John "Jack" Norwood Walker (1934-1990) - 52 Ancestors

Today is the last day of Week 6 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge and I finally had time to write the story. The prompt for this week was Social Media. So I decided to go back a few years before social media took off on the internet and talk about a relative who had an influential part in social media beginning in the 1950s.

John "Jack" Norwood Walker was my wife's father's brother, or in simple terms, her uncle. He was born 2 August 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida to Estill "Doc" Bowen Walker and Alita Wilhelmina Lexow Walker. In 1935, the family, consisting of his parents Estill B (age 26), Alita (age 26), his brother Estill H (age 8), John N (age 0) and his grandmother Mary Lexow (age 53), is living in apartment 1, 1930 Wamboldt Avenue, in Jacksonville. Also living nearby at 1938 Wamboldt Avenue is Clyde Howell Andrews and Dorothy Louise Walker Andrews, his uncle and aunt.

John N Walker - audition photo

John began his life in the spotlight as a 3-year old child when he signed his first contract with Sleznick-International Studio in Los Angeles, California in 1937. The family was living at 5555 Hollywood Boulevard at the time. It appears that part of his career didn't last very long since we find the family back in Jacksonville, Florida by 1940.

In 1940, the family was living at 1830 Wamboldt Avenue where they rented their apartment for $16/month. The family concisted of Estill B (age 30), Alita M (age 33), Estill H (age 13) and John N (age 5).

He worked on developing his skills while taking classes at the Hinson School of Dancing in Jacksonville. By 1941 we begin to see him named in the dance recital programs.

During high school, he got his first experience in the communications trade working for a Jacksonville radio station doing whatever they needed him to do. The 1950 census lists the family living at 811 Phillips Street in Jacksonville. The family consisted of Estill B (age 40), Elita M (age 37), John N (age 15), his brother Estill H (age 23) and Estill's wife Lilly D (age 18). John was listed as being employed as a radio announcer. This shows his dedication to the vocation that by the age of 15 he was already working in media. 

We have recorded auditions on records which John produced as a child but we haven't been able to play them because of their format.

John Walker - WFGA Channel 12

Then he joined the Marine Corps during the Korean War and completed basic training on 31 July 1952, a few days before he turned 18. He was trained at the Navy School of Journalism and served as a combat correspondent. During his time in the Marine Corps, he wrote and produced training films and promotional films for the Marines.

After leaving the Marine Corps he served as a police officer in Miami, Florida and also became a captain for Eastern Airlines. But that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream of show business. He moved back to Jacksonville and started working for WFGA TV Channel 12. During that time he worked in various capacities including weather forecaster and as the host of Popeye Playhouse. He also worked on producing commercials for businesses in Jacksonville and was a judge for the Jacksonville area Miss America Pageant.

Capt. Jack - Popeye Playhouse

In 1985, he founded Jack Walker Television Productions Inc., in Largo, Florida. His company made commercials, training films and promotional videos.

John was a member of various organizations including the Airline Pilots Association, the International Television Association, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the Florida Motion Pictures and Television Association.

He died of cancer on 23 March 1990 at the age of 65.

As you can see, John lived his life in the limelight and participated in the media of his time in various ways. 

Mary Jane Fetters (1879-1959), Elma Forest Fetters (1885-1957) and Edna May Fetters (1887-1961) - 52 Ancestors

Oops, I missed posting my "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge" post last week. It wasn't because I didn't try. It was because I was trying to look for the right person to write about. The theme for last week was "Education". The theme for this week is "Oops". So I guess I can use this post for both weeks since I am a week late on my Education post. 

I spent much of the last couple weeks looking for some sort of document that would help me to discover something about the education of an ancestor or relative. I looked through various education records, old school pictures, newspaper articles, etc. but just couldn't find a good link to a relative. Then I ran across the Applications for Admission to the Ohio Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb (1895-1917) on FamilySearch. Of course I got sucked down a rabbit hole trying to find out how many children from my area of Ohio were admitted to the facility. These records are not indexed so I went page by page through all the forms. I looked for students from Auglaize, Darke, Shelby, Mercer and Miami counties. As I found those children, I linked them to their profiles on FamilySearch and tried to gather as much data as possible for them. I also checked their relationships and found that most of them were related to my wife's side of the family, usually as 9th to 12th cousins. By the way, if I haven't said it before, my wife is related to almost everybody in some way while I have very few links to relatives.

