52 Ancestors Week 12 - Same - So Many Henry's & Joseph's

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #12  and the suggested theme is SAME. This week I am highlighting my husbands ancestors.



 My husbands first and middle name is Joseph Frank.  He is a Jr. so its the same as his father, but he also shares at least one of those names with four other men in his direct paternal line. And if their name wasn't Joseph or Frank then it was Henry.  I have 27 Henry's, 11 Joseph's, 9 Stockley's and 15 Oliver's all with the same surname.  Almost every son in those large families during the 1700's and 1800's named their sons Joseph, Henry, Oliver and Stockley. My husbands paternal line is:

                              Henry  b. abt 1651
                                Stockley b. abt. 1690 (Stockley was the maiden name of his mother)
                                   Joseph b. 1727
                                      Henry b.1756
                                        Joseph b. 1777
                                           Henry b. 1815
                                               Joseph S. b. 1836
                                                  Henry McCuin b. 1864
                                                      Franklin Newton b. 1891
                                                         Joseph Franklin b. 1925
                                                             Joseph Frank Jr. - my husband

It took me many years of research to untangle the names and dates.

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES Part 8 - Vermont

So it looks like Alfred is on his first trip outside Indiana. He has left Valparaiso, Indiana headed to Vermont via Buffalo, New York.

"We found out that we would be assigned to the Signal Corpe.  We had a special train, only 4 passenger cars & 1 baggage car.  No trouble in making fast time.  At Buffalo, N.Y. the next day we were met at the station by the Red Cross and escorted to a dining room for dinner.  They had made a mistake; the dinner had been ordered for a troop train from California with 1200 men.  They found out about the error when our bunch of 200 sat down to eat.  When we got through and back on our train the other troop train pulled in the station.  I don’t know how they fared but we were well fed. 

Red Cross meeting a troop train in Washington, D.C., 1918

The trip through Vermont was beautiful.  It was there I saw oxen hitched to high wheeled carts pulling logs.  The first time I ever saw oxen work.  We got to Burlington around 10 pm.  It looked like the whole town was out to meet us.  It was the first contingent of troops to the University and I guess was sort of a novelty to them.  Accommodations were good; we got the schools dormitory for our barracks – They had a private dining hall manned by civilians so we had no K.P. duty to perform.  I learned pretty fast about some things in the army – One was to keep mouth shut.  An old sergeant that escorted us to Burlington told me – Be a buck private in the rear ranks, don’t talk unless a superior asks you something and don’t volunteer for anything.  Most attractive offers turned out menial work such as latreen duty.  We had to put in a lot of time in class and study.  A new line for me:  centered around electricity.  Wireless as it was called then (radio later) was the main source of study – how to operate, repair, etc. dry and wet batteries, antennas, different modes of signaling from using wig wag to sun dials, learning the  American code, send & receiving messages, (16 words a minute a minimum) but interpreting the German languages came up for volunteers.  A few answered the call.  A few days later I was called by the orderly to report to the commandant.  After due formalities the officer asked me why I didn’t volunteer for the German interpreters.  I told him I didn’t think I could qualify.  He informed me my record showed I was fluent in the German language.  Gave me a test and said, “Hell you’re the only man I got in this outfit that can read and write in the German script, the other men only know the English script and most of them are damn poor at it.”  I was put in charge of 8 men and got my first and only promotion P.F.C. (3 bucks extra a month.)  The pay of a P.F.C. was 33⁰⁰ per month less 7⁴⁰ per month for insurance or net 25⁶⁰. Took 2 trips while at Burlington – one a drive to the Canadian border.  There is a chain of islands from Burlington to the border in Lake Champlain – The road was narrow and there were turn-outs at certain intervals and if you met a car or other vehicle you would have to go in these turn-outs and let whatever traffic there was pass by.  Some of these islands were large and the unique thing was that the farm building were one building – the house, barn, chicken house, tool sheds all under one roof.  The reason for this was the deep snow that falls in the Green Mountains.  At the Canadian border we were not allowed to cross – Canadian & U.S. guards.  But right on the border was a general store – one half on each side of the border under one roof.  There were certain advantages to this as to cost of various items.  For instance; cigarettes were cheaper on the U.S. side.  On our return we took a ferry boat to St. Albans, Vt. and eat supper there. The other trip was a rough like mountain trip through Montpelier, the capital city, then to Barre and saw the huge granite quarries and then to Williamstown Gulch.  This was a deep gorge, narrow and you looked almost straight up several thousands of feet of sheer rock to see the top.  On our way back, after dark, going down a steep mountain road we almost ran over two men and a cow.   They had no lights or lanterns and the driver of the Buick Touring car used both the manual and emergency brakes to avoid hitting the trio.  Well the emergency brake “froze.”  We spent about an hour working on the brake befor we got it to release. 

