This is week #4 of 52 Ancestors for 2015 sponsored by Amy at No Story Too Small. The theme this week is CLOSEST TO YOUR BIRTHDAY and my ancestor is Robert E. Houchin But how I came about this is a story in itself When I first saw the topic, I immediately thought I would write about my grandmother who was born November 6th. After all, I thought that would be closest to my November 12th date. Of course I also considered my Mom since her birthday is November 22nd. I always enjoyed the fact that our birthdays were so close together. But then I started thinking (and that usually gets me in trouble), there must be someone that actually shares my birthday. So I started searching. It’s funny how I found four of my husband's relatives with that date. I found several on my side as well but they were very, very distant cousins many times removed - until I found Robert E. Houchin. Houchin is my father’s maternal line and Robert is a 4th cousin once removed. OK still not real close but I saw that he died at the age of 19 in North Korea and something drew me in.
The only info I had was his birth and death date and the notation “died in North Korea” and his parents names, Arthur Preston and Jane (Pirie) Houchin. Robert was born in 1932 and so I started with the 1940 census. I couldn’t find Robert but did find his father Arthur. Arthur was living in Monticello, Indiana, where Robert had been born, but he is listed as a widower and there are no children in the household. Arthur had a WPA job as a janitor and earned $450 in the prior year. I also found Arthur in the 1930 census with his wife Jane and three children ages 2 to 6. Arthur was 48 and Jane 41 and they had been married about 9 years.
So then I looked for military records for Robert. I found the application for a military headstone with the correct birth and death dates. It showed that he had the rank of corporal in the 35th Infantry Regiment and was a medical aidman and he was buried in the Pike Creek Cemetery in Monticello. Then in the Casualty Listing on Ancestry.com it said:
“Corporal Houchin was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.”
It did have one statement that puzzled me. It had his birth place as Jackson, Mississippi rather than Indiana. Then I went to Google to see if I could find out what happened in Korea. The American Battle Monument Commission website said that he was killed while giving medical attention to his comrades. I also found this newspaper article about his death:
It did have one statement that puzzled me. It had his birth place as Jackson, Mississippi rather than Indiana. Then I went to Google to see if I could find out what happened in Korea. The American Battle Monument Commission website said that he was killed while giving medical attention to his comrades. I also found this newspaper article about his death:
So according to this article he was living with his sister in Mississippi at the time he enlisted. This probably explains how his birth place showed as Mississippi. I next went to my subscription on Newspaper Archives.com to see if I could find out anything else.
I found an article in the Logansport paper on August 2, 1952 giving information on the death of Robert Houchin. A couple of things stood out in this article 1) the information on his death was received by his sister Mrs. Elsie Waltman in Biloxi, MS; 2) it stated that after his mother’s death he had resided in an Indianapolis home; 3) later he had lived with a family in White County. The following article on August 20, 1952 says that the father has received the details of his son’s death from the company commander that said ..” Robert was killed on Heartbreak Ridge on July 21, 1952. While accompaning a combat patrol in enemy held territory he was hit by enemy small arms fire and from all indication was killed instantly by a small bazooka.” The next article I found was the one in the Logansport paper on October 2, 1952 saying that Robert’s body had been returned and giving the details of the funeral. How said to find out about Robert's death in July and having to wait until October for the funeral.
This is one of those cases where you never know what you'll find. Robert's story so far is rather sad. It appears his mother died before he was ten since his father is widowed in the 1940 census. According to the above article he had lived in several places including with both of his sisters at one time or another. Then dying several months before his 20th birthday, while serving in the Army in Korea.
I decided to search a little more to see what I could find out about his family. My first newspaper search had been limited to the year 1952 in order to find out about Robert’s death. But I decided to see if I could find his mother’s obituary and why the children were not with their father Arthur after her death. But as I looked at other newspaper articles I became confused. I did find the notice of Jane Houchin’s death in 1937 at age 48 and listing her husband and four children as survivors. I had used Arthur’s name in the search and the next thing I found was a small article from the Logansport Tribune on November 15, 1947 saying “ Robert Houchin, son of Arthur Houchin of Monticello, observed his fifteenth birthday anniversary on November 12th at the Boys School at Plainfield.” Was this a private school? I looked it up and was surprised to see it was a Correctional Institute for adolescents.
How had Robert wound up in a correctional institute? Another search using his name and earlier dates revealed a totally unexpected story. I have to admit that I almost didn’t include this part in the story. I was having a hard time reconciling the new information with the war hero. At times I even doubted it was the same Robert Houchin. But as I read on I realized it was.
Here is a synopsis of the story I found in several news articles. In July 1946, Robert at age 13 was a farmhand living with a foster family, Imojean and Everett Louderback in White County, Indiana who had taken the “motherless child from welfare authorities three years prior.” (The Louderback’s had no children of their own and Mr. Louderback was a farmer according to census records.) On July 30, 1946, the Sheriff is seeking a first degree murder indictment from the grand jury against Robert for killing Mrs. Louderback. Robert is quoted as saying “I was always getting bawled at for doing something or for doing nothing.” On the day of the murder she scolded him for the way he hoed the garden and then called him lazy. Robert was scheduled for trial but his attorney had it delayed while they sent Robert to Indianapolis for a mental exam. The result was that Robert was declared insane at the time of the killing and was committed to the Indiana Boys School until he reached 21. It does mention his father, Arthur, being in the courtroom at the time the psychiatrist said that Robert had a “warped and distorted personality” since the death of his mother and believed the murder was the result of “pent-up emotions” and he had “irresistible impulses.”
