Note: During World War II, the federal government for the first time sponsored an extensive number of research projects related to the national defense. Penn State received some research funds from Washington, but they were modest compared to the sums spent for personnel training. Most war research was carried on under the auspices of the Engineering Experiment Station or the Petroleum Refining Laboratory. In one of the more noteworthy investigations, a team of researchers developed a special high-altitude lubricant for aircraft engines. Another erected a climatometer at the thermal laboratories to test the effect of extreme heat and cold on building materials proposed for use by the Army and Navy. A third group of researchers sought to find a solution to the problem of hull cracking in Liberty ships, the transports built in record time to maintain America’s overseas lifelines
14 Jun 1943 Pennsylvania State College, State College, PA
My Dear Mom,
Oh Mother, take down your service flag, your son’s at P.S.C.
He’s not a’fighting battles like soldiers ought to be,
Instead he’s studying physics and swimming in a pool
Oh Mother, take down your service flag, your son’s gone back to school.
(Sung to the tune of “A rambling wreck from Georgia Tech).
Well, thank the Lord for little favors. I’m back north in God’s country where people are civilized. Penn State College at College Town, Pennsylvania, in the midst of mountains and things. I really think I got a break this time.
We started Sat. afternoon. Left Baton Rouge about 4:30 pm and rode all the way to PA in a Pullman. We arrived at Lewistown PA about 2:00 PM after a two-day ride which incidentally was quite a trip. I didn’t see very much of Mississippi but Kentucky was very interesting. I woke up in Paduca, KY and we ate supper in Louisville. Sunday, you can imagine how I felt when we crossed the Ohio river and I was riding through Indiana again. We stopped at North Vernon, Indiana for a while and there were about three or four Indiana girls on the platform. I started talking to them and as the train pulled out, I told them I wanted to touch an Indiana girl again since it had been 3 months, etc. etc. It was rather silly, I’ll admit, but one or two of them “blushingly” offered their hands and I touched them. Oh thrill, thrill! (Dumb, aren’t I?) We then crossed over into Ohio and I guess we hit Columbus early in the morning. Then the trip really started to get interesting. I woke up just outside of Pittsburg where you could hardly see for the smoke and the fog. We waited there a while to have our cars hooked onto another train and in the meantime we dropped into a Salvation Army mobile canteen where we were given coffee and doughnuts. Just as she (the lady in charge) started to pour coffee for us, we saw an engine start to hook onto our cars and we piled out of there in a hurry and ran across the tracks to get on. It was a false alarm since we didn’t leave for about 15 to 20 minutes later. I sure missed that coffee since I knew we don’t put chicory in it up here in the north. But we had breakfast on the diner later, so I got it. Incidentally, our two Pullman cars were hooked onto about 8 different trains with a different diner on each one. In fact, we ate each different meal either in a station restaurant or on a different diner. It “sho” was fun.
When we left Pittsburg, we really started to go around and in between hills and hollers. Boy, what country. I guess you’ve seen it. After nothing like flat Texas and flatter still LA with it’s swamps, etc., etc. It certainly did my heart good to see a bit of rolling terrain.
Well, we wound up in Lewistown, PA and then took a 30-mile bus ride to College Town. It was up one hill and down and down. You could first see a deep valley below and then a steep slope on the other side. That driver sure was maneuvering that bus like a bat out of that well known place. So finally, here I am, all ready to really get started.
We’re living in a Frat house, just as though we were regular college. We have our own cook, rooms, lounging room, in fact the “barracks” are really nice. The campus is just a few blocks away and after seeing a small part of it, I think I’m going to enjoy this place. They say it gets hot here, but nothing could be worse than Louisiana, I believe.
Now for the program. So far as I know, I’m studying to be an engineer. As yet, they haven’t given us a schedule, except a bunch of restrictions, etc. etc., which go with every Army post. We are cadets. In fact, this whole setup is going to resemble the West Point system since it seems we are “prospective officer candidates”. Soooo – I guess I’d better get on the ball and see what I can do about it. Everybody is reduced to the rank of private and gets paid as such. As far as that’s concerned, I haven’t lost anything and have everything to gain.
Gee, Mom, I ‘m really glad to be up North and more than glad to really get started on something. However, as far as liking to be in the Army and going to school, well, I’ll have to see if it mixes right for me. However, I think I’d better get used to it after laying around LSU for 6 weeks and just killing time.
Well, I hope this clears up a few things for you. I’ll let you know what’s going on concerning classes when they start.
Love, Bill
P.S. You can send those books of mine as soon as possible – Chem, Alg, Trig & Analyt. Geom. When you can; also my ring. I’ll write you again very soon and tell you more about all of this.
This wartime publicity photo, taken on the steps of the Electrical Engineering Building, graces the cover of the October 1943 Penn State Alumni News.
17 Jun 1943 P.S.C., College Town, PA
My Dear Mom,
Well…. I’m really back on school again and no kidding. We registered yesterday and went to our first classes this AM. My schedule called for 3 study periods from 8 until 11:00 and since I didn’t have any books as yet, I got excused and went to the GI bookstore. Boy, was I loaded down. I carted them around all morning and finally made it back to the house. I’ll show you my schedule.
Military Science – 5 hours/week
Chemistry – 6 hours/week (including lab)
Physics – 7 hours/week (including lab)
Math (Analytical Geometry) – 5 hours/week
History – 2 hours/week
English – 2 hours/week
Economic Geography – 1 hour/week
Physical training – 6 hours/week
Total = 35 hours/week
Add study evenings – 3 hours supervised except Sat. night – 18 hours/week
Add study periods during the day – 8 hours/week
Grand Total = 61 hours
Pardon me while I faint quietly.
Well, figuring a total of 168 hours in a week and subtracting 61 hours plus 52.5 hour sleeping (7.5 hours/night) I get 54.5 hours/week for eating and doing what I want to do. Divide by 7 (this includes Sat. from 12:00 noon till Sunday 7:30 pm), I have an average of 8 hours/day which in reality = 4.5 free hours per working day to eat and the rest on Sat and Sunday. So it seems I’m in for it. I only hope I can make out.
This afternoon, I had 4 hours of Physics (1 hour lecture and 3 hours lab). I got to working on a coefficient of expansion problem and I almost forgot I had a uniform on. It seemed rather funny being in the Army and working in a Physics lab measuring how much a rod of steel, brass and aluminum expanded when raised to a boiling temp. Oh well, I guess the Army knows what it’s doing. Do you realize I’m getting all this instruction, books, food and lodging free and getting paid $50/month, besides? I tell you, its the cheapest way of going to college I know and making money at that.
The only trouble is having to take the stuff and like it in such considerable mouthfuls. And I also wonder what the Army intends to do with those who do get by. Will it be for a longer period of the “duration plus six months”, or what? But I imagine they aren’t doing this just for the fun of it since we know it must be costing good old Uncle plenty. But here’s the way I feel about it. If I make out OK in spite of that schedule, I think I’ll have something those boys shooting the guns will never hope to have. In that case, I believe as long as I have the education nobody can take it away from me, and if the Army says I have to use it for the benefit of all concerned, well, orders are orders. However, what I’m writing is of course purely speculative because I think we all know by now that nothing is definite in the Army. Well, so much for that.
Last night was our last free weekday night so a couple of fellows here and I decided to go out and see what was of interest around here before we really got down to work. We’d seen the only show in town so instead we rented bikes and decided to see the campus on wheels. There was a tandem bike there so 2 of us got it and the other guy a single seater.
Boy, I really enjoyed ripping around over these hilly streets and walks on the campus. I’d never ridden a bicycle built for 2 before and it was quite an experience. We met some girls who wanted to ride too, so I rode the tandem with one of them. After a while, we got tired of that – girls can’t ride bikes anyway and help out much and our hour was up anyway, sooo – that was that. Oh yes, the girls went on their merry way and so did we. Nothing ventured, nothing won. Oh, but we had to be in early too, so I was thinking of these southern gals which seemed much more good looking and far away. Anyway, we had fun.
You know, I’d better quit and do some Chem. So it you can wait a couple of days, I’ll write some more.
Love, Bill
21 Jun 1943 P.S.C., College Town, PA
My Dear Mom,
After all the preliminary things that have happened around here, everything has settled down to just plain routine. I guess you’d call it a dull life almost although I’m not trying to make it so. It seems as if everything is centered around books and classes and assignments with little or no time for anything else. I wish I could get used to it sooner but I guess you know me well enough to realize that once I get going its hard to settle down and think of nothing but study and more classes. Can you imagine what it was like at LSU where we could go out every night and just mess around with a bunch of guys, or go into a good-sized town and see the sights? Of course, I’m not sorry I left Baton Rouge but having to sts y in 6 nights a week is not my idea of an enjoyable week. But I guess I’m just letting off steam, since I’ll have to get used to it. Speaking of books, I hope you can get mine off to me, or have already. Anyway, I want a few more things I find I’m going to need. First, if you can find my tennis shoes any place (I hope you haven’t gotten rid of them), send them because I’ll be needing a pair. Also, I believe I left a raft of Chem. notes from my freshman year lying around. If you can’t tell the difference, just wrap ‘em up with the rest of those papers and mail them because I’m surprised at how much I’ve forgotten in a year.
Mom, the finance dept. of this army is having a heck of a time keeping up with me, it seems. Here it is, 9 more days until pay dad and I haven’t even signed the payroll as yet. Doggone it. I hated to ask you for money last month and I did send some back, but if old Uncle forgets again this month, I’m really going to be in a mess. As it is, I’m going to have a heck of a laundry bill since we have to pay civilian prices, and since I’m buying that bond a month. I don’t know how its going to work out. It looks like I’ll have to go on a budget and I hate budgets. Well, I just thought I’d warn you, because it seems I’ve lost my scruples as far as asking you for money and that I imagine is bad, because I used to have such nice scruples. By the way, are those bonds coming in regular? Not that it makes much difference but I wondered if they were sending them home the same is my pay is coming to me!!
As far as the wimmen. Oh yes, the wimmen. Well, it turns out I went to a dance Sat nite and I met one or two. Its different here because you can take them home, because at USO dances, they’re chaperoned. So, I took one home (natural thing to do, isn’t it?). So, at the door (ahem) I said goodnight and asked when I could see her etc., etc. She lived in Ft. Wayne for a while and she said anytime I was lonesome to call her up. Well, I guess I haven’t been lonesome what with 50 guys running around this house every night. But, I might be next Sat night. We’ll see. Sunday, there was a picnic with gals (a definite shortage of them by the way) but I met one and now I have another possibility so that’s how it goes.
I guess ‘m going to find the old neighborhood slightly changed when I see it again. I guess I will maybe, because in another 11 weeks, I’ll have a week off. I’m counting them by the second.
Well, I’d better be looking at some physics problems. Please don’t forget those notes and stuff. Oh yes – at that picnic there was so much cake and food and free cigarettes, I was overwhelmed, especially when the colonel himself came up to us and said, “Don’t be bashful, boys, help yourself.” Boy, and I was going to hate to go back to the Army!! By the way, you can call me “cadet” Shelly if you wish on my letters. That’s what they call us here.
Love, Bill
23 Jun 1943 Penn State College, College Town, PA
My Dear Mom,
The books arrived today but I guess the ring will get here tomorrow or the next day. I can’t explain it, but the thought ran through my mind when I first started to leaf through them, that it seemed a different sort of person marked them up, problems assigned, etc., etc. When I stopped to think I was learning the same stuff I was taking 4 or 5 months ago, I also realized the extreme change in conditions surrounding that teaching. I wonder, have 4 months meant so much to me that I might have changed from somebody who was going to college in a rather free and easy way (and it was free and easy when I realize it) to somebody who is now playing for keeps, so to speak? However, as you can imagine, the actual realization of being back in college regardless of the circumstances has not really soaked in as much as it should. Not that I don’t care anything about it, but when I left college and home to go to the Army, I really hadn’t the faintest idea I would ever by back so soon. Now that it has happened, I’m just a bit overwhelmed. But, I’m getting used to it. I often wonder what some of the boys overseas would say if they knew what we were going through. Whether our mental effort equals their physical and mental efforts would be rather hard to compare in a strict sense of the word. But I’ve been in the Army long enough to realize a lot of queer unexplainable things happen so I guess I’d better not let that bother me. Orders are Orders and they really draw no favorites. Anyway, after all this palaver, I wan to thank you for sending the notes. Those books will really come in handy.
I also got a letter from Jim Greene. He told me he’d been home and that he saw you. Needless to say, I wish I could have been in this place but that’s how it goes. He also said Greencastle isn’t the place it used to be with all the guys gone, but who wants to see men only. I’ve seen almost all the men I’d like to, right here.
Well, another thing and then I’ll dip into the realms of theory and mathematics. Chem test tomorrow. My company is now Company D – D as in dog. Same Barracks and A.S.T.P (Army Specialized Training Program). Also, State College is just a bit smaller than Greencastle. One theater, plenty of people on Sat. night – and yet its got about 6000 people. It’s a very nice town, or Borough, as they call it. Houses are well kept and very picturesque. It sets in a dip like plateau with a ridge of foothills all around. They call them mountains, but I’ve seen the Andes!
Oh yes, if you want a definite statement on my financial condition, I’d say it was rather low. I’m saving all I can (except cigs) and I’ll have enough to pay this week’s laundry. After that I guess I’ll have to bum cigs. The laundry will get here Friday so draw your own conclusions as to what I’m going to do next week. I wonder, though, just how your situation is at the end of the month if you had to feed Jim’s kids and his wife. If you wish to dip in the till and juggle the books for me, if possible, why go right ahead. (I hate to do laundry by hand!!). But seriously, I will be needing some next week because I can’t go without some sort of collateral.
Anyway, see Gege and see if she can’t spare some this time.
So long, love and kisses and lots of the last two, Bill
P.S. Please don’t deprive yourself of anything just to send me some dough. I’ll get along here OK. If you can’t spare it, I’ve got friends I think who would lend me some dough. I mean it.
This is the second installment of my father’s letters to his mother sent during his time in the Army during World War II. He left bootcamp (Camp Swift, Texas) after being one of 21 (out of 150) to pass the 3 hour Army Technical Training School test, and his interview with a board of officers (1 major and 8 first lieutenants). He traveled by train to Louisiana State University (LSU, “Geaux Tigers”) and stayed in makeshift barracks situated below the bleachers of the football stadium. As you will see from his letters, this was a frustrating time, primarily because he did not know what he was going to be doing or where he was going for about 6 weeks. In addition, since he moved from Camp Swift just before pay day and his pay was not forwarded, he was virtually broke most of the time he was there. Despite that, he was able to use his time wisely, primarily dancing the jitterbut at the local USO’s with the beautiful women on campus.
“There are ghosts on the LSU Parade Ground. You have only to close your eyes, and visions of massed troops in World War II uniforms pass in review – and behind the, bringing up the rear, are long lines of soldiers in LSU gray. These images stretch back over a hundred years, back to a distant past.
“This broad, level field in front of Memorial Tower in the heart of the campus, indeed, is hallowed ground – a memorial to the veterans of this nation’s armed forces – a place of tribute to absent comrades. It is a place where the past, the present, and the future come together in overlapping generations and overlapping memories.
“It is a special place – this parade ground with the American flag snapping and popping in the breeze – this well-trampled field surrounded by sentinels of live oaks. It is a sacred place – a place of dreams of things that were and dreams of things that might be – a place where generations of students in times of peace prepared for war and in times of war went forth to lead in every branch of this nation’s armed forces.”
LSU Campus, Baton Rouge, LA
21 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
I got a letter from Cpl. Jimmy Greene today which practically ruined the day for me. I suppose you know it by now, but Keith Lyons has gone AWOL again. I guess it will really go bad for him this time since it seems his dad talked the CO out of any punishment the first time. It’s too bad he couldn’t make it. But do you remember, up in Michigan? DePauw – his first semester as a Freshman, then I.U., etc. etc. This time he should have known you can’t just get up and walk out of this man’s Army when the going gets tough. I don’t feel sorry for him this time, I’m just disgusted. Even though he wasn’t the type to be in the infantry, he shouldn’t have done what he did. But what can we do about it?
Mother, I’ve got something to tell you. When I stopped to think about it the other day, I wondered just what was cooking back home and I mean literally. Since I’ve been here in camp you have sent me the following:
1 box of cookies
2 pairs underwear, w pairs socks plus other items such as hangers, bed slippers, etc.
Now, when I’ve all the wonderfully unseasoned Army chow before me every day, I often wonder what some of your cooking would taste like in comparison. So, I just wondered what was wrong, is rationing hitting you too hard, or are you out of money, or just how could I convince you that I would give 3 chances at shooting a Jap at 50 yards, dead center, just to taste some of your devil’s food cake, even if it was 3 or 4 days old. I can get all the socks and stuff I need to clothe me in an Army Store when I go to town, but I sure can’t get any of your home cooking. So please, if it’s not asking too much, send me something tasteful. Ah’s starving!!
Love, Bill
26 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
Well, sweetheart, the time has come. I’m going to be leaving camp soon, I can’t tell you how soon but it’s official and I ain’t kidding. It seems I was approved by that terrifying interview board and this lad is practically on his way back to college. In fact, I’ll be in college for a 3 months course. Isn’t that wonderful? So, you know what to expect of you don’t hear from me for a few days. As yet I don’t know what college I’m going to or what I’m going to be specially trained in. Anyway, don’t write any more letters to Camp Swift after you get this one or until you hear from me. However, I think I’ll be trained in either chemical warfare or Survey for Field Artillery. And the best part is, if I pass the exams at the end of the 3 months, I get sent to OCS right away. Now don’t you think that’s better than a PFC? Oh boy, I may have fluffed things off in school before I went to the Army but this time, I’m playing for keeps so I’ll let you know as soon as possible what my new address will be.
Tell Mrs. Boston I received her cookies made with your sugar. They are up to her standard set by her first box so that means I really enjoyed them. Will you also thank her for sending those DePauw magazines? I really like reading them. And now I’m going back to college – Oh Boy!
Well, until I get settled,
Love, Bill
28 Apr 1943 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
Well, here I am in Louisiana after a hectic all-night ride on the train. Did you ever hear of Huey Long??? Well, I guess this school was his pride and joy and it seems the University did OK by him. It’s a very beautiful campus with low rambling buildings surrounded by trees covered with Spanish moss. Oh, it seems like heaven compared to the sand and scrub pine and cedar I just left.
This Army special training school set up is an unusual one indeed. I’ve been sent 500 miles to take a bunch of tests and after that who knows? However, if I make out OK, I’ll be sent to some other college for special training but as far as I know now, I’ll stay at LSU until the next college quarters start. In the meantime, I’ll be taking refresher courses in various subjects which I do not know as yet. I imagine they will be either Math, Chem or Physics. The next college quarters start about June 1st so I imagine I’ll stay here in Louisiana until them. Oh dear, Army life is so hard any more with all these southern babes running around loose while you’re in formation. But since we also have a Deke chapter here at LSU, I’m just too lucky. Frankly I do not know what to make of it. Just hope and pray for me to come out OK because I’d hate to go back to Camp Swift knowing I couldn’t make the grade. You can imagine what I thought as I first looked at this campus after living in an Army camp for 2 months. I tell you, I seemed just starved for the sight of good-looking woman so I immediately started howling like a wolf with the rest of the gang. I guess an Army camp brings out the animal in you but I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you because these courses I’m about to take are plenty tough from what I hear. But just think, I’ll be in college again, much sooner than I expected. I just can’t get over it.
We’re living in the stadium. Our rooms are on the underneath portion of the bleachers and are very nice. We can go swimming every day from 7 til 8. All passes into town are weekend and the chow is fine. The only trouble, my dearest mom, is a sad lack of money by your one and only son since due to circumstances beyond his control he has about $6.00 left to last him until next payday. I believe I told you I’d send you $20 sometime soon but since we left Camp Swift 3 days before pay day I was just out of luck. So, I think I can make that dough last until you could spare me some from home. I hate to ask you but I will need some money next month, in fact almost right now. So, if you can manage to, won’t you send me about $10.00. You can turn in that first bond of mine when you get it. If you can send it to me just as soon as possible I’d appreciate it very much.
Love, Bill
1 May 1943 L.S.U, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dear Mom,
Well, I’ve done nothing but lay around and look at the girls for the last two days. I tell you it’s very demoralizing when you have to take it easy and just wait for something to happen. I guess this STARS-3803 unit is just being organized and as all the first stages of any organization turn out, this one is quite “unorganized” as yet. I think things will really start humming about next week so I may have something of interest to tell you. All I know now is that I’m here and I don’t have any idea, except for the usual rumors floating around, of just what’s going to happen. In the meantime, I can compare this to a few days furlough. Only I wish I was home laying around instead of down here.
I got your letter about Easter Sunday and the package (I got that here, thanks a lot for the socks and the slide rule). I don’t know how hard that cake is going to be if it gets here via Texas and Camp Swift. I guess I spoke too soon. But I’m going to enjoy it just the same.