As I searched through these records, I came upon two sisters, Mary Jane Fetters (1879-1959) and Elma Forest Fetters (1885-1957). These girls were my wifes 10th cousins 2 times removed. I usually don't write about such distant relatives but I thought it would be interesting to highlight the usefullness of this record set while discussing the lives of these two sisters. The application forms started as 1 page but eventually lengthened to 2 pages in 1899. There are frequently doctor's notes attached to the forms discussing the child's medical conditions. It was interesting to discoved that many of the children became deaf after childhood diseases such as whooping cough and diptheria.

The application forms include important information such as their name, their parent's names and their sibling's names, date of birth, residence, quantity of deafness, whether they could talk, were they of sound mind or subject to fits, whether they smoked, soiled the bed or had other serious conduct issues, vaccination status and childhood diseases, what grade they were in if they attended public school, parent's relationship to each other, and family history of deafness.

The Ohio Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb was founded in 1829 and underwent several moves before it found its permanent location at 450 East Town Street in Columbus, Ohio in 1834 with the construction of a three story building. In 1868, a larger building was constructed on the same property and then in 1899 an additional building was constructed resulting in the two buildings shown in the photo above. The 1868 building was destroyed by fire on October 1, 1981.

Mary Jane and Elma Forest Fetters were two of the 15 children of Harvey B. and Clara Ellen Williams Fetters. Their birth records state that Mary was born on 5 December 1879 in Monroe Township, Darke County, Ohio while Elma was born on 25 February 1885 in Harrison Township, Preble County, Ohio. However, Elma's admission application states that she was born on 25 January 1885, so there is a little discrepency there.

In the 1880 US Census, Mary J. is listed as 6 months old being born in December. Her father, Harvey (age 31) is listed as a farmer whose father was born in Pennsylvania and mother was born in Ohio. Harvey's wife Clara (age 24) is keeping house. Her parents were born in Virginia. The other children in the family included Josephine (age 5), Lily M. (age 3), and Arden (age 2). Milton Reed (age 26) is listed as a servant farmer. The family was living in Monroe Township, Darke County, Ohio.

Mary and Elma filed their application for admission to the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb on 4 July 1895. The application indicates that both Mary and Elma were born partially deaf. Mary is listed with 40% hearing while Elma is listed with 30% hearing. Both children were vaccinated in 1893 and both had measles and whooping cough as children but didn't have small pox, scarlet fever, or mumps. Elma had not attended public school. Other than that, there were no significant notes in their applications. Elma's application has a mark for September 11th while there is no mark on Mary's application. 

The 1900 US Census has the family living in Union Township, Miami County, Ohio. The census indicates that Harvey (age 53) and Carra (age 42) had been married 27 years. Clara had 13 children with 10 still living. Josie (age 25) had 1 child which was still living. The other children were Artie B. (age 22), Mary J. (age 20), Earl H. (age 19), Elma F. (age 15), Edna (age 13), William P. (age 7), Acy F. (age 4) and Ruby G. (age 1). There was also a grandchild named Ruth Michler (age 3). John Fetters (age 47), Harvey's brother, was also living in the house. Mary, Elma, and Edna were attending school. Artie, Earl, and John Fetters were all listed as farm hands.

There is also a 1900 US Census for the Institute located in Columbus, Ohio. The interesting thing about this census record is that it lists three Fetters children as pupils. They included Edna M. (age 13), Elma F. (age 15), and Jennie (age 20). Notice that these three children correspond to Edna, Elma, and Mary J. in the 1900 census for Harvey Fetters. This set me off on another rabbit trail searching for the application for Edna which I found in the 1897 file. Edna's application was submitted on 19 July 1897. Her application states that she was born deaf and had 30% hearing. Edna had not been vaccinated and had measles and whooping cough as a child. She had not attended school.