I found an article in the Logansport paper on August 2, 1952 giving information on the death of Robert Houchin. A couple of things stood out in this article 1) the information on his death was received by his sister Mrs. Elsie Waltman in Biloxi, MS; 2) it stated that after his mother’s death he had resided in an Indianapolis home; 3) later he had lived with a family in White County. The following article on August 20, 1952 says that the father has received the details of his son’s death from the company commander that said ..” Robert was killed on Heartbreak Ridge on July 21, 1952. While accompaning a combat patrol in enemy held territory he was hit by enemy small arms fire and from all indication was killed instantly by a small bazooka.” The next article I found was the one in the Logansport paper on October 2, 1952 saying that Robert’s body had been returned and giving the details of the funeral. How said to find out about Robert's death in July and having to wait until October for the funeral.
This is one of those cases where you never know what you'll find. Robert's story so far is rather sad. It appears his mother died before he was ten since his father is widowed in the 1940 census. According to the above article he had lived in several places including with both of his sisters at one time or another. Then dying several months before his 20th birthday, while serving in the Army in Korea.
I decided to search a little more to see what I could find out about his family. My first newspaper search had been limited to the year 1952 in order to find out about Robert’s death. But I decided to see if I could find his mother’s obituary and why the children were not with their father Arthur after her death. But as I looked at other newspaper articles I became confused. I did find the notice of Jane Houchin’s death in 1937 at age 48 and listing her husband and four children as survivors. I had used Arthur’s name in the search and the next thing I found was a small article from the Logansport Tribune on November 15, 1947 saying “ Robert Houchin, son of Arthur Houchin of Monticello, observed his fifteenth birthday anniversary on November 12th at the Boys School at Plainfield.” Was this a private school? I looked it up and was surprised to see it was a Correctional Institute for adolescents.
How had Robert wound up in a correctional institute? Another search using his name and earlier dates revealed a totally unexpected story. I have to admit that I almost didn’t include this part in the story. I was having a hard time reconciling the new information with the war hero. At times I even doubted it was the same Robert Houchin. But as I read on I realized it was.
Here is a synopsis of the story I found in several news articles. In July 1946, Robert at age 13 was a farmhand living with a foster family, Imojean and Everett Louderback in White County, Indiana who had taken the “motherless child from welfare authorities three years prior.” (The Louderback’s had no children of their own and Mr. Louderback was a farmer according to census records.) On July 30, 1946, the Sheriff is seeking a first degree murder indictment from the grand jury against Robert for killing Mrs. Louderback. Robert is quoted as saying “I was always getting bawled at for doing something or for doing nothing.” On the day of the murder she scolded him for the way he hoed the garden and then called him lazy. Robert was scheduled for trial but his attorney had it delayed while they sent Robert to Indianapolis for a mental exam. The result was that Robert was declared insane at the time of the killing and was committed to the Indiana Boys School until he reached 21. It does mention his father, Arthur, being in the courtroom at the time the psychiatrist said that Robert had a “warped and distorted personality” since the death of his mother and believed the murder was the result of “pent-up emotions” and he had “irresistible impulses.”
There is most definitely a lot more to this story. We could speculate that his father, in his late 50’s at the time of his wife’s death was unable to take care of the four children, his income in 1939 was just $450.. It sounds like at least Robert was in an orphanage in Indianapolis. The Louderback’s take him in at age 10 and he had to work on the farm. I don’t know if they abused him or overworked him, perhaps neither one, but obviously Robert couldn't handle his new life. His actions sent him to the correctional school and he was there on his 15th birthday in 1947. By 1949, before the established release age of 21, he was in Biloxi, Mississippi with his sister and enlists in the Army. I could find no mention of his release, I wonder if there was an escape and then again maybe he was an exceptional inmate and released or perhaps enlistment was a condition of his release.
Regardless of what he did in the past, it appears he was rehabilitated, and he served his country with honor, reaching the rank of Corporal, and gave the ultimate sacrifice and I hope that is what is most remembered about Robert Eugene Houchin.
What an incredible journey in terms of your research and the life that Robert lead.
ReplyDeleteMy father, Arthur, Roberts older brother told me that farmers often would visit the Indianapolis Orphans Home looking for labor, my father used the term slave labor to work on the farms. After Janes death from breast cancer, the children were placed in the orphanage That Roberts was not allowed in the house and had to sleep in the barn. The dispute started on a Sunday after a visit by his sister Elsie. Elsie had made a long travel to visit with Robert. After a few minutes of visiting with Elsie, Elsie was asked to leave so that Robert could get back to work. When Robert neared the age of 18, the court offered Robert a choice: To enlist in the Army or continue with the original court sentence. Robert was released to his sister Elsie custody while awaiting to report to the Army.
ReplyDeleteRobert served his country with honor, reached the rank of Corporal, and gave the ultimate sacrifice, that's the way the family remembers Robert Eugene Houchin.