to her. Yes, this is one of the original documents I held in my hands.
So once again, Willie was disinterred (a gentle way of describing the fact they were digging up his remains again) on July 25, 1921. His remains had quite a journey before he arrived home. He was sent by rail to Antwerp, Belgium on August 11, 1921. He was to take a ship home from there. He arrived on August 12, 1921, then had to wait to be shipped back to the United States. Finally, he was loaded on September 19, 1921, on a ship called the "U.S.A.T Wheaton". They set sail on September 20, 1921, carrying Willie along with many other soldiers who lost their lives. They arrived 13 days later in Hoboken, New Jersey on October 3, 1921, at Pier 4. He would then be transported by train. Trains were the best forms of transportation during this time. He left New York on October 10, 1921, at 10:05 am on the Pennsylvania Railroad and arrived just a day later, on October 11, 1921. He was to be picked up by Joseph Fendler & Son Undertaking, so he could be prepared for his burial.
They would have a visitation at Fendler Chapel on Michigan Ave in Carondelet, then they would have the funeral itself at St. Boniface Catholic Church. The same church that Willie had attended when he was a young boy for church and for school. Once the funeral was over, he would be then taken to Mount Olive Cemetery on Lemay Ferry for a proper military funeral. He was buried right next to his brother, Uncle Otto.
Willie was finally home... and laid to rest for the final time. Because of his sacrifice, along with other brave men, we won World War I. I know he would have rather have stayed home to take care of his family, but he protected his family in the best way he could by standing up to fight. I know his death really shook the family. For so long, he was the one that the brothers looked up to. He was the one Great Great Grandma Pauline relied on. He was practically the glue that held the family together. I know the family was never really the same again. He is honored by the City of St. Louis in the Soldier's Military Memorial Museum downtown. His name appears on the memorial dedicated to the St. Louis native soldiers who gave the Ultimate Sacrifice in World War I. In 1924, a local group in St. Louis called the Gold Star Mothers began a project to honor the St. Louis sons and daughters who had made the ultimate sacrifice during the war. They created the Court of Honor. The memorial featured a bronze plaque for each fallen St. Louisan bearing the individual's name, rank, unit, the branch of service and cause of death. The memorial has since been destroyed due to urban development, but many of the plaques still exist and are housed at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Great Great Grandma would have been a member of this group and would have shown her support by wearing a yellow star on her sleeve. Here is a photo I found of the Court of Honor in 1919 when the soldiers came home from war. This is where they would eventually place those plaques.
Great Great Grandma Pauline died a few years later and was buried right next to both of her sons. William is the only one who has a headstone out of the three. That is because it was provided by the military for free. The family was still very poor and couldn't afford to place a headstone for Uncle Otto or Great Great Grandma Pauline. Great Grandpa Joe filled out the request in 1931 for Willie to have a headstone. And that is the one that is placed there today. Today there are other family members buried there including Pauline's other son, John, and his wife, Leona, and John's two children. At least Great Great Grandma Pauline is surrounded by family.
Looking through some old photos that were given to me, I came across this one. There are what appears to be three soldiers on a train. I looked at the back and it had written on it: "Taken in Marshfield, MO Sept. 18 - 1918 - about 5:00 pm". That date fits within the time period he would have been traveling. So it's possible, Willie is in this photo. Unfortunately, I do not know which one he is. And this is the only known photo I have.
I think it is very important to make sure he is remembered for the sacrifice he gave. So I tell you the story of him today, so hopefully, you can pass it down to your family. In that way, he will live on forever. And his sacrifice will not have been in vain.
What do you say we go and visit him at Mount Olive Cemetery? Go lay some flowers down at his grave? Come on, let's go.
Sources:
Family Date Book
Carondelet News
Missouri Marriage Records
St. Boniface Church Records
St. Louis City Directories
Missouri Death Records
World War I Draft Registration Cards
St. Louis Post Dispatch
St. Louis Star and Times
YouTube
Various Website Relating to World War I
List of Men Ordered to Report
Map of Meuse-Argonne Offensive
William's Burial Case File
Pictures were either provided by Me or found on the Internet
I know what you are thinking. "You can't get more accurate than a family date book that has dates recorded by the family themselves. Recorded by the ones whom the dates apply to. People don't record their own records incorrectly!" Or do they? Well let me tell you what I've learned.
I've told the story about how my Grandma Ruth Wheeler gave me boxes of photos back in 2012. Along with those photos, she had a Family Date Book that had been passed down since the early 1900s. I thought I had hit a gold mine! Birth dates, Death dates, Marriages, Parents, Children, Immigration, etc. So much information! This was also the start of my obsession with family research. I took the book, photographed each page, then put it away. It was already falling apart and I didn't want to destroy this treasure. It is now packed away with some other special photos.
Once I had the photos uploaded to my computer, I poured over them. Reading each page over and over again. Some pages were written in German. Others in English. I started with entering the English information into a family tree. See the photos below for copies.