It was the first of October I got a Special Delivery letter from Dr. Peter Berns stating that if I wanted to see my Grandmother Tendick alive I would have to come home at once.  I took the letter to the Commandant and he informed me we were scheduled to leave soon but he did give me a 72 hour leave – If I made all connections on time I would have but 6 hours after arriving at Terre Haute until I had to catch a return train there.  I decided to try it, caught a train at 11pm at Burlington and befor the train pulled out an orderly was calling my name out.  The commandant decided to give me 24 hours longer leave.  Spent most of my leave with my grandmother and Mom of course.  The stay was short and Grandmother died befor I got back to camp."

Alfred's maternal grandmother, Katrina (Kukes) Tendick died on October 1, 1918.  So Alfred traveled home at the end of September.  The following photos were taken at that time.

Helen Bovenschen, Alfred Moehlmann, Matilda Tendick Moehlmann, Sophia Tendick Nolting
holding son Alburtus, Dietrich Tendick,, children in front - Alice & Kathrina Nolting - Sept 1918
from Moehlmann Family Collection

Alfred Moehlmann in Uniform, 1918, at Family Home,
from Moehlmann Family Collection

Alfred Moehlmann in Uniform with Mother Matilda, 1918
from Moehlmann Family  Collection

Alfred Moehlmann and Helen Bovenschen, 1918
from Moehlmann Family Collection

Headstone for Peter & Katherine (Kukes) Tendick
Fairview Cemetery, Linton, Indiana
from Moehlmann Family Collection

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES Part 7 - Greetings from the President

  Its 1918 and Alfred Moehlmann at age 21 is working at the Ogle Land Co. while the US has entered into the "Great War".  He is thinking he still had at least until the fall before he might be called into the service.  His story continues:

"Then came the month of June; the company asked me to check the draft board as to when I would be called for military service.  They wanted me to try for a deferment account of farm work.  Wheat harvest had already started.  I balked on deferment but Mr. Martin and I went to Bloomfield and checked my status.  With my low number I was informed that I wouldn’t be called until late fall.  That was on a Wednesday.  I wrote the company and told them how I stood.  But lo and behold I got, Greetings from the President of the U.S. on Friday informing me to go to Bloomfield on the following Sunday, June 30, 1918 and be sworn into the Army at 2:30 P.M. by Sheriff Greeley Wines, and be ready to catch a train at Bloomfield on Monday morning at 7:30 am.  I had a lot to do, check out my accounts (The Vandalia sent a Mr. Thompson down from Terre Haute to do that) had to pack my grip and seemed like a thousand and one things to do.  I had to work until noon on Sunday to clear everything up.  Then I drove to Moms, picked her, Aunt Grace and Russell Pope up and made a flying trip in a cloud of dust to Bloomfield.  We only had 30 minutes to get there and that meant a fast trip with a Model T Ford and the kind of roads we had (all gravel).  But we got here with a few minutes to spare.  We went back to Linton and I bid all my folks and friends I saw Good-By.  Mom kept me close to midnight for what we expected to be a long time apart.

Mr. Martin took me to Bloomfield the next morning and we got our orders; we changed trains at Bloomington.  We took the Monon to Chicago and the Nickel Plate to Valparaiso, Ind.  I hope I never see the sad scenes of grief that I saw that day at every stop of parents seeing their sons off.  I was glad that nobody saw me off but Mr. Martin, for I had seen enough at Bloomfield when the Baughman family saw Earl leave and the Haseman family to see Emil leave.  We arrived at Valparaiso about midnight and taken directly to camp and to the dining hall for our first army meal.

Befor I relate my army experience I want to tell of one more incident while I was at the Ogle Land Co.  Everything was done in a formal way, especially meals.  One person did all the serving and Mr. Martin attended to that.  He was an expert when it came to carving meats & fowl.  But on this particular day, Alfred Ogle and his wife and Thomas D. Sherin and his wife were at the farm and when dinner time came Mr. Martin was out on some business.  Miss Mary Hewitt, an old spinstress, and also mistress of the home told me I would have to do the serving.  Of all the things to have to carve she had duck.  Every place I tried to stick a fork I hit bone, I was so embarrassed I didn’t know what to do or say.  Sweat was pouring down my face and then Mr. Ogle said “Alf, I don’t believe you know how to carve duck.”  I said not only duck but that this was the first time I ever even served.  He told me where to place the fork and finally got a little meat off the carcass.  I was scared stiff that they would ask for a second helping and I had no idea where I could find anymore meat on that duck.  I guess that is the only time in my life that I served to a couple of millionaires.