I’m sorry if this letter sounds rather indefinite but, golly, I don’t even know what’s going to happen. You and I will just have to bear with good old Uncle until he makes up his mind. …Comes the vital statement, I hope you have wired me that money by the time you get this. It’s a lot to ask, I know, but Lady, your son is going to be broke awfully soon and that ain’t good.
Love, Bill
4 May 1943 L.S.U. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dear Mom,
Well, I’m still laying around doing nothing. In fact, it’s getting rather boring. I guess until all this is worked out all we will do is drill and play baseball or go swimming. I tell you it’s a hard life (again).
I got your cake and it is all consumed by now, it didn’t last long. However, it got to me via Camp Swift but it was surprisingly fresh in spite of its travelling all over the country. I guess it must have gone a good 2000 miles before it had a chance to be enjoyed by me. Thanks a lot.
I’m waiting to go to chow and the time it takes ought to be used somehow. You see it takes some time to feed all the men we have here at LSU and even though it is cafeteria style, we have to wait almost a half hour before we have a chance to get in line.
Last Sunday I had a chance to go on a Deke picnic and I had a swell time. We drove to Covington LA and the Deke chapter here met the one at Tulane. Boy we were in the property of a Deke alumnus – private swimming pool, tennis courts, etc. etc. Really the nuts. The only trouble was the fact that I didn’t have a date because of the short notice, but all in all it was a change and a long ride in a car with a lot of people. “Sutherners”. I had to watch myself because they would have easily fought the civil war again if given the chance. But as I said, all in all it was better than laying around the campus doing nothing. You see, I’m broke or have I said that before. Therefore, since the picnic didn’t cost me a thing, I was lucky both ways.
Since I go swimming almost every day down here, I’m acquiring a nice sunburn. I hope it will turn into a tan soon. … This letter is short I know, but nothing has happened as yet so I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.
Love, Bill
6 May 1943 L.S.U., Baton Rouge, LA
My dear Mom,
Your letter of the 5th received and thoroughly appreciated. Amen!! Lady, you have my untold and complete gratitude in regard to that little slip of green folding stuff that fell out of your letter. I was never so broke in my whole life so when I say thanks a million, I mean it. I’ll give it back to you as soon as Uncle forks over. In the meantime, please sit tight.
Well, I’m still laying around doing bunk fatigue. I certainly hope something will turn up by the end of this week since a few of the men already have their notice to ship out. You asked me what I was going to take up. I wish I knew. I tell you I’ve been here a week already and I’ve done nothing but eat, sleep, drill, write letters and look at the girls. I tell you, it’s getting me down, all this mystery about what’s going on. So, as I’ve said in other letters, I’ll just have to wait. For example – this AM we fell out for breakfast at 7, then played baseball until 10:30, then ½ hour drill, show and guess what – then the afternoon off till chow. As far as I’m concerned this has been about the least useful week I’ve ever put in while in the Army. However, I’m still hoping something will happen soon since I believe you can’t win a war playing baseball. Anyway, it’s a nice rest cure from my extraordinary duties at Camp Swift. But it’s much more boring.
Tell Mrs. Boston I always appreciate her thoughtfulness in sending me those papers from home. The only trouble, though, is my anxiousness as I glance through the dirt column and look down the list of new spring loves and losses. Any day now I expect Jane Kimmel or Sara or perhaps even Lucy Longden to blossom out with a new 4F. But such is life, I guess. I doubt very much if all these feminine acquaintances of mine give two hoots about just what I’m doing so I needn’t worry about them. But it is “amusing” to read about all these new romances and marriages while we guys are away. Oh well, the one thing I’ve found out in all my “travels” is the fact that (as I’ve always said) there’s lots of good-looking dames all over this place so – hallelujah, lead me to them. In the meantime, you’re still my best girl.
Love, Bill
9 May 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My dear Mom,
I called you up this morning. Since then, I have felt very queer all over. A mixture of homesickness and happiness at hearing your voice and that of Susie and Gege. But as it always turns out you always think about what you should have said afterwards so I decided to write a letter to you and maybe wish you a happy Mother’s Day all over again even if it was a little late. I tried to call you last night but I messed everything up when I thought I had time to run a mile before the call got through. The operator said it wouldn’t go through for 2 hours and it came in 15 minutes later. Well, you probably think running a mile every day is foolish but I figure I’d better not get too fat laying around this place so just to keep in condition, I (and some other guys) run it every night we can. Anyway, I started out to call you again at 6:30 this AM and you know the rest. Boy, was I glad to hear your voice. Of course, the only trouble with the call were the charges involved. (Reversed as you will probably find out when the bill comes.) But what could I do? I wanted to talk to you, especially today. And the pay phone here was so full of money from previous calls, I guess, it just wouldn’t take any more. I imagine you are completely disgusted with me for pulling a trick like that. But I hope to pay you back soon. Please don’t disown me because I would like to come home again sometime and I still want to remain in your good graces. Ahem!
Perhaps the fact that I’m quarantined here worried you. It’s nothing serious and since they’re shipping guys out of here all the time now, you needn’t worry for my sake except maybe a certain heart ailment found in most soldiers when they see something that causes it to flutter such as the sight of 2 or 3 beautiful, exciting, scrumptious, etc., etc., coeds driving around in a red convertible coupe. They positively cannot quarantine us against that most prevalent of “diseases”.
As I said, I expect to be shipped out of here soon, in fact by next Tues. or Wed. so you see I can’t stay in one place long enough to get acquainted. Cross your fingers and hope that maybe it’s Purdue or the University of Kentucky or U. of Chicago or any place I could get home maybe in about a 6 – 7 hour train ride. But it would be just my luck to be sent to California or back to Texas so why worry. Uncle Sam takes care of everything, it seems, except your pay when you move from place to place.
By the way, as soon as I land in my future alma mater I want you to send me my algebra, trig and analytical geometry books because I think I’m going to be in for it. If you can locate a good college physics text, send it together with that big Chem. Text of mine. It seems I’ll be taking Math, Chem, Physics, Eng, Hist. and what have you. However, I’ll have to let you know, of course.
Well, I hope you haven’t missed that $10 too much. I’ll write again about Tues, and let you know what’s cooking. If anything starts to boil I’ll let off some steam and tell “you-all” all about it.
All my love, Bill
12 May 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
I’m going to be around here for about 3 more weeks. I am now taking a 3 week refresher course in 3 subjects, Chem., Math and Physics. After that I’ll probably be shipped out. The one thing I like about it, though, is the fact that since I’ve never had any college physics, I’ll really profit by this and not start from scratch when I start taking my basic college course.
Well, life goes on at a very easy pace here. I go to classes 3 hours a day and only fall out for mess formations. No drill or parading around, no K.P. or guard duty. The only trouble is the fact that it is so much more expensive to exist here than in an Army camp. As a result, I’ve decided to be my own “lavadera”. Last night I really worked and washed innumerable shorts, shirts, socks and what have you. I hope Uncle Sam doesn’t forget me next month again or else I’ll really be in a fix.
Well, this is a short, short letter, but I’m leading a rather dull life so I’ll try to think up something more interesting next time. Anyway, I’ll drop by and see Mrs. Krider and chew the fat about Greencastle. That ought to be nice.
I believe I’ll have to go to math class shortly, so I’ll have to cut short this “brief missive.” Let me know if those $10 bucks I asked for made you too short. If not, I’ll send you some since I can borrow from the Red Cross.
Love, Bill
16 May, 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
I’m going to call Mrs. Krider in a few minutes so I’m writing this now while the steak I murdered for lunch settles down and peacefully dissolves. Yes, Lord, we get at least one good meal during the week so I really enjoyed this one. I also went to church this A.M. and I felt better afterwards so I guess it did me some good. The only trouble is that almost all the friends I’ve made here at LSU that were in the STARS unit have shipped out so I’ll have to hunt new ones. I’m well on my way, though. I’ll explain: Here in the Stadium (it’s got a lot a rooms under the bleachers so that’s where we stay) there is a list of all the girls and their phone numbers on the bulletin board just at the head of the stairs. Feeling very “risqué” one day (last week) some friend of mine called up one at random and said he’d call the next day and talk to her again. He told me about it so I said I’d like to talk to her too. Well, it so happens he called her up and it seems his powers of persuasion weren’t any too good so he gave me a chance. What you said about my voice being somewhat more “confident” must have worked because I somehow got her to let us know where she was and etc., etc. So, I asked her if we couldn’t drop over and see her. Well, after several hem’s and haw’s (she must have tried 4 different ways to get out of it but you know my bulldog tenacity), she finally condescended and said she was in such and such a place. So, we dropped over and had a very nice little chat. I’m to call her up sometime next week and try to get a date. It so happened she was from Memphis Tenn., and practically grew up with a buddy of mine who was in the same outfit (HQ 365th FA) with me. It’s a small world.
But that ain’t all. Last night I went to a dance in Baton Rouge (US) and I met a little bundle of loveliness named Laurie T. She was very nice and I also have her phone number. I’m to call her up in the near future since all her time at present is taken up in a play in which she has a part.
Well, those two incidents aren’t very definite as yet but I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Since I’m to stay here 2 more weeks I might as well have some fun
By the way, I told you I had this face of mine lifted so to speak onto some photographic sheets. Well, they arrived a few days ago and since then, I’ve been pondering whether to send them to you or not. At last, after long deliberation, I figured you might want to see them regardless of how I appeared, since you being my mother might not be too critical. They say, you know, that a mother loves her son regardless of how he looks. So, if you disregard the tallness of that hat I’m wearing and look at it for a while, you’ll find you can get used to it after a time, just like you would any startling picture such as Frankenstein, et. al.
There’s 3 of them. Give one to Gege and you keep one. Send the other to Mary Louise since she’s been harping on me to send her a picture ever since I started writing her. Frankly, I haven’t the heart to send it to her myself. I’m afraid her illusions would be shattered.
So that little Sis of mine is stepping out? Just tell her to be careful of those boys, but I imagine she can take care of herself, encased in “armor” as she is.
Mom, I’ll lay my cards on the table. Either your son is a spendthrift or the cost of living down here is awfully high. Here is the fatal statement: I am on the last stages of that $10 you sent me. Your will probably think how in the world he can spend so much dough, but I guess I borrowed too much before you sent me the money the first time so I had to pay it back. Well, that’s the set up. Other men would probably never have written home for more, but I guess I’m just selfish. But you see, I doubt very much if I get paid ever at the end of this month because I haven’t even signed the payroll. The Red Cross (well, I have to have an excuse such as a family death or something to borrow from them) so that’s out. If Gege can spare it, maybe she can help me out. But in the meantime the cold fact remains I’m just broke and I was never good at shooting craps anyway. Besides even if I was, everybody around here is broke too so that doesn’t help matters any. Gege has a tender heart beating beneath that breast of hers. Ask her if she can’t help her brother out. Tell her she can have it out of that $10,000 insurance money if she lets me negotiate a loan. Any amount will do ($0.50, $1.00, or $5.00 or more).
Well, I’m going to go see Krider’s now so be good and keep everything under control. And if you think my being in such an embarrassing condition is funny… Well, I guess it is at that. You can keep out of trouble, no??
Love, Bill
17 May 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
Dear Gege,
So, they killed Pancho? Well, here’s how I feel about it. Since I’m being instructed in the gentle arts of killing, myself, I doubt very much if I’d have any qualms about wringing the person’s neck who poisoned my mutt. I just hope I find out someday. There will probably be one less human being on this earth when I do. I mean it…. I got so mad when I read Mom’s letter telling me about it, I was shaking all over. Oh man, what more is there to say….
I visited the Krider’s in Baton Rouge yesterday. It was like a breath of Greencastle. They treated me so nice, I didn’t know what to say. But I really enjoyed myself. I drank his beer, smoked Lt. Krider’s cigarettes and stayed for dinner. In fact, when I mentioned (I wish I hadn’t but the conversation got around to it) about my embarrassing financial state, he eve offered me some dough. I refused, of course. But since I’m selfish, I wish I had accepted, but here’s why.
Mom went me $10 which is gone now. So much so I wouldn’t even have enough to wire home for more if I had to. So, I wonder, my darling Sis (I’m attempting to break you down, if you notice) if you would be so kind as to negotiate a loan with me, say of a few pieces of folding money? As soon as possible. My total assets at present amount up to the impressive sum of 65 cents. Not bad, eh? Since I believe I’ll have to live on that if nothing happens soon. So, forget that Scottish blood in you and see if you can spare some of that green stuff for your almost broke brudder. It’s embarrassing as hell when I’m this way – as you can imagine. I’ll pay you back as soon as Uncle forks over my pay.
Well, I’ve got to go to class now so I’ll close. I hope you take my gentle hint to heart and fix me up again.
Love, Bill
18 May 1943 LSU Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
I’ve been sitting here wondering what to write. You can’t imagine my first reactions when I read your letter telling me about Pancho. I don’t know, words fail me… One fact; though, is most apparent, so clearly so I’m almost afraid. I was just thinking what I would do to the person who poisoned him if I ever got my hands on him. Believe me, I was so mad I was shaking. I usually don’t get that way. But what can I do about it now? Yet, there always comes a day of reckoning and I’ll be waiting. Just find out who did it and I’ll send the man, or woman, a little dose of Strychnine myself or worse. I don’t know, the thought keeps running through my mind, “Pancho’s dead”, “somebody killed him”, “yeah, somebody killed him”, “my dog, they killed him, my mutt is dead.” Oh, hell, I can’t say anymore. Now perhaps I can also realize the fact you didn’t sound too happy over the phone. I guess I noticed it towards the last. Somehow, I wondered shy. Now I know, because you sounded as if you were feeling as good there at first. And then I asked about him. I’m rather glad you didn’t tell me at that time. It might have spoiled the day since I was so very happy when I heard your voice.
I wrote Gege telling of the excellent time I had visiting. Dr. Kricher (1st Lt.) and his family. I also asked her about a “little loan” I wanted to negotiate. I hope she comes through since my total assets at present amount up the sum total of $0.30. Ain’t it awful? When I wrote her yesterday I had $0.65. So if she wants to check up on me – show her my figures. Ain’t it awful??? You are probably wondering (and justly so), what I did with your $10. On my, I’d need an accountant to figure out how I stretched it. But – asi es la vida. Para mi – anyway.
Guess what, I had a date today. Yes sir, I really broke down and gave one of these gals here at LSU a break. She was very nice. If you want all the gruesome details – send 50 cents plus a soap wrapper and I’ll mail the next installment.
Love, Bill
P.S. If you see that unspeakable creature named Sara Jean, tell her I don’t love her anymore because she has broken my heart by her utter disregard in writing me.
30 May 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
I guess I wasn’t in the mood for writing letters this week. I don’t know, somehow it seemed too much like work. Boy, is that some attitude. But frankly, you don’t know how dull a place can be when you’re just waiting to see what happens. Ah, this Army life is killing me. So far, all I’ve got to show for this month of idleness is a mediocre tan. I tell you, it’s just terrible. Well, I told you in my last letter that I expected to be shipped soon. Well, I’m not too sorry since pay day is just around the corner and now maybe I can pay you back the money you sent me. I expect you were rather short this last month having to send me all that dough. But, I’ll send it to you muy pronto and then you can splurge. Anyway, as I was saying I guess I’ll not be leaving this place until after pay day, if at all. It seems they might start a regular STARS school here besides it’s just being a reception center. If they decide to leave me here, I guess there’s nothing to do but stick it out. And maybe that won’t be too bad since I’ve ceased to wonder what’s going to happen to me. I was having high hopes of being sent somewhere out of here, but since they’re starting a school here I think it would be just my luck to be left here as I’ve already been here a month.
So…. Let’s go to something more interesting. Let’s talk about you and family. Well, I don’t see why but you must have liked that picture I sent. Tell me now, actually don’t you think you need glasses? And another thing, why don’t you have one of you and Gege and Susie taken so I can see what you look like. Even a snap shot would be tremendously appreciated. You still have my camera, or Gege does, so why don’t you get together and send me a reasonable facsimile of the same. Just how are you, anyway? From your letters I assume you’re doing OK. I hope you’re not having any troubles and tribulations concerning the house and garden. Who’s going to put the screens up and take care of the place? You know, I often wonder how you are getting along without me since, as I remember, I used to do sooooo much work around the house. How’s the old tin can percolating? Are your tires holding out? You haven’t told me whether you have kept on at that so called liberty ship those gobs there at home go to. And tell me, just who in the &^#$* sam hills is poisoning all those dogs back home. Oh boy, I’d sure like to know.
By the way, Mrs. S., are you seriously thinking of renting the house? Look, if things are getting tough, please use those bonds you’re getting from me. If you have any trouble cashing them in, just let me know and I’ll take the proper steps so that you can. But if circumstances are such that it would pay you to rent our house, I say you might just as well. What does Gege think?
Lady, you are cruel, but cruel. So you would have liked to have peeped in on my womanly labors of washing out my “undies” and socks, eh??? OH,,,,!! Am I chagrined! I though you would feel sorry for your poor son and his skinned knuckles. But I guess it would have been a sight to behold. Why don’t you send me a box of Lux toilet soap Then, I would be a complete and unadulterated “Lavandera”.
Now I’ve got something to kid you about. Since when was my address 2802 at “Indiana Univ” in Baton Rouge, Indiana?? Lady, you must get on the ball!! Have you no considerations for Uncle Sam’s poor overworked mail clerks? Also, I would think if you sent money in a letter you could at least put the right address on it. Tsk. Tsk. Just throwing money away, that’s all. But thanks for sending me that dough. I finally got my uniform cleaned and it really needed it. Oh yes, today, I have the honor of walking guard. I’ve got to parade up and down the sidewalk in front of the Stadium where we stay for 2 hours at a time. Then, I’m off for 4 hours. It seems they wished this on me and some other boys who were going to school since we hadn’t done any guard duty all the time we’ve been here.
Last night I went to another USO dance with some of my buddies. We worked in pairs. First, we’d find a real good looking one who could dance as well as she looked. When one of us would be cut in by somebody else, the other one would cut in on him. After a while he was relieved by whoever wasn’t dancing at the time. It was really nice and the gals seemed to like it. I got to know another swell little number. Her name’s Nadine Baltz, or something to that effect. Very nice and very easy to dance with. When I danced the last dance with her last night, she piped up with the following “I sho enjoyed dancing with you Billy boy!!” Can you imagine? Now, I know you call me Billy in all my letters and the face that I’m 20 years old (ahem) now doesn’t make much difference, I guess. (Oh, I don’t mind). But it’s the first time someone called me “Billy boy”. Oh deah, these Southern wimmen sho are startlin’…. So I says to her, “Sugah – It was very nice dancing with you too and y’all better save a couple seconds for me soon ‘cause I’se guan to call you up”. Well, I didn’t say exactly that but something to that effect. So, I’ll let you know in my next letter if it’s love or infatuation.
Tell Susie that my most heart-felt sympathies are on the way. The poor kid. I’ll bet that jacket didn’t make it any easier. And to my other Sis, I guess I owe her a letter which I will send very soon. However, I believe there’s enough of this one to go around for everybody for the time being.
Well, sugah, I’ve got to go on guard soon.
All my love, Bill
6 Jun 1943 LSU, Baton Rough, LA
My Dear Mom,
Today, I am limp as a rag. A very wet rag indeed. It seems I sweat out all the water I can drink and even more. I just got back from town, and by just walking around, I wound up with a very wet shirt which was also starting to go down below the belt. Very embarrassing indeed. I was just thinking how hot it must be getting up home, I’ll bet its almost up to 70 or 80o. Lady, yesterday it was 95o in the shade, plus a very high humidity which made it that much worse. Everybody at the USO dance last night was wringing wet but we just kept on jumping around. As usual (I ought to know better by now), I got stuck with w or 3 “lemons” which I didn’t like so I pulled the best tactical maneuver I knew. “Will you excuse me a second, I’ve got to see a friend of mine”. But it always ends up OK it seems because I cut in on some babe and out of a clear sky, she says to me if I’d like to go to a party tomorrow night at such and such a time and such and such a place. I guess by that time I was in a gloomy mood and I didn’t like to be joked with since I had had an awful time dancing with one of those lemons the dance before. Anyway, after looking at her in a rather startled fashion, I said “Are you kidding??” and she looks at me in a funny way and says “Well, don’t you want to go?” and I says “Sure, but you just startled me”. So that was that. I was cut in on just then. I cut in myself later and verified the time and address. Another guy tapped me on the shoulder. So I wait around again and after I cut in once more, I says “what was your last name?” “Doris Force”, tap tap – as she dances away I called out “I’ll see you – be good”. Frankly I don’t know what I’m in for but a party’s a party so we’ll see.