Over time I started collecting documents to back up this information. I'm deducing from the information that the two authors were my 2nd Great Grandma, Pauline Ilg nee Kimmerle and my Great grandma Margaret "Honey" Ilg nee Buer. The information written in German I believe was written by Pauline as she was from Germany. Then I believe it was translated later and rewritten by Honey. If it wouldn't have been for Pauline documenting the births and deaths of her children, I wouldn't have found the documents supporting this information. And honesty, at the time when I found this, I didn't think I needed any other supporting documentation. I had the same thoughts as I wrote at the beginning of this entry. You can't get more accurate than this. Who am I to question this? They were present at these events, so to me that dictates this is true. I mean why would they lie? Boy was I in for a surprise. The first crack in my foundation was the marriage between Joseph Ilg and Margaret "Honey" Buer (One of my authors). Their marriage date was listed in the book as July 23, 1919 and the location being Detroit, Michigan. See Photo. I also had other photos from anniversaries, with years and milestones written on them. Everything I got from my family backed up this information.
Left: Page from date book listing their marriage information
Right: Family celebrating Joseph & Honey's 25th Wedding Anniversary
(Year written on back of photo)
After I added the information into my family tree, I started getting hints about documents linked to my family. The first thing that conflicted with my information was the 1920 census. Joseph and Honey were both listed, but listed separately and single in St. Louis, Missouri. Joseph lived with his mom and brother, and Honey was listed as living with her grandma, Maggie Helfrich. At this point, I am still new to all this, so I didn't know what to make of it. They were supposed to already be married and in Detroit, Michigan. Their child, my grandma's birthdate was September 9, 1920 and she was born in Detroit, Michigan. By this information, they should be there. What the heck?!
1920 US Federal Census for Margaret "Honey" Buer
1920 US Federal Census for Joseph Ilg
So I decided I needed some help. I had joined a group called GAA (Genealogy Addicts Anonymous) in hopes of learning more. I posted my query to them, asking if anyone could find a marriage record for them. Within minutes, a gentleman found their marriage record. GREAT! He told me it was at FamilySearch.org. The location was definitely Detroit, Michigan, but he said the date I had listed was wrong. The date of the marriage record was July 23, 1920. Wait, what? 1920? Not 1919? What the.... OH!!! They got pregnant out of wedlock! They got married after Honey turned 17, and had my grandma just two months later. That's why they went to Detroit, Michigan. To hide the truth of what happened.
What a crazy find. I do not know how many people knew this fact, if any. I do not even know if my grandma knew the truth about her parents. So the incorrect data that was recorded, was done purposefully. Great... OK that's just one thing... Doesn't mean the whole book is wrong does it? Doesn't mean there is something else wrong. Well...
The second crack in my foundation came just recently. I wrote about it in another blog post. I have had a hard time tracing my 2nd and 3rd great grandmas and their lives, mainly in Tennessee. In the family date book, it lists the birthdate of my 2nd great grandma Oma, born to Logan and Maggie Dennis. It also mentions Maggie's birthdate. Then it talks about Maggie and Oma leaving Tennessee, and coming to St. Louis, in Oct 1890, and marrying Jacob Helfrich. That's it. No marriage date for Logan and Maggie or even for Jacob and Maggie. This has been my brick wall since I started my research. Since I've written blog posts about this, I won't go deep into it. The big surprise came when I found the divorce record for Maggie and Logan. It mentions Maggie's "adopted child" with the same age as Oma. It also states Maggie does not have any child of her own. What?? So that means my 3rd great grandma is not related to us by blood. So once again, the family date book is wrong. It states Logan and Maggie had 1 child Oma. Not true. See the three photos below.
Both are pages from the family date book that state Maggie had 1 child, Oma, with Logan
Maggie's divorce record from Logan stating she has no child of her own.
Those were the two huge discrepancies in my family date book. Those were enough for me to call into question all the data that was written in English. As stated before, I believe it was written by Honey. To be fair, the last discrepancy, Honey may not have known about. So she may have written it thinking it was true. But that also means, anything my family has said and passed down, may not be true. I am having to look at all this in a whole new light. My mom has confirmed her side of the family was big on hiding the truth. So I have to be more skeptical when information is given to me by others on that side of the family, unless they have some documentation to back it up.
I did find a few more errors when it was translated from the German to the English. They did not include the names of the villages the family came from. Only the general area. I had to go back to the German pages to find the names.
Left: The pages written in German that actually list the villages they came from
Right: The watered down English translation omitting the villages
As you can see, just because you have a family date book that includes all the information you could ever want, it still needs to be verified by documentation. This is information is written by a fallible human being. Mistakes can be made, information transcribed wrong, or purposefully misleading. Don't be discouraged. The Genealogical Proof Standard has been extremely helpful in my research. It teaches you how to reconcile information that does not match and how to determine how much you should trust the source. If you haven't gotten a copy, I recommend you picking one up today. Don't give up if you have run into a snag. Just go over all your sources and determine if the information you received was reliable. Whether from another Ancestry member or a direct Family member, it could be wrong. So always live by the phrase: PROVE IT!