I also want to mention a sad experience I had while on the farm to give a sort of example of the many things I had to do.  I don’t mean that I was over worked but the various things that would have to be looked after.  The wife of Oliver Goad, our Barn Boss who looked after the cattle & hogs, gave birth to a baby that was “still born.”  I had to go to Linton to The James Humphrey Funeral home (now Welch & Cornett) which was located over what is now Baxley Furniture Store and buy a casket for the infant and take it to their house.   The weather was bad, rain and Black Creek was out of its banks and water over part of the roads we would have to travel to a small country cemetery.  Some of the ladies of the neighborhood prepared the corpse and placed it in the casket.  I got a good layman to perform a simple ceremony.  We hitched up a team of mules to the company surrey, placed the coffin in the floor of the front seat.  I drove the team and good deacon sat in the front seat with me and Mr. Goad & sister-in-law sat in the back seat.  Only one vehicle made the funeral procession.

Now back to the Army – From one desk to another – sign my name at every turn, finally assigned to a barracks, bed was a canvas folding cot, two wool blankets, got to bed at 2 am July 2^nd, 1918.  At 6 am bugle call, reveille, shrill whistles, voices yelling, fall in – well I guess I fell in – herded out into the street – line up – how, what for – Two lines were formed – an acting sergeant (designated by a white band around his hat) stuck his arm in the ranks and gave an order – “From here, right face”- Everybody stood still; the order didn’t mean anything (I was in this bunch) for we just didn’t know any Army procedure.  Well, we finally got squared around and we were marched to the mess hall.  Some of us were assigned to the kitchen, some to a cellar to peel potatoes, and some to the dining hall and a man was assigned a table.  I was assigned a table, the last one in the hall.  We were ordered to set the tables, plates, cups, silverware and finally salt & pepper shakers.  There was a young chap, an acting corporal, asked me why I didn’t have the shaker on the table and I told him there were no more.  He said, “You’re a liar” and I hauled off and hit him and knocked him sprawling on the table, upsetting it.  Well I was escorted to some officer, charged with hitting a superior, had a bunch of orders dictated to me I suppose from the Army manual.  Well after thinking I was going to be shot at sun rise, I was ordered to report to the cellar every morning at 6 am until further notice.  They had some kind of machine that scraped the peel off the potatoes but we had to punch the eyes out.  I didn’t think there were so many potatoes in the world.  Sometimes I was there to 9 pm.  I got called out on occasions for medical exams, shots, army clothing issues, etc.  Finally called out and said I was to be shipped out in five days.  I wrote a letter to my folks and also to Mom. The night befor we left, Mom, Uncle John & Aunt Gertie Cerar drove into camp in a Model T Ford Roadster.  The sergeant on duty called me out of the cellar and gave me a pass until midnight.  They must have got in about 7 pm.  We found a place for them to stay, drove out of town and ate a supper they had brought along in a picnic basket.  The next morning was mostly confusion – turning in and checking out blankets etc.  We found out we would leave Valparaiso via the Nickel Plate Rail Road for the University of Vermont, located at Burlington, Vt. at 2:30 pm.  I bade Mom and the folks good-by and it was all over in a very short time. 

I did a little research on the draft during World War I and found the following information on the Encyclopedia of Genealogy website: 

On May 18, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act authorizing the President to draft men into military service. During World War I, there were three registrations. The first was on June 5, 1917, registering men between the ages of 21 and 31. The second was on June 5, 1918, registering men who had turned 21 since June 5, 1917.  The third registration was held on September 12, 1918, and registered men 18 through 45. So, all men born between 1872 and September 1900 who were not in active military service by June 1917 filled out draft registration cards, whether they were native born, naturalized, or alien. There were five World War I draft classifications, but they were not the straightforward arrangement that we all remember from later wars, such as 1A or 4F. Every registrant was considered belonging to Class 1 until his status giving him the right of deferred classification was fully established. Each draft board used a set of standard "principles" to place men in the deferred classes, including dependency, sundry specific vocations, necessary agricultural and industrial workers, or moral disqualification. In class 2 was placed a registrant found by his district board to be a necessary skilled farm laborer in a necessary agricultural enterprise or a necessary skilled industrial laborer in a necessary industrial enterprise.

Alfred registered in the first June 5, 1917 registration. There was a category of deferment for agricultural worker that Alfred's employer wanted him to apply for.  But it was also up to each individual county board to determine these deferments. It had been a year since he registered and since he had been advised by his board that he would not be called for several months he declined. What a surprise to be called up just days later.

