Veterans Day 2009. A Tribute to Our Family in Uniform

I'm going to try something new here. I started a subscription to an on-line photo album in which I could create slide shows from still photos and videos. The program is called PhotoShow by Roxio. I have been pleased with the program so far, and I believe it has potential to illustrate our family history. Several upgraded features of the program during the past year seemed to have improved the product. One nice feature is that I can embed the show here, or add a link from this blog to any one of my slide shows- I think. Of course I have to keep my subscription going or the link will be broken. I guess that is what Roxio is hoping for. In any case, here goes an experiment. Below is an embedded slide show which I have titled in short, "Family in Uniform". It features pictures all of my relatives who have served their country. You can expand the show full screen by clicking on the appropriate icon. Also, I have included names of the persons below the slide show so that they can be found using Internet search engines. (Captions embedded in slides can not be searched.

Those who served (in order of appearance in show): Jacob Imfang (Prussia), Friedrich Meier, Ernst Boehme, Verdan R. Thompson, Frank Austel, John Russell Dawson, Richard R. Dawson, Harry (Parkinson) Russell, Sons of George Haas & Bertha Hohnke, James Schofield Hoyt, Amil Kramp, Charles Joseph Gailliot, Joseph S. Bailey, Helen Rose Gailliot, Edward A. Gailliot, Cecil Austel, Donald Austel, Shewin Brothers: Mathew, William, Joseph, Thomas; Glenn Franck on US Trenton, Walter T. Hellyer, John T. Parke, Dorothy M. Kramp, William Lewis Kramp, John Albert Honadle, Norma J. Russell, Elwood Zimmerman, James Henderson, Henry Collins, Michael John Gailliot, David G. Gailliot, Robert Charles Kramp, Robert L. Gable, Phillip R. Franck.

Jacob Imfang, Prussian Soldier

One of my mother's uncles was Jacob Imfang. He immigrated to America arriving at Castle Gardens, New York, in Oct 1905 on the S.S. Finland. He came to Braddock, as suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and there, met Anna Austel. The Austel family had immigrated to Braddock from Canton Thurgau, Switzerland, about two years before Jacob arrived on the scene. Jacob and Anna were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Braddock in Oct 1909. They had three daughters: Margaret Ann, Martha Ann, and Elizabeth "Betty".

Several years ago, I tracked down Jacob and Anna's daughter, Martha, who was living in northern Pittsburgh. Martha's father, Jacob, was a professional carpenter and furniture maker; his cabinets were sold in Pittsburgh's well-known Department store, Joseph Horne Company. As Martha invited me into her house to see some of the fine furniture her father had made, I noticed a handsome portrait of Jacob in Military Uniform (see the first image below). I knew he was originally from Germany and I presumed he had served in the Prussian Military. Martha showed me a smaller, black and white, cabinet card of the same image. On the reverse, someone had written what looked like Jacob's regiment including a few numbers and symbols that I couldn't decipher. However, I wrote the information down in my journal like a good family historian. More recently, a friend referred me to a web site that had information on Prussian Regiments, and fortunately, I was able to identify Jacob's regiment. (Thank you, Jon von Briesen). Jacob served in:

"Grenadier Regiment Graf Kleist von Nollendorf, Nr. 6 (1. Westpreußisches)", and probably in the 10th Division. "Graf" is a title meaning count. How Jacob got from the Frankfurt area where he was born to being recruited in a Prussian regiment in Posen is still a mystery.

IMAGE: Jacob Imfang in Prussian military uniform. He is wearing his "Dunkelblau" (dark blue) tunic. On the side table, lies his Picklehaub (spiked helmet) with black-colored, parade plume made of horse hair. The epaulets on shoulder, the color and design of piping, the design of buttons and medallion on helmet, all identify Jacob's unit in the military. Darn, if I knew all that BEFORE I took the picture, it sure would have helped. Sorry about the reflection on the convex glass which covered the framed portrait.