Elma completed 8th grade which was normal for her time. She married George Allen Louthan on 16 October 1907 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1910, they lived at 421 South Ellis Street in Troy, Ohio and George was employeed as a laborer in a wagon factory. In 1920, they lived at 718 Scott Street in Troy. George was still working in the wagon factory. In 1930, they lived one house down at 722 Scott Street. The house was valued at $2500 and they had a radio. George had changed employment and was driving a truck for the lumber company by that time. In 1940, they still lived at 722 Scott Street and George was employed as a bench maker in the planing mill. He earned $1456 in 1949.  They were still living in the same house in 1950 and George was listed as a carpenter and cabinet maker. They had at least four children between 1910 and 1917. Elma died on 16 July 1957 at the age of 72. She was burried in Riverside Cemetery, in Troy, Miami County, Ohio.

Mary Jane completed 8th grade. She married George Henry Schultz on 18 February 1912 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1920, they lived at 75 South 5th Street in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. George was employed as a cabinet maker at the piano factory. In 1930, the family had moved to 75 Liberty Avenue in Richmond. George owned the home valued at $1200 and he worked as a laborer in the piano factory. In 1940, they still lived at 75 Liberty Avenue. The house was valued at $1500. George was still working as a cabinet maker in the Starr Piano Factory and had earned $300 in 1949 working for 26 weeks. They had at least three children between 1912 and 1920. Mary died on 26 May 1961, at nearly 86 years old. She was buried in Lutherania Cemetery in Richmond, Indiana.

Edna completed 9th grade. She married George Edward Barrowcliff on 19 September 1917 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1920, they rented at 757 Keenan Avenue in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. George was employed as a lumber grader. In 1930, they lived at 540 East St. Claire in Mount Healthy, Hamilton County, Ohio. Their hosue was valued at $4000 and George was employed as lumber inspector at the lumber mill. In 1940, the family was renting at 4668 Chester in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their rent was $10/month. George was a laborer at the lumber mill earning $1508 in 1949. In 1950, they were living on the first floor of 741 McMakin in Cincinnati and George was employed as a glue man in the lumber yard. They had at least four children between 1921 and 1930. One of their children, Winton Edward Barrowcliff enlisted in the Marines in WWII. He died on 26 February 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima and is burried in the National Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. Edna died on 23 December 1961 in Cincinnati and is buried in Arlington Memorial Gardens in Mount Healthy.

As you can see, even though each of these three woemn had hearing problems and attended a school for the deaf, they seem to have successfully acquired the standard education, married, and raised families.

Sylvester Perry Reeder (1855-1933) - 52 Ancestors

Hello and welcome to week three of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. This week's prompt is "Out of Place" and could refer to anyone or anything that you find in your research who is out of place. As I started to think about this topic, the Reeder family was the first one that popped into my head but I had already written about two of them. 

Corydon Bloomfield Reeder, my wife's 3rd great-grandfather, left his home in Ohio and got married in Indiana in 1850. His wife died and then he moved to Iowa and was married again in 1852. After that wife's death he moved to Oregon and married a third wife in 1875. That marriage ended in divorce and he moved to Washington. He worked in a lumber camp and the last place we find him is in Wyoming in the 1880 census. His constant movement proved to make him a difficult subject to research.

His grandson, Glenn Reeder, my wife's great-granduncle, was also somewhat "out of place" due to his military service. Glenn was born in Oregon in 1890. His mother, Ella Millicent Faul, was born in Connecticut but had migrated to Oregon in her childhood. While his father, Sylvester Perry Reeder (son of Corydon Reeder) was born in Oregon. Glenn enlisted in the military in 1911 and became part of the US Marine Corps, Company A, 37th Company, Marine Detachment, American Legation Guard. Between 1911 and 1915, when he was discharged, he was stationed in Manilla, Philippines and Peking, China. After he was discharged, he returned to Oregon where he lived a bachelor's life until his death in 1965.

Sylvester Perry Reeder

For this week's topic, I decided to write about the middle generation, Sylvester Perry Reeder (1855-1933). Sylvester was somewhat like his father Corydon in that he moved around the country.

He was born on 19 April 1955 in Rossburg, Douglas County, Oregon. He had four brothers, Leonidas, Micajah, Andrew, and Gamalion, and one sister, Priscilla. His parents were Corydon and Mary Jane Reeder. Corydon and Mary Jane were both Reeders and may have been distant cousins since they both had roots in Montgomery County, Ohio. 