Having to get his business and personal life in order on such short notice must have been unsettling. Before he knew what was happening he was in the Army in Valparaiso, Indiana, 210 miles from home.  Just think, he had been carving duck and dining with millionaires not too long before and now he is peeling potatoes in the cellar after hitting an officer. What a surprise to have visitors before he is sent to Vermont.

Alfred is about to depart on the Nickel Plate.  This is the railroad running from Chicago to Buffalo. The control of the railroads had been assumed by the government for the war effort.

52 Ancestors Week 11 - Luck of the Irish - John McClannahan

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #11 and the suggested theme is LUCK OF THE IRISH. My ancestor this week is JOHN McCLANNAHAN.

While most of my ancestors on my mother's side are German, my paternal side has a little more vairety. One of my 2nd great-grandmothers is Martha McClanahan, an 8th great-grandfather is James McTeer, and a 3rd great-grandmother is Nancy McBride.  With names like that I must be part Irish.

I recently had a DNA analysis through Ancestry.com.  Here are my high level results: 

It's what I expected as far as being European - 99%.  But what about that less than 1% Irish. My European Jewish is higher than my Irish and I'm not aware of any Jewish ancestry. Looks like I have a lot more researching to do. I'll admit that DNA research is an entirely new animal to me.  Looks like a steep learning curve but one I will approach in the near future.

But it did have me looking at my  Irish ancestors.  My closest Irish ancestor - Martha Emmaline McClanahan -  was born in Indiana on 13 April 1823 in Vanderburgh County. She married Jesse Gross Davis in 1842 in Pike Co., IN.  In the 1880 census she indicates that her father was born in Ireland.

Martha's sister Elizabeth also indicates her father was born in Ireland.  But that is the only documentation I have on their Irish ancestry.  

The story that has been handed down is that John McClannahan came to America with his wife from Ireland. However, she died during the voyage.  I need a little of that "Luck of the Irish" to find information on his immigration.  He married Sarah Ring in Vanderburgh county in 1821. She was born in England. They had five children born between 1823 and 1836. The 1830 census indicates he is between 30 and 40 years of age. And this is the only documentation I have on John.  In 1837 Sarah McClannahan marries David English.  The 1850 census shows the blended family, however Sarah is again widowed. 

So there are still many questions about my Irish ancestor.

I'll leave you with this Irish Blessing.

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES Part 6 - Ogle Land Company

This is the continuing story written by Alfred Moehlmann.  He has been working for the Vandalia Coal Co. in cost accounting. He doesn't mention where he is living, but I assume it is in the home of his grandmother along with his mom and uncles.  But once again, a job change is in his future and along with it a residence move, although not far away.

"The Vandalia owned the Ogle Land Company better known as the Goosepond.  Most of the haulage at that time in the mines was done by mules and I imagine the Vandalia had well over a 1000 mules scattered around the different mines.  This farm was their main source of grain and hay for the mules.  Along about August, our new office manager Mr. Wilson (Mr. Murphy went into the mine business for himself) got a letter from the main office at Terre Haute that either Martin Olsen or me, the only 2 single men in the organization would have to go to the office of the Ogle Land Company as a bookkeeper.  We both refused to go but since I was the junior in office rank and the pressure put on Mr. Wilson he talked me into going there and at least look the situation over.  So Mr. Wilson and I took an afternoon off, got in the Saxon and drove out to the farm.

I was impressed with the bigness of the farm, over 5000 acres, big levees around the farm, a big pump station to keep the water out, 27 farm laborers on full time, 2 big Caterpillar tractors and big Aultman Taylor tractor, 60 head of mules, 3 foremen and a big house as near modern as was possible in those days, 2 maids.  The house was maintained for Stanley Martin the superintendent and the bookkeeper. It was also a rendezvous for the Ogles, Sherrins and big shot coal men.  They offered 100⁰⁰ per month and room and board. I took the job; but befor I went I was to help break in a new man for the cost accounting job.  In a few days they brot in a man who had worked at a similar job for a rail road company.  He spend one week and said he couldn’t handle the job.  My chest swelled just a little.  A few days later they sent a man down from Terre Haute.  He stayed one day and threw up his hands.  Well, I was about to bust out of my seams.  I began to feel like I was a pretty big cog in the wheel.  Then it happened, they got a young man out of Indianapolis who was going to the same Business College I had went to and he grabbed right a hold of the job as if he had done it all his life.  My ego dropped to zero, but it taught me one good lesson:  no matter how good you are or think you are, there is always some one to take your place. 