As you can plainly see, I’m still here in this place and am I getting fed up. College or no college, I wish I had finished my basic training instead of laying around this joint for absolutely no good reason. I keep hoping my name is on the list. Gee, it’s terrible to watch guys come and go and me just stay around. But so it goes. I’m really getting a rest, although I wish I was getting started.
I got paid – it was the most exciting thing that happed to me all the time I’ve been here. I must send you that dough so rather than chance a letter, I’ll send a money order. It had better be soon, too, or else I’ll spend it, lacking anything better to do. If you don’t mind, I’ll make it just $10 and let the other ride until next pay. Mom, you really don’t know how much I appreciated you sending me that money. I know you must have been pinching pennies.
Well, I hope to have some better news by next time.
Have you sent my picture to my cousin yet?
One thing more, I went to see the Louisiana State capital this afternoon. You know, where Huey Long was shot, etc., etc? It’s really a very beautiful place with the Mississippi only about 2 blocks from it, and gardens all around. You can go way up and see for miles around since its about 30 stories high.
Well, I’ve got to get ready for that party soon, so keep everything under control. Tell Philip I’m really sorry to hear he’s working so hard – he ought to be in the Army.
All my love, Bill
10 Jun 1943 STILL at LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
Well, things are definitely due to pop any day now. However, I still don’t know whether I’m going or staying here. However, my name is on a list of something or other and as soon as they make up their minds down here, I’ll give you my new address. Perhaps I didn’t explain to you clearly enough, but I haven’t started school yet. Since that 3 hour/day refresher course I told you about, I haven’t done anything except fall our for formations, exercises, swimming, etc, and incidentally, spend money. Since I’m on duty while the post office is open, I haven’t been able to send you that money order as yet. But please, be patient and I’ll sneak away one of these days and send it.
You remember my telling you about that woman who said “sho was nice dancing with you, etc., etc.,?” Well, that turned out nicht so gut since she seems to be busy when I called her up. So, what de hell – I says there’s plenty more. That party turned out very nice and I had a swell time so that rather made up for it.
Guess what, on the spur of the moment, I took a chance and wrote Bernice W. a letter. Oh dear! My heart still thuds and thumps and it was beating madly when I opened her letter to me. Was I disappointed, in fact it hurt me to the quick, when she starts out with a plan common, ordinary “Dear Bill.” Mom, do you think she doesn’t love me anymore? Imagine, after all these months of thinking she was madly in love with me that she would shatter my illusions so by saying just plain “Dear Bill”. Oh dear, I’m horribly hurt, but horribly. Now, I am a woman hater. Until the next USO dance, anyway. You know, I’ve gotten to know quite a few of the girls who go to those things week after week, and things are getting just right for me to leave since it seems I never stay in one place long enough to really get acquainted. Oh well, enough about wimmen.
From your last two letters, I gather you’re doing OK which is OK by me. I’m glad to hear Gege is working in the Spanish Department. At least one of your children is really getting ahead. Tell her to write me again.
Well, there goes the bugle and I’ve just time to write the address.
Lots of love, Bill
11 Jun 1943 LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
My Dear Mom,
Well, here it is….
Short but sweet.
Don’t send any more letters to present address until further notice.
My father was born in 1923 which meant he was old enough to become cannon fodder (height 66 inches, weight 126 pounds) at the age of 19. He registered for the draft on 30 Jun 1942, and was enlisted in the US Army on 17 Feb 1943. He would turn 20 within a month and did so, confined to an Army hospital bed in Camp Swift, Texas. He had about 3 semesters of college before he enlisted, and was to continue his studies of physics, chemistry and math courtesy of the Army before being sent overseas. My father only mentioned the war a few times as I was growing up. He always claimed that he was “a lover, not a fighter”. We knew that he served in the Army, and that he was in Europe fighting the Germans. He was in the heavy field artillery, responsible for making sure the ammunition in the big guns hit the intended target.
While we were cleaning out the closets after my mom’s death, we found a box of letters that my grandmother had saved. The letters were from her son (my dad) during the war. I’d like to share his letters. They are full of every-day occurrences and his youthful spirit comes through loud and clear – he was a “ladies’ man”, he disliked the autocracy of the military command, he was sarcastic, he was wounded both by the Army and in battle and he loved his mother and sisters.
Jan – Apr, 1943
6 Jan 1943 Scottsville, KY
Dear Mom,
Some of these days I’m going to get peeved at your crude jokes. Of course, I enjoy my outdoor life, in fact, I positively love it. It’s so healthful and invigorating, so nice and nippy. My goodness, how long do you think my sense of humor can last? But I guess it’s today that’s got me down. This A.M. I woke up and there was frost all over the inside of the tent. I was half frozen, etc., but luckily not too damp. So now I’m happy because its noon and I’m thawed out down to my toes. They, I’m afraid, will remain in a refrigerator state all during the winter. But who cares, I don’t need them at all, in fact about all they’re good for is to cause me trouble, so if they freeze off, more power to them.
We have just laid around doing nothing but details and not very many of those. However, this AM my tent partner and I dug a beautiful and perfectly symmetrical latrine. Oh, it was perfect in every detail. All the good points of basic engineering were applied plus a bit of elbow grease and presto – 1 new latrine dug.
Life is pretty easy. I can’t spend any money so I have to wait until a weekend to splurge.
Be good, and all my love, Bill
24 Feb 1943, from Pvt Wm Shelly, US Army, Company F – Reception Center
Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN
Dear Mom,
I’m trying to recover from a bad case of bean-i-tis. Beans for dinner and beans for supper just about makes a guy go on the double without any effort. But seriously, if I eat as much in the next two months as I’ve eaten today you won’t know me. The chow is pretty good, in fact its swell so you can’t worry about that angle.
When we got in this AM, we had a preliminary physical and then we ate after we’d been assigned to our barracks. Then we had an IQ test, a mechanical aptitude test and a signal corps aptitude test. I hope I did OK on each of them because the better score you make the better your chances to get into what you want. Tomorrow we get our uniforms.
…. Oh yes, the barracks are warm enough and I’ll get some long underwear tomorrow so everything’s OK.
Located in Bastrop County, Texas, just east of Austin, Camp Swift has consistently been used by the military but it is currently (2021) still in use by the National Guard as a storage and training facility. Before the US joined World War II, the government decided that Camp Swift’s location would be one of 14 sites chosen for new military camps. The bombing of Pearl Harbor (Dec 1941) created a need for new training sites. The 52000 acres located east of Austin were purchased and allocated to the construction of the new Texas military camp.
Construction began for Camp Swift in 1941. Out of flat lowlands and hilly uplands, a camp came together that would house 90,000 troops at one point. In 1942, the camp opened its doors with 2,750 buildings and accommodations for only 44,000 troops. It would become a major combat infantry training camp for WWII troops. It was named for General Eben Swift. He had led troops in WWI as a commander.
Training activities at camp Swift included tank maneuvers, weapons firing, personnel and cargo air drops, small arms firing, combat engineering skills, infantry skills, helicopter operations and other types of training environments for the field. The Army helped to construct all of the buildings at Camp Swift including warehouses, training facilities, recreational facilities, artillery ranges, barracks, gas stations, storage tanks and more.
The camp reached 90,000 troops during WWII. The 95th, 97th and 102nd Infantry Divisions; 10th Mountain Division; the 5th Headquarters and the 116th and 120th Tank Destroyer battalions were all stationed at Camp Swift during the second World War. In doing so, it became the largest transshipment and US Army training camp in Texas. Eventually it would also house over 3,500 German prisoners of war.
3 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
I’m going to bed in a few minutes but before I grabbed forty winks, I thought I’d drop you a line telling you some of the things that have happened to me since I last saw you. After being on the train for about 40 hrs. I have finally wound up deep in the heart of that well-known state. The post is called Camp Swift – its somewhere in Texas about 40 miles N. E. of Austin. It’s an awfully big place I guess, anyway it’s a brand-new outfit. I shall have to carve myself a niche in it so I can fit in. It’s the 95th division of infantry which is just being formed. As yet I don’t know whether I’ll be in the field artillery, the medical corps, signal corps or any other regiment in this division. At any rate I’ll know tomorrow. The one thing I’m certain of is that I’m in the Infantry – which is not exactly what I wanted but I think I can make the best of it regardless of what they put me in. The only trouble is that I’m 1200 miles from home…
I guess I’m still a bit dazed at all that’s happening to me. When I get hold of myself, I’ll send you a sensible letter. Anyway, I’ll have to get used to it.
Love, Bill
5 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
I didn’t write you yesterday because there really wasn’t much new to tell – but today – Oh man!! Well, as you probably have made out on the address of my first letter, I’m in the Headquarters Battery 365th Field Artillery. I tell you in all my born days I never thought I’d wind up here but it’s a darn good outfit so I’m probably better off than a lot of fellows. Some just got plain infantry. We man the big guns and since we belong to the HQ Battery, I guess we’re supposed to be the brains of the outfit. It really isn’t so bad. Anyway – guess what. We don’t get up until 6:30 which is much better than 4:45 at Ft. Ben.
The first thing we do is fall out for Reveille at 6:45 and then chow. Next, we come back and clean up the barracks, sweep, make our beds, etc. and fall out at 8:00 for an hour or so of a little close order drill. Forward march, right face, left face, about face, tenshun!! Oh, it goes on and on and gets tiresome having to hop around – but what can be done about it. I must learn how to be a good soldier. Next, we have a class in various subjects such as military courtesy, first aid, how to secure a pass to go to town, leaves and so forth. I found out something this morning that rubbed my fur the wrong way. I doubt very much if I get any sort of a furlough while I’m down here. They just aren’t being granted unless some of your close relatives are very sick or have cashed in their chips. So… if you can get conveniently sick in about 2 months, I can probably hop a train for home – but seriously, the real reason is that the training is so concentrated that they can’t afford to let us go for even a week.
To top it all off we had a bit of a march – a couple of miles or so just to warm us up and believe me it was warm. Surprisingly enough, when we arrived at Camp Swift on Wed. it was really cold. Today, I certainly was glad to take off my long underwear because the sun was so warm. Some change – no? when one minute a guy freezes his feet off and the next, he is so hot a cold shower is a blessing.
If you have a chance, send me my bed slippers, some coat hangers – 5 or 6. Any good underwear that I have left, and Mary Louise’s picture. I hope that’s not asking too much. As soon as I can get a picture of myself in my uniform, I’ll send it to you. Give my love to both my beautiful sisters and all my love to you, Mom.
Yours, Bill
8 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
Well, I’ve been in the Army for almost 2 weeks – almost a week here in Camp and guess what – I haven’t received a letter yet. Of course, by the time you get this letter you probably have answered my other two and I expect to receive them by tomorrow or next day. At any rate I’m looking forward to my first letter.
Guess what, I believe this Texas air and I don’t agree very well because that cold of mine isn’t much better. I went to sick call this morning and when the doc took my temperature, he suggested I spend the rest of the day in bed. That was this morning and right now it’s about 9:00 pm. I’m feeling somewhat better although since I’ve been running a temperature, it seems all my strength is gone. I hope I can get into the swing of things by tomorrow because I dislike staying in bed. I wouldn’t worry if I were you because by the time you get this letter, I’ll probably be out running around taking 5-mile hikes with the rest of the boys.
One of the most interesting things in this outfit that I’ve found out yet is the variety of people that compose it. We have southerners, guys from Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. It tickles me to hear the choppy dead-end-kid dialect of some of “dease guys” from Brooklyn being mixed up with the slow southern drawl of a kid we call Georgia.
Well, the lights are going out in a few minutes and I guess I’d better hit the hay pretty soon so I can get back into that good old Army routine. They say it really makes a man out of you. We’ll see what happens inside of 3 months.
Give my love to everybody. Tell Susie I miss the beautiful strains of her clarinet.
Love, Bill
14 Mar 1943 Camp Swift Hospital
My Dear Mom,
Boy, is this some birthday. 20 years old today and I’m in the hospital, just like I started 20 years ago, only perhaps a “sadder, wiser” man, I hope. Anyway, yesterday I was a bad boy. I talked back to Harry, I guess, and he didn’t take it in the proper manner a gentleman should, so I was told to go to bed with no pajamas and stay there a while until I might act better. It was very touching. But seriously, that guy and I just rub each other the wrong way so now I just ignore him since he’s ward master and has me completely in his power. If I get sassy he will put me to bed and since I’m in the Army there’s nothing I can do about it. I think they call it discipline. I still think the guy’s a moron but I’ve learned my lesson. Just don’t ask him for anything or even speak to him unless it’s an emergency because you just can’t tell what kind of a mood the dimwit is going to be in. I have never as yet seen a man that could be so utterly obnoxious, but he has his sweet points, especially when he’s away – then I don’t even have to look at him.
Man, I never saw a hospital ward do such a rip snorting business in human flesh. They cart them in every day as soon as a bed is available. They brought in two on stretchers last night. It just goes on and on. As far as I’m concerned, I feel fine except for a sort of lethargy that seems to leave me no pep. My temperature has been normal for the last 2 days and I guess I’m here just to get my strength back now.
This morning just to be a good boy I helped sweep out the middle aisle of the ward so maybe I won’t get court-martialed after all. The days just seem to roll by without stopping, the only person staying in one spot it seems, being yours truly. It seems so strange to be here I sometimes wonder if I’m here at all. But I guess it’s just a matter of time spent doing nothing at all. I’ve got to get “acclimatized” and it’s no fun.
Well – such is life in the Army, I guess. Boy I want to get well so bad it’s pitiful. Say Hello to all, Susy and Gege and reserve a big hunk of it for yourself.
Love and kisses, Bill
16 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
Well, I am out of the hospital, in fact I’ve been out 2 days now. And believe me, drilling and marching are like heaven compared to that place. I was never so glad to get out of a joint. Anyway, I hope never to see a hospital ward again.
I wish you would tell me how you are getting along financially. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t been spending any money at all. I think I still have $20 left and when I get my first pay, I think I’ll be sending some home. I just don’t want to carry around so much. If you need any, don’t hesitate to ask for it, because I can get along very well on 1 to 2 dollars a week. As yet, since I don’t expect to go into Austin for a few weeks.
Our basic training starts today and according to reports they’re going to start bearing down on the little things that count. I’ve got to be careful about everything or else I’ll find myself doing KP on Sundays or digging a few ditches. Oh Army life – she is wonderful.
Give my love to Susy and Gege and Pancho. As for you, I want you to be good and write me every other day. Anyway, you get all my love as always,
Bill
17 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
It seems our letters are all mixed up. I was just wondering how you were taking the news that I was in the hospital because I received a letter today dated March 14, telling me to be sure to take care of my cold. Surprisingly enough I got out of the hospital Monday the 15th after being there for about 6 days. Anyway, I’m sending this letter airmail and it might get there sooner than some of the other letters. Anyway, it might settle any doubts in your mind as to my present condition. I feel OK and everything is fine. So – so much for that.
I certainly appreciated Susie’s letter and I hope she wins with the clarinet quartet. She surely deserves to win after all the tooting and wheezing she has had to do on that confounded wooden music stick of hers.
One more thing. I can use plenty of white mixed woolen and cotton socks. If you can spare any cash, buy me 4 or 5 pairs if you can find them. I hear those kinds of socks are scarce. I can’t get any here at the PX and 4 pairs aren’t very many when I’m used to one a day.
Keep on writing, I sure like to get letters.
Love, Bill
20 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Mom,
Things here in camp are shaping up nicely. Our routine is much the same as I explained to you in one of my other letters except, we learn something new every day and are usually dead tired out at the end of each one of them. I have been, anyway, due mostly to that fever I had. I think I lost more weight than I could afford and quite a bit of my strength too. But I’m keeping up with the rest of the gang and haven’t faltered as yet nor do I intend to. I think I lost all the good from those PP cases I had for a whole semester in one week, but we have sitting up exercises every day except Sundays so I think I’ll be in shape again in no time.
As yet I’m still quarantined to the battery area and I can’t go to any of the big shows or dances until that is lifted. But we can go to the show at a theater across the street or the PX provided some noncom plays nursemaid to a bunch of us and takes us over and back. I think it will be lifted this week and then the fun will start when I get my first weekend pass and go into Austin and see what the University of Texas has to offer. I can hardly wait since I need some clothes and stuff. (Yea clothes!)
As I am writing this, the sun is just going AWOL over the horizon. Boy it sure looks pretty. I’m laying down on my bunk and I can see it from the window. Somehow it reminds me of those on the Pacific. By the way, we have a Corporal Gutierrez and a Sergeant Vasquez in HQ Battery. They both speak Spanish, being of Mexican decent. I’ve talked with Cpl. Gutierrez several times and I think I can keep in trim. You never can tell when I might have to use it.
Yours, Bill
P.S. Tell Susy I hope she is not dumb enough to get the measles. Being sick is no fun. Tell her to write me again since my letters are for you both.
21 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My darling Sister,
Boy, I was glad to get your letter. Perhaps I’ll say more surprised than glad since I know how you like to write letters, especially to boys. Maybe you will change your mind on the subject and write me oftener than once a month or so.
So, you have been giving the Naval Cadets a whirl? Well, all I can say is you’re neglecting the Army terribly but since the Navy is closer to home, I’ll excuse you this time.
Yes, I’m out of the hospital by now and I’m feeling just so, so. I’ve still to get my strength back because that stock market fever, as you put it, really knocked me on my “censured” deep in the heart of the State of Texas.
Boy the rain sure blows hard down here. Even as thin as I am I have a hard time keeping at attenshun when it takes a notion to blow. And the sand! It’s every place, in my ears, mouth, nose, throat and eyes. I even sleep on it, or soon will when we go on our first overnight hike. I told you getting to be a Deke was good Army training. But I’ll bet Mom never thought so.
Well, sweetness, drop me a line soon and tell me how everybody is. My cold is fine – cough cough – and I think I’ll live another week or so.
Yours, Bill
24 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
I got your box yesterday and did my face light up when I opened it. You deserve lots of besos y abrazos because I was going slowly mad having to put my clothes up neatly with no hangers. Also, the picture created quite a sensation as I knew it would. I received a letter from Mary Louise a few days ago and it was very nice. She’s still as sweet as ever. Boy, those socks are the nuts. Thanks a million. And the underwear, man oh man, at last I’ve got plenty so you can see how much I appreciated your birthday present. I believe you’re going to have one soon although being a woman of your age, you probably hate to admit it.
I got a letter from Jane Kummel and Sally. I’m deliberating whom to write to first. It’s a great problem. I just hope they don’t get together and compare notes.
You can tell Mrs. Boston her box was exceptionally well appreciated both by me and the first guys who saw the look of extreme pleasure at my first bite into one of her brownies. They rushed me. I think I’ve got one left. I’m saving it for later. I’m going to write her a letter telling her how much I appreciated her thoughtfulness.
Tomorrow night, I must secretly reveal, we’re going on an overnight hike. The only trouble is that it’s raining cats, dogs and monkeys outside. I just hope it stops by tomorrow and that the sun is shining sufficiently to keep the ground dry. One thing is certain, I don’t want to go to that hospital again. I’d rather be sick outside in the open air.
Lots of love, Bill
27 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
Well, it seems I’ve lived through a night sleeping on the damp, cold, hard ground. After snapping myself back into shape and untwisting the corkscrews out of my back and shoulders I felt at least minus 100% better than I did when I tried to go to sleep. But I lived through it in spite of my sinus trouble, etc., which I’m sorry to say is still bothering me. But that ain’t all, oh no! I had to get a toothache to top it all off. And no dentists for miles around. You know that one eye tooth of mine that stuck out from the rest. It had the enamel knocked off the end of it when I fell down some years ago. Well, it seems I had to wait until I got in the Army before it finally decided to start abscessing. So I go on sick call again (Oh they know me well by this time at the Infirmary). That was today, and it started hurting two days ago. I was sent over to the dental clinic. You can guess the rest – the Army way of doing things. Out she came. The only trouble was that there didn’t seem to be enough cocaine to give me that nice dead feeling but that didn’t bother the guy with the pair of pliers. He just yanked and I almost passed out. I tell you I felt so sorry for myself I was on the point of tearing the place apart. But so many more guys had to receive that pleasant sensation of having a tooth or teeth pulled, I restrained myself. But now I feel fine and no more aches and pains in my face. So I’ve settled down to normal again. All except for one thing (here we go again). Did you ever hear of a tooth causing arthritis? Well, I have it right now in both my knees and I have to wobble all over the place. I believe though as soon as I can get all that poison out of my system the blamed joints won’t crack and grind together as they’re doing now. Oh, I’m telling you, your son seems to have pretty thoroughly fallen apart since he got into the Army. But as long as I don’t have anything else happen to me, I think I’ll live for 2 or 3 mor hours.
