Auntie Jen's Family Trees: 2025

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

On this day in history: Two Brothers Killed by Gasoline Fumes

Research can lead you down many paths. I'm always excited to make new and interesting discoveries. But what really makes me stop and do a double-take is when I find something related to my research on or right near the date it occurred in history. I've experienced this in the past while researching for friends and clients. And it just happened again! It feels like I was meant to discover what I was looking for on this date. Let me share with you what I found. This morning, I woke up to a message from a distant cousin asking for some photos of a relative, Thomas Fuchs, the brother of my Papa, George Fuchs. It's been a while since I last researched my Fuchs line, so I decided to check Newspapers.com for any new articles. They are always adding new papers and improving their OCR software. I knew Uncle Tom owned a few local taverns, and that fact was important for the articles I found.

In the search results for "Thomas Fuchs", an article came up about two brothers who were tragically killed by gas fumes. Oliver and Carl Behrens operated a filling station in Kirkwood, Missouri. They were checking out a fuel tanker to see if there was any gas left in it. Oliver was overcome by the gas fumes and fell in headfirst. His brother went to get help before trying to climb in to save his brother. According to the newspaper articles, Carl ran to the local tavern, owned and operated by none other than Thomas Fuchs. And who else was in the tavern at that time? My Papa, George Fuchs. My Papa ran with Carl back to the filling station to help him try to get his brother out. Unfortunately, Carl was also overcome by the fumes, passing out and becoming dead weight. My Papa tried pulling him back out, but couldn't. Both Oliver and Carol succumbed to the fumes.
I can't imagine how my Papa must have felt. He was trying so hard to help. He was interviewed by police about the incident: "I could hear him coughing and gasping for breath, but I couldn't pull him up and the others because of the smallness of the opening. Suddenly I felt him grow limp and then he seemed to get heavier and heavier. Sweat ran from my arms onto his wrists and finally he slipped away. I guess I must have held on about five minutes." George Fuchs, St. Louis Post Dispatch

What a tragic loss of life—a horrible accident. My Papa did everything he could to help. To top it all off, the date of the newspaper article I found was June 3, 1937. This article was published 88 years ago yesterday, and they reported that the accident happened the night before, around 9:30pm. June 2... my Papa's 25th birthday. What are the odds that I would go looking for more information about Thomas Fuchs, my Papa's brother, today and find this article?

Carl and Oliver Behrens are both buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kirkwood, the same as my Papa. But unfortunately, their graves are unmarked. You can read the articles about the incident below.

Tries to rescue brother in tank car; Thomas & George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com

Two Brothers Killed by Gasoline Fumes; George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com

Two Brothers Die from Gas Fumes; George Fuchs 03 Jun 1937, Thu The St. Louis Star and Times (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com

Another story to add to my collection. We are never done researching.

Friday, April 25, 2025

Surprise at my ECC Lecture on the GAR

Last night, I presented my lecture on the Grand Army of the Republic in Franklin County at East Central College here in Union. The turnout was good, probably the largest audience I've ever spoken to. More people were watching online, but I'm unsure how many. Everyone appeared to enjoy my presentation and showed great interest in my topic.

The majority of items on display were mine that I brought from home, except for a few badges that Mr. Glen Alsop was generous enough to bring to display. He is a member of the Francis Wilhelmi #17 Camp for the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW). He was also impressed by the badges I brought that belonged to Mark's 2nd Great-Grandfather, Charles McCullough; the reason I was interested in the Grand Army of the Republic in the first place.

But the biggest surprise came after my lecture, during the Q&A portion. Mr. Glen Alsop and Mr. Ron Burke presented me with two Encampment Badges from the 2021 SUVCW Bi-Centennial. I was beside myself to the point of tears. It made all the work and stress preparing for the lecture well worth it. That, and all the compliments I received. The coordinator, Sue Blesi, also invited me back to speak next year if I have a topic ready.

This was a significant moment for me. It was the first time I discussed the history of Franklin County in detail. Most of my knowledge centers around St. Louis County since that's where my family has been for years. I've always felt inadequate regarding Franklin County history. However, my goal was to demonstrate to myself and others that I am a skilled researcher. It's challenging to join an organization where everyone knows more than you about the history of the local area and then proceed to give a lecture on that area. It's safe to say I was overwhelmed. But I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I look forward to learning more about Franklin County and presenting it to the public.

Thank you to everyone who attended my lecture, and thank you to the SUVCW for their generous gift. Now that this is over, I can focus on some research I was asked to do for a few friends.

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

In Search of Civil War Veterans: Chiles Cemetery

It's a new year! Time for new adventures. I have been invited to give a lecture for the Local History Lecture Series at the East Central College here in Union. My topic is the Grand Army of the Republic in Franklin County, Missouri. In preparation for my lecture, I've been scouring newspaper articles and history books, which led me to an article about the first Decoration Day, or Memorial Day as we know it today, held in Union in 1888. This article listed the graves of Civil War veterans they visited and decorated. I was drawn to the group of names at the bottom of the article: Colored Soldiers. I was so happy to see they included a few of the local colored soldiers who fought bravely in the Civil War. (See the Article Below)

Post 344 observed Memorial Day - 3
Article from May 31, 1888 Union Record (Union, Missouri) Gar, Franklin county history

In honor of Black History Month, I decided today to take a trip to the cemetery where those colored soldiers were buried to pay my respects. This cemetery has been in use since the town was founded in the 1820s. The cemetery has been called by a few different names over the past years. In the newspaper, it was called "Old Cemetery". Locally, it was known as First (or Old) Union Cemetery, since it was the first cemetery. Then in 1848, the cemetery was transferred from Dr. Elijah McClean to John G. Chiles. It was sometime after that when it became known as Chiles Cemetery. There is now a sign at the entrance to the cemetery that says "Chiles Cemetery", but most locals still know it as Old Union Cemetery.

Chile's Cemetery 17 Feb 1955, Thu Franklin County Tribune (Union, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The cemetery is divided into two sections: the colored section, which is still in use today, and the white section, which supposedly hasn't been used since around the 1870s when John Buck purchased land to be used as Odd Fellows Cemetery, which is now known as the current Union Cemetery.

Chiles Cemetery
Image from Google Maps

I had never been to this cemetery before so I brought the President of the Franklin County Historical Society, Lynn Wagner with me. To my surprise, when we arrived I barely saw any headstones. When I looked up information on Find a Grave for this cemetery, it claimed they had almost 200 burials. Lynn and I saw maybe 20-25 headstones, and the majority of the older ones were completely unreadable. I was so disappointed. If I had more time, I would research the interments at this cemetery. That will have to wait.

I also talked with Kara, another Franklin County Historical Society member. She grew up in the area and was familiar with the cemetery. She said the part closer to the road was the colored cemetery, and the area further back was the white Cemetery. She also told me there were probably more headstones in the wooded area behind the cemetery, which doesn't surprise me. As Lynn and I looked around, some headstones were right on the tree line and we had speculated the same thing. Another local historian, Frank Jenny, also provided information about the transfer of the cemetery from Dr. McClean to Mr. Chiles.

As you can tell my pursuit of these graves was unsuccessful. I plan to contact the Franklin County Cemetery Association for information regarding some headstones damaged by a tree trimming incident. For now, I will move on to the next cemetery on my list: Union Cemetery also known as Odd Fellows Cemetery on Washington.

Below are some of the photos Lynn and I took at Chiles Cemetery. The links to the Find a Grave Cemetery Listings are also provided.

Can you identify any names?