By the 1860 US Census, Sylvester's family had moved to Lower Umatilla Precinct, Wasco County, Oregon, over 300 miles away from Rossburg. In the 1870 US Census he is living in Pendelton, Umatilla County, Oregon and in the 1880 US Census he is living in Philomath, Benton County, Oregon. For a while, Sylvester worked in the lumber industry like his father but then he married Ella Milicent Faul in 1885 and became a farmer for a few years. He and Ella had five children (Chester, Leslie, Glenn, Mabel, and Ethel) born in the area between Forest Grove and Greenville in Washington County, Oregon.

Sylvester & Ella Reeder

Sylvester's wife, Ella, did in 1901, leaving him to care for the children ages 4 to 14. And again, Sylvester went on the move. In 1910 he is living with his two daughters (ages 14 and 16) in West Bertha, Multnomah County, Oregon. He is listed as retired and his oldest daughter, Mabel, is working in the overall factory.

In the 1920 US Census, Sylvester moved across the country, nearly 3,000 miles, and lived in Waldo, Alachua County, Florida where, at the age of 64, he is a truck farmer. If you haven't heard that term before, a truck farmer is basically a farmer who transports and sells his goods at market. 

In the 1930 US Census, Sylvester (age 75), is living at the home of Frank Vickery Coker in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. Frank Coker had married Sylvester's daughter, Mabel and they had three children (Beatrice [my wife's grandmother], Dorothy, and Frank Jr.). Sylvester lived with the family for his last years and died 29 June 1933 at the age of 78.

As you can see, Sylvester was a difficult one to track down due to all of his moves. We like to joke that the Reeder family migrated from Ohio to Florida in their retirement. But unlike most snowbirds, they did it by way of Oregon.

Donn Lowell Smith (1911-2001) - 52 Ancestors

This is week 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The prompt for this week is "Favorite Photo".  The first thing that came to my mind as I thought about the prompt was cars. I like antique cars and enjoy going to car shows to see both old and new/concept cars. With that in mind, I started looking through all of my photos of relatives and their cars and settled on Donn Smith, the husband of my grand-aunt Veronica "Verona" Josephine Wise (1912-2009). Donn was a car salesman, so there are probably lots of photos of him with cars. He isn't the only car salesman in my family and my wife also has car salesmen in her family. 

Don Smith (age 16) with Ford Model A

Donn Smith was born on 18 February 1911 near Rossburg, Darke County, Ohio. His parents were Walter Tecumseh and Maud Felkley Smith. The family had a farm a mile and a half south of Rossburg but in April 1912, Walter sold his farm and moved to Rossburg where he bought a hotel, restaurant, and horse livery. He began using one of the first automobiles in his livery business and in 1913, the same year that Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line, Walter started his auto business selling Fords. In 1917, the Ford dealership was moved from the frame building to a brick garage. In 1926, Smith switched his dealership to sell Chevrolets and expanded to larger quarters in 1931. In 1951 they had to expand to larger quarters again and moved across the street from their original dealership. By that time, they had 12 employees, including Donn Smith who was the General Manager. The dealership was selling between 500 and 600 cars each year. That is something for a town of only 200 residents. As you can see, Donn was raised around automobiles from an early age and it was in his blood.

1954 pace cars Eldora Speedway

In 1954, Earl Baltes, a prominent local bandleader opened the Eldora Speedway, a 1/4-mile dirt racetrack near Rossburg. This track became known as "The World's Greatest Dirt Track" and eventually expanded to a 1/2-mile track in 1958. It is likely that Donn Smith and Earl Baltes knew each other through their interests in music, both of them were band leaders and often performed in the same venues. This joint interest in music and automobiles likely led to opportunities for Donn. For example, there is a picture from 1954, the first year for Eldora Speedway, where Donn Smith and Jim Steinle were the pace car drivers, driving a 1953 Corvette and a 1954 Jaguar.

1948 Advertisement

John George Stueve (1892-1963) - 52 Ancestors

It is hard to believe that I haven't written a story here in almost a year. It isn't because I stopped doing research. It's because I started new projects such as teaching a set of family history classes at the Indian River Youth Guidance Academy, participating in an increased number of virtual and in-person genealogy presentations across the US and England, and adding over 25,000 new items on FamilySearch while working on the family histories of people from the surrounding counties. All of that took up my time in 2022. 