Well, let’s go back to camping in God’s country. It’s really swell when you’re feeling normal. The Chaplain went along and we sang under the stars. Had a swell time trying to harmonize and parts of the tunes we sang were really pleasing to hear. Then we went to bed. After stumbling around the camping area in the dark, we finally found it. Ye old latrine was just over to the right about 50 feet so that made it handy. You know when nature calls, even the colonel has to take time off. So, I crawled under my two blankets, fully clothed and dropped off in a rather bumpy sleep. I didn’t get damp because I slept on my raincoat so that was OK. All this was really to break us rookies in to all the marvels and wonders of going back to nature, with all its little crawling things. But all in all, I really enjoyed it (disregarding the toothache). It was rather interesting trying to adjust my “curves” to those of mother earth. But as I said, I snapped back into shape so here I am back in camp.
Lots of love, Bill
28 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Darling Sis,
Gee you’re sweet, writing me a letter before you get an answer. But I don’t see why you didn’t get my letter sooner, I answered it almost right away. But here we go again and thanks for writing me so soon.
As I stay in this state of Texas day after day, I often wonder why people live here at all. You know, all that bull you hear about this wonderful place, how it produces such a swell crop of women, etc., etc. All I can see is sand and scrub pine and the women – nothing to compare with those of the Mid-West. I am thoroughly disgusted by this time. If I ever get home, I’ll bet I’ll even say “Ah’m glad to know you all, Ah’m shua Ah am.” Oh I tell you these southern people and their accents drive me nuts. Why can’t they speak like civilized human beings? Well, that’s off my chest and I feel better.
I guess you can tell I lived through that little overnight stay of mine in the heart of this great wide obnoxious state. I told Mom all about it so when you go home over the weekend you can read the account, I gave her. There’s no sense in saying things twice when she probably shows you my letters to her anyway.
I’ve been assigned to the Instrument and Survey Squad (I guess it’s a Squad) in the HQ Battery. What I’m to do or get trained in specifically I don’t know as yet. But I’m waiting. Another thing that happened this week was that our quarantine was lifted and now we can go into town provided we’re lucky enough to get a pass. I’m going to try to keep my nose clean next week and see if I can get a pass. Keep your fingers crossed, I’m getting rather bored around here. I think I’ll go to a show tonight and forget the Army for a couple of hours.
… Well, keep up the sailors’ morale and all that sort of stuff. The Army is doing OK.
Yours, Bill
31 Mar 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom and Susy,
Since this letter goes home, I thought I’d include both of you. I hope Susy doesn’t mine my laziness but this letter is as much hers as it is yours. By the way, Susy, it sure is nice to hear about you and that confounded noise stick of yours going places. I hope you have won the contest by the time you get this.
… Well today, besides our regular calisthenics, we had some more of the same only not in cadence. They divided us in groups and parked a sergeant in the middle to yell at us. First he would yell “quick time” and we would walk around in a circle, but fast and waving our arms high. Then he’d say “action” and we’d take a run and hit that ground flat on our stomachs. It’s still sore. Then would come “crawl” so we’d drag ourselves forward on the ground with our elbows and dragging our feet. Then “hands behind your back” so we’d shove ourselves forward on our shoulders pushing with our heels and toes. Of course sticks, stones and stumps were of no importance. Then we’d duck-walk, holding our heels. Then leap frog. Oh it was great fun. I’m sore all over, I think, but no harm has been done to this anatomy because I could still march away after this was all over.
… I’ve been placed in the Instrument and Survey section of this Battery. It’s very interesting work and I think I’m going to like it. Also, practically everybody that stays in that section either gets a rating or goes to OCS. It all depends on the individual. I can tell you this much, I think without revealing any military secrets, what math I’ve had is going to be handy (Trig, Algebra and Geometry) since any survey deals in Angles and Trig. As you can guess the laying of the guns depends on the accuracy of our work so you see it turns out to be a relatively important section. But if anybody asks you what I’m doing, just tell them I’m in the Survey section. What I do is none of their business. I mean it, since you know how news can get into the wrong hands, even in Greencastle.
… I’m feeling better all the time although I still don’t like Texas. Those socks are swell. Send me more if you can. I can get the Reader’s Digest here for 15 cents so save your money. Send me some cookies instead and by all means keep writing.
All my love, Bill
4 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My dear Mom,
…I tried for a pass this weekend and to my great surprise, I got one. I’ll be going out of this camp for at least 11 hours to see what civilization looks like again. I’ll also try to see some Dekes down here and see how they compare with those at home. Really, I guess I must have kept my nose pretty clean because as yet I haven’t been given any details or extra work for being “out of order”. KP and Guard duty fall to each guy in turn so that is no punishment. So you see I’ve been a good boy – so far. You may recall my little incident at the hospital. Well at the time I didn’t give two hoots about what happened to me because the orderly was a stupid nincompoop. Or have I said that before? Anyway, I heard the family had quite a kick out of my so-called misfortune. That’s OK by me – and if it raises your morale – so much the better. I hope I can do OK in town since this is my first time out in more than a month. Keep your fingers crossed and I’ll tell you how I make out in my next report. If you can suggest any tactical surprise “maneuvers” with these Texas babes send them on. I think I’m a bit rusty after a month or so in confinement as it were.
Speaking of vacancies, that tooth of mine was so far out it hardly left more than a quarter inch space at the bottom of the tooth on either side of it. My teeth were crowded anyway so I expect the space to get smaller. I’ll show it to you if I can get a picture taken today. However I’ve gotten a bit sunburned so you may notice a difference in my ugly pan.
Your, Bill
P.S. We had a division parade in front of the General yesterday. Boy, I never saw so many soldiers before in my life. The sun was so hot I got sunburned as I said. The temp. down here now was between 85 & 90 in the sun.
8 April 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
I just got your letter a few minutes ago. I also got your “eatin mail”. Your toll-house cookies are as good as ever and the fellows around here really enjoyed what they got from me. I’m too Scotch, especially when toll-house cookies are concerned to let them have all of them so I’ll keep them hidden until later so I can enjoy some of them myself. Speaking of that round slide rule of mine – I think I can use it very efficiently since we have to work fast at times and that instrument can really save time in calculating. So, you can send it to me the next time you feel like sending me something.
I went into town last week and really enjoyed it. These Texas babes are OK. Pretty faces and pretty all around if you get what I mean. I dropped in at the Deke house and as soon as I identified myself properly the house was my home anytime I am in town. Isn’t that nice? Maybe being a Deke isn’t so bad after all, nicht whar?? When I get that ring, I’ll be all set. As soon as I got there last Sun. afternoon, they took me swimming and I laid around all afternoon with them, just basking in the sunshine and laughing at the officers going by because I didn’t have to salute them. More fun? But I couldn’t get fixed up in time with a woman so I’m hoping to get a date the next time I go to town. Now that I know somebody there it’ll be easier.
Last Wed (yesterday) I took a 3-hour exam which will determine my future in the Army to a great extent. If I pass it, I have a chance to get sent back to college or to an Army Special Training school. But it was really tough. I sweated blood for 3 hrs. and when I got through, I was so tired and disgusted with myself I wondered if I could think at all. I really don’t know how well I did since I don’t know my score and I doubt if I will know. Anyway, I hope I can pass it since you have a good chance of finally getting to OCS. But you never can tell so I hope your hopes aren’t raised too much because you know how I can get all balled up in tests. But keep your fingers crossed. Maybe I can get to be a buck private someday.
… All the wild flowers have been out down here for quite some time and the trees are almost all out, fully clothed. Why I don’t know because it gets so hot down here at times I feel I’m slowly parboiling to a good tasty brown. As for my sinuses, the sand and dust down here blow something awful. It naturally irritates my respiratory system and that of everybody around. At times I blow mud out of my nose so as yet they bother me a little. But it’s nothing bad. Also, I believe I’m putting on weight although I don’t notice it. I weighed myself after my last tetanus shot in the arm and I tipped the scales at 130. But the only trouble is that these Army boots weight about 4 lbs. so there you are.
Well Mom, I’m going to reveal a military secret. In about a half hour we’re going out on a hike. It is now about 8:00 pm so we will hide along in the moonlight wishing we had a girl on each arm. But I wish I could go to bed. Ahm tard!! So, I’d better close now and put my leggings on, smoke a cigarette so I can get in shape and then wait for the whistle.
All my love, Bill
11 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
One of these days this pen is going to wear out. I thought I’d written a lot during my Freshman year in school but this beats everything I know. The only trouble is that when I get started, I can’t seem to stop before 2 or 3 or 4 pages are filled up. … Besides its now about 4 o’clock and I want to go out for supper. So, you see I’m in a bad way. After supper I want to go to a show and get to bed early because tomorrow we have to get up an hour earlier which I doubt if I’ll like at all. But its cooler in the wee hours anyway so it’s all for the best, so I’ve heard.
I got a letter from Gege the same day I got yours mainly last night after I pulled in from town (2:30 am). I’ll tell you about it later.
In Gege’s letter she mentioned something about an explosion down here at camp. Well, some people were killed but this guy is still alive and kicking. I hope you didn’t get any ideas if you read about it in the paper because you knew I wasn’t in the engineers anyway. However, the reason I didn’t tell you about it was the least said the better. I had hoped they wouldn’t put it out all over the country so I said nothing about it. I never heard about it myself until the next day.
But there’s things down here more dangerous than explosives. Last night I went into town again and I dropped by the USO club in my wanderings. Naturally a dance was going on and naturally I immediately thought it an excellent idea to cut a few rugs myself – so I picked myself out a good one and my gawd I was again dancing with a woman. Wonderful creatures these women, especially if you can just float around the floor with them. So, I asked her name, where she lived and the vital question, if she’d go out with me if I called her up in time the next time I came to town. She is a sorority dame, name Joyce Muller, short, built like the proverbial shit house I would have censored the underlined word but you and I know each other pretty well). Living quarters, Scottish Rite dorm, U of Texas, Austin. Hair; reddish blond. Face – OK for a guy who hasn’t had a date in 2 months. Well, she said “Why I’d love to go out with you”. So, everything is set, I hope. And another thing, the Dekes are having a formal dance May 8 and I can go if I get a pass. So, wish me luck. Army life is OK, no??
… These dames around here are OK but you know whom I want to come home to so take it easy since I think I might be away for some time. I’ve written this letter out in the sunshine. I’m trying to get tanned by weekends since the only brown I have so far is on my face, neck and on the back of my hands. Well, now I’m going to take a shower and cool off.
Love, Bill
12 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Hi Babe,
Yer darlin brother is now an acting corporal again. Ain’t it awful? I just found out this AM that the bulletin board had my name on it with “appointed actin corporal to date”. I believe it’s mostly over my own section. Another guy and I were both appointed in the same section (Survey) so I guess it’s pretty nice. What sort of dirty work I’ll have to do is as yet uncertain but usually the Louies tell us what to do and I imagine it’ll probably be some short of shit detail they wouldn’t do themselves. But I’m happy about the whole thing because it may mean the start of my “advancement” in this man’s Army.
Look, I’m going to go to chow now and I’ll finish this later. I’ve got to hurry and get ahead of these chow hounds down here or I’ll starve to death. S’long – time marches on. Hup! Two three four!
Well, here I am and my stomach is full of beans. I’m having a hard time sitting on the floor, I keep being forced up and down every now and then by some invisible blast of air. Strange phenomenon. I’ll have to figure it out scientifically later but right now I’m too busy writing a letter.
… speaking of USO’s and those dances you go to, I don’t think you know how a guy appreciates the fun he can have going to one of those places. I got another pass into town this last Sat. night and I dropped in knowing there might be a dance. Well, I danced for the first time in 2 months and man oh man. I was out of this world for about a half hour. Anyway, if you want to read the details of the dame I met, ask Mom for the letter I wrote dated April 11.
Speaking of explosions. Some Louie and about 8 privates got too close to a black powder charge as it went off. They were in the engineers and he probably wasn’t careful enough. That’s all I know about it except the actual details. So, you need not worry about me toots, I haven’t every shot a gun yet.
Love, Bill
14 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
My Dear Mom,
I expect a letter from you today so I’ll answer it now while I have some free time. However, this letter is mostly to tell you a few more things have happened to this here son of yours. I was made an acting corporal just two days ago. That means that if I keep on the ball during the next 2 weeks or so I’ll probably be made either a PFC or a full Corporal. I don’t know which. But it’s been pretty nice so far since I attend all the meetings with the other NCO’s and officers to get the hang of things going on in the battery. However, the only trouble is that if something goes wrong with the group I’m supposed to be in charge of – a detail of perhaps 10 to 12 men, the A. Corp gets his hind end chewed out, if you get what I mean. But my hind end is well broken in by now, having been a Deke pledge and all that so I’m not too worried. Anyway, the men are supposed to call me “Corporal Shelly” when on duty so now I have some importance in this place – Cough! Cough! You see out of perhaps 150 men in the battery about 12 were selected for A. C’s. The exact number I cannot reveal of course but what do you think of me now? (Ain’t I getting conceited though!!)
Another thing that might be of interest to you is the fact that I was one of the 21 men in the battalion to pass the Army Technical Training school test I wrote you about. I think about 150 or so took that 3-hour test and out of the 21 that passed, 14 of them were in the HQ Battery of the 265th. Also out of that 14, 3 of them were in my section so you see that’s pretty good. Oh, we have a smart bunch of boys in Survey! But… Those that passed had to go before a board of officers, 1 major and about 8 first lieutenants and be interviewed. My knees were knocking and my heart was bouncing around so inside my chest I was practically off balance.
Well, I went up to the table where they were parked, gave the major the snappiest salute I knew and after he looked at me straight in the eye for about 4 seconds he said “Sit down!” Then they started firing questions at me. What I’d mad in school, what subjects I’d taken, how big was the school. Just checking up on me, see? Man, I was like a little mouse before a lion. “What did you make in Chem?” “B” What did algebra? C (very soft) What is Trig? C (softer yet). Oh, it was awful. And then the Louies started on me. “What does X = if 6/2 =1.5 X? Well, I got that. So, they asked me, what does “carinos recuerdos de su amiga” mean. Man, I could understand it OK but do think I could translate? Heck no! So, I finally popped out with “loved memories of your friend” which was extremely literal to say the least. But the one that really broke me in two was the one a Chem Officer asked me “What is the atomic weight of Radium?” Lord, I suppose those guys thought I was a walking chemistry book with the atomic weight tables attached. So, I said “I don’t know, sir” getting completely disconcerted but still holding a semblance of poise. Well, that was it – I then saluted and walked out. Whether I made a good impression I really can’t say. I hope so. If so, this lad is on his way back to college at the end of his basic training. I’ll know in about another week so keep your fingers crossed again. If I muffed that interview though, I still have the satisfaction of knowing I didn’t sweat blood for 3 hours for nothing since I did pass that test.
One thing more and I’ll quit. I’m being trained (in addition to my other duties in Survey) as an instructor in Chemical warfare. The classes are from 7 to 11 AM each day for the next 10 days. So far, I can tell Lewisite from Mustard as, having already taken a whiff of either – can’t you see how groggy I am in writing? Anyway, out of this whole battery, only 2 other sergeants and 1 acting corporal, yours truly, are going through this course. Why they picked me to breath in that foul stuff is beyond me but I’ll come out of there well versed in the gentle art of poison gas warfare. This morning I went through the gas chamber which was chock full of tear gas. First, we went in with the gas masks on, and everything was OK. Then we went in again with them on and took them off for 10 seconds just to see the effect on you. Maybe you think I didn’t cry. Boy I made a bee line for the door after that 10th second and was out crying my fool head off at 10.5 seconds. Then we went in with no masks on but had to put them on inside. Lady, I sure put that mask on in a hurry. So, you see if the Army doesn’t kill me by overworking me, it is certainly trying to by other means. But don’t worry, your A. C. is feeling swell again after having a good cry. The only trouble is nobody had a dry shoulder.
Well, that’s about all. Things certainly have happened to me in the last week and I’m liking it more every day.
Love, Bill
18 Apr 1943 Camp Swift, Texas
Dear Susie,
I just wrote Mom about 2 days ago telling her most of the news so if you read her letter and this one, I imagine you’ll be satisfied.
I saw our big guns fire just a few days ago. It was really wonderful. First a rather sharp report and if you got behind the gun you could see the projectile as it tore up and out through the air like a bat out of that well known place. Then after a few seconds you could see a big explosion in the distance. We were high enough so you could see the shells burst, and then BOOOOMM!! Oh man, I certainly wouldn’t want to be out there taking it like some Japs or Germans soon will. Well, I watched the whole process and pretty soon will be doing it ourselves. Boy I can hardly wait. You see, every man in this battery is supposed to know at last something about the other man’s job so if anything happens to a gun crew, a soldier, say in survey or wire communications can take over and fire the piece.
Our battery is mostly concerned with communications but we still have to know how to fire those babies and I’m not sorry at all. So, the sooner I’m out there pulling that old trigger the better. I suppose you know about my passing my exam. I felt pretty good about it. But that’s old news by now.
And speaking of the weather, I’m really sorry to hear you’re having such a nice time keeping cool, er I mean lukewarm. We just changed into our summer khaki uniforms today. The only trouble is that today of all days is rather cool and after the warm spell we’ve had it makes it that much worse. Then we were broiling slowly in the sun with O. D’s and now we’re freezing in Khaki. But so it goes. Anyway, I hope you still have coal in the house.
I’m going into town tonight for my third weekend in a row. I guess being acting corporal has its advantages but the truth of the matter is almost 2/3rds of the battery is quarantined with the measles and can’t get out. So, since I’ve been lucky so far, I can go. I’m going to try to see if I can call up a certain little number, I met last week at the USO. So, wish me luck.
I wish you’d tell Mom I’m feeling fine and dandy. No more sinus, no colds, toothaches, arthritis or what have you. About the only sickness I’ve got is every now and then when I get a letter from home. But ‘m not too homesick anymore since you hardly have time to think about it when you’re out learning the gentle arts of “wah”, the hard way. But never fear, it’s always in the back of my mind so don’t worry about my not thinking of all of you all the time.
Surprisingly enough, I got a letter from “Ruthie”. Well, that’s the way she signed it. I’ll have to wait a few days to answer it since I haven’t as yet recovered from the shock. If you see her sometime before school is out tell her I still “adore” her in spite of her giving me the royal fluff off for some skinny looking jerk in Chicago. I’ll be he’s 4F. Oh well, she was fun anyway even if I did have to swallow my pride when she said “Oh I’m sorry, Bill, but I’m going steady with some jerk back home, but you can still take me out if you want to, only no funny business since I’m already promised.” That still burns me up but what de hell. Women, always, are fickle anyway and all they’re in this world for is to cause softies like me mental trouble. But sweetie, don’t let what I say bother you since all that is past and Texas has women too. I’m still a softie who has to blow off every now and then due to his lack of sex appeal (remember that word? I believe you called it X appeal – I still have to laugh when I recall it). The only thing that can happen to me now would be to get a letter from Lucy Longden but if you suggest it to Mom, I’ll aim one of our howitzers straight at you and blow you wherever you deserve to go. But I’ll bet Mom would get a kick out of it anyway – the letter I mean.
Well, I’ll be going into town in about an hour or so, so I believe I’ll start getting ready…. Write me again soon and give me all the dope.
Love, Bill
P.S Tell mom to bake me a devil’s food cake and sent it to me. I love a cake. Yum. Yum. Also tell her I’ll be sending her $20 soon, about the end of this month, I hope.
I have been to California twice in the last three months, during a pandemic (!) in order to fulfill my executorial duties for my mother’s estate. It turns out that Mom was quite a “saver” and in going through her personal effects, we found quite a few gems. Old family photos, letters from my father to his mother during his service in World War II and letters from my dad to my mom when they were dating. We just don’t write letters any more, and its a shame. Although she saved quite a bit that didn’t need saving, like every home-made Mother’s Day card from me and my siblings, I am grateful that we found quite a bit of family history in her things.
One of the “gems” that I found were two obituaries for his father, William Austin Shelly (1873 – 1938). The first one, published in the local Greencastle paper, on May 2, 1938, was actually written the day he died. “W. A. SHELLY DIED SUDDENLY THIS MORNING”. The obituary goes on at length to describe his accomplishments, including his 30 years in Chile as an educational missionary and teacher. It lists his family – his first wife, Miss Jessie E. Tribby, who preceded him in death (due to the Spanish Flu of 1918), and his widow, my grandmother, Geneva Lewis Shelly. He was also survived by five children, Mary Isabel, who married a Chilean, Bertran Harismendy, and lived in Chile, and his two sons, James Austin Shelly and my Dad, William Lewis Shelly, and two daughters, Geneva and Susannah – at home. Pretty standard, boilerplate obituary stuff, which hasn’t changed very much in 82 years, except to become more terse, and no doubt more expensive. The author also misspelled “Chili”.
Also found with the above obituary was an “En Memoriam” published several weeks later (16 May 1938) in a Chilean newspaper, El Sur, published in Concepcion, Chile. I have attached a link to the originaly newspaper clipping, and, out of curiosity, decided to translate it with the help of Google. I do speak some Spanish so was able to edit/correct the Google translation. I’m so glad I did – it is beautiful, and I’d invite you to read it in its entirety (it’s not very long).
