Apr 11

Say Cheeeese

When you look at old photos, do you ever wonder why no one smiled. Everyone looked so serious. Yes, times were hard back then, but having a photo taken by a professional photographer was probably a big event to most people. People would dress in their Sunday best, but no one smiled. Not even the children.

I always thought it was probably because people had bad teeth and didn’t want to smile. There is likely some truth to that and that could be part of the reason.  

But after doing some reading, that is probably not the main reason people did not smile for the camera years ago.

 

Decades before photography, portraits and pictures were hand painted and the individuals in those paintings rarely smiled either. Having a portrait painted was a serious event that required a serious expression.

People with broad smiles were often portrayed by artists as fools, drunkards, buffoons, imps, or even as mad or lewd. Smiling could look silly, or worse, so it became the custom not to smile. The Mona Lisa barely had a grin.

That idea was carried over when photography was developed.  Mark Twain said, “A photograph is a most important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever.”

No one would want that.

Since people were used to seeing a serious face in painted portraits, not smiling for photographs was normal, too. Plus, they did not want to be considered as having any of those undesirable traits.

It wasn’t until the 1920s-1930s that people started to smile when having their photograph taken. Eventually smiling became the norm.

Here are some non-smiling, serious-looking individuals from my family photo collection.

Front: William Reid, Gertrude (Brewster) Miller, Mary Ann (Cotterell) Headington. Back: Pearl (Reid) Brewster, Elvira (Headington) Reid. c1898

Maggie (Rueck) Kallenberger (1875-1962) & Maria Regina Miller (1884-1905)

Front: Clara (1866-1942, m. Joe Gunsett) , Mollie (1883-1955, m. Theodore Hofmann), Henry (1867-1952, m. Louise Maria Schumm); Back:Hanna (1868-1958, m. Peter Scare), Lizzie (1870-1951, m. John Scaer), Sophie (1871-1927, m. Herman Gunsett), Emma (1874-1963, m. Burton Balyeat)

Jonas Huey (1836-?), B/o Hannah (Huey) Bryan, s/o Isaac & Mary (Whiteman) Huey. Photo courtesy of E James.

Schinnerer/Scaer Unknown

William “Riley” Bryan (1854-1893). S/o John & Hannah (Huey) Bryan. Photo courtesy of E James.

John & Hannah (Huey) Bryan, Emily, Peter, Mary, Hallet, Alta, William, Byantha.

Is it just me, or do the women look more stern than the men?

Emily (Bryan) Reid (1856-1940)

Sarah (Breuninger) Schumm, (1861-1921) w/o Louis J Schumm, d/o Louis Breuninger

Maria Barbara (Pflueger) Schumm (1820-1908)

My great-grandparents did not even smile for their wedding photo. A handshake instead of a kiss.

John Scaer & Elizabeth Schinnerer (15 April 1894)

Even children looked serious.

Byantha (Bryan) Saxman children. Photo courtesy of E James.

Willie Scaer (1897-1906) & Hilda M Scaer (1895-1997) c/o John & Lizzie (Schinnerer) Scaer

Even without a smile, this is one of my best-looking ancestors:

Louis Breuninger (1819-1890). Phillips Photography, LaFayette, Indiana.

It would be many years after these photos were taken that photographers would encourage their subjects to “Say Cheeeese.”

 

Apr 04

Squad Leader Killed, 16 January 1945

I have been working to create two pages here on Karen’s Chatt for my dad’s WWII letters. I posted his letters in a series of about 30 blog posts a couple years ago, but information can be hard to find looking through 30+ posts. Putting the letters and photos in chronological order on their own permanent pages will make the information easier to find.

The two pages are under Military on the Home Page of this website. The Basic Training page of letters is pretty much finished but the page with letters sent during the war in Europe and during the Occupation is not quite complete. It is still a work in progress.

My dad arrived in England in December 1944 and was assigned to Company L, 333rd Regiment, 84th Infantry Division. The 84th was known as the Railsplitters. He entered the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in late December 1944.

While working on this project, I again noticed a specific incident my dad noted in one of his books. A hand-written note he made on a photo.