It was about the first of October that I started working for the Ogle Land Company.  They were about through sowing wheat.  Between Mr. Martin and myself we had a Ford Model T Pick-up Truck and one of the best saddle horses I ever rode.  I did a lot of horse back riding.  Checking time with the foreman, writing out orders for the help to get groceries and the other necessary items.  We had credit at various stores for this purpose and would check it off on pay days.  We threshed 1600 lbs of millet seed, had over 100 tons of millet hay and 100 tons of Timothy hay.  A lot of this was hauled direct to the mines in the Linton coal field and also a lot was loaded on cars at South Linton and shipped.  We had an enormous corn crop, over 140,000 bushels.  We bought 2 car loads of cattle and had hundreds of hogs.  I was advised by Mr. Martin to be sure and have my figures correct for Alfred Ogle the big boss and President of both the Vandalia Coal Co., and the Ogle Land Co. had an uncanny memory.  For instance, each sow had a number and reports had to be made when each farrow and how many pigs.  He would come down every once in a while and if you had even one pig missing you had to account for it.  The same way with corn in various cribs.  He knew how much was in each one and he knew by memory what was supposed to be in each.  I kept a good record and didn’t have any trouble but I still marvel at the man’s memory.  I had enough to see after and was kept busy.  That winter after the corn crop was gathered, we had the cattle to feed and also the hogs, an accurate check on the amount of feed that was fed, then we had millet seed to clean, weigh and sack (a seed firm in Ohio took it all) and farm tools had to be repaired and painted.  We had a big stock room of parts and it had to be kept up.

Then in the spring of 1918 we had a big flood and the pump stations had to be run.  They had a big barge that we would load with coal and a couple of mules, walking on the levee would pull it about 2 miles to the pump station.  It took a lot of coal for they had 2 big steam boilers to furnish steam power for 1 – 24 inch discharge pump, 1 – 16 inch and 1 – 14 inch pump but they did the job.  A lot of nights they would call me (and it was frequent) at all hours for a part, a belt or some other item that broke and that was when I would appreciate the sure footed saddle mare.  I would, as a rule have to ride 2 miles to the store house for the items wanted and then back to the levee and to the station.  One little slip and both horse and rider would have been disastrous. The winter of 1917-18 is well remembered as severe both for cold and the heaviest snow I ever saw.  For weeks we could not get to Linton over the Heitman hill only by horse back.  One cold Sunday night, after the roads had been opened, I went to see Mom only to find out she was in Linton at John Funks.  No see that night.  We found out that spring that seed corn was a problem.  The severe winter killed the embryo in most of the kernels.  We were planting a big acreage and we didn’t have near enough seed.  I noticed that Mr. Bovenschen, Moms father, had what looked like a good stand.  I asked him where he got the seed and he said out of his crib.  I told Mr. Martin about it and the first thing Monday morning we went out to see the field and made a deal with Mr. Bovenschen to sort out a load of seed corn from the crib.  The next day I took 3 men and we selected and picked a load of corn and Will said it was the most money he ever got for a wagon load of corn (aprox. 33 ½ bu) 168⁰⁰.

That spring I traded my Saxon for a Ford roadster.  I didn’t have the Ford very long for Francis Haseman saw me in Linton, asked me what I would take for it, I said 360⁰⁰ (price of a new one) he said lets try it out.  It was hitting on 3 cylinders and I hoped he wouldn’t take it for they were hard to get.  But he bought it.  Back to horse and buggy that belonged to the company or else taxi cabs.  However I found a used touring car (Ford) 360⁰⁰ a year old."

The Ogle Land Co. was founded by Alfred Ogle, Jr., and incorporated in 1911 as seen by the article in the Indianapolis newspaper

This land is just south of Linton and is referred to as the Goose Pond.  Prior to 1850 the area was a swampy marshland, home to large numbers of migrating birds. But then they began draining the wetland for use as farm land by building dikes and ditches that were actually higher than the farm land. As a result most of the wildlife disappeared. It was the death of Alfred Ogle, Sr. in 1911 that resulted in the reorganization of the Vandalia Co. and the move of the headquarters from Indianapolis to Terre Haute which is only about 45 miles from Linton. 

While I was researching the Vandalia Coal Co. to see when they sold the Goose Pond land I came across information on Omer Wilson. He was the office manage that convinced Alfred to make the move to Ogle Land Co.  His entire career was with various companies owned by Alfred Ogle.  At the time of his death in 1952 he was the secretary treasurer of the Terre Haute Gas Co.in Terre Haute.  Ogle Land sold the farm in 1923 as seen in the article below. 

By the 1940's the "Goose Pond Lake Project" was organized to reclaim the natural wetland area. But it wasn't until 2005 that the 8,000 acres was purchased by the state of Indiana and restoration began. You can watch a short video on the goose pond here that talks about the history and current conditions of the Goose Pond

Alfred mentioned how bad the winter of 1917-18 was and I found the following write-ups about the record lows, and it wasn't just in Indiana. 

Article from Terre Haute about the Indiana weather - January 12, 1918.

Alfred is earning $100 a month, equivalent to between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars today.  He is living high and has gotten another car. How will the war that is raging in Europe affect him?

#52 Ancestors Week 10 - Stormy Weather - Arnold Sargent's Scary Flight

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #10 and the suggested theme is STORMY WEATHER. My ancestor this week is ARNOLD SARGENT (1923-2008).

The first thing that came to mind was the first leg of the trip the Ramacher's took in their journey from Germany to the United States. However, I had already relayed that story in week  #6 - So Far Away.  But then I recalled a storm that was much closer in time.  In fact, it involves my Dad, Arnold Sargent (1923-2008).  

He had a hobby that both excited and scared me as a young child.  I grew up in a small Indiana town in the middle of a farming community.  And what was my Dad's hobby - flying. The town had a grass landing strip and there were probably only about four airplanes that were housed in a hangar there.

My Dad had been fascinated with airplanes since he was very young.  He had kept a scrapbook with every article about airplanes that had appeared in the newspaper glued in it. He said he knew all the parts of an airplane before he knew the parts of a car. After graduating from high school he was working for the local newspaper as a type setter. He used the money he earned to take flying lessons.  Here is his story about learning to fly:

"I was going over to Bloomfield next to White River Banks to take lessons.  They were 30 minutes at a time for $3.00.  That was all I could afford and not every Sunday.  I was airborne whenever they announced the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  One of the guys on the ground crew came running out yelling “War, war, war!”  And we didn’t know what had happened because there was no war when we went up.  I had done so well he promised me a solo flight on the following Sunday.  But when I went back, all the planes had no propellers.  They had been confiscated by the government.

 I entered into flight status again on Aug 15, 1955 - almost 15 years later.  After two hours of instruction I made my solo flight; one of the happiest days of my life."

By flight status he is referring to getting his pilot's license. So where does the stormy weather come in?  That happened on January 15, 1956.   

This doesn't seem like much of a storm, especially based on the type of weather reports we have seen this winter.  But the day this "upside down" cold wave hit southern Indiana was the day my Dad and three of his friends had flown to French Lick. They were traveling in two separate planes.  Here's what happened:

The two planes had left Linton for the 60 mile trip to French Lick.  Why they were going there in the middle of January I don't know.  But there was no problem on the trip there. They started their flight home and ran into bad weather about 16 miles out.  It looks like they may have tried at first to go around the storm, since turning around and returning to French Lick would have been closer than going to  Bedford.  My Dad had no problem landing but Mr. Jones became disoriented and wound up father north near Bloomington.

I was only six at the time but I remember my Mom being nervous about the weather and the fact that Dad was not home yet. I also remember when she got the phone call from Dad, she was relieved but still concerned because they didn't know what happened to the second plane.  How did we ever survive before cell phones.  Thankfully everything worked out fine. Dad did have to leave the plane in Bedford for six weeks before he could fly it out.  

Dad's pilot log book has the entries for this trip highighted in yellow.  This is also the plane he was flying at the time.

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES - Part 5 - "I Know I Can"

Just as we thought things were going smoothly, Alfred is forced to make another move.  Is his plan to better himself off track?  Alfred Moehlmann's "As I Was" story continues:

"My money was running out and so was Bakers.  About the first of the year we came back to Linton.  I wasn’t very happy and did what odd jobs I could get.  Along mid February I got a telephone call on a Sunday morning asking if I would be interested in a job of Cost Accounting.  I immediately replied yes and was informed to meet Mr. Neil Murphy at the office of the Vandalia Coal Company at 2 P.M.  I had to get ready and walk to Linton for the roads were so muddy and anyhow I didn’t have a horse and buggy.  I was scared about the interview for I really didn’t know anything about cost accounting.  Mr. Murphy was very technical and he took me through a long routine of questioning.  I was sure he wasn’t impressed to much with me and his final question was “Do you think you can handle the position?”  I immediately said, “I know I can. To my astonishment, Jenels, Suttle, Olsen and Sherwood, all Pay Roll men, clapped their hands and Ed Sherwood who did have this job said, ”That’s half the battle.”  I didn’t even realize that these fine men were working or even in the office. Well I was hired and informed that my salary would be 80⁰⁰ per month.  I was flabbergasted for there weren’t very many young men that got that much of a salary.  That was my lucky day.  I asked if I could take some of the forms home so I could study on the work I was to do.  I walked back home still scared but with the firm conviction that I had to make good.