Spanish is such a beautiful language, and the person who wrote the piece (R. Matus M.) held my grandfather in the highest regard.
My favorite passage: “You put yourself to the aid of the helpless and your brain to the service of the ignorant. It is time to rest.”
Published in El Sur, Concepcion, Chile en lunes 16 de mayo de 1938
Translation by Gail C. Shelly, with the aid of Google Translate.
WILLIAM A. SHELLY
“A life dedicated to others and framed within the purest and most sincere feelings of goodness and altruism has been silently extinguished in the United States of America. I say silently because the ungrateful and painful news of his death has reached us through the press, and we have not been able – due to the distance – to fully adhere to that pain and that trail of tears that has caused his unjustified departure, unjustified because it is difficult for the human soul – in its limitation – to conceive that those heroic lives long sustained by the love of an ideal are suddenly detached from the earth.
“The irreparable nature of this misfortune makes us bow dumb and bewildered before Fate, and a feeling of shame that our small and petty acts of each day do not cease to emerge, and the manifest uselessness of lives devoted to selfish purposes. Mr. William A. Shelly spread his goodness and knowledge generously, like a sower who throws good seed into the furrow, never expecting reward. He had the virtue of great souls: disinterestedness.
“The old custom of praising and dressing the dead in virtuous clothing may be justified in the comfort it provides to the bereaved, but it is no more than a sweet lie. This is not the case with Mr. Shelly. I do not praise him because he has died, but that he, in life, we could say very loudly that he always went beyond where men go on the path of good, without fear of self-contradiction.
“For years he was an excellent director of the American College and Concepcion College in our city. Those who knew him at that time were able to assess his many virtues and his love of his vocation. For many alumni he was a second father who not only was respected but also imitated and loved. His Christian spirit was alert for all good works, aimed at alleviating the difficulties of those who suffer.
“Those who look beyond earthly life and seek explanations for Death, could say that the Divine Maker called him to his side to rest from the fatigue of carrying a noble cross for 65 well-lived years. You can, with justice, imagine that He said to him: Brother Shelly, your task is accomplished. You put yourself to the aid of the helpless and your brain to the service of the ignorant. It is time to rest.
“What a superb example of humanity leaves behind these pillars of nobility and altruism.
“These lines, devoid of all gallantry, but saturated with affection, are a humble and grateful tribute to one who did not live for himself, but to make the lives of others more elevated and pleasant.”
May we all aspire to live a life of service, do good works, aid the helpless and devote our brains to the service of the ignorant.
I mentioned previously that Elizabeth Moore, first wife of William Alkire, mother of our ancestor Robert Alkire and my 4 x great grandmother, was from a family of some repute in Virginia. Remember that the Elizabeth’s family lived close to Moorefield, Virginia. Moorfield is the county seat of Hardy County in West Virginia, Hardy County having been in one of the 50 counties that formed West Virginia in 1863. Also, Hardy County, VA was created from Hampshire County, VA in 1786. Elizabeth Moore was the daughter of Phillip Moore, Jr (1727 – 1778) and Mary Tosher (1734 – 1778).
Phillip Moore, Jr., was born in Maryland, and Mary Tosher was born in Hampshire Co, VA. Notably, they died on the same day, 10 Mar 1778. From “The Virginia Frontier in History: 1778”, David Bushnell Jr., the winter of 1777 – 1778 was particularly dangerous for settlers on the Virginia frontier, with the British attacking from both the west (Detroit) and the east (New York). The British engaged several tribes of Native Americans to help them in their cause, and other tribes supported the Americans and French, who joined the war in 1777.
“The early part of the year 1778 found the frontier settlements in grave danger. British agents among the Indians beyond the Ohio, led by Col. Hamilton, the commanding officer at Detroit, were evidently actively engaged in preparing the Indians for attacks on widely separated parts of the frontier. The scattered posts, extending from Fort Pitt to Fort Randolph, and beyond, formed scant protection against incursions from the west, and small bands of hostile warriors could easily penetrate the line of defense and reach the border settlements.” Many settlers were executed by hostile Indians. The Indian Nations were not treated very well either.
Children of Philip Moore, Jr (1727 – 1778) and Mary Tosher (1734 – 1778)
Elizabeth Moore (1759 – 1803) married William Alkire (1761 – 1825)
Margaret Moore (1760 – 1840) married David Reel (1765 – 1840). They died on the same day (4 Feb 1840, in Hardy, Virginia.
Susannah Moore (1763 – 1828) married Samuel Phebus (1767 – 1848)
Jacob I Moore (1766 – 1790) not married?
Nancy Ann Moore (1768 – 1821) married Adam Funk (1758 – 1830)
Anthony Moore (1770 – 1828) not married?
Philip Moore III (1770 – 1831) married Catherine Hornbeck (1770 – 1848)
Barbara Moore (1775 – ??)
Note that it is not known when the youngest child, Barbara Moore, died. She was three when her parents died and may have suffered a similar fate.
Philip Moore, Jr, (Elizabeth Moore’s father and my 5th great grandfather) was the son of Philip Moore, Sr (1706 – 1762) and Mary Doshire (1702 – 1752). They had four sons (Philip Jr., Michael, John and Conrad) and three daughters (Mary, Margaret, Susanna).
Children of Philip Moore Sr. and Mary Doshire:
Phillip Moore, Jr. (1730 – 1778) married Mary Tosher (1734 – 1778)
Michael Moore (1737 – 1815) fought in the Revolutionary War; married Caterina Miller (1742 – 1815)
John Moore (1739 – 1822) married Margaret Rebecca Varner 1749 – 1780
Conrad Moore (1741 – 1800) founder of Moorefield, VA; never married
Mary Moore (1744 – 1831)
Margaret Moore (1745 – 1833)
Susanna Moore (1) (1747 – 1749)
Susanna Moore (2) (1749 – 1833)
A pamphlet entitled “Walking Tour of Olivet Cemetery, Moorefield, WVa” gives a historical perspective of Philip Moore Sr and his four sons.
“CONRAD MOORE Some of the earliest recorded properties deeded by Lord Fairfax include twenty deeds recorded as lots 1 through 20 along the South Fork of the Potomac River. These deeds, dated 1748 – 1749, extend from Brake (lots 1 and 2 went to Peter Reed, lot 3 to Michael Stump) to the site of present Moorefield. Lot 20 of 373 acres, including properties where Moorefield is now located, went to Philip Moore, father of Conrad Moore.
“By 1748, Philip Moore Sr. was considered an “old resident”. When the survey party, including George Washington, came to survey the area, Washington referred to Moore’s home as a “house” distinguishing it from the “cabins” which dotted the settlement. Philip Moore must have loved adventure. His philosophy may have been “don’t wonder, wander.”
“His journeys brought him through Brock’s Gap, to the Lost River Valley, to Mathais, and across Howard’s Lick Mountain. He and his family must have traveled some of the worst roads in the country at that time. Finally arriving in the valley (to become Moorefield), Philip and his family settled down. When he died in 1772, he left his “goods and chattels” to four sons and three daughters. Philp Jr. died in 1778. His brothers Michael and John with their families, moved across the Alleghany Mountains to Monongalia County in 1785. Michael had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. It is not known whether others of his brothers, including Conrad, might also have been involved in that War.
“Conrad, the fourth son and perhaps the least adventuresome of the brothers, chose to remain in the valley. He was a man of versatile interests and talents, a man of means and a “jack of all trades.” In addition to managing his own farm, Conrad was a blacksmith, a wagon maker, a manufacturer of pewter spoons, a watch maker and a clock mender. He was a carpenter and a housebuilder. There is evidence, too, that Conrad practiced medicine and surgery. Records reveal that he was the town’s first banker, a money lender of repute. He was also a confirmed bachelor.
“In 1777, the Virginia General Assembly authorized a town to be known as Moorefield on 62 acres of Conrad Moore’s property.
“Conrad died some 23 years later. He attended the Mount Zion church, a log building with stone chimney, located on the south edge of town. He was buried in the graveyard of this Mount Zion Church. A more exact date of his death has not been determined. His will was dated December 2, 1799, and was entered for probate on April 9, 1800. His estate amounted to $1418.90. Among his effects sold in the settlement of his estate were a still, a brass clock, a “cookoo” clock, a repeating watch, a mirror, guns and pistols, a pair of plush breeches, a fur hat and silver knee buckles. He must have been a “dandy” as he paraded in his fine attire after Sunday church.
“In 1911, the United Daughters of the Confederacy were instrumental in moving the site of his burial to the Olivet Cemetery where it is honored with an 8-foot tall obelisk, a fitting tribute of the respect and veneration of people of the valley – in the place called Moorefield.”
Gravestone of Conrad Moore, founder of Moorefield; Olivet Cemetery
Today’s downtown Moorefield, WV, County Seat of Hardy County. The town, on land that once belonged to Conrad Moore, is protected by levees built along the South Fork of the Potomac River. Photo by Tex Jobe, US Army Corps of Engineers.
Both Elizabeth Moore and William Alkire (my 4th great grandparents) were born in or near Moorefield, Hampshire County, VA, but did not stay there. They relocated to Bourbon County, KY between 1786 and 1789, and after Elizabeth died (1803), the family moved on to Ohio (Madison County).
Today’s Moorefield, Hardy County, WV
Both Elizabeth Moore and William Alkire (my 4th great grandparents) were born in or near Moorefield, Hampshire County, VA, but did not stay there. They relocated to Bourbon County, KY between 1786 and 1789, and after Elizabeth died (1803), the family moved on to Ohio (Madison County).
In case you have gotten lost in the Alkire’s and Moore’s, here is the way they connect to my paternal grandmother, Geneva Lewis Shelly (1888 – 1984).
Geneva Lewis Shelly (1888 – 1984)
Ida Hannah Lane (1859 – 1898)
Rhuanna Alkire (1819 – 1859) m Solomon Lane
Robert Alkire (1783 – 1826) m Elizabeth Douglass
William Alkire (1758 – 1825) m Elizabeth Moore
Harmonas Alkire II (1730 – 1800) m Lydia Patton
Harmonas Alkire I (1700 – 1796)
William Alkire’s parents were Harmonas Alkire II (1730 – 1800) and Lydia Patton (1739 – 1798). These people are my 5th great grandparents. There is quite a bit of information about Harmonas II, and, as it turns out, about Lydia Patton.
Harmonas Alkire II was born in Virginia in 1730, which, in the early 1700’s was an enormous colony that encompassed all of what would become West Virginia and most of Kentucky. I believe that the area where he was born eventually landed in West Virginia, which became a state in 1863, more than 130 years after Harmonas II was born.
Harmonas II served his new country as a colonial soldier (Dunmore’s War, 1774 -1775) and a Revolutionary War soldier – his name can be found in “Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution”, 1775 – 1783, by John H. Gwathmey, published 1938.
“Harmonus Alkire II, was born near Moorefield, Hampshire County, Virginia in 1730. Moorefield (est. 1777) still exists as a village built on a grassy meadow near the joining of the Moorefield and South Branch of the Potomac Rivers. The mountain ridges parallel one another, running north and south, with the rich flood plain below. Grain fields were producing in the 1740s and the mills were already grinding meal. One of Harmonus’ civic duties was to view, mark, and keep in repair the road from his place up to Peter Reed’s mill on the South Fork.(2) At this time, valid titles to the land had not been given to anyone.
“Harmonus II was 17 when James Genn, a Virginia certified surveyor, surveyed the 55,000 acres of the South Branch Manor for the Right Honorable Lord Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron in Scotland.(3)George Washington, 16, was in the survey party. He recorded in his diary on Monday, March 23 [1748] that a great company of Dutch [German] people who lived along the South Branch River accompanied the surveyors while they worked.(4)
“The Alkires had German neighbors who were Lutherans, Mennonites, Dutch Reformed Church members, with a few Dunkers and Presbyterians. The only record of the Alkire beliefs now to be found is in the E. W. Humphrey record where John Alkire was reported as a Deist.
“Harmonus II, age 21, married Lydia Patten, age 12, in 1751 at Moorefield. All of their children were born in Virginia: William, Adam, Catherine, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, Dolly, Deborah, Michael, George, Sarah, Lydia and Harmonus, Jr.
“Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of the northern Neck of Virginia, granted the Title to Lots 16 and 17 to “maunis” Alkier on May 6 1765. Maunis made his mark, a backwards “N” for acceptance. Maunis was one of the many ways Harmonus’name was spelled.
“In 1774 – 1775. Harmonus was listed on Captain James Parson’s roll as a first lieutenant in the colonial army of Virgnina. He served under Lord Dunmore in the Indian battles with Cornstalk in the Ohio country. The treaty was made at Camp Charlotte in the Scioto Valey, Ohio. In the 154 days that Lt. Alkire served, he had seen the westward side of his mountains. He carried the visions of lush growth and opportunity to the folks back home. In 1788, Harmonus’ sons William and his wife (Elizabeth Moore) and John and his wife Susan Neff) were settled in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
“Over 7000 people populated Moorefield by 1800, including 454 slaves. Harmonus II and Lydia Alkire started selling their Virginia land in 1789 and purchased 20 acres for 41 pounds on the waters of Huston’s Fork, Bourbon County, Kentucky.
“After the sales of their Virginia lands, Harmonus II and his family drove loaded pack-horses to the Kanawha River, built a keel boat and floated down the Ohio River to the mouth of the Slater River and thence to Harrod’s Station, Bourbon County, Kentucky. Harmonus I died there in 1796 at the reported age of 96 years.
“Harmonus II purchased another 250 acres on the waters of the Huston’s Fork of the Licking River, close to downtown Paris, Kentucky. An early historian of Bourbon County described these early pioneers as hardy, fearless and self-reliant people where a man was esteemed for his merit, not his money.
“In 1800, Harmonus Alkire II died at the age of 70. His will names his six sons and six daughters. Most of them signed an “X” to legal land documents, reading and writing were not common achievements on the westward side of the Appalachian Mountains.”
Harmonas Alkire II and Lydia Patton had 12 – 14 children. On Sept. 1, 1810, 12 of his children (w/ wives & husbands) appeared in Bourbon Co, KY court to sign off on a land sale Harmonas II had made in Licking, Bourbon Co, KY to a Richard Smart. The children are listed (1810):
William Alkire (1761 – 1825) m Elizabeth Moore (1769 – 1803) William was a widower in 1810 John Alkire, Rev (1759 – 1836) m Susannah Neff Nation Michael Alkire (1772 – 1843) m Dorothy Phebus Adam Alkire (1767 – 1862) never married Harmonius III (1778 – 1857) m Jane Osborne George (Rev) (1780 -1868) m Catherine Rush Caty (Catherine) (1760 – 1842) Peggy (Margaret) (1757 – 1810) m. George Reid Elizabeth (1758 – 1824) m. Adam Mitts (widowed in 1810) Deborah (1769 – 1850) m. Jacob Trumbo Lydia (1776 – 1817) m Solomon Hornback Sally (Sarah) (1774 – 1843) m Simon Hornback
Note that the Rev John Alkire (1759 – 1836) married Susannah Neff Nation (1768 – 1832). The Neff’s and Alkire’s had a common history a generation later (see previous post, the Neff/Alkire connection) however, this is the earliest Alkire/Neff marriage that I’ve found. Susannah’s husband, the Rev. John Alkire, was the younger brother of William Alkire (1761 – 1836) and several of William’s grandchildren as well as his widowed daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Betsy Douglass, married into the Neff family.
Susannah Neff Alkire was the youngest daughter of immigrant Hans Leonard Neff (born 1725, Germany; died 1778, Hardy County, WV) and Elizabeth Magdalene Feg (b 1726 Hardy County WV, died 1816, Hardy County, WV). Hans and Elizabeth Magdalene Neff lived in Hardy County, which was in Virginia and is now in West Virginia. Moorefield (home to Elizabeth Moore and family, who married William Alkire) is the County Seat.
The Alkires and Neffs were frontier families, and in the mid 1700’s, life was hard and dangerous. The French and Indian War (1754 – 1763) was raging, and the settlers were caught in the middle. An interesting story, found in historical accounts of Hardy County (ref: http://genealogytrails.com/wva/hardy/countyhistory.htm) mentions a “Mrs. Neff” who just might have been Susannah’s mother, Elizabeth Magdalana Feg Neff. I have not found any irrefutable proof, but the timing and place fits. Here is the story of an early skirmish in Hardy County, in the spring of 1756, in which a “Mrs. Neff” played a key role.
“The Battle of the Trough
“This was one of the most sanguinary conflicts which took place between the pioneers of western Virginia and the savages aided and abetted by the French. It occurred in the spring of 1756, just after Braddock’s defeat had laid the frontier open to Indian incursion. The following account is given by Dr. Charles A. Turley of Fort Pleasant.
“The memorable battle of the Trough was preceded by the following circumstances. On the day previous, two Indian strollers from a large party of sixty or seventy warriors, under the well-known and ferocious chief, Kill-buck, made an attack on the dwelling of a Mrs. Blake, on the South fork of the South Branch of the Potomac, about fifteen miles above Moorefield, and took Mrs. Blake and a Mrs. Neff prisoners. The former not being able to travel was tomahawked and scalped, and the latter brought down to the vicinity of Town Fort, about one and a half miles below Moorefield. There, one of the Indians, under the pretence of hunting, retired, and the other laid himself down and pretended to fall asleep, with a view, as was beliefed, to let Mrs. Neff escape to the fort and give alarm. Everything turned out agreeably to their expectations; for as soon as she reached the fort and gave the circumstances of her escape eighteen men from that and Buttermilk fort, five miles above, went in pursuit. They were men notorious for their valor and who had been well tried on many such occasions.
“As soon as they came to the place indicated by Mrs. Neff, they found a plain trace left by the Indian, by occasionally breaking a bush. John Harneas, who was well acquainted with the mode of warfare of the Indians, pronounced that the hunter Indian had not returned to his comrad, or that they were in great force somewhere near and in ambush. They, however, pursued the trace without discovering any sign of a larger party, until they arrived between two mountains, forming was from its resemblance is called the Trough. Here, directly above a spring about two hundred paces from the river, which at that time was filled to an impassable stage by a heavy fall of rain, these grim monsters of blood, were encamped to the number above stated. The westerm face of the ridge was very precipitous and rough, and on the north of the spring was a deep ravine cutting directly up into the ridge above. Our little band of heroes, nothing daunted by the superior number of the enemy, dismounted unobserved and prepared for battle, leaving their horses on the ridge. But by one of those unforeseen accidents which often thwart the seemingly best planned enterprises, a small dog which had followed them just at this juncture started a rabbit, and went yelping down the ridge, giving the Indians timely notice of their approach. They immediately flew to arms and filling up the ravine before described, passed directly in the rear of our little band, placing them in the very situation in which they had hoped to find their enemies, between the mountain and the swollen river. Now came the “tug of war,’ and both parties rushed to the onset, dealing death and slaughter at every fire. After an hour or two of hard fighting, during which each of our little band had numbered his man, and more than half their number had fallen to rise no more, those that remained were compelled to retreat, which could only be effected by swimming the river. Some who had been wounded not being able to do this, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible; and deliberately loading their rifles and placing themselves behind some cover on the river batik, dealt certain death to the first adversary who made his appearance, and then calmly yielded to the tomahawk.
Airial view of The Trough, wvexplorer.com
“At the time of which we are speaking, there were quarterd in Fort Pleasant, about one and a half miles above the battleground and within hearing of every gun, a company of regulars, commanded by a British officer named Wagner, who not only refused to march a man out of the fort, but, when the inhabitants seized their rifles and determined to rush to the assistance of their brotherrs, ordered the gates to be closed and suffered not to pass in or out.
Battle of the Trough, WV; wikipedia.com
I am not done with the Alkires, but I think that is enough for now. In my next post I will write about Lydia Patton’s family (Lydia Patton married Harmonas Alkire II and is my 5th great grandmother). Lydia’s parents, Captain John Patton (1692 – 1756) and Mary Sarah Rogers (1707 – 1752) were both born in northern Ireland. John Patton’s parents were Presbyterians, originally from the Scottish lowlands and left Scotland to settle in northern Ireland. Many of the “Scotch Irish” immigrated to the colonies well before the the Irish potato famine brought our Catholic Irish brethren to this land of opportunity.
The Shelly family has suffered a tremendous loss this week. Although words cannot begin to describe a life so well lived, we have been working on it. Her on-line obituary will be short – here is the long version with some photos of our Mom throughout her incredible life.
Frances Marjorie Horn, ca 1944
Marjorie Horn Shelly, 94, passed away on July 21, 2020 at her home in Fullerton, CA. Her daughter, Allyson Shelly, was her primary caregiver and was at home with her when she died. Marjorie was born in Gary, IN, on April 10, 1926, to the late Reverend Buel Edward Horn and Ruby Bigler Horn. She was an accomplished teacher, musician, vocalist, quilter and a beloved, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. She attended DePauw University, was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority, and where she met the love of her life, the late William L. Shelly (Bill). She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music. While at DePauw she joined Mu Phi Epsilon Music Sorority which she continued to be active in thru the Fullerton Alumnae chapter. She also earned a Master of Fine Arts (Voice) from California State University, Fullerton.