Martha also showed me a newsclipping featuring Jacob and titled, "Native of Germany celebrates his 90th [birthday]. I folded the clipping to fit into the image below. The article did not mention Jacob's Prussian service, but it did tell about his interests in dancing and a men's singing group called a "Mannechor" in German, and his hobby working with wood. Also, it told about an incident in Jacob's childhood when he attended his neighborhood school with former President, Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1890s. Apparently, Roosevelt's parents thought it would be healthy for their son, who was afflicted with Polio, to spend several summers in Bad Nauheim, a health resort famous for its baths (Die Bad). I was wondering how I could confirm this family tradition- but see "References" below.

(click image to enlarge)

Sometimes we forget to realize that millions of German immigrants who came to America in the late 19th century, including my own ancestors, had to turn around in a generation or two and do battle with their former countrymen during two world wars. That is truely ironic.

REFERENCES:

Names of Prussian Regiments

Franklin D. Roosevelts summer visits to Bad Nauheim (in German)

Eckley Miners Village in the Snow

"Apple" made a comment on my last entry that she also enjoyed the Heritage sites scattered across Pennsylvania, in particular, one she had visited called Eckley Miners Village near Hazelton. That brought back memories for me. I was working at Susquehanna Nuclear Plant near Berwick, PA, in the Susquehanna River Valley, and on my day off, I drove a short distance to Eckley and took one of my favorite photos shown below.

From Life's Journey

Incidentally, my friend, Jon, recently re-acquainted me with the beauty of Black and White photos and Sepia-toned images- even for nature shots (and coal tipples).

What you are seeing here is a coal tipple. Coal was hauled to the top of the slanted conveyor belt and then dumped though giant sieves to "size" the crushed coal. Before the turn of the 20th century, boys were hired to cull the slate, which was a waste product, from the usable and more valuable coal. The teen aged, or even younger, boys were called "breaker boys".

Several years ago, a friend of my late father, told me that the smaller coal tipples around Ramey in Clearfield County, PA, made great "Jungle Gyms" in the old days. He told me that my Dad would take his waist belt off, loop it over one of the supporting steel cables of the tipple, and then, hanging onto the loose ends of the belt, slide and ride the cable all the way down to the ground. "He was a real dare devil" my Dad's friend recalled.

LINKS:
Muddy coal mine tipple, Muddy, Illinois. Song by Rocky Alvey. Youtube video

Traces of coal mining in Fayette County, PA, along Youghiogheny River trail

Unfortunately, Blogspot will not allow me to place images where I want to in relation to the text. I hope the powers that be will someday fix this irritating glitch. But for now, we must push on and play by their rules.

(Click images to enlarge)

Earlier this Fall, I took a side trip on my way home from a family history gathering trip to Westmoreland and Fayette Counties in Pennsylvania. After a day of taking photos of tombstones at Mount Pleasant cemetery (see last entry), I camped that night at Ohiopyle State Park along the Youghiogheny River. The next morning, I took a bicycle ride on a portion of the Rail-Trail that follows the river from the state park all the way to McKeesport near Pittsburgh. The trail is part of the Great Allegheny Passage which stretches several hundred miles from Pittsburgh, PA, to Georgetown, Washington, DC. I met one bicyclist who was traveling the whole trail, end to end, and when he reached DC in few days, he was planning to box up his bike and take the Amtrack back to Pittsburgh. I thought that one day I would like to bicycle the same route and dedicate the ride to my mother's Gailliot Family Line who, in 1880, emigrated from Germany to Braddock, PA, to work in the steel mills, and then, in 1920, migrated to a farm in Alexandria, VA. No, they did not bike it.

At one point on my bike ride, I passed a cut in a steep cliff along the trail. There was an historic marker at the bottom of the cliff which gave a brief description of the coal mining era in the region. The text began by pointing to a vein of coal on the cliff high above me (directly above the dashed line, colored red, in image above). Also shown, was an enlarged copy of a vintage postcard depicting coal miners standing around a mine shaft in Connellsville, PA. Rail cars loaded with coal were being pulled by mules from the mine shaft.