I made my usual Sunday night call on Mom but it was a short stay.  No excuse or alibi but I told her I had to do some studying.  I pored over the cost sheets to the wee hours.  I had to get up early for my transportation was “Shanks mare.”  I got my work done for the first day with out any help and Mr. Murphy congratulated me.  I am sure his word of assurance gave me that “It” I needed for on Tuesday you had 2 days to report.  I went to work 2 hours befor time to report and I took very little time for lunch.  Yes I got the report out to the main office at Terre Haute.  I had it made.  I would like to say that they had a crude calculating machine; it was one of seven in the U.S. and was made in Germany.  It was a “far cry” from present days machine.  My first pay day I bought a second hand bicycle.  Could use most of the time on gravel roads.  Also got a raincoat.  By the latter part of May I had a little money saved up and borrowed the rest and bought my first automobile, a Saxon roadster for 490⁰⁰.  It had a starter and electric headlights. 

1917 Ad from Indianpolis Star

It is to be remembered that this was 1917 and we went into World War I in April. I bought the car on the hunch that I wouldn’t be drafted into the army for at least a year because my draft number when announced was the last one in Class A1 for Greene County. This made the Vandalia main office happy for they didn’t want to have to break in a new man.

World War I Draft Registration for Alfred Moehlmann

Shortly after the war broke out all monthly men received a letter that we would get a bonus every 3 months but how much was not stated. We kidded one another that we would sell ours for 25.00. What a surprise we got; we got a check equal to one months pay. I was sitting in a pear tree, a new car, new much needed clothes and the fairest damsel in Linton.

I have to mention at the time I was working for the Vandalia they paid the miners in cash. The night befor pay day we had 3 tables with 3 men at each table; a counter, a checker and one to put the money in the pay envelope. The Vandalia had 27 working mines so a lot of cash money was handled. We had 2 guards – Doc Browning was on the inside and Martin Myles was on the outside. After the pay envelopes were filled and put in trays we would get in single file, guarded by our 2 guards and 3 policemen and march to the Linton Trust Co. (now J.C. Penney bldg.) and put the pay rolls in the bank vault. The first pay day I worked I had to take the pay roll out to the Shirley Hill No. 23 mine. I had over 27,000.00 and Doc Browning was my guard."

Well, it all seems to have worked out for Alfred. He is working hard, getting paid well, and he wasn't high on the draft list and as he said he had the "fairest damsel in Linton." I think the toughest part of his job is carrying around large amounts of cash on pay day. Seems like they would be targets for a robbery.

52 Ancestors 52 weeks #9 - Close to Home - Sargent, Skeen, Waggoner Families

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #9 and the suggested theme is CLOSE TO HOME.Rather than focusing on a single individual this week, I am writing about three families with the following surnames that migrated and kept their homes close to each other.

SARGENT - SKEEN - WAGGONER

Thomas Sargent is my 5th gr-grandfather and was born about 1760 in Orange county, North Carolina (later becoming Caswell county). He was the youngest of seven children. His brother Stephen was born about 1745, also in North Carolina. Living nearby was the family of Jonathan Skeen who was born in Pennsylvania about 1730. Jonathan had six children and his son Peter married Stephen Sargent's daughter Sarah in 1779 in Caswell county. In 1792 Jonathan Skeen, Jr. married another one of Stephen Sargent's daughters, Elizabeth, also in Caswell county.

By 1796, brothers Stephen, Thomas and William Sargent have migrated to Russell county, Virginia, along with many of their children, including the two Skeen brothers. In Virginia they were living near the Waggoner families who had been in Virginia since the mid 1700's. Unfortunately the 1800 census for Virginia was destroyed during the War of 1812. The Sargent's didn't stay in Virginia very long and several years later they continued moving west, this time to Kentucky, the Waggoner's also made their homes close by. 

In Pulaski county Kentucky in 1806, Thomas Sargent's son Jacob, married Elizabeth Waggoner, daughter of Henry Waggoner. Two years earlier Thomas' daughter Drada had married Jacob Waggoner, another son of Henry Waggoner. In the 1810 census the names were listed in alphabetical order on three different pages but you can see all the Waggoner's and Sargent's in Pulaski County.

Once again the Sargent's and Waggoner's were on the move. By the 1820 census they were in Lawrence county Indiana. Henry Waggoner died there in 1823 at the age of 59. While in Lawrence county the next generation of Waggoner and Sargent marriages occurred.  Henry Waggoner's granddaughter Savina, daughter of Jacob (brother of Henry) , married Elisha Sargent, my 3rd gr-grandfather, son of Joseph and grandson of Thomas.

One more move was made by the Waggoner's and Sargent's.  This time the move was just one county over - Martin county Indiana.  However, there was another interesting connection.  It was here that Savina (Waggoner) Sargent died and her husband Elisha's second marriage was to Sarah Boyd Skeen.  This particular Skeen family had migrated form Whitley county Kentucky, just one county over from Pulasky, and is thought they are cousins of the Skeen family the Sargent's had lived near in North Carolina.  

One more twist; Elisha's son Jacob, my 2nd gr-grandfather, married his step-mother's sister, Nancy Jane Skeen in 1852.   

There may have been other marriages between these three families, but I have not yet followed through on all the siblings.  

LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES - Part 4 -Back to Indianapolis

Alfred is preparing for his future married life. It seems that each major change involves Alfred going back to Indianapolis.  Once again he is on the move. Here is the continuation of Alfred Moehlmann's memior "As I Was":

"So in the summer of 1916 I sold my horse and buggy and had a neat little sum of 350⁰⁰ and with that I went to Indianapolis with Baker Letterman and started in at Central Business College to learn to be a bookkeeper.  I don’t know how much Baker had but I think he had less money than I had.  We had to pay 90⁰⁰ tuition fees to start.
The school helped us out by finding a Funeral Director (Kirby & Dince) who furnished a room for sleeping purposes for three.  We picked up another chap by the name of Wilson.  We had to answer telephone calls in the office from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at which time the office was closed and then we would have to take any calls after that time and switch them to Mr. Kirby.  I did all the office tending to 7 p.m. for Letterman & Wilson had a job at a restaurant waiting on tables for their board.  They would always slip something in their pockets for me so my board bill wasn’t too high.  A few incidents while I was trying hard to absorb the art of bookkeeping.

Central Business College ad from the Indianapolis News

 The annual Teachers Convention in the fall brought Russell Pope & Bill Hart to Indianapolis and since they had no place to stay they bunked up with us.  We went to a show one night and had a seat next to a ramp that lead from the stage to the center aisle of the theatre.  A comedian was out on the ramp telling a joke; it struck me and Russ as funny and we let out with a big “guffaw” and seemingly it didn’t strike the audience as funny for there were no other laughs.   The comedian came over and shook hands with Russ and me with the remark, “Hi Jake.”  I don’t know if it was our embarrassment or the joke that “sunk in” but there was a lot of loud laughter.  I mention this because Russ was going with Grace and when we greeted each other it was “Hi Jake.”  It was a long time befor the girls knew why we used this salutation. 

Indianapolis News, October 25, 1916, pg 23

I guess one of the dirtiest tricks I was ever in on, took place at the funeral home.  Wilson was quite an athlete and didn’t spend any time at the office but always went to the Y.M.C.A. and would get in late at night.  Mr. Dinse who was single, would occasionally sleep in the bed with Wilson.  They had a corpse in the morgue and Baker and I decided to put it in bed with Wilson.  We wheeled the corpse in, carefully laid it in bed and got in our bed.  Around about mid-night Wilson came in and was very quiet so as not to disturb us.  It seemed like ages but Wilson finally touched the ice cold body and jumped out of bed and said, “Wake up fellows, Dince is dead.”  We tried to assure him differently but he turned on the light and saw what we had done.  He wouldn’t help us remove the body, demanded that we sit up with him the rest of the night, which we wouldn’t do.  So we went back to bed, he sat up alone the rest of the night and as soon as the owners came in the morning he told the happening to them.  Well it turned out that Baker and I stayed, Wilson left but the bosses asked us not to play that kind of a trick anymore.  We didn’t. 

Ad from the Indianapolis Star for Kirby & Dinn Funeral Home

Address on inside cover of Alfred'd book is the funeral home.

This was election year 1916 and would be the first time for Baker and me to vote.  We didn’t expect to get this first thrill, wrote the folks back home that we didn’t have the money to spare to pay train fare.  Our plight got to some good Samaritan and a round trip ticket was mailed to us.  I will never forget the bedlam in Indianapolis that election night when we got back.  You could hardly get through the down town section.  From all reports it looked like Hughes had won over Pres. Wilson and we went to bed with that conviction.  However the next morning the outcome was in doubt.  It depended on California.  While in class about 10:30 am some one brought in a newspaper with Box Car Headline – “Wilson is Re-elected.”

  

A little history about the election.  Hughes was a Supreme Court Justice running on the Republican ticket. His campaign criticized Wilson for a lack of preparedness and mobilization in the face of the European war. Wilson, running for a second term, based his campaign on the slogan, "He Kept Us Out of War." It required 266 electoral votes to win and Wilson received 277.  Wilson won the 13 electoral votes from the state of California by winning the popular vote there by less than 4,000 votes. The popular vote nationwide was more than three million higher than in 1912, partially due to many states, including California, passing laws allowing women to vote, prior to the 1920 amendment legalizing it.