Marjorie and Bill were married on January 29, 1949. They lived together in Indianapolis, IN, where their four children were born. The family relocated to Fullerton, CA in 1961. Marjorie is survived by her children, William B. Shelly (Janet), Gail C. Shelly (Greg McClosky), Allyson E. Shelly and James E. Shelly (Jayne). She is also survived by six grandchildren: Carolyn Raffety (Hunter), Tyler Shelly (Haleigh), McKenna Redmond (Michael), Brianna Shelly (Dan Mihaly Simmons), Megan McClosky, Mary McClosky, and three great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her loving husband in 1992 and her sister, Alice Virginia White, in 1999.
Marjorie taught piano and voice in her home and at several area community colleges. She sang in church choirs from a very young age, and started directing adult choirs at University Park United Methodist Church, Denver, CO, and First Congregational Church, Buena Park, CA. She then moved to Orangethorpe United Methodist Church where she led the adult choir and bell choir for 22 years. Marjorie was a world-traveler, visiting many places in the US as well as the UK, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Greece, Switzerland, Hungary, Turkey, Israel, Russia, China, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. She was a loyal member of Fullerton First United Methodist Church for over 50 years, and hand-quilted with their quilting group for many years. She also personally hand-quilted over 200 quilts for every baby and grandbaby she knew. She loved books, was an active member of a book club and volunteered for many years at the Friends of Fullerton Public Library. As her health and eyesight deteriorated, she discovered audiobooks and had listened to over 30 books this year alone. She loved fresh orange juice, which she shared with all of her grandchildren and showed them how to pick oranges and avocados from the trees in the back yard. She passed her musical talents on to all of her children and grandchildren and would sing to all of us on every birthday. Marjorie lived a full, meaningful life filled with travel, music, and family, and ran circles around all of us well into her 80’s. She faced her health challenges with bravery and determination and drew strength from the love of her family and God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Memorial services are pending and will be announced later. The family suggests in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marjorie’s name in support of the Braille Institute of Southern California (Orange County), the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation or Fullerton First United Methodist Church.
Alice Virginia and Frances Marjorie Horn, ca 1928
Frances Marjorie and Alice Virginia Horn, ca 1930
Marjorie Horn, ca 1940, on the shore of Lake Michigan
Marjorie Horn, at DePauw University, ca 1947
January 29, 1949
The whole family, ca 1968Marjorie Horn Shelly and William Lewis Shelly, ca 1979
The world traveler, on the border of Chile and Argentina 2003
A class act, every step of the way
We will miss you so much.
Rest in Peace, Mom, you are home. You’ve earned your wings and we know you will watch over all who love you.
My paternal grandmother was Geneva Lewis Shelly (1888 – 1984). Her mother was Ida Hannah Lane (1859 – 1898) and her maternal grandmother was Rhuanna Alkire. Unfortunately, Geneva Lewis did not know her maternal grandmother, since she died before Geneva was born. Rhuanna Alkire (16 Feb 1819 – 8 Aug 1859) married Solomon Lane in 1841 and had 8 children. Her youngest child, Ida Hannah, was born on 13 Apr 1859, and was only 4 months old when her mother died of typhoid fever at the age of 40. Rhuanna and Solomon Land resided in Pickaway County, Ohio, where Rhuanna was born in 1819.
Rhuanna Alkire came from a family with a long and distinguished history in the United States. They were pioneering folk, and although details are sketchy, it is generally accepted that the first Alkires came from Europe in the 1600’s.
From “History of Pickaway Co. Ohio and Representative Citizens – Van Cleaf, page 837:
“The Alkire family is of Scotch extraction and many members of it still reside in old Scotland where the name is spelled Alkirk. The founder of the Alkire family in America was a member of the colonizing expedition of Lord Baltimore, which crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made the first settlement in Maryland in 1634. Evidently this early settler was a man of virile strength as his descendants have increased and multiplied, their lives and histories being more or less interwoven with the annals of a number of the States of the Union. From Maryland the name is traced to Virginia, thence to Kentucky and about 1800 it became known in Ohio.”
Rhuanna Alkire’s parents, Robert Alkire and Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass were born around the time of the Revolutionary War, and that their ancestors have been traced back to the 1600’s, some even earlier. We will explore some of the interesting details of these ancestors, all of whom were born in the American Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War.
Rhuanna Alkire (1819 – 1859) was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, one of seven children born to Robert Alkire (1783 – 1826) and Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass (1787 – 1864). She married Solomon Lane on 24 Aug 1841 in Pickaway County, OH. They proceeded to have eight children, as follows, in Pickaway County.
Children of Rhuanna Alkire and Solomon Lane:
Clarinda Jane Lane (1842 -1844)
Elizabeth Margaret Lane (1844 – 1923) married George Lawrence Triplett
Virgil Lane (1845 – 1926) married Sarah Etta Van Meter
John William Lane (1848 – 1904) married Elizabeth A. Reaves
Martha Ann Lane (1850 – 1923) married John H. Gillenwater
Mary Malinda “Linney” Lane (1853 – 1921) married William Ayers
Joseph Houston Lane (1854 – 1857)
Ida Hannah Lane (1859 – 1898) married Joseph Milton Lewis
Rhuanna Alkire Lane died on 8 Aug 1859, just four months after her youngest daughter, Ida Hannah Lane was born. Solomon remarried a year later (to widow Sarah Jane Van Meter Triplett) and Ida Hannah was left in the care of Forgus Oliver Perry (F.O.P) Graham (1816 – 1893) and his wife, Elizabeth Robinson (1818 – 1898). F.O.P. Graham was a first cousin of Rhuanna. His mother, Lydia Alkire, was the sister of Rhuanna’s father, Robert Alkire.
Rhuanna Alkire died of typhoid fever, unfortunately a common problem in rural America, due to contamination of drinking water with sewage (see previous chapter). Although no photo of Rhuanna exists, my father’s cousin, Miriam Roberts, found the following photo of Rhuanna’s grown daughters.
Daughters of Rhuanna Alkire Lane
Rhuanna’s father was Robert Alkire (1783 – 1826) and her mother was Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass (1787 – 1864). Robert Alkire was born in Moorefield, Hampshire County, Virginia. This county was on the border of Virginia and Pennsylvania and became the north-eastern-most county in West Virginia, when that became a state (maps below). Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and married Robert Alkire in Franklin County, Ohio on 20 Jun 1809. I do not know where they met – most probably in Ohio. Robert and Betsy lived in Pleasant Township, Pickaway County, OH, according to the 1820 Census. Although the names of the wife and children were not listed, the enumeration lists one son under the age of 16 and three daughters under the age of 10. The tax list of 1810 lists Robert Alkire as working in agriculture.
Robert Alkire and Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass had eight children (see below). Robert died in 1826 at the age of 43, and Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass remarried 4 Oct 1829 in Madison, Ohio. Her second husband was George Neff (1786 – 1859) and they had two more children. The Neff family was also a notable family in Madison and Pickaway Counties and several of the Alkire children married into the Neff family.
Children of Robert Alkire and Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass Alkire Neff:
William Houston Alkire 1810 – 1847 married Catherine Neff (1809 – 1869)
Elizabeth Alkire 1811 – 1814 died age 3
Malinda “Emma” Alkire 1812 – 1892 married Samuel Gilliland (1810 – 1897)
Rhuanna Alkire 1819 – 1859 married Solomon Lane (1818 – 1887)
Levina Alkire 1821 – 1904 married John Neff (1822 -1899)
Margaret Alkire 1822 – 1882 married Nimrod Huffman (1818 – 1898)
Elizabeth Templeton Alkire 1825 – 1869 married Absalom Neff Wilson (1816 -1883)
Children of Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass Alkire Neff and George Neff:
Huldah Jane Neff 1830 – 1912 married Charles T. Green (1823 – 1884)
Emza “Emma” Neff 1832 – 1918 married Richard Heath (1820 – 1880)
Hulda Jane Neff (1830 – 1912) half sister of Rhuanna Alkire
The Alkire-Neff connection.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Douglass Alkire’s second husband was George Neff II (1786 – 1859). He was a widower – his first wife was Madeline Stump (1781 – 1829) and they had several children. Rhuanna’s brother William H. Alkire (1810 – 1847) married Catherine Neff (1809 – 1869), who was the younger sister of George Neff II. Their father was George Neff I (1758 – 1840) and their mother was Elizabeth Douglass (1759 – 1816). Rhuanna’s sister, Levina Alkire (1821 – 1904) married John Neff (1822 – 1899) who was the nephew of George Neff II. Elizabeth Templeton Alkire (1823 – 1869) married Absolom Neff Wilson (1816 – 1883), who’s mother was Elizabeth Neff Wilson (1787 – 1838), daughter of George Neff I, making him a nephew of George Neff II. Family dinners must have been very interesting!
Pickaway county, Ohio, was formed in 1810, from parts of Ross, Fairfield and Franklin counties. Madison County, where there were also many Alkires, adjoins Pickaway County. This evolution of county boundaries was quite common as the pioneers pushed westward, establishing farms, towns, roads and county governments. In 1803, Ohio was admitted as a state. These historical maps show the creation of counties in just 7 years. Source: https://www.mapofus.org/ohio/
The population of Pickaway County almost doubled from 1810 (7,124) to 1820 (13,149) and was nearly 20,000 in 1840 (19,725).
In 1803, the counties were very large. Ro = Ross County, Fr = Franklin County, Fai = Fairfield County
By 1810, Fairfield (Fai) and Franklin (Fr) counties were quite small (see center of map). Pickaway (Pic), Madison (Mad) and Fayette (Fay) had formed. This makes genealogy research interesting, as families would “move” from one county to another without relocating!
Robert Alkire’s parents were William Alkire (1761 – 1825) and Elizabeth Moore (1759 – 1803). They were married in 1778 and both lived in Moorefield, Hampshire County, Virginia. Many references claim that these folks were in West Virginia, and today’s Hampshire County is in West Virginia. West Virginia, however, did not become a state until 1863; it was admitted to the Union as an anti-slavery state. To complicate matters, Hardy County was created from Hampshire County in 1786, so some references list one or the other. The maps, below, show the evolution of Hardy County in what was Virginia and the creation of West Virginia from Virginia in 1863. Ref: https://www.mapofus.org/westvirginia/
Hampshire County (Ham) was in the north central part of Virginia in 1784
By 1786, Hardy County (Hdy) was formed with about half of Hampshire County (Ham)
West Virginia becomes a state in 1863. Hampshire county was included in the new state.
This Alkire generation did not stay in Virginia. Between 1786 – 1789, William and Elizabeth moved to Bourbon County, KY, where Elizabeth Moore Alkire died after 25 years of marriage. She bore 13 children to their union (see below). Again, the county boundaries changed over time – Bourbon County was one of the first four counties established in Kentucky. This was not an easy trip, especially with four children under the age of five.
Children of William Alkire (1761 – 1825) and Elizabeth Moore (1759 – 1803):
Mary Ann Alkire (1781 – 1805) born in VA, died Pickaway Co, OH. Married Courtney Neff Tanner
Robert Alkire (1783 – 1826) born in VA died Madison Co, OH. Married Elizabeth Betsy Douglass
John Alkire (1785 – 1785) born, died in VA
Jacob Alkire (1786 – 1847) born in VA, died Madison Co, OH. Married Mary Polly Phebus
Isaac M Alkire (1789 – 1877) born in KY, died in Madison Co, OH. Married Mary Polly Graham
Abraham Alkire (1790 – 1859) born in KY, died in Madison Co, OH. Married Jinny Martin Creath
Harmonas H. Alkire (1792 – 1869) born in KY, died in Fountain Co, IN. Married Martha Denton
Lydia Alkire (1793 – 1859) born in KY, died in Madison Co, IN. Married John Graham
Margaret Jane Alkire (1794 – 1888) born in KY, died Pickaway Co, OH. Married James Dennison
John Michael Alkire (1795 – 1848) born in KY, died Madison Co, OH. Married Susanna Mantle
Phoebe Alkire (1798 – 1798) born and died in KY
William Madison Alkire (1799 – 1886) born in KY, died Putnam Co, OH. Married Hannah Potts Osborn
Elizabeth Delilah Alkire (1803 – 1975) born in KY, died in Fountain Co, IN. Married George Washington Graham
Several things to note:
One can surmise from the birth locations of their children, William Alkire and Elizabeth Moore Alkire journeyed from Mooresfield, Hampshire County, Virginia to Bourbon County, KY between 1786 – 1789.
Elizabeth Moore Alkire lost two infants of the 13 children she bore, and 11 lived to move out of KY into Ohio and Indiana. She had a child roughly every 1 – 2 years during her 25 years of marriage and died in 1803, the same year her youngest child was born. She was 44 years old.
Three of the Alkire children married in to the Graham family. Robert Alkire’s sister, Lydia Alkire, married John Graham. They were the parents of Forgus Oliver Perry (FOP) Graham (1816 – 1893). FOP Graham married Elizabeth Robinson (1818 – 1898). They adopted Rhuanna Alkire’s daughter, Ida Hannah Lane after Rhuanna died and her husband, Solomon Lane moved to Missouri with his new wife. The Graham’s raised their cousin’s child as their own, hosting her wedding to Joseph Milton Lewis. Ida Hannah Lane Lewis named one of her sons “Graham” in honor of her adopted parents.
Elizabeth Moore Alkire came from a notable family in Virginia. More about that in another post.
“In the late 1700s, early settlers to Kentucky had to fight for their survival. They came from the east to claim the land and build up settlements out of the wilderness. Life was hard and dangerous. For many, their best hope for survival was in a fort. These forts, and smaller structures called stations, were the beginnings of today’s Kentucky towns.
“The threat of Indian attacks was very real. Contrary to common belief, however, the pioneers did not live in the stockades for any great length of time. It was often the case that they lived in separate cabins near the forts, and when an Indian raid threatened, they loaded packhorses with household goods, herded together the cattle, hogs, sheep and chickens and rushed into the fortification. Sometimes smaller stations were created between families.”
Drawing of a typical frontier “Station”, courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Association.
“It was a long and dangerous trip made in wagons and by horseback. They feared the Indians with good reason. They had to be on the alert for Indian attacks on the water as well as on land, for they sometimes used flatboats for transportation. The families had every right to be fearful because in the time frame from 1783 – 1790 there had been no less than 1500 authenticated instances of men, women and children being killed or captured by the Indians in the sparsely settled Kentucky. The flatboats, built with green timber and put together with wooden pegs, were hardly a comfortable way to travel, let alone being safe. Travelers were warned repeatedly that, “as frequent landing is attended with considerable loss of time and some hazard, you should contrive to land as seldom as possible; you need not even lie by at night provided you trust the current and keep a good lookout.”
Flatboat on the river
Bourbon County, KY, was a huge county in the late 1700’s.
“The most popular destination for the earliest trans-Appalachian settlers was Kentucky. It especially attracted people from Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas. During the 1780’s, hundreds of families migrated into Kentucky and its population rose quickly. Of Kentucky’s 75,000 population in 1790, about 90 percent had arrived by way of the Wilderness Road. In 1792 Kentucky became the first state west of the Appalachians and by 1800, close to 100,000 more persons had traveled to Kentucky. After 1796 the trail through the Cumberland Gap was widened for Conestoga wagons, at which time it took on the name of Wilderness Road.” Ref: https://www.nps.gov/cuga/learn/historyculture/early-american-frontier.htm
The Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap
After Elizabeth Moore Alkire died, William Alkire remarried. His new wife was Temperance Clay Black (1770 – 1830), the widow of Stephen Black (1770 – 1803) who had five young children. They were married 7 Jun 1804 and proceeded to have three more children:
Children of William Alkire and Temperance Clay Black Alkire:
Joseph Wright Alkire (1805 – 1873) born in KY, died in Newton Co, MO
Henry Green Clay Alkire (1807 – 1863) born in KY, died in Madison Co, OH married to Elizabeth Neff.
Phebe Lewis Clay Alkire (1809 – 1829) born in KY, died in Madison Co, OH at the age of 20.
Census records indicate that William Alkire resided in Bourbon County, KY in 1810, but by 1820 had moved to Pleasant Township, Madison Co, OH. He died there in 1825, after leaving two wills.
The first will was dated 7-28-1818 and recorded May 1822. It mentioned his wife, Temperance, sons Robert, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Harmones, John, William, Joseph and Henry Green Alkire; daughters: Mary Ann, Margaret and Elizabeth Alkire. Mentions Liddea Graham and Phebe Alkire and also the estate of Phoebe Clay, deceased. Executors are Abraham Alkire and John Graham. Witnesses were William Creath and Abraham Alkire.
The second will was dated 7-30-1818 and also recorded May 1822. It mentions his wife, Temperance, daughters Mary Ann Tanner, Margaret, Elizabeth and Phebe Alkire; Liddia Graham and sons Robert, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham and Harmonas Alkire to have “money in hands of John Donalston my attorney in the state of Kentucky from Charles Clay’s estate”; Joseph and Green Alkire, not of age, to have “all their grandfather Charles Clay’s estate in the hands of John Donalston, my attorney”. Executors: Abraham Alkire and John Graham. Witnesses William Creath, Robert Denton and John J. Smith.
Note: Family lore has it that Temperance Clay Black Alkire was the sister of Henry Clay, Sr (1777 – 1852), U.S. Senator and Speaker of the House. This is not true, as far as I can tell. Temperance Clay was the daughter of Lt. Col. Charles Clay (1740 – 1814) who served in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War, and Phoebe Cheatham (1742 – 1805). They had nine children, none of whom was named Henry. Temperance did have two sisters named Patience and Prudence, though. Temperance’s paternal grandfather was named Henry Clay (1711 – 1764) so that may have been the source of the confusion. It is interesting to note that the estate of Charles Clay was left to his two grandsons, Joseph Wright Alkire and Henry Green Clay Alkire.
George Bingham painting of Daniel Boone leading settlers along the Wilderness Road
My paternal grandmother was Geneva Lewis Shelly, Her parents were Joseph Milton Lewis and Ida Hannah Lane. Joe Lewis married Ida Lane on February 20, 1886, in London, Ohio. Ida Hannah’s father was the Rev. Solomon Lane and her mother was Rhuanna Alkire. This post will address the history of the Lane Family and the next post will be devoted to the Alkires.
Joseph Milton Lewis and Ida Hannah Lane on their wedding day, 1886
Ida Hannah Lane (1859 – 1898) was my father’s maternal grandmother. She was the last of eight children of Solomon Lane (1818 – 1887) and Rhuanna Alkire (1819 – 1859). Ida Lane and Joe Lewis were married in 1886 and had six children, including my grandmother, Geneva Lewis Shelly.
I found it to be a sad coincidence that both Geneva’s mother, Ida Lane, and her maternal grandmother, Rhuanna Alkire, died during their childbearing years, leaving their young children to be raised by family members. Rhuanna Alkire died four months after the birth of her youngest daughter, Ida Hannah Lane, of typhoid fever. She was 40 years old. Ida succumbed at the age of 39 years, six months after her youngest daughter (Wanna Francis Lewis) was born, of typhoid fever.
Note: Typhoid fever is rare in today’s United States and other industrialized countries, but it can be contracted in countries where sanitation and personal hygiene are poor. Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria and is spread through contaminated food and water or through close contact with someone who is infected. Signs and symptoms usually include a high fever, headache, abdominal pain with a swollen abdomen and either constipation or diarrhea. A course of antibiotics (unknown in the 19th century) is usually sufficient to treat the disease today, and vaccines are available (also unknown in the 19th century). If you don’t receive treatment, you may become delirious and experience a perforation of the bowel, resulting in sepsis (bloodstream infection). Ref: www.Mayoclinic.org
Historical note: Jamestown, an English colony in Virginia, is thought by some historians to have died out as a result of typhoid fever. The fever proved fatal for more than 6000 settlers between 1607 and 1624, and may have been responsible for eliminating the entire colony. Also, William Budd was an English doctor responsible for treating an outbreak of typhoid in 1838, when he noted that “the poison” was present in the excretions of the infected and could be transmitted to healthy people through contaminated water consumption. Upon realizing this association, he suggested isolating excrement to help control future outbreaks. The first effective vaccine for typhoid was developed by A. E. Wright and introduced for military use in 1896. This made a significant improvement to the health of soldiers at war, who were more likely to be killed by typhoid than in combat at that time. Ref: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Typhoid-Fever-History.aspx
Typhoid Fever Transmission, Conceptual Drawing ca 1930
Rhuanna Alkire (16 Feb 1819 – 8 Aug 1859) married Solomon Lane in 1841 and had 8 children. Her youngest, Ida Hannah, was born on 13 Apr 1859, so was only 4 months old when her mother died. Her father, Solomon, remarried and had several more children (see below). As an infant, Ida Hannah was adopted by the Ref. Forgus Oliver Perry Graham (1816 – 1898) and his wife Elizabeth E. Robinson (1818 – 1898). The Grahams were cousins of Rhuanna Alkire, her mother. When Solomon and his second wife, Sarah Jane Triplett, moved to Missouri in 1868, they left 9 year old Ida Hannah in Ohio, in the care of the Grahams. Ida kept her surname, but was adopted by the Graham’s and remained very close to them. The Graham’s hosted Ida’s wedding, and this same couple (F. O. P Graham and Elizabeth) provided care for Ida’s daughter Mary, after Ida’s death. Forgus Graham’s mother was Lydia Alkire, the sister of Ida’s grandfather, Robert Alkire. I will write more about the Alkires in the next chapter.