Back in 2014, I participated in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The goal was to write a story about a different ancestor each week. I managed to write 30 stories that year. This year, Amy Johnson Crow has reissued that challenge. She provided a list of weekly prompts to help with idea development. This week's theme is "I'd Like to Meet". You can read more about this project on her website https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks. An additional incentive for me to participate in this challenge is that I am developing a new topic for my genealogy presentations. This topic is about adding social history to your family history. My intent will be to try to incorporate the social history events into each of these stories in some way. So, with that, I believe I will start with my first post of 2023.

I usually choose the person that I write about based on a recent discovery that I have made. This week is no different. I chose John George Stueve, my 1st cousin 3x removed, because I ran across a WW I record that was incorrectly listed as a hint for his uncle, my 2nd great grandfather, John Nicholas Stueve (1854-1949). Realizing that John Nicholas Stueve would have been in his 60s at the time of WW I, I had to find the right person to add the record to. A little searching and I found John George Stueve. After doing a little research on the record and adding more facts, I thought that his time in WW I would be an interesting topic and he would be someone "I'd Like to Meet".

John George Stueve was the son of Joseph J Stueve (1864-1954) and Anna Marie Kaiser (1868-1941). He was born on a farm near Minster in Jackson Township, Auglaize County, Ohio on 10 July 1892, and was the second of 12 children.

The 1900 US Census lists the family as Joseph (age 36), Anna (age 31), Louis (age 10), John (age 7), Katherina (age 6), Henry (age 4), Nora (age 2), and Josephina (age 3 months). Additionally, Joseph's mother, Carolina (age 74), was living in the house. They also had a boarder, John Peter Mack (age 16) who was listed as a farm laborer, and a servant, Nora Moorman (age 15) in the house. Joseph's parents were born in Germany and Anna's mother was born in Germany while her father was from Ohio. Carolina had immigrated to the US in 1846. Joseph and Anna had 6 children, all of them living, while Carolina had 10 children with 5 still living at the time of this census. Joseph was listed as a farmer and owned his farm without a mortgage. Louis and John were attending school.

By the 1910 US Census, the family had grown considerably. The family consisted of Joseph (age 45), Annie (age 41), Louis (age 20), John (age 17), Katherine (age 15), Henry (age 14), Elenora (age 11), Josephina (age 10), Edward (age 8), Joseph (age 6), Ferdinand (age 4), and Mariana (age 1 year 9 months). Joseph's mother, Carolina (age 84) was also living in the house. Joseph stated that they had 11 children, with 10 still living. Carolina had 10 children with 5 still living. Joseph's occupation was as a general farmer and John was working as a farm laborer. His brother, Louis, was attending business college.

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assinated by Serbian nationalists, starting the cascade of events to the start of WW I on 28 July 1914. The US entered the war in April 1917 and John enlisted in the US Army on 3 October 1917. John listed his occupation as sheet and metal worker at Wyen and Grieshop Manufacturing Company in New Bremen, Ohio. Later he became a partner with Wyen and eventually the owner of the tin shop.

155 mm Howitzer, Battery A, 324th Field Artillery

John's initial training was at Camp Sherman near Chillicothe, Ohio and he received the rank of Private 1st Class on 23 November 1917. Camp Sherman was established in 1917 for the purpose of training soldiers for WW I. He was assigned to Battery B, 324th Field Artillery, 83rd Division. On 3 June 1918 the regiment embarked for Camp Mills, New York in preperation for deployment to Europe where they would fight as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in Meuse-Argone from 12 June 1918 until 22 May 1919. From Camp Mills, they boarded the steamship Leicestershire on 11 June as part of a larger convoy and arrived in Liverpool, England on 23 June. They then took a train to Borden, England for a 24-hour rest period before continuing on to Southhampton where they crossed the English Channel and arrived in Havre, France on 27 June 1918. After 3 days in Havre, the regiment proceeded to Bain-le-Bretagne, where they stayed until 13 August awaiting supplies, armaments, and orders. The regiment was supplied with six 155 mm howitzers which were pulled by teams of horses. Between 13 August and 21 September 1918, the regiment was in Coetquidan, France for artillery practice. The regiment then travelled by train to Soully, France and marched overland to Bois de Hesse where they were a supporting artillery brigade for the 91st Division on 26 September. On the night of 3-4 October they encamped at Bois de Nixeyville in support of the 29th Division. They began setting up their position east of the Meuse River, north of Verdun, at the Cote de Talou in support of the 18th French Division and 17th Army Corps. All the time while setting up their position they were under fire from the Germans. 