In the book, The 84th Infantry Division in the Battle of Germany, by Lt. Theodore Draper, Viking Press, 1946, there is a photo of a snow-plowed crossroad near the town of Laroche. The photo has the caption: “The capture of this innocent-looking crossroads was probably the turning point of the entire action. It deprived the enemy of the only two first-rate roads to the east, the Laroche Road and the Houffalize Road.”

84th in Battle of Germany, Draper, 1946

On that photo my dad wrote: “Sgt. David Uherka, Lakewood, Ohio, my squad leader was killed about ¼ mile from this crossroad.” 

When I came across his notation a couple years ago, the writing was difficult to read and I was unsure of the soldier’s last name. This time I did some research and learned who my dad’s squad leader was.

His squad leader was Sgt. David Uherka, of Lakewood, Ohio. According to his military grave marker, Uherka was in the 84th Division, not in the 82nd as his newspaper obituary reported.

Sgt. David Uherka was killed 16 Jan 1945 (age 35) at Arrondissement de Verviers, Liège, Belgium. Sgt. David Uherka, Find a Grave Memorial no. 55273528.

Sgt. David F Uherka (1910-1945), Find a Grave photo.

His obituary:

Body Of Soldier To Arrive In Elyria Tomorrow
The body of Sgt. David F. Uherka will arrive in Elyria Saturday afternoon for burial in Ridge Hill Memorial Park, it was announced today.

Sgt. Uherka, a resident of Lakewood, served with the 333rd Infantry, 82nd [sic] Division, and was killed in Belgium on January 16, 1945. He was born at Prince George, Virginia, on January 10, 1910, and was 25 [sic] years old at the time of his death. He was a member of the Slovak Calvinist church of Lakewood, and was church organist there for 17 years. His father, the Rev. Frank Uherka, retired, was pastor of the church.

Sgt. Uherka’s body is scheduled to arrive in Elyria at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and to be taken to the Sudrn-Curtis Funeral home. It will be taken then to the Ridge Hill Memorial Park, where private services will be held at the grave at 4 p.m. Saturday, with the Rev. D. W. Dodris, pastor of the Lakewood United Presbyterian church, officiating.

Sgt. Uherka is survived by his father; a daughter, Donna Uherka; and three sisters, Mrs. Robert Hunter, of North Olmsted; Mrs. Lester Price, of Detroit, and Mrs. Clarence Foss, of Elyria. [1] His parents were both immigrants from Czechia.

A squad consisted of about 12 men, so my dad probably knew Sgt. Uherka very well. My dad had been in Belgium a little over 2 weeks when his Sergeant was killed. I am not sure when Sgt. Uherka entered the war, but he enlisted in Cleveland on 29 October 1943. [2]

The Battle of the Bulge, aka the Ardennes Offensive, lasted for over a month, from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945. By 25 January 1945, the Allies had restored their line to its previous position. The Bulge was the largest land battle ever fought by the U.S. Army and was the last major German offensive campaign in the West before the end of the war.

Losses of both Allied and German soldiers were high. Nearly 20,000 American service members were killed during the battle, accounting for about 10 percent of all American combat casualties during WWII.

In addition, January 1945 was one of the worst winters ever in Belgium. Temperatures were below zero, the snow was knee deep and the winds were blizzard-like. The winter clothing the soldiers had been issued was not adequate for the bitter cold they experienced.

That was eighty years ago. January 1945. The war in Europe would end in less than four months, on 8 May 1945.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.

Thank you to these young men who bravely fought in WWII and to all U.S. Veterans.

[1] Sgt. David Francis Uherka, Obituary, Find a Grave Memorial no.55273528, Ridge Hill Memorial Park, Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[2] Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946, Record Group 64, Box 10125, Reel 74, NARA; Ancestry.com.

Apr 01

Tombstone Tuesday-April Fools’ Day

April Fools! Bet you thought there wasn’t going to be a blog post today.

Often, in older cemeteries, you notice empty spaces, where a tombstone once was or was supposed to have been placed. Most often a tombstone was once there but has since broken off or deteriorated.

What a disappointment that is, almost like a bad April Fools’ joke.

There are unmarked grave plots in two of my favorite cemeteries, Zion Lutheran Schumm and Zion Lutheran Chatt. Most likely individuals are buried in these spaces, but their tombstones did not survive.