There is no known photo of Rhuanna Alkire Lane. I have several copies of photos of Solomon Lane, courtesy of cousin Miriam Roberts. Seen below is a photo of Solomon at a young age. The next photo is one of Solomon at an older age. The insert is Ida, taken about the time of her marriage to Joe Lewis.
Solomon Lane was born in Madison County, Ohio, on 21 Feb 1818. He was the son of Joseph Lane, Sr (1790 – 1852) and Margaret Krouskop (1790 -1841). He was a circuit rider, which may be the reason the family (without Ida ) moved to Missouri. Shortly after Rhuanna’s death, he remarried a widow named Sarah Jane Van Meter Triplett. Sara Triplett had several children by her first husband, Lawrence Triplett, and several more with Solomon Lane (see below).
The Reverend Solomon Lane
Solomon Lane and his daughter, Ida (insert)
The eight children of Solomon Lane (21 Feb 1818, Madison, OH – 29 Jan 1887, Lafayette, MO) and Rhuanna Alkire (married 24 Aug 1841, Pickaway, OH) are listed below
Clarinda Jane (1842 – 1844) died age 2
Elizabeth Margaret (1844 – 1920) married George Lawrence Triplett (1845 – 1920)
Virgil (1845 – 1926) married Sarah Etta Van Meter (1851 – 1939)
John William (1848 – 1904) married Elizabeth Reaves (1849 – 1929)
Martha Ann (1850 – 1923) married John Gillenwater (1849 – 1921)
Mary Malinda “Linney” (1852 – 1921) married William Ayers (1852 – 1927)
Joseph Houston (1854 – 1857) died age 3
Ida Hannah (1859 – 1898) married Joe Lewis (1858 – 1934)
The photo below is of Ida Hannah her three sisters, Mary Malinda (Linney), Elizabeth Margaret, and Martha Ann.
Daughters of Solomon and Rhuanna Alkire Lane
Soon after Rhuanna died, Solomon Lane remarried. This was not uncommon – someone had to watch the youngsters! His new wife was a widow, Sarah Jane Van Meter (1822 – 1898), who had been married to Lawrence Triplett (1805 – 1851). Sarah Van Meter Triplett had four children when they were married, and proceeded to have several more with Solomon Lane. They were married on 16 Oct 1860.
Children of Sarah Jane Van Meter and Lawrence Triplett:
George Lawrence Triplett (1845 – 1920) married Elizabeth Margaret Lane (see above)
Mary E. Triplett (1847 – 1849) died age 2
Isabelle (Belle) Triplett (1850 – 1930)
Lara E Triplett (1852 – 1914)
Children of Sarah Jane Van Meter and Solomon Lane:
Eva Tabitha Lane (1862 – ?)
Sarah Francis Lane (1864 – after 1900)
Henry Clay Lane (1865 – 1900)
Note that Elizabeth Margaret Lane (daughter of Solomon and Rhuanna) married her step-brother, George Lawrence Triplett (son of Sarah Van Meter and Lawrence Triplett). George Lawrence Triplett fought in the Civil war. George Lawrence Triplett enlisted in the 30th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company H on 21 Aug 1861. His stated birth year was 1843, where in reality it was 1845 – he claimed to be 18 when he really was 16. Major battles in which he participated were the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Siege of Vicksburg and the Siege of Jackson, MS. He mustered out on 18 Jul 1863 and they were married in 1867.
Below: George Triplett Family, with Elizabeth Margaret Lane (seated, far left) and George Triplett, seated next to her.
Elizabeth Margaret Lane (seated, far left) and George Triplett (second from left) and their children
I have found no evidence that Solomon Lane, Virgil Lane (1845 – 1926) nor John William Lane (1848 – 1904) fought in the Civil War.
Solomon Lane’s obituary (Lexington Intelligencer, Feb 5, 1887) reads, in part:
“At his home near Bates City in Clay Township, Lafayette Count, MO, January 29 1887, Rev. Solomon Lane, aged 69 years.
“Father Lane was born in Madison Co. Ohio, on Feb 21, 1818, where he lived until 1868 at which time he moved to Missouri and spent the remainder of his life. In August 1841 he was married to Miss Rhuanna Alkire of Ohio. She died in 1859 and in 1860 he married Mrs. Jane Triplett, who still survives him. While still a young man, Father Lane enlisted in the cause of his Maker and united with the Christian Church and soon afterward commenced preaching the Gospel which he continued to do as long as he had strength to do so.
“In the death of Father Lane the community loses one of its best citizens and the wife loses a devoted husband, and the children a kind and indulgent father and the poor loses a staunch friend and a cheerful giver, as the beggar was never turned away from his door hungry nor empty handed.”
Solomon Lane’s father was Joseph Houston Lane (abt 1790 – 1852). The following information is from the biography of Joseph Houston Lane, written by Lester Lane. Ref: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lane-3651
“Joseph Houston Lane was born in Maryland and had a pioneering spirit, setting off to the wilderness of Ohio before he was 20 years old. Tax records from 1809 show Joseph H. Lane residing in Ross County, Ohio. Founded in 1798, Ross County originally included much of the Appalachian plateau in Ohio. Like other counties in the early 1800’s, Ross County was carved up as other counties were formed. In 1810, Fayette County and Pickaway County were formed from parts of Ross County, which is probably how Joseph Houston Lane came to be listed on the tax rolls of Pickaway County in 1810.”
Ross County (red line) in 1798 vs Ross County today.
More words of Lester Lane:
“On May 25th of 1810, Joseph married his one and only wife, Margaret Krouskop[6]; she was a young woman of German ancestry[7] whose family had apparently made their way west from Delaware where Margaret was born[8] around 1792[9].
When 1820 rolls around the Lane family had grown to 6 with the addition of four sons. And, the family had moved north and West a bit to Pleasant township in Madison County[10]. They would stay there for more than a decade and the family would continue to grow. The 1830 Census counted 4 boys and 2 girls, but one of those sons is from 5 to 9 years old. So, one son missing. Based on the age range of the other 3 sons it appears that the Lanes lost their first born at some point over the previous decade[11].
While the names of Joseph’s 3 oldest remaining sons are not given in the record, careful study and research gives me confidence in saying that Joseph Lane Jr, born about 1813; George Lane, born around 1814 and Solomon Lane, born about 1818 are likely candidates[12]. Their son Jacob was born in 1822 and Margaret gave birth to John M Lane in 1826. Mary was born just two years earlier and Margaret was around one year old when the 1830 Census was taken[13].
A deep economic depression enveloped the nation in 1837, it became known as the Panic of 1837[14] and many in Ohio responded to the crash by moving further west into Illinois[15]. Whether it was because of the depression or not, Joseph moved his family to Champaign County, Illinois. It is not clear from the record exactly when, but his son George was married in neighboring Vermilion County in 1837[16] and both he and Joseph Sr, appear in the 1840 Census in their respective counties[17]. Neither Joseph Jr nor Solomon were with the family at the time of the 1840 census but Joseph jr. did have a sone born in Illinois around1839 so it is reasonable to suggest he did travel to Illinois with the family but returned to Ohio in late ’39 or early ’40. [18]. Solomon’s situation is less clear. No record for him in 1840 has been found but in 1841 he was in Pickaway County, Ohio where he wed Rhuanna Alkire on August 25th[19].
In all Joseph and Margaret had 12 Children, 8 sons and 4 daughters. Their youngest, Dolly, was born in late 1840 while the family was still in Illinois. The family returned to Pleasant, Ohio by 1850. But, sadly, we find that Joseph’s wife Margaret has apparently passed away. It is through the Census of 1850 that we learn the names and ages of their other seven children: Mary Lane was 26; John M Lane, 24; Margaret Lane, 21; Della A Lane, 17; William O Lane, 15; Edward F Lane, 13 and Dolly Lane was 10[20].
The last we hear of Joseph Lane is in 1852 when he and his neighbors Washington and Nancy Morain join about 2 dozen other citizens in the King School house to begin the process of forming the McKenard Methodist Episcopalian Church[21]. It’s possible that it was sometime after this that Joseph became known as the Reverend Joseph Lane, he was not designated as such in the record of the meeting, but he was referred to as such in the obituary of his son the Rev. John M Lane following his passing in 1867[22].”
Children of Joseph Houston Lane (abt 1790 – 1852) and Margaret Krouskop Lane (abt 1791 – abt 1841)
Joseph Jr (1813 – 1863) married either Catherine Wells or Elizabeth Thornton
George (1816 – 1886) married Martha Courtney
Solomon (1818 – 1887) married Rhuanna Alkire
Jacob K. (1822 – 1867) married Martha C. Smith
Mary (1824 – ?) married John Phillips
John M. (1826 – 1867) married Mary Siebert
Margaret (1829 – ?) married Adam Busick
Della/Dilly (1833 – ?) married John Huffman
William O. (1835 – 1908) married Elizabeth A. Morain
Edward (1837 – ?)
Dolly (1840 – 1884) married Daniel Leach
I have been unable to find additional information on Margaret Krauskop except that she was born in Delaware, USA or Delaware County, PA. She married Joseph Houston Lane in Madison county, OH, on 24 May 1810 and died about 1841.
In the early days of the midwest, Circuit Riders traveled on horseback from town to town to bring the Gospel to the settlers.
John M. Lane (1826 – 1867), youngest brother of Solomon Lane was also a preacher as was his father, Joseph Lane Sr. Like Solomon, John M. Lane was a “Circuit Rider”, a preacher who served various congregations in Illinois. The following biography notes that “in the summer of 1862, [he] was stirred to patriotic ardor by the President’s call for 300,000 more men to serve the Union.” He mustered troops from his church congregation and enlisted in the 115th Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a Captain. He was 36 when he enlisted, and died at the age of 41, presumably from illness acquired by his service.
I cannot find where Solomon Lane served in the Civil War, but his oldest brother, Joseph L. Lane served as a Private, Company A, Regiment 33 of the Indiana Volunteers and died in 1863 of acute dysentery in a regimental hospital. There is also a record of a Jacob K. Lane (1822 – 1867) who served in the NY 162nd Infantry, Company B who mustered in around the same time as his brother John (Oct 1862) and mustered out 15 Aug 1863. Note that he too, died in 1867.
The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Morgan County, page 887, published 1906, by Bateman, Newton and Short, gives us a glimpse into the life of the Lane family men.
“LANE, (Rev.) John M., (deceased), one of the most devoted, faithful and efficient of the early ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Morgan County, Ill, was born in Madison County, Ohio, October 26, 1826. He was the youngest son of Rev. Joseph and Margaret (Krouse) Lane, natives of that State. His father was a teacher in the public schools, and also a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In boyhood Mr. Lane attended the district schools in Ohio, and in his nineteenth year became a pupil in the Danville (Ill) Seminary, where his scholastic training was completed. Quite early in youth, he was converted to Christ and united with the denomination to which his father belonged, in which a few years later he was licensed to preach.
“In the fall of 1853, Mr. Lane was received into the Illinois Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and remained in that connection until his death. He was at one time junior pastor with Newton Cloud on the Lynnville Circuit, Morgan County, and was pastor for two years on the Concord Circuit. As to his church appointments, he was sent, in the fall of 1860, to a church in the western portion of Springfield, Il and there, in the summer of 1862, was stirred to patriotic ardor by the President’s call for 300,000 more men to serve the Union. Shortly afterward, while in charge of the church at Moweaqua, IL, he was instrumental in raising a company of soldiers, of which he was made Captain. It was mustered into the service as Company E, One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with Jesse Hale Moore a former pastor of Grace Church, Jacksonville, as Colonel. Mr. Lane went to the seat of war, and remained with the company until his health was so much impaired that he was compelled to resign. (Note: From about October, 1862 to March, 1863, this company marched about ”Up to this time, there were no casualties from battle. But, by reason of exposure on marches and scouting expeditions, during the severe winter of 1862 and 1863, the Regiment had lost about 200 men, either dead or permanently disabled.” While in the military service, he filled (on Sundays) a church pulpit at Alexandria, VA. He also preached, almost every Sabbath during his connection with the army, either in camp, or in the churches near which the soldiers were stationed. Returning home May 11 1863, he spent some time, for the purpose of recuperation, upon the farm of J. Sibert, near Meredosia, IL. In the fall of 1866, he was appointed to organize a church society in the then rapidly growing southeast section of Jacksonville, and the Brooklyn church structure resulted from his efforts in that direction. Death claimed him, however, before his task was finished. He died August 6, 1867, when the walls of the edifice were about two-thirds raised, a martyr to his country’s cause.
“On October 5, 1858, Mr. Lane was united in marriage with Mary E. Sibert, a daughter of Jeremiah and Eliza (Wildey) Sibert, the ceremony taking place at their “Diamond Grove”, home in the vicinity of Jacksonville. Two children resulted from this union, namely: William J., who resides with his mother in Jacksonville; and Margaret L., wife of Charles S. Anthon y, of Los Angeles, CA.
“Politically, the sympathies and view of Mr. Lane were in accord with the policies of the Republican party. His first Presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln. In 1865, while in Meredosia, he was nominated on the Republican ticket in Morgan County, as one of the Associate Justices of the Peace. Mr. Lane was a faithful and steadfast soldier of the Cross, and his diligent and untiring service in the cause of his Master resulted in the conversion of many souls. His mortal remains now repose in Diamond Grove Cemetery, near Jacksonville.”
Civil War Preachers
I have not been able to confidently trace the Lane family much further back. Several sources claim that Dennis Lane (1757 – 1829) was the father of Joseph Houston Lane. He was born in Maryland and died in Ohio. He is listed as a landowner in Madison County, OH in 1819 (Ref. “The History of Madison Co, OH). His wife’s last name is Hooper, but otherwise is unknown.
Dennis Lane’s father is thought to be another Solomon Lane (1731 – 1829) who was born and died in Dorchester County, MD. He appears in the 1790 census in that county.
My father’s mother was Geneva Ellen Lewis (1888 – 1984). She was born in London, Ohio, and a Cincinnati Reds fan her entire life. Her father was Joseph (Joe) Milton Lewis (1858 – 1934). Joe was married to Ida Hannah Lane (1859 – 1898) in 1866. Ida Hannah’s father was Solomon Lane (1818 – 1886) and her mother was Rhuanna Alkire (1819 – 1859). Joe’s father was David Lewis (1819 – 1882) and his mother was Margaret Cartzdafner (1831 – 1914). Joe’s grandfather (David’s father) was Henry Lewis (1770 – 1844) and his grandmother was Catherine Bouroff (1770 – 1870). Henry and Catherine were our immigrant ancestors and crossed Pennsylvania in an oxcart in the early 1800’s to settle in Ohio, according to the family. This blog will focus on what is known about three generations of the Lewis family of Ohio. I’ll return to the Cartzdafner, Lane and Alkire families in a future blog.
Attribution: Miriam Jackson Roberts was my father’s cousin on his mother’s side. Geneva Ellen Lewis Shelly and Miriam’s mother (Florence Lewis Jackson) were sisters. Miriam was an avid genealogist and did all her work “pre-internet”. She documented her considerable knowledge in binders, which she made available to the various family members. She lived with her husband, Herb Roberts and their three sons in Texas, and was a tiny, energetic woman with beautiful brown eyes. Miriam’s sister, Jean Ellen Jackson Scott (1917 – 1987) was well known and loved by our family. I have provided updated information to her Lewis family history, which I hope you find as interesting as I did.
Miriam Jackson Robers and William Lewis Shelly, 1st cousins
Source: The Lewis Family
Author: Miriam Jackson Roberts ca 1993
LEWIS FAMILY by Miriam Lewis with updates by Gail Shelly, 2020
Henry Lewis (1770 – 1844)
The earliest known member of our Lewis family was Henry Lewis. The family said that he was born in Wales about 1765 – 1770. GCS: I have not been able to confirm that. In the 1880 census, there are columns for “birthplace of father” and “birthplace of mother.” Henry’s sons put “Germany” in both columns. There is evidence that Henry’s wife, Catherine was from Germany, although it is not known where. Henry and Catherine relocated to Pickaway County/Madison County, Ohio. In 1845, he signed land papers, but in the 1850 census, his wife Catherine was listed as a widow, living with her son David Lewis, in Union Township, Madison County, Ohio.
From the genealogical memoir of William Henry Rice, great-grandson of Henry Lewis and Catherine Boroff, written Nov 2, 1947:
“My mother’s ancestors were members of the Lewis family of Madison County, Ohio. Her grandfather was one Henry Lewis, a Welshman, who came to this country from Wales in 1785, and settled first in Pickaway County, Ohio, and later purchased a farm in Oak Run Township, Madison County, Ohio, where he lived and died and was buried in his orchard near his dwelling.
“On his trip across the ocean he met a little fifteen-year-old German girl whose name was Katherine Bouroff. She was a spirited young lass who had quarreled with her parents and had decided to run away to America. Henry Lewis could speak no German and Katherine could speak no Welsh. But somehow the language barrier id not prevent an early attachment to one another. Their eyes told what each felt in affection and love for each other. So, upon arrival in New York, they were married and traveled west to Ohio, where, as previously stated, they settled in Pickaway County near Circleville, Ohio. Here they lived some years and here a number of their sixteen children were born.
“Later, Henry and Katherine Lewis purchased land in Oak Run Township, Madison County, Ohio, and continued to reside there till their death. Henry Lewis died in 1859. (GCS note: several death dates are given for Henry; his will was probated in 1844. Cousin Miriam found land papers signed by Henry in 1845. She also found that Catherine was a widow in 1850. I think it is likely that Henry died sometime between 1845 and 1849).”
James Caylor Lewis (son of Joseph Milton Lewis and great grandson of Henry Lewis) said that his great grandfather Henry drove a yoke of oxen across the mountains from New Jersey to Ohio. It is not known whether or not Henry’s parents came with him or exactly when Henry and Catherine arrived in this country. GCS: I have found no immigration records as yet. If they did arrive in this country in or around 1875, there was a war going on. There was considerable immigration of soldiers from the British Isles (many Scots came to this country during the war years) but since Henry was about 15, it seems that he was fairly young to join in the fight. I have found no records of him serving in the Revolutionary War.
It is possible Henry or his parents stayed in Pennsylvania long enough to own land because in Henry’s will he left land to his wife in the “Redstone Settlement, Cast Steel State of Penn.” His will left everything to his wife as long as she didn’t remarry. If she did marry again, she was to get 1/3 of the estate and the rest was for the children, who were not named. She did not remarry.
According to W. H. Rice, Henry and Catherine had 16 children. From W. H. Rice, “I do not have the names of the 16 children but when Catherine died, the Madison County Democrat wrote that she had hundreds of grandchildren and a large number of great grandchildren.” Miriam stated Catherine died at the age of 100, on January 2, 1870.
Note (GCS): with the advent of internet search capabilities, and the ease of use of databases such as Ancestry.com and other genealogical websites, I have confirmed, to the best of my ability, several additional children of Henry and Catherine (Boroff) Lewis. I have been unable to find out information regarding Henry or Catherine’s parents.
Nancy Taylor, a descendant of James G (Jim) Lewis (brother of Joseph Milton Lewis), told Miriam she remembers stories that Jim Lewis told about his grandmother. “She was a tiny little woman who had a huge family of boys. She loved parties and dances and would go by herself, if need be. She controlled her boys with the aid of a big stick.” Nancy has in her possession, the “grease bucket” that hung by a leather strap from the wagon that they traveled in to Ohio. Jim Lewis had kept it in his barn.
Graham Lewis (son of Joseph Milton Lewis) gave the Historical Society of Madison County (London, Ohio), the powder horn and bullet pouch that was in the family. Henry carried a muzzle loader shot gun and powder horn with him on the trip across the mountains to Pickaway County, Ohio, where he probably first settled in Ohio. Note: Pickaway County, Ohio, was not established as a county until 1810.