The regiment experienced its first offensive action on 8 October and began advancing to the Cote des Roches on 9-10 October where they stayed until 30 October. The battalion moved out towards Cinq Freres on 29-30 October in support of the advancing 79th Division and crossed the Meuse River on 31 October and arrived at Bois de Montfaucon to support the 32nd Division. The batallion continued on the move and took up positions at Bois d'Ecurey on 10 November 1918 and attacked on the morning of 11 November. They continued firing until 10:25 am on 11 November 1918 after the signing of the Armistice. The battles involved 1.2 million Americans with over 350,000 casualties, including over 26,000 Americans and 28,000 Germans. There was also a significant loss of horses due to the constant fighting and movement between 8 October and 11 November, with only 517 of the original 957 horses remaining. On 16 November an additional 600 horses were received at Bois d'Ecurey, allowing the regiment to start their crossing of the Rhine during their advance into Germany as an occupying force. They arrived at Echternach on 1 December and Engers on 14 December. John became a Corporal on 27 March 1919 while part of the Army of Occupation in Germany. They remained in Germany until 22 April 1919 when they began preparing for their return to the US aboard the U.S.S. Seattle departing from Brest, Fance on 10 May 1919 and arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey on 22 May. The voyage back was one of celebration. There was every effort made to entertain all aboard with frequent band concerts, movies, boxing and other forms of entertainment. The soldiers even published a newspaper called "The Seasick Seattle" which included articles and humurous reminiscenses. He was honarably discharged on 4 June 1919 and returned home. 

The 1920 US Census has John Stueve (age 26) as a boarder in the home of John Matters on South Franklin Street in New Bremen, Ohio. John's occupation is listed as tin smith.

On 8 June 1921, John (age 28) married Estella E. Busse (age 25), the daughter of Frank and Josephine (Ortman) Busse from Minster, Ohio. The marriage ceremony took place at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Minster.

The 1930 US Census has John Stueve (age 37), his wife Estella (age 34), Paul (age 7), and Roman (age 5) living at 314 South Washington Street in New Bremen, German Township, Auglaize County, Ohio. John owned his home valued at $2700. His occupation is listed as a retail merchant for a sheet metal company. The family owned a radio which was a sign of status for the time. The first commercial radio stations were established in the 1920s. Radio was seen as a way for people to consume news and entertainment and was beginning to be a way for businesses to advertise products for sale to the masses.

John Stueve Tin Shop truck

In the 1940 US Census the family is still living at 314 South Washington Street in New Bremen. The family includes John (age 47), Estella (age 44), Paul (age 17), and Roman (age 15). John and Estella are listed as completing 2 years of high school while Paul and Roman had completed 3 and 2 years of high school respectively. John is listed as the owner of the tin smith company and is working 44 hours per week.

Paul Stueve married Margaret Bruggeman on 28 December 1944 in Henry County, Indiana. Roman Stueve married Ruth Borton on 18 December 1946.

In 1950 John (age 57) and Estella (age 54) are still living at 314 South Washington Street in New Bremen, Ohio and John is listed as the owner of the Stueve Tin Shop. 

Copper crucifix that topped the church.

John owned the Stueve Tin Shop for 41 years prior to his retirement in 1957. He also served several terms on the New Bremen Board of Public Affairs (1932-1933, 1934-1935, 1938-1939) and was a charter member and past commander (1932-1933, 1939-1940) of the New Bremen American Legion Post 241 which was formed in 1919. He was also a charter member of the Holy Redeemer Church where he constructed the crucifix that topped the church in 1948 and an active member of the Holy Name Society.

Stueve headstone, St. Augustine Cemetery

On the evening of 11 August 1963, John died suddenly of a heart attack at his brother Joseph's home northeast of Minster, Ohio. Joseph's home was the family farm where John and his siblings grew up. His funeral was held on 14 August at Holy Redeemer Church and he was buried in the St. Augustine Cemetery in Minster, Ohio.

As you can see, John Stueve had an interesting life. He participated in battles that led to the end of WW I. He was an important businessman in his community. He participated in his local government. He was a charter member in establishing the church he attended and in forming the local American Legion Post of which he was a commander. For those reasons and more, I would have liked to have met John Stueve to hear the stories that he must have had over his 71 years of life.