I was reminded of the Russell family that I had just studied the day before in Mt. Pleasant. Some members of the family resided in a coal company town at the Royal Mine and Coke Works, according to census reports. Indeed, I found out later, that the funeral for Robert M. Russell was held at his married daughter's house in Royal. His daughter, Christine, was married to James Eaton. At a web site called The Virtual Museum of Coal Mining in Western Pennsylvania there is a detailed description of the neighborhood where the Russell family once resided:

"Approximately ninety coal company built houses ... laid out along four parallel streets ... The bulk of the houses are semi-detached dwellings with their gable ends facing the streets. Of standard wood-frame construction, they are four-bay on the ground level and two-bay above; they rest on coursed-stone foundations. the houses have shed or hipped-roof front porches and their two interior brick chimneys are either on opposite sides of the roof ridge or piercing the ridge. ..."

Royal was later called Chestnut Ridge, but you will not find either town on a road map of Pennsylvania today. Most of these "Patch" company towns have been dismantled. I am glad that at least a description of the town survives.

Tombstones for Robert McCallum Russell Family at Mt. Pleasant, PA

(Click for larger view)

I had an epiphany of sorts a few weeks ago. I was trying to collect more information on the family of Robert McCallum Russell to see if I could link him to the "unidentified Russell" in a group photograph taken in Kruger Studio about 1885. The photo appears in one of my earlier blog entries. The studio was located in Houtzdale, Clearfield Co, PA, where Robert M. Russell was enumerated in the 1880 census. By 1900, Robert had moved his family further west to Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA. which was a rich coal mining area much like Houtzdale was in the 1880s. I had a tip that Robert might be buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. This was confirmed in a compilation of cemetery inscriptions (by Della Reagan Fischer (Mrs. Frank C.), 1979, available at the Mt. Pleasant library. There were 10 inscriptions (names and dates) that matched the Russell family I was researching. I was a little daunted by Fischer's list of 4,000 transcriptions but I vowed to visit the cemetery, find the tombstones, and take pictures.

There was no problem finding the cemetery just north of town, but to my chagrin, there was no office. I called the phone number of the caretaker the library staff had given me. (Cell phones are such a boon to modern-day genealogists). The responder said he was now retired as caretaker but he gave me the new caretaker's number. In the meantime, I was driving around the extensive cemetery wondering how in the world I was going to find the memorials I was looking for out of the four thousand stones that I could see spread over the hillsides. I talked to the caretaker's wife who said her husband was very sick in bed. "But give me the names and call back tomorrow".

But, I was already here, and I wouldn't be here tomorrow, I thought silently.

So I drove up to the highest point of the cemetery and rode around the paved circle at the top. A flagpole and military cannons graced the highpoint. I pulled over and parked my van under a group of large oaks. Then, I got out and walked around to the opposite doors leading to the rear of the van to grab a snack from the ice box. And lo and behold (ready for the epiphany?), I walked right smack dab into an upright stone marking the THE Russell family plot. Talk to any genealogist and they will tell you of similar experiences.

In the image above, between the two trees, a line of four tombstones face a larger memorial inscribed "RUSSELL". The inscriptions on the flat faces of the smaller tombstones, left to right, are:

David T., 1875-1949

Robert M., 1845-1927

Mary T., 1848-1924

John T., 1883-1924

The next day, the caretaker phoned and gave me the specific burial dates and ages for three of the four individuals- there was no burial date for Robert's wife, Mary T., but there was a note in the mortuary records indicating she died at the age of 76 years. Robert M. Russell, was buried 20 June 1927, aged 82 years. Now that I had the specific dates, I could look for obituaries in the local paper, The Mount Pleasant Journal. It was published once a week back then. But that's another Life's Journey.

I did say I obtained ten inscriptions, and I have presented only four so far. The remaining six (I did not locate the tombstones) were:

Alexander T. Russell, 1888-1934, Father

Jennie W. Russell, 1893- [blank], Mother

Robert M. Russell, 1881-1926, Father

Magdalena D. Russell, 1880-1960, Mother

Robert C. Russell, 1905-1960, son

Billy Eugene Russell, 1920-1926, son