Unmarked grave sites, Zion Lutheran, Schumm.

Unmarked grave sites, Zion Lutheran, Chatt.

Although we may never know who is buried in most of these plots, there are a couple things to check that may give clues.

Look at old cemetery readings, often contained in books compiled years ago by genealogical societies or other organizations, such as the WPA or DAR. The tombstone may have been there when their cemetery reading was made years ago.

The cemetery may have a plat map, where all the grave sites are labeled.

What is the location of the unmarked plot? Is it in the children’s section? If so, the individual was probably a child.

Look at neighboring tombstones to see who is buried nearby. Family members are often buried close to each other.     

Happy April Fools’ Day!

Mar 28

The Dark Side of Chattanooga, Ohio

Even though Chattanooga, Ohio, is a little village, it has a dark side, with a few tragedies and misfortunes over the years. Some were accidents, others more nefarious.

1912 picture postcard of Chattanooga, Ohio.

Probably the most infamous incident is the murder of thirteen-year-old Mary Arabelle Secaur in 1872. Mary was raped and murdered on her way home from church on 23 June 1872. Her body was found the next day in a wooded area on Tama Road, a couple miles east of Chatt in Liberty Township. Three men, Alexander McCloud and brothers Absalom and Jacob Kimmel, were taken into custody and were held in the Mercer County Jail in Celina. On 8 July a mob broke into the jail, took the three men to a place near the location of the murder, and lynched Alexander McCloud and Absalom Kimmel. Jacob Kimmel was taken back to jail but was not indicted due to lack of evidence. To this day, there are still unanswered questions about Mary’s murder and the lynching.  

Mary Arabelle Secaur (1859-1872) is buried in Liberty Chapel Cemetery, Liberty Township.

Chattanooga, Ohio, c1890

In 1889, Chattanooga sawmill operator Jacob J. Baker suffered a tragic, untimely death. Jacob, age 49, had moved from Shelby County to the Chatt area with his family in about 1853. Jacob married Caroline Bollenbacher in 1863 and he farmed and eventually ran a sawmill in the village of Chatt. While working in the sawmill on 6 June 1889, he stopped the big saw to make a repair or to change a part. Someone inadvertently threw the belt, starting up the saw again, and Baker’s body was cut in two by the circular saw.

It was said that Baker’s body was the first in the community to be embalmed, embalmed by Chattanooga’s undertaker John Allmandinger, and reportedly the first to be taken to the church and cemetery in the new black, horse-drawn hearse. [1]

Jacob J. Baker (1840-1889) is buried in St. Paul UCC Cemetery, Liberty Township.

Chatt Bar, before 1918. Photo courtesy of Doug Roebuck.

Mrs. Margaret Emrich was found dead in a well at her home at the corner of Schaadt Road and State Route 49 on 5 March 1906. She was found by George Koch, Otto Fickert, John Becher, Adam Kuhn, and Fred Schaadt.

Chatt’s physician, Dr. Price T. Waters, did a postmortem exam that day and an inquest followed. Dr. Waters testified that Mrs. Emrich’s lungs and stomach were void of water and that she had the appearance of having died out of water. He found no signs of a struggle, cuts, or bruises. The finding was that “the deceased came to her death by lack of evidence, the cause of death I (Price T. Waters) cannot determine.”

George Felver, the JP and Coroner, conducted a hearing at the George Koch residence. A.J. Fisher, John Becher, and Adam Bollenbacher were sworn in to examine the residence of Mrs. Emrich and to search all the rooms in the house and the cellar. Their report was submitted to the Court of Inquest and indicated that they found no money, notes, jewelry, or valuables, except for ordinary household goods.

Her death was recorded as an accident, and no one was ever tried or convicted for the incident.

However, some in the community felt that her death was not an accident. It was rumored that a man owed her money and that he and his brother may have wanted her gone, so that the note would be canceled. To back up the murder theory, no money, notes, jewelry, or other forms of securities were found in Mrs. Emrich’s home. [1]

An accident or a robbery and a murder? We will probably never know.