Omer William Lammers (1920-1945)

I started watching a series on Netflix called "Stories of a Generation". The series focuses on the generation who are now in their 70s being interviewed by a generation of filmmakers who are in their 30s. The series consists of four episodes; Love, Dream, Struggle, and Work. During the Struggle episode, Omar Badsha made the following statement: "We must not forget who makes history. We need to write a new history. It is a history not of big names and big people. It is a history of ordinary people. They are the ones who make history. That legacy is something that we must keep around." Omar's story revolved around appartheide South Africa and the struggle for equality and freedom, but his statement is much broader than that. The intent of my posts in this blog have been just that, telling the history that our ancestors have contributed to so others will see their contributions. My most recent series of posts, the WWII Hometown Newspapers Collection Project, revolves around their service during WWII which the US entered 80 years ago.

Today's post is about Omer William Lammers, my wife's 4th cousin 2x removed.

Omer was born in Botkins, Shelby County, Ohio on 9 January 1920. His parents were William Louis Lammers and Emma Marie Kipp Lammers. He had one sister, Mildred Sophia, born in 1915, and one brother, Richard Lewis, born in 1926.

Omer is not listed in the 1920 US Census because his bithdate was after the 1 January 1920 cutoff for listing. But the rest of the family, William (age 31), Anna (age 29), and Mildred (age 5) are listed as renters on the farm of William Kipp (age 59)  in Van Buren Township, Shelby County, Ohio. William Lammers is listed as the farm manager. William Kipp, born in Germany, was Emma Kipp's father. Also note that Emma was recorded as Anna in this census.

The 1930 US Census has the family still living with William Kipp (age 70) in Van Buren Township, Shelby County, Ohio. The family consisted of William Lammers (age 41), Emma (age 39), Mildred (age 15), Omer (age 10), and Richard (age 4 years 5 months). The census indicates that William and Emma were married when they were 26 and 24 years old respectively. William Lammers was a farmer and his farm was listed as #63 on the farm schedule. The 1930 census is incorrectly indexed as Somers instead of Lammers.

Omer attended New Knoxville High School where he graduated with the class of 1937. He was employed by Ed Holl and worked as a ditching contractor.

During the 1940 US Census, the family consisted of William Lammers (age 51), Emma (age 49), Mildred (age 25), Omer (age 20), Richard (age 14), and William Kipp (age 80). William Lammers and his wife Emma had completed the 8th grade. Mildred and Omer had completed 4 years of high school and Richard had finished his first year of high school at the time of this census. William Kipp had completed 5th grade before immigrating to the US from Germany. The family still lived on the farm and William rented it for $10 per month. The farm is listed on the 1940 farm schedule as farm #210.

On 18 January 1941, Omer enlisted in the Army at Ft. Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. He underwent training at Chanute Field near Rantoul, Illinois and had his B-29 combat crew training at Fairmont Army Air Field in Nebraska. He achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant and was assigned to the 398th Bomber Squadron, 504th Bomber Group on 23 December 1944. He was deployed in the Pacific theater out of Tinian Air Field in the Marianas Islands. This was the busiest airfield of the war with six 7,900-foot runways and over 50,000 troops stationed there. Missions were flown with targets in the Phillipines, Ryuku Islands, and mainland Japan including dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Omer flew on the B-29 Super Fortress called the Coral Queen. 

On 6 January 1945, the 38th Naval Construction Battalion "Seabees" selected the Coral Queen as their "adopted" aircraft since it was one of the first to land at Tinian's partially completed North Airfield after the island had been captured from the Japanese in 1944. 

On 15 February 1945, less than two months after arriving in Tinian, Omer, assigned as the Flight Engineer, and ten other crew members of the Coral Queen took off along with 116 other aircraft on a bombing mission over Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya was a critical target because it was the center of the Japanese aircraft industry, producing between 40 and 50% of Japan's combat aircraft including the Mitsubish A6M Zero. It also had a critical port facility. At 1843 local time, the crew radioed on their strike status and indicated that they were in trouble and had enough fuel to last approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. This was the last confirmed contact with the plane but there were reports of radio signals on their frequency on three occasions between 1125 and 1202 on 16 February 1945. It was believed that they had ditched in the Pacific Ocean probably somewhere approximately 300 miles southeast of Bonin Island. However, search planes reported visibility of less than one half mile during their search and no signs of the plane were seen. On 1 March 1946, a little over a year after the loss of the Coral Queen and its crew, the local newspaper reported that the family had received word that Omer was missing in action and presumed dead. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal for his actions.

