Nov 09

WWII Letter from Germany

Herbert M. Miller, WWII.

He grew up during the Great Depression. He was a security guard, electrician and farmer and could fix just about anything. He was a good, honest man, one of the Greatest Generation and a US Army Veteran. And he was my dad.

In remembrance of Veterans Day I have transcribed a letter that my dad, Herbert Miller, wrote to his sister and her husband while he was serving his country in Germany during World War II.  He volunteered for the draft and ended up serving in the 84th Division, 333rd Company, Army Infantry, also known as the Railsplitters. He was very proud to have been a member of the Railsplitters.

My Aunt Ruth gave me the following letter this past summer. I am grateful that she saved the letter all these years and passed it on to me.

The Railsplitters Emblem.

PFC Herbert M. Miller
A.S.N. 35845400
Hq. 84 Div. Post. Sect.
A.P.O. 84. c/o PM. N.Y., N.Y.
30 Oct 1945
Weinheim, Germany

Dear Ruth & Bob,

This letter isn’t going to be very interesting, but you wanted me to tell about some of my experience. I don’t care too much to write or talk about it. I’d rather be friendly with everybody.

I went to Ft. Meade, Md. & from there went to Camp Miles Standish, Mass. on Dec. 11. My co boarded the USS Wakefield- “the old Manhatten” luxury liner. We sailed on the 12th & on the 19th we landed in England. We got on a train right away & rode across England to the channel. On the 21st we crossed the channel & loaded ”LST” to land at Le Harve, & landed the same day. I spent that nite in La Harve. The 22nd & 23rd I spent by riding in box cars across France. On the evening of the 23rd we came to JeVaie[?], France, up along the Belgian border. That nite the Jerries bombed & strafed the town & it was reported that the German spearhead was only 13 miles away.

The next day they issued us 03 because they were out of M-1 rifles. [end of p.1]

That afternoon (Christmas Day) we moved to a Repple Depple just set up in the woods. There they split up the outfit into the different Div. Some went to arm’d Div. But most went to Infantry Div. I went up to the 84th that evening and we came down from Div. To Regt. There I spent the nite. On the 25th I & three of my buddies moved up to third Battalion. On the 26th we were assigned to our companies. I was the only one out of the four of us that went to “l” Co. I joined the Co. at Hotton Belgium. They just came back out of Verdenne & were on a rest. We were shelled every night. Then on New Year’s Eve the order came down for us to dig in around the town. They thought the Jerries were going to attack and we were to be secondary defense. All nite there were tracers & shells coming everywhere. The next evening we moved out & they told us were going to go into the offensive instead of defensive. So we moved into a town that the second armored had taken a couple of hrs. before. We were the front lines & no one was in front of us except Jerries. The next morning we were shelled for about an hour & there was a counter-attack. It didn’t last long, thanks to the second arm’d. Then at 1:00 we moved [end of p.2] out in the attack. It was a little once 7 days until we pulled back to where we could have our first warm meals, warm drinks, dry clothes, or sleep anywhere except in the fox holes. It was a barn full of hay & the best sleep I ever had. We were there 1 ½ days & moved up on line again. There wasn’t anybody in front of the infantry. The tanks were behind us, the engineers. The next attack lasted about 7 days. And another 2 days rest. Then the third attack lasted almost 6 days.

We then went to Holland after the Bulge was licked. We were in Holland 5 days & on a beautiful rest. We had houses to live in & hot water.

Then we started back. Some of the guys started [?] for a lot of us we were going for our first time into Germany. On the third of Feb. we walked to Brachelen & relieved the 102 Div. We were ready & waiting to cross the Ruhr[?]. The Germans blew the dams flooded the valley. We moved back to high ground & waited until the 28th when the 1st Btn. 334 crossed [end of p.3] the Ruhr[?] & 335 followed, then the 333rd regt. & some days later we came to Rheinhausen, across from Essen, Dosenheim[?] & Düsseldorf.

A couple of weeks later we crossed the Rhine in the British Bridgehead. Then we came to the Elbe. All the time from Dec 24 until May 12 we were under shellfire or within range every nite. That stuff is really hard on your nerves.

There is a heck of a lot that I left out & I could write 1000 pages on it but it isn’t worth it.

All we could think about is that as soon as the war is over here & in Japan we’ll go home right away. If a guy knew he’d be here this long he’d have had a different feeling.