The known children of Henry and Catherine Boroff Lewis are:
Catherine b abt 1794; d. unknown; possible married to George Defabaugh
Elizabeth Lewis b abt 1794; d aft. 1830; married Samuel McKinney Jr. on 18 Jul 1815
Sarah Lucinda Lewis b abt 1800; d. aft 1840; married Henry McKinney on 31 Oct 1814
Mary Lewis b abt 1804; d unknown; married William Ray on 27 May 1849; William Ray was her brother-in-law.
Anne Lewis b abt 1804; d bef. 1849; married William Ray on 8 Nov 1827; he then married Mary.
Solomon b 1805, PA; d 2 May 1870; never married
George b 1810 Va; d 10 Jan 1896; never married
Tilman b 1815 Ohio; d 27 Dec 1897; married Mary Ann Bettes 12 Dec 1839
David b 1819 Ohio; d 5 Jan 1882; married 1. Rebecca Thompson; 2. Margaret Cartzdafner
Carolyn b 1820; d 9 Apr 1896; married Joseph Stonerock in 1841
Henry and Katherine’s son Solomon was born in 1805 in Pennsylvania and son George was born in 1810 in Virginia according to the Madison Co, Ohio census. Solomon’s birth date was left blank on his death certificate (he died 2 May 1870). Some of the other known children were born in Ohio but it is entirely possible that the early children were born in Pennsylvania or Virginia, and the last three born in Pickaway Co, Ohio. By the 1820 census, Henry and his family lived in Monroe Township of Pickaway County, and in the 1830 census he was still there. In 1834, he bought land in Madison County, Ohio. In the 1840 Ohio census he is listed in Union Township, Madison County. Pickaway and Madison counties are adjoining (see map, below).
Solomon and George both lived with their brother David after their father died. They must have had some issues since in the 1860 and 1870 census, they were listed as “idiots”. Nice. Both were unmarried. After Henry’s death, a guardian was appointed by the courts for them but they continued to live with David. Solomon died in 1870 and George was listed as living with David in 1880. George died in 1896. It is not known who took care of George after David died in 1882, since the 1890 census has been lost.
County Map of Ohio, Present Day
David Lewis (1819 – 1882)
David Lewis was the youngest son of Henry and Catherine Lewis. He was born on 7 April 1819 on a farm in Madison County, Ohio. David was a farmer and owned land in Madison County. His first marriage was to Rebecca Thompson (1820 – 1849) on 18 April 1844. They had a son, John Lewis (1847 – bef. 1872) and Rebecca died a few years after her son was born. By the 1850 census (Union Township, Madison County) David was 28, John was 4 years old, and Catherine, age 71 (David’s mother, a widow) was listed as the property owner – 2505 acres. David’s older brothers, George and Solomon, also lived with them. A 15-year-old girl by the name of Margaret Rea, probably the daughter of a neighbor, was also listed in the household, likely engaged to take care of young John and possibly help Catherine with the housework.
After Rebecca died, David remarried a German girl who was born in Frederick County, Maryland on 25 August, 1853. He was 12 years her senior. Margaret Ellen Cartzdafner was born 5 August 1831, the daughter of Michael and Maria (Connelly) Cartzdafner. The Cartzdafner family came to Ohio between 1850 and 1860. By the 1860 census, David and Margaret lived in Oak Run Township, Madison County on a farm with a property value of $2700. John was 14 and Catherine was not living with them. George and Solomon were still living with David. David and Margaret had three young children, including 2-year-old Joseph Milton Lewis. I was able to find an 1875 map of Oak Run Township (below). If you look in the center, very close to the 90 degree angle that defines the north east border of the township, you will see the property of David Lewis. According to History of Madison County, W. H. Beers & Co, Chicago, 1883, Oak Run Township was the last township to be formed in Madison County, in 1818. It is one of the smallest in territory, and is a rural township, that is no town or village lies within its boundaries. David Lewis was elected township constable in 1856, and Justice of the Peace in 1857. His son, Joseph Milton Lewis, served as township clerk in 1882.
David Lewis (1819 – 1882)
Margaret Cartzdafner Lewis (1831 – 1914)
Oak Run Township 1875
W. H. Rice said that Catherine lived with David in Oak Run Township until her death, but she is not listed in the 1860 census. Apparently, she fell down the stairs at age 85 and spent the last 15 years of her life in bed and a wheelchair. Rice commented that she was cheerful and was well cared for by her family. She died at the age of 100 on 22 Jan 1870 at the residence of her son, David.
David’s oldest son, John Lewis, married Margaret Galloway on 28 November 1863. He enlisted in the Illinois Infantry two weeks later (15 Dec 1863) at the age of 16. John survived the war – he mustered out on 24 Nov 1865 in Vicksburg, Mississippi and returned to Jefferson Township, Madison county, Ohio. John and Margaret had a son named Byron the following year (born 30 Jan 1866). Byron was mentioned in his grandfather David’s will, written in 1872. The will stated that John is deceased.
I do not know if David Lewis fought in the Civil War, although he was registered. David’s obituary says he died on Thursday, 5 Jan 1882, of consumption. He was 61 years old. Margaret Cartzdafner Lewis died 17 Sept, 1914. She was 83. They are both buried in Kirkwood Cemetery, in London, Ohio. Many of their children are also buried in this cemetery, including Joseph Milton Lewis and Ida Hannah (Lane) Lewis.
The children of David Lewis with Rebecca Thompson were:
John (1842 – bef. 1792) married Margaret Galloway on 28 Nov 1863
The children of David Lewis with Margaret Cartzdafner were:
Cinderella (1854 – 1941) single
Minerva Francis (1856 – 1928) married James Caylor
Joseph Milton (1858 – 1834) married 1. Ida Hannah Lane, 2. Susan Rhodes
William T. (1861 – 1865)
James Grant (1864 – 1947) married 1. Bertha Crider, 2. Emma Stroup
Anna L. (1867 – 1949) married Martel Bryan in 1897
Flora M. (1870 – 1911) married Joe Tway
Lemuel Pearl (1872 – 1894) single
Irene Blanch (“Pet”) (1876 – 1964) m Samuel McCollum
Gravemarker of David and Margaret Lewis, Kirkwood Cemetery, London, Ohio
Joseph Milton Lewis (1858 – 1934)
My father’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Milton Lewis. He was born on 8 Aug 1858 at Chrisman Chapel, Madison county, Ohio. His father was David Lewis and his mother was Margaret Ellen Cartzdafner Lewis. He was their oldest son, and had one brother that lived to maturity. He had five sisters. There were 21 years between the first sister, Cinderella, and the last child, “Pet”.
Joseph Milton Lewis (1858 – 1934)
Joe, as he was called, was a tall slender man and very bald. From 1897 – 1905 he was the manager of the David Watson farm. The farm had 518 acres but only 200 were cultivated. He had four farmers working for him. The house at Watson Farm (see below) was standing in 1992 (according to Cousin Miriam) and is still occupied. There is an historical marker in the front by the road. The picture, below, of the Watson farm house is where Joe and the family lived. (Ref: Caldwell’s 1887 Atlas of Madison Co, OH.
David Watson Farm house, home of Joseph Lewis
Graham Lewis (son of Joseph and Ida Lewis, brother to Geneva Lewis) said that his father Joe went to Lebanon College about two years and that he studied agriculture and farm management.
Joseph married Ida Hannah Lane on 20 Feb 1886 in Pleasant Township, Madison Co, OH. I have their wedding photo, which is in sepia print. Note that Joe is seated and Ida is standing.
Ida Hannah Lane and Joseph Milton Lewis on their wedding day 20 Feb 1866
Ida Hannah Lane was born 13 April 1860 and died of typhoid fever 4 November 1898. She was 38 years old and left a family of six children. Her father was the Rev. Solomon Lane (1818 – 1888). Solomon was married to Rhuanna Alkire, (1819 – 1859) who also died of typhoid fever at an early age and left eight children. Ida Hannah was the youngest and only 4 months old when her mother died. After her mother died, Ida’s father remarried and moved to Missouri. Ida remained in Ohio and was adopted by a cousin of her mother’s, F.O.P Graham. Ida kept her surname, Lane. The Alkire/Graham, Lane, and Cartzdafner families will be addressed in future chapters.
Joe and Ida were married for 12 years before she died.
Geneva Ellen Lewis (aka my Grandma Shelly) was the second daughter of Joseph Milton Lewis and Ida Hannah Lane. She was 10 years old when her mother died (1898). Joe and Ida had six children:
Florence Lewis (1887 – 1975) m John Byers Jackson
Geneva Lewis (1888 – 1984) m William Austin Shelly
Mary Lewis (1890 – 1978) m Edgar P Purviance
Graham Heath Lewis (1891 – 1982) m 1. Margaret Gregg 2. Aleda Maria Dawald
Burnham Caylor Lewis (1894 – 1969) m Anna Roggenbauer
Wanna Francis Lewis (1898 – 1988) m 1. Robert Kraner 2. Loren Darling
Joe remarried after living with his mother, Margaret Lewis, for several years (see previous blog, Motherless Children) and had no more children. The marriage was not a happy one and as the children grew, they dispersed. All of the children, except for Graham, graduated from high school, and three of the four sisters (Florence, Geneva and Mary) got teaching certificates. Florence’s daughter, Miriam, tells of her mother’s first two years of teaching. She had the first 4 grades in one room. Both of Joe’s sons served in WW I in France. It must have not been easy for Joe to raise such a beautiful family, but he did.
Joe Lewis Family
One last note: there is a bit of family lore about the Lewis family that I have spent some time trying to prove or disprove. The Lewis surname is extremely common in the United States (who knew?), and with such common first names as Henry, David and Joe, it is pretty difficult to pinpoint which Lewis is ours and who is not. One of the family stories is that the Lewis’s are related to Meriwether Lewis, who explored the west, and Fielding Lewis, one of Washington’s generals. Francis Lewis of New York, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is also mentioned as a possible ancestor. I have spent some time researching the genealogy of all of these fine folk, and as yet have to find a family link. I will keep digging!
Daniel Shelly was born in York County, Pennsylvania about 1793. Courtesy of the 1850 Census, I found that he had moved to Cass County, Indiana via Ohio. He married Catherine Gephart in 1823 in Ohio (I found a marriage document). Three of their oldest children were listed as being born in Ohio – the rest, including George Washington Shelly, were born in Cass County, IN. Nelson Shelly was born in OH about 1835 and Jacob Shelly was born in IN about 1837. Therefore, according to the 1850 Census, the family moved to Indiana from Ohio sometime between 1835 and 1837. According to “The History of Cass County, IN”, see below, published in 1913, Daniel Shelly and his brother Jacob Shelly settled in Cass County ca 1841.
It is not known when Daniel moved from York, PA to Ohio; or when he met Catherine Gephart. It is likely that Daniel Shelly met Catherine Gephart in Ohio since her family was in Ohio as early as 1808 and there is an 1810 Census that lists a Daniel Shelly in Fairview Township, York PA in 1810. I don’t know exactly when Daniel left PA, but he was in Ohio by 1823. He was 30 when he and Catherine married.
Daniel Shelly fought in the War of 1812, sometimes called the 2nd War of Independence. Britain, still smarting from the American Revolution, used its powerful navy to restrict trade between America and France, conscripted American soldiers and forced them to serve in the British navy, and armed hostile Native Americans. Most of the battles were fought at sea but once Britain ended its war with Napoleon, the freed-up land forces attacked American cities, including Washington D C where they burned the White House and the U.S. Capitol. American forces defeated Britain in 1815. Daniel was 19 – 21 during this war.
Daniel was 30 when he and Catherine Gephart were married in Montgomery County, OH. She was 10 years his junior, and her parents had moved from PA to Ohio about 1808. Catherine Gephart was born 12 Jan 1804 in Friedensburg, Schuylkill County, PA to John George Gebhart/Gephart (1773 – 1854) and Elizabeth Kramer (1769 – 1865). Catherine’s father, John George Gephart, also fought in the War of 1812 and was married to Elizabeth Kramer in either 1793 or 1798, in Berks County, PA. In 1808, his residence is listed as Montgomery County, OH, and he is listed in the 1850 Federal Census as living in Miami, Montgomery County, OH. He died four years later (2 Oct 1854) in that same location.
As we shall see in a later post, Daniel Shelly’s father, Jacob (III) Shelly and his family lived in Pennsylvania in 1790, 1800 but by 1820, they had relocated to German Township, Montgomery Co, OH. This township borders Miami Township, where the Gephart’s lived. The property of John Shelly (their son) can be found on the same Montgomery County Map (1851) as the Gephart families. Jacob III and Maria Margaretta Shelly both died in Montgomery County, OH.
Pioneer Life
The following is an excerpt from “The History of Cass County, Indiana: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time Volume 1” by Jehu Z. Powell, Copyright Jan 1 1913. I found these words to be particularly informative and moving, especially when I thought about the trials, dangers, premature deaths and ultimate success of our Pioneer Ancestors. As you read these words, please think about Daniel and Catherine Shelly, who relocated to Indiana in 1841 from Ohio. Daniel was born in York, Pennsylvania, and had already made a journey as a young man, when he relocated to Ohio. Catherine was born in Ohio, and made the difficult journey with five children ranging in age from 16 – 4 years of age, likely pregnant with our ancestor, George Washington Shelly who was born in Cass County in 1941.
The Shelly family likely traveled by flatboat and/or oxcart
“It required brave and courageous spirits for men and women to leave their homes in the East, leave friends and relatives behind and strike out into the impenetrable forest infested with savages and wild beasts. Only the brave started and only the brave and strong reached their destination. When a newly married couple or a family decided to go to the frontier, their departure meant a long farewell and occasioned many heartaches. As the time arrived and the dear ones were to leave, the kinsfolk and neighbors would often assemble, sing hymns and offer prayers for a safe and successful journey. Many a pioneer yielded up his life to disease brought on by hardships and exposures or to the wild beasts or the red man’s scalping knife.
“The route lay for the most part through a rough country. Swamps and marshes were crossed with great exertions and fatigue; rivers were forded with difficulty and danger; forests penetrated with risk of captivity by hostile Indians. The mother and children were seated in a cart or rough farm wagon drawn by ox or mule team with the husband and father walking beside the team to urge them on and guide them through rough and unimproved roads or along Indian trails. Some were not even so fortunate as to possess a wagon or cart, but trudged along on horseback or afoot, wending their way from civilization to their new homes. Often the children sickened by the way and anxious parents worried over them in a rude camp, without medical aid until relieved either by returning health or by death. If the latter, a father would be compelled to dig the grave for the body of his own child in a lonely forest. Who shall describe the burial scene when the parents are the only mourners? After a few sad days the bereaved ones take up their journey, leaving only a little fresh mound to mark the sacred spot, but never to be revisited by the mourning relatives.
“The first cabins erected in Cass county were built of round logs, covered by clapboards split from native timber by the pioneers’ own hands and weighted down by poles. The cracks between the logs were filled and closed up by sticks and mud. The door was made of heavy riven timbers fastened to the bottom by wooden pins and hung on heavy wooden hinges and closed by a heavy wooden latch with latch string made of buckskin. Many pioneer cabins had no windows, and the only light was admitted through holes under the clapboard roof and between the logs or when the door was open. There were two reasons for not having windows; first, window glass could not be obtained, and second, the house was in reality a fort to defend the occupants against not only Indians, but also wild beasts, for wolves and wildcats were numerous in Cass County.
Historic Log Cabin in Cass County, IN
“Deer Creek township is located in the extreme south part of Cass County and comprises 36 square miles, situated in Congressional township No. 25, Ranges 1 and 2 East. It is bounded on the north by Washington and Tipton Townships, on the east by Jackson township, on the south by Howard and on the west by Carroll county. It received its name from “Deer Creek”, the principal watercourse, running through the township. The latter derived its name from the fact that in early times, vast herds of wild deer frequented the banks of this creek. This is a good-sized creek, rising almost to the dignity of a river, which runs from east to west through the entire township near its center, flowing on through Carroll county into the Wabash river. Little Deer creek is a smaller stream running through the extreme southern part of the township and Jordan’s Run is a small creek between the two former streams.
“Numerous other small branches emptying into Deer creek thoroughly drain the township and afford abundant stock water and Deer creek furnished water power to run numerous mills that lined its banks in the early days. Along the banks of the creeks the surface is undulating and hilly, but back from the water courses the land is quite level and originally covered with dense forest of heavy timber, the leading varieties being oak, ash, poplar, walnut, beech, maple and elm. The land along the creeks abounds in a black loam, which for fertility is not surpassed by any other part of the country.
Township Map of Cass County ca 1876
Location of Cass County, IN. Logansport is the county seat.
Early History and Settlement of Deer Creek Township, Cass County, IN
“This township was included within the great Miami Indian reservation, which was not purchased from the Indians for many years after other portions of the county were settled, hence it was not opened to settlement until about 1839, when Noah Fouts build the first cabin in the township on Section 19, and became one of the leading citizens of the community, where he continued to reside until his death. The same year, Joseph Neff, who came from Wayne county, settled just east of Mr. Founts in section 20. He also became a permanent resident and his sons, J. H. Neff, Drs. J. N and Jacob Neff, are prominent citizens of Logansport.
“The next settlers were probably Johnson Reagan, who located on Section 19; Samuel Etter, brother-in-law of Fouts, oin Section 13; Joshua Coshow, in the southwest quarter of Section 36, and Wm Buchanan, in the same section. In 1841, Wm. Dunkin located on Section 25, where he resided until his death a few years ago. Daniel and Jacob Shelly, great hunters, located in Section 14, in 1841.
Pioneer farmers
“The first improved farm in Cass county was owned by William Newman, the county’s first farmer (1827). William Newman only remained for four summers, when he sold out the pioneer farm to William Neff, who occupied the place for many years.
“Mr. Newman was soon followed by others and the next five or six years saw settlers locating in every township in the county, chiseling farms out of the forests, sowing seed and planting orchards. Agriculture, however, was slow in developing in this section because of the dense forests that had to be cut down and removed and the stumps that dotted the field remained for nearly a generation, and were a great annoyance for the pioneer farmer, for it be remembered, dynamite, by which the farm of today removes stumps, was unknown. Again, there were no markets, and no inducements to raise anything beyond the requirements of the family. Stock, however, required but little provision for winter. Hay grew luxuriantly on the prairies and marshes and could be had for the cutting. The forest abounded in mast and shrubs where cattle and hogs could range almost the winter through, requiring but little from the crop raised by the farmer. The forests also abounded in game of many kinds and it was easier for the first agriculturist to supply the wants of his family with the rifle or trap than with the plow. Farming implements were crude; the old wooden plows did little more than skip the surface of the ground so that the farmer did no more plowing than was necessary to ensure enough wheat, corn and potatoes to carry him through to the next season. There was little encouragement to raise a surplus because in a country with neither wagon roads nor railroads there was practically no market. The pioneer farmers of Cass county simply supplied their own wants and spent their time in felling the forests and looking forward in the hope of a better day.
“The wheat was sown broadcast by hand, cut with a sickle, thrashed with a flail or tramped out by horses or oxen and winnowed in the wind. The grain being cleaned, was in the very early days ground in a hand mill or between slabs of stone, but soon the old water grist mill replaced the hand mill and the farmer would take his grain on horseback to the mill, probably ten or more miles distant, and wait his turn for his grist. The came the laborious process of the pioneer mother of converting the flour or meal into bread in the day when stoves and ovens were unknown, when the bread was baked on the hearth of the fireplace or in a old cast-iron Dutch oven covered with coals in the open fireplace.
“Of necessity they were resourceful and self-reliant. The good housewife would spin, weave, knit and make clothing for the family. Often skins of animals would supply material for pants, coats, mittens and moccasins; all household furniture and many farm implements, as rakes, hoes, plows, handles, etc, were improvised by the pioneer. The farm furnished the raw material and the home was the factory.
“Only he who knows what it means to hew a home out of a forest; of what is involved in the task of replacing mighty trees with corn; only he who has watched the log house rising in the clearing and has witnessed the devotedness that gathers around the old log school house, and the pathos of a grave in the wilderness can understand how sobriety, decency, devotedness, beauty and power belong to the story of those who began the mighty task of changing the wild West into the heart of a teeming continent. They were men and women not only of great hearts but of great heads, with laughing eyes, willing hands and humble spirits.
“They beheld the beauties of the forests in all their native grandeur, before they were marred by the hand of man. They inhaled the sweet odors from a thousand wild flowers which grew in nature’s garden, as they were wafterd upon the morning and evening air. They saw the numerous flocks and herds of buffalo and deer, “God’s cattle upon a thousand hills,” as they grazed upon virgin pasture fields of unsurpassed luxuriance, and they were charmed with the melody of the feathered songsters as their strains were poured forth from the boughs of the giant forest trees. With all their rough back-woods habits, their lack of means of mental culture, they exhibited in their lives the keeping of the great commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Hoosier National Forest
“They beheld the beauties of the forests in all their native grandeur…”
52 Ancestors in 52 weeks: Shelly and Horn 