From her obituary: Mrs. Margaret [Ulrich] Emrich [1828-1906] was found in the well at her home one mile south of Chattanooga. The deceased was the widow of Philip Emrich and had two children [Maggie & Philip], also deceased. She is survived by two grandchildren, Mrs. William Thompson, and Mrs. Fred Schott, of Chattanooga, and a sister, Mrs. Wendell, near Chatt. A daughter-in-law is in the state hospital at Toledo. The funeral was held at the home of the deceased on Tuesday and interment was in Kessler cemetery. The deceased was born December 1826 [in Germany] and was nearly 80 years of age. [2]

2008 Google Earth street view of former Wendel’s Motor Sales.

Lastly, there was a fatal shooting in Chatt in 1958, when a migrant worker, staying in migrant housing in Chatt, was shot and killed by another migrant worker. The migrant housing was located in the rear of what was the St. Mary’s Packing Company, today the gravel parking next to the fire station.

Gregoiro Prado Valdez, 34, a Mexican field worker, was accused and indicted of second degree murder and found guilty of killing Jesse Gomez, 33, in Chatt on the evening of 26 August 1958. Gomez, also a migrant tomato picker, was a native of Puerto Rico and made his home in Saginaw, Michigan.

Valdez shot Gomez twice, after quarreling over wages, killing him almost immediately. Valdez told the jury that he shot Gomez when Gomez came at him with a knife. However, witnesses did not find a knife at the murder scene.

Guadlupe Callejos, 22, Saginaw, supplied the gun and drove Valdez out of the area after the shooting. Callejos was also indicted on second degree murder charges and appeared as a witness during the Valdez trial.

About a month after the shooting, Valdez, still a fugitive with a 26-state alert, wandered drunk into a Salvation Army mission in Aurora, Illinois. He was taken into custody by the Aurora Police to sleep it off. There he told another prisoner that he was wanted for murder in Ohio. Mercer County was notified and Mercer County Sheriff Bruce Barber left for Aurora immediately to return Valdez to Celina.

Valdez said he had intended to give himself up, as he had done after knife fights in Chicago and Oklahoma City, where he served two years for manslaughter.

Valdez appeared before Common Pleas Judge Paul Dull the day after Callejos’ arraignment. The two murder arraignments were the first in Mercer County in ten years. Dean James was the Mercer County prosecutor. An interpreter was needed for the trial and nearly 40 migrant field workers were tentatively scheduled to testify.

After a four-day trial, the jury of seven men and five women brought in a guilty verdict against Valdez. Sentencing was delayed by Common Pleas Judge Paul P. Dull, pending a possible motion for a new trial. [3]

That is some of the darker side of Chatt’s history.

[1] “Ohio’s Chattanooga: An Oil Town Of Yesterday,” The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 28 Apr 1977.

[2] Margaret (Ulrich) Emrich, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio, Find a Grave.com, Memorial no. 29280210.

[3] “Murder Suspect Held for Mercer Officials,” The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 3 Oct 1958. And “Conference Room Need Cited at Mercer Jail,” The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 6 Nov 1958. And “Valdez Convicted in August Slaying in Chattanooga Camp,” Van Wert Times-Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, 19 Dec 1958; NewspaperArchive.com.

Mar 21

The Origins of Chattanooga, Ohio, part 2

Last week I wrote about the origins of Chattanooga, Ohio, aka Chatt to the locals.

Some of the landowners’ names on the early plat maps in that area are familiar names to us today, while others are not.

One land owner, Tobias Plants, spelled Plantz on the 1853 Liberty Township map, caught my interest. Plants purchased 80 acres on what is now the northeast corner of Chatt, the east corner of State Route 49 and Strable Road, described as the N½ of the NW¼ of Section 5, Liberty Township. He purchased the land on 12 September 1850 from Albert Cortelyou of Hamilton County, Ohio, for $200. [1]    

Tobias Plants and his wife Maria were enumerated in Liberty Township in 1850, 1860, and 1870. Tobias gave his occupation as grocer in the 1870 census and was likely one of Chatt’s first businessmen. Then they disappeared from the area.

1912 picture postcard of Chattanooga, Ohio.

Tobias Plants sold his 80 acres in Chatt to Jacob Deitsch for $3300 on 8 October 1870, witnessed by John Schlenker and Eli D. Plants. [2] Then Tobias and his family moved out of the area.

I wondered what happened to Tobias Plants, so