Must close,
Love, Herbie

Herbert M. Miller

We owe all of our veterans a big Thank You for their service to our country. Remember to thank a veteran this Sunday and think of those that are no longer with us.

Nov 06

Tombstone Tuesday–Andrew M. and Elisabeth Kallenberger

Andrew M. & Elisabeth Kallenberger, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Andrew M. and Elisabeth Kallenberger located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Father & Mother
Andrew M.
Feb. 22, 1830-Nov. 7, 1914
Elisabeth his wife
Dec. 21, 1841- Apr. 16, 1935
KALLENBERGER

Andreas Michael Kallenberger was born 22 February 1830 and christened 24 February 1830 at the Evangelical Church in Kleiningersheim, Neckarkreis, Württemberg. His parents were Ludwig and Christina Margaretha (Buerkle) Kallenberger.  [1]

Andrew married Elisabeth (Burkhart) on 24 February 1870 in Mercer County, Ohio.  [2] According to the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Andrew Kallenberger died of old age on 7 November 1914. He was 84 years, 8 months and 16 days old. Andrew was buried on the 10th and Rev. Gahre officiated at his burial. Survivors included his widow, 3 daughters, 1 son and 16 grandchildren.

Elisabeth (Burkhart) Kallenberger was born 21 December 1841 in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, according to Zion’s records and her tombstone. She was the daughter of George Michael and Marguerite Burkhart.

Obituary:

Aged Woman Dies of Heart Trouble—Mrs. Elizabeth Kallenberger, 93 years of age, died at 8:30 o’clock Tuesday morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Wm. Hoehammer, about four miles south and one mile east of Willshire, of heart trouble. She had been ill only a short time.

Mrs. Kallenberger is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Fred Allmandinger of Ohio City; Mrs. Nicholas Huber of St. Marys and Mrs. W. Hoehammer, where she made her home; one son, Mike Kallenberger, four miles south of Willshire, and many relatives and friends.

Funeral will be held Thursday afternoon at 2:00 o’clock in the Zion Lutheran Church in Chattanooga. [3]

Andrew M. & Elisabeth (Burkhart) Kallenberger.

Andrew and Elizabeth had three children: Johann Michael, born 16 March 1871, married Maggie Rueck Miller; Elisabeth Margaretha, born 10 January 1874, married William Hoehammer; Anna Catharine, born 14 November 1875, married Friedrich Allmandinger.

West Window, Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio.

The beautiful stained glass window on the west wall of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, was donated in memory of Andrew and Elizabeth Kallenberger. The church was built in 1916.

West Window, Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio.

Elisabeth Burkhart was the second wife of Andrew Kallenberger. Andrew was first married to Margaretha Kessler, the daughter of Christian and Margaretha (Kable) Kessler.  Margaretha was born 29 September 1842 in Fechingen, Rhein-Prussia. Andrew and Margaretha married 25 March 1865 in Mercer County. [4] She died 10 August 1868 at the age of 26 years, 4 months and 21 days. One child born to Andrew and Margaretha was listed in Zion’s church records, Christina Barbara Kallenberger, born 25 January 1866 and baptized 6 May 1866. Christina married Nicholas Huber on 26 January 1896 at Zion. Although Margaretha Kallenberger’s death and burial was recorded in the church records, her tombstone cannot be located in the church cemetery.

Interesting, because I am related to the Kesslers, so Margaretha (Kessler) Kallenberger was my first cousin three times removed.  Her father and my great-great-grandmother  (Marie, mother of Jacob Miller) were brother and sister. There is another connection to my family. Maggie (Rueck Miller) Kallenberger was my grandaunt. Maggie was Jacob Miller’s step-daughter.

 

[1] Germany, Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V41C-442 : accessed 05 Nov 2012), Andreas Michael Kallenberger, 22 Feb 1830; citing reference 2:1SHVRHV, FHL microfilm 1184931.

[2] Mercer County Marriage Book Vol 3: 246, Probate Office, Celina, Ohio.

[3] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 18 April 1935, page 1.

[4] Mercer County Marriage Book Vol 3:82, Probate Office, Celina.

Nov 02

New Research Series From the DAR Library

Last week The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) released information about a new resource to aid those researching the Revolutionary War period. The DAR Library has begun publication of a new series that focuses on research in each of the original states during the Revolutionary War era. Each edition of the series will be offered as a downloadable PDF document only, not as printed volume.

The series promises to provide information about manuscripts, archival material and published historical and genealogical studies that are available for each of the original states during this time period, one volume for each state.

New York in the American Revolution: A Source Guide for Genealogists and Historians is the first publication in the series to be offered. It was compiled by DAR Library Director Eric G. Grundset and is available now as a PDF download through the DAR Store Online. The New York PDF is more than 700 pages including a table of contents, text pages, map pages, and an index to the text.

You can browse the index for the New York publication at http://www.dar.org/library/publication.cfm. The index is 14 pages long and shows that there are 18 chapters. Some of the chapters that caught my eye: Chapter 2, Major Research Centers in New York State and Elsewhere with Revolutionary War Collections. Chapter 9, New York Land Records. The largest chapter, with about 250 pages, is Chapter 15, Regions, Counties and Localities in New York State. Chapter 18 is a list of about 90 Prominent New Yorkers of the Revolutionary era. The publication ends with maps and an index.

The cost of the New York PDF is $25. Considering that the publication is more than 700 pages that seems like a reasonable price. It would be a large volume if it were in print. You do not have to be a DAR member to order the PDF publication.

The next two states in the series are scheduled to be South Carolina and Virginia. All the original state guides should be available within the next two years.

This should be a useful and valuable research aid for anyone researching during the Revolutionary era, whether you have a Revolutionary War patriot in your family or not.

I did not order this New York publication because, to my knowledge, I do not have any ancestors from New York. However, I am looking forward to the Pennsylvania and Maryland guides, where my Revolutionary War connections are.

Oct 30

Tombstone Tuesday–Nimrod Headington

Major Nimrod Headington, Green Park Cemetery, Jay County, Indiana.

This is the tombstone of Major Nimrod Headington, located in Green Park Cemetery, Portland, Jay County, Indiana. His military veteran’s marker is inscribed, Major N. Headington, 34 Ind. Inf. A large Headington monument is nearby. According to his Indiana death record he died 7 January 1913 at the age of 85 years.

Nimrod was the son of Nicholas and Ruth (Phillips) Headington and is my fourth great granduncle. Nimrod Headington is another ancestor that I proved for the OGS lineage society, The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio. The requirements are that a direct ancestor or the brother of a direct ancestor served in the Civil War from Ohio or once resided in Ohio.

The following is his biographical sketch:

Colonel Nimrod Headington was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1827, and has lived in Portland, Indiana, since 1853. In September, 1861, he, with James W. Campbell, raised a company for the war of the Rebellion, which was assigned to the Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, and on its organization he was elected first lieutenant, and a year and a half later promoted to captain, his commission bearing date April 10, 1863. He was later commissioned major of his regiment, and January 3, 1865, lieutenant-colonel. He was mustered out February 21, 1866, his entire time of service being four years and five months. Colonel Headington participated in the battle of Baker’s Creek, or Champion Hills, where he was in command of his company, which lost seventeen men, killed and wounded, the entire division losing fifteen hundred men. Then followed the siege of Vicksburg, in which his regiment took an important part, and after the fall of Vicksburg moved on Fort Jackson, and thence to New Orleans, and participated in the Tesch campaign in Louisiana. Soon after this campaign they were sent via New Orleans to Matagorda Bay, and thence up the Rio Grande River four hundred miles to Ringgold Barracks, where their last duty was performed. Colonel Headington had many narrow escapes from rebel bullets during his long term of service, but his health became impaired, and for number of years following his discharge he was a continual sufferer from the effects of his army service.

In 1870 the Colonel built the Headington House, which he conducted twelve years. He was appointed postmaster in 1878, and served seven years. The faithfulness with which he discharged his duties as postmaster is indicated by the fact that at the end of his service his accounts were examined and it was found that he was indebted to the department nine cents, for the payment of which he holds a receipt. He is now engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In 1857 and 1858 he was surveyor of Jay County. Politically the Colonel is a Republican. He was reared a Democrat, but the firing on the nation’s flag at Fort Sumter changed his politics.

Colonel Headington was first married November 6, 1849, to Mary McDonald, by whom he had two children: Charles F., who is a member of the firm of Cartwright & Headington, and Thetis O., now the widow of the late Charles T. Tate. The mother died January 24, 1855. He was again married in September, 1858, to Rebecca Hawkins, who died April 1, 1880. His present wife was Mrs. Ruth A. Watson, daughter of William Haines. [1]

 

[1] Biographical Memoirs of Jay County, Indiana, (Chicago:  B.F. Bowen Co., Publishers, 1901), 300-1.

Oct 26

Our Ohio Century Farms

Herbert Miller, Ohio Century Farm, Miller Farm, est. 1873. (2008 photo)

A century is defined as one hundred consecutive years. Most of us will not live to experience that period of time so to have something that has been in the family at least a century is noteworthy. Especially if it is the family farm.

Land was very important to our ancestors. Many of our ancestors came to this country just so they could own property. Once they became property owners they worked hard and sacrificed much to keep and maintain their land.

In our family, two farms, one on my paternal side and one on my maternal side, have been in the family over one hundred years. And I think that is pretty special.

The Miller Farm was established 139 years ago by my paternal great-grandfather Jacob Miller. Schumm Evergreen Farm, was established 134 years ago by my maternal great-grandfather Louis J. Schumm. Both farms have stayed in the family all during that time.

When I heard about the The Century Farms of Ohio Recognition Program I knew I wanted to register our family farms. I enjoy joining lineage societies so of course I wanted to apply to this program. In 2008 I applied and received the recognition for both my parents as birthday surprises. I gave them the certificates and Century Farm signs as their gifts. Ithink it is rare that a married couple has farms on both sides that are designated as Ohio’s Century Farms.

Ohio Century Farms recognition, 2008 birthday surprises.

The Century Farms Recognition Program, also known as Ohio’s Century Farms Program, is a program developed and sponsored by The Ohio Department of Agriculture. Their website gives this description of the program:

The Century Farms Program recognizes families who have maintained a farm in their family for at least 100 consecutive years. Families who wish to have their farm recognized must submit a Century Farm Registration Form. Qualifying farms receive a certificate signed by the Governor of Ohio. Recognized farms may display the Century Farm yard sign. Signs may be purchased by contacting the Century Farm Coordinator at the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

The Century Farms website also includes a list of Ohio’s Century Farms, a downloadable pdf version of the Century Farm Registration Form, newsletters and The Century Farms Special Recognition List.

As of 5 October 2012, Ohio’s Century Farms Program has 930 farms registered, with a farm registered in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. Twenty-three Century Farms have been recognized in Mercer County and ten in Van Wert County. Ohio’s oldest registered Century Farm is the 240 year old Smiley farm in Adams County, established in 1772. This land was deeded to Alexander Smiley from King Georg III and was part of Virginia at that time.

Ohio’s Century Farms application was not too difficult to complete compared to some of the lineage applications I have filled out. It was four pages long and they asked for copies of deeds to show the chain of title. Deed research gave me an excuse to research at my favorite office at the courthouse, the Recorder’s Office. I also included some old family photos and farm photos with my application. There is no charge for applying to the program but you have to purchase the Ohio Century Farms signs if you want them.

Schumm Evergreen Farm, est. 1878. Florence Schumm Miller. (2012 photo)

Here is a brief history of our Century Farms of Ohio:

Jacob Müller/Miller emigrated from Germany in 1871 and purchased 80 acres of land in Blackcreek Township, Mercer County, from Jesse Hartzog in 1873. Jacob’s son Carl Miller (my grandfather) purchased the land in 1919 and Carl’s son Herbert Miller (my dad) purchased the farm in 1974. The farm house was built in 1895 and barn was built in 1909. Both Carl and Herbert were born in the frame house. Jacob had a small herd of dairy cows and raised hogs and chickens. At one time there were seven working oil wells on the farm. My dad farmed the 80 acres until he retired from farming in 2003.

Jacob Miller (1843-1918).

Louis Schumm, son of immigrant Louis Schumm, purchased 80 acres of farm land from Henry Tindall in 1878 and 20 acres of woods from Henry Schumm in 1879. Both parcels are located in Willshire Township, Van Wert County. Louis’ son Cornelius Schumm (my grandfather) purchased the farm in 1938 and Cornelius’ daughter Florence Miller (my mother) purchased the farm in 1986. The farm house was built before 1872 and the barn was built in 1886. Cornelius and Florence were both born in the farmhouse. The Schumm farm is known as Evergreen Farm, named from the time when Louis and Cornelius maintained an elaborately trimmed evergreen hedge around the yard. Cornelius owned and operated a sawmill at the edge of the woods for many years.

Louis (1851-1938) & Cornelius (1896-1986) Schumm.

Wheat, soy beans and a little corn are grown on the farms today.

Make sure you take notice of the Ohio’s Century Farms signs as you travel through Ohio. Those farms contain a lot of history.