The crew of the Coral Queen consisted of 2nd Lt Joseph Clinard (Pilot), 1st Lt Robert Proctor (AC), 2nd Lt Lyle Langenberg (NBR), 2nd Lt Charles Bixby (B), T Sgt Omer Lammers (FE), Sgt Clifford Williams (CFC), Sgt John Beyers (ROM), Cpl William Dembeck (LG), Cpl Vernon Damm (RG), Cpl James Davis (SG), and Cpl James Flaherty (TG). Omer Lammers is first from the left in the second row of this picture. All of the crew are listed on the Tablet of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sources:

• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 1 March 1946, page 1
• FamilySearch profile (KJMW-5YH)

Clifford August Schmiesing (1905-1944)

Happy New Year! I hope 2022 will be a good year for everyone. However, 80 years ago, 1942 was not what people had expected. The US was heavily involved in WWII, with forces fighting in the Pacific, Europe, and Africa. One of the soldiers in Africa was Clifford August Schmiesing, my second cousin 2x removed.

Clifford was born on 14 March 1905 on a farm two and a half miles south of Minster, Auglaize County, Ohio. He was the first born son of Benjamin Franklin Schmiesing and Dora Maria Herkenhoff Schmiesing. Ben and Dora were married on 8 June 1904 in Minster, Ohio. They lived on the farm for several years before the family moved into Minster.

The 1910 US Census lists the family living in Minster, Ohio. The family consisted of Bernard (age 27), Dora (age 27), Clifford (age 5), Elsa (age 3), and Howard (age 9 months). Benjamin (incorrectly listed as Bernard) was a bookkeeper for the flour mill and he owned their home. Clifford attended grade school in Minster for two years before the family moved to Lima, Ohio.

The 1920 US Census has the family renting a home at 304 West Wayne Street in Lima, Allen County, Ohio. The family consisted of Ben F (age 38), Dora (age 38), Clifford (age 15), Elsie (age 13), and Howard (age 10). Wesley Meckstroth (age 27) was listed as a roomer. Ben was the manager of the milk department at White Mountain Creamery Company in Lima. Their roomer, Wesley Meckstroth, was a chemist at White Mountain Company.

On 3 March 1921, Clifford's mother Dora died of pneumonia. She was buried in St. Augustines Cemetery in Minster, Ohio on 7 March 1921.

On 29 November 1922, Benjamin married Nora Bell Hall Wilkins in Allen County, Indiana. Nora had divorced her previous husband on 30 July 1921.

Clifford graduated from Lima St. Rose High School and then attended the St. Louis University of Medicine, where he graduated in 1929. While he was completing his internship in St. Louis, he met Grace Elizabeth Ryan of Salamanca, New York. They were married on 6 September 1930 in Salamanca, Cattaraugus County, New York and on 28 March and 22 June 1936, Clifford and Grace bought land in Salamanca, New York. Clifford started his private practice as a doctor in Salamanca. He was also a member of the Medical Society of New York.

On 21 July 1938, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the medical reserve corps of the US Army.

In the 1940 US Census, Clifford (age 35), Grace (age 35), and their children Clifford (age 8), Sandra (age 3), James (age 2), and Julia (age 7 months) are living in Salamanca, New York. Clifford is listed as a doctor with a 4 year college education. Grace is listed as completing 2 years of college.

In March 1941 he entered the Army where he served as a doctor. He achieved the rank of Major. He served overseas for several years but on 21 January 1944 he died in a hospital in Algeria. Prior to his death, Clifford was seriously ill following an accident on 1 January 1944 where he received injuries including a fractured skull. He was survived by his wife and five children ranging in age from 15 months to 10 years. His family was living in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at the time of his death. He was buried in a military cemetery in Africa. A solemn high mass was held in Sacred Heart Church with his brother, Rev. Howard Schmiesing presiding. After the war, his body was interred at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.

Sources:

• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 4 February 1944, page 1
• FamilySearch profile (GS7C-SHX)