Edward Henry Holscher (1918-1943)

I am continuing my stories for the WWII Hometown Newspapers Collection Project. This story is about Private Edward Henry Holscher, my 3rd cousin 2x removed.

Edward was born on 20 October 1918 in Ft. Loramie, Shelby County, Ohio. His parents were Henry Frederick (Fred) Holscher and Clara Elizabeth Poeppelman Hoelscher. He was the third of 13 children. The first child, John Albert Hoelscher died in infancy in 1916. In March of 1919 the family moved to their farm about one mile west of Osgood in Darke County, Ohio. The family attended St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Osgood.

The 1920 US Census states that the family owned a farm in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. The family consisted of Fred H. (age 34), Clara E. (age 27), Elisabeth M. (age 2 years 9 months), and Edward H. (age 1 year 10 months).

The 1930 US Census states that the family farm was on Brown Road in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. The family included Fred H. (age 44), Clara E. (age 37), Matilda E. (age 13), Edward H. (age 11), Urban F. (age 10), Leo S. (age 8), John J. (age 7), Alfred F. (age 4 years 7 months), Robert (age 2 years 4 months), Raymond B. (age 1 year 11 months).

The 1940 US Census listed the farm, valued at $400, as being in Yorkshire RR 1. The family consisted of Fred (age 54), Clara (age 47), Matilda (age 23), Edward (age 21), Urban (age 20), Leo (age 18), Joseph (age 16), Alfred (age 14), Robert (age 12), Wilfred (age 9), and Raymond (age 3). Edward had completed an 8th grade education.

Edward registered for the draft on 16 October 1940 and was inducted into the Army four days later, on 20 October 1940. He initially started his service at Ft. Thomas, Kentucky but was soon assigned to Camp Wolters, Texas. His training was as a member of an infantry division. On 29 April 1942 he left the US for Ireland where he arrived on 14 May 1942 to continue his training. After six months of training in Ireland he was sent to North Africa with the 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Division to fight against the Axis forces in North Africa in Operation Torch. The unit saw its first combat in French Algeria on 8 November 1942 when they seized the Port of Algiers and the outlying airfields.

  

On 31 March 1943, Edward was killed in action becoming the first young man from Osgood to die in service during WWII. He was shot in the leg and as he crawled back he was struck with a mortar shell resulting in severe wounds to the head and thorax. He was buried in an Army burial ground in Tunisia.  His last letter to his family was received on 19 March 1943. His headstone is placed in St. Martin's Catholic Cemetery in Osgood, Ohio.

Sources:

• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 16 April 1943, page 5 (death)
• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 23 April 1943, page 1 (funeral)
• FamilySearch profile (K2XY-X79)

Harry Francis Raterman (1917-1943)

Ok, I know it has been a little over a year since I last posted to this blog. I have been busy working on family history on FamilySearch, building out the details of my family from Germany and western Ohio (Auglaize, Darke, Mercer and Shelby counties). I invite you to look up your family on FamilySearch to see if you are related to me.

I have started a new project, the WWII Hometown Newspaper Collections Project. This projected started as a way to record the service of people from the Minster, Ohio region during WWII. I have been collecting stories from The Minster Post archives and adding them to the people on FamilySearch. I am trying to grow the project and am inviting others to join in by adding WWII records and stories to their families on FamilySearch. Additionally, I will start writing stories about some of the individuals as I get time. I will also be speaking about this project at RootsTech 2022 on March 3-5, 2022, during a live panel discussion.

Today is the first story of this series based on my research. This story is about Harry F. Raterman, who happens to be my 8th cousin, 2x removed.

Harry Raterman was born Francis Henry Steven Raterman on 31 December 1917 in Ft. Loramie, Shelby County, Ohio. His parents were Dr. Frank Raterman and Anna Marie Barhorst Raterman. According to the 1920 US Census, the family owned a home on Main Street in Ft. Loramie where Frank (age 41) and Anna (age 35) lived with their four children, Celeste (age 7), Isabella (age 6), Ernestina (age 4), and Harry (age 2). Dr. Frank Raterman was a General Practitioner in Ft. Loramie. He opened his physician's office in 1907 and maintained his practice until his death in 1942. Frank and Anna were married at St. Michael's Church in Ft. Loramie on 18 June 1912 when Frank was 35 and Anna was 27 years of age.

In the 1930 US Census, the family is listed as Frank (age 52), Anna (age 44), Celeste (age 17), Isabelle (age 15), Ernestine (age 13) and Harry (age 12). All of the children are attending school. Their home was valued at $5,200. The location of their home is not given in the census.

The 1940 US Census indicates that the family was living in a home on Park Street in Ft. Loramie. They were living in the same house in 1935. This house was valued at $2,800. Frank (age 62), Anna (age 55), and Harry (age 22) are living in the home. Frank listed his education as 6 years of college. Anna had finished the 8th grade and Harry had completed 2 years of college. Harry was working as a waiter in a restaurant. He had worked 39 weeks and earned $585 in 1939.

Harry attended St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana for 2 years before transferring to the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. While he was in his junior year at the University of Dayton he decided he could be of more service to his country by joining the Navy's air force. He enlisted in the Navy Reserves in July 1941. 

On 7 December 1941, Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor. This launched the involvement of the US in WWII and one week later, on 15 December 1941, Harry Raterman entered his training at the Naval Air Sation in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated from his training and earned his wings on 6 October 1942, and was assigned to the reserve avaition base in Atlanta, Georgia. He then completed his advanced aviation training in torpedo planes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida before being sent to the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia where he completed carrier training. He was then assigned to the Naval Air Station in San Diego, California. While he was in training, he wrote home saying "I love to fly and think I always shall." During January 1943, he was able to spend some time with family at his home in Ft. Loramie while on furlough before reporting to San Diego. His father had died of a heart attack just a couple months earlier, on 27 August 1942. 

Then, on 24 February 1943, just a little over 4 months after his graduation from flight school, Ensigns Harry F. Raterman and Daniel J. Sullivan (age 25) of Forest Hills, Massachusettes, died in a fatal training accident when their plane crashed near the Baymeadows Racetrack in Alameda, Cailfornia. Ensign Raterman's body was transported by rail to Sidney, Ohio where he arrived on 1 March, accompanied by a naval escort. Rev. Albin Raterman officiated at the funeral and on Wednesday, 2 March 1943, Ensign Raterman was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Ft. Loramie. 

Sources:

• The Minster Post, Minster Ohio, 9 October 1942, p. 3 (flight school graduation)
• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 29 January 1943, p. 3 (furlough)
• The Minster Post, Minster, Ohio, 5 March 1943, p. 3 (death announcement)
• FamilySearch profile (LTHL-GNP)

August Jacob Wise (1874-1946)

In this series of blogs, my wife and I will be discussing the life stories of our ancestors, the events that affected their lives and the way they affect us today. We will use a variety of sources available online as well as family stories that have been passed on down the generations.

Have you ever read the poem "The Dash" by Linda Ellis? If not, you should take a look at it before you continue reading this blog (http://www.simpletruths.tv/dashpoem/). Just remember to come back here and read the blog afterward. For those of you who have read the poem, remember what it says as you read what I have written.

Many times when we start working on our genealogies we have only names and dates. We always want to know their birth date and death date, but there is much more to find. How many times have you seen people listed as follows: August Jacob Wise (1874-1946)? What does this tell us about this person?

Let’s look at his life a little more closely. Everything I have listed below came from records and documents I found on the internet. Records include 1880-1940 US Census, Ohio Death Certificate, Church Records, Newspaper Articles, Immigration Records, and other historical documents.


August Jacob Wise was born 19 June 1874 in Berlin, Shelby County, Ohio. He was baptized at St. Michael’s Catholic Church on 21 June 1874 with Jacob Gaier and Maria Pleimann as his sponsors. The priest at that time was Reverend Wilhelm P. Bigot. August was the son of  immigrants. His father, August D. Wise, immigrated from Holland and was the operator and manager of the local saw mill. His mother Theresia Terling was a native of Westphalia, Germany. August D. Wise had immigrated in 1854 at the age of 19, on the ship William Tapscott from Liverpool, England with his parents Justus and Margaretha Wilken Wyse and three sisters, Margaretha, Louisa, and Anna. 


August Jacob Wise’s parents were fairly old at the time he was born. His father was around 37 and his mother was about 35. August was the middle child of three children. A sister Ann was born in 1870 but appears to have died before the 1870 census. We have Ann's birth record but no other information on her. His sister Louisa was born two years after him in 1876. In 1880 he was attending school and living with his parents, sister, grandfather Justus and two teamsters from the saw mill that his family operated. There is a question about the number of children since the 1900 census lists Theresa as only having had two children, both of which were still alive.

In 1896 August Wise, along with several others including Frank Willman and Adolph Raterman, founded the St. Michael’s Commandary No. 300 of the Knights of St. John. He was a life long member of the post and was listed as an honored guest at the golden jubilee dinner that was held on 1 June 1946, just two months before he died. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

August had a close brush with death on 24 April 1897. He was in his horse drawn buggy about 1 mile north of Newport when it started to rain. He was making his way into a barn owned by the Barger family when a lightning bolt struck and killed his horse. He was not injured.


By 1900, the town had changed its name from Berlin to Ft. Loramie. August was 26 years old, living with his parents, and was listed as single. He had become the head sawyer at the mill by this time. His father, age 64 was still in charge of the company. In 1903 he married Catherine Reiss. August and Catherine grew up together in this small town. Catherine’s father, Joseph Reiss, became a fireman and engineer at the Wise Sawmill in the 1860s after his service in the Civil War ended. 

After their marriage in 1903, the family began to grow. They had a total of 7 children born between 1904 and 1919, 6 of which were girls. During his life August served four terms on the village board of education and was an active member of the community fire department. 

After the death of his father in 1902, August took over the operations of the Wise Sawmill and is listed as the proprietor of the mill in the 1910 US Census. In 1913, the saw mill is listed as being 36' x 116' and 22' x 80' with a 40' x 44' engine room. The mill specialized in custom sawing with as many as 80,000 handles being produced annually. By 1920, the Wise Sawmill is listed as one of the major manufacturers in the area. August managed the sawmill until 1942 when he retired at the age of 68.


According to the 1940 census, August was working 45 hours per week managing the saw mill. He was living with his wife Catherine, daughter Madge, and son-in-law Vernon Westerheide.

On 24 April 1946 August suffered a paralytic stroke which rendered him bedfast. I think this is an interesting date since he survived the lightning strike on 24 April 1897. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on 13 August 1946 and died at 11:45 PM on 18 August 1946 after four months confined to his bed. He was 72 years 1 month and 22 days old. At the time of death he suffered from arterial sclerosis and obesity. He was buried in the new St. Michael’s Cemetery on 22 August 1946. His wife is buried by his side.

This is a tribute to my great grandfather August Jacob Wise (1874-1946).

At this time of Thanksgiving, let us remember our ancestors for the people they were, not for the dates they lived. Let us see them in a more complete light as people, not just names. We are what we are due to the decisions they made. For better or for worse, they are all part of us and we are part of them. Take the time to talk to your families and learn something more about each of them as you gather around the dinner table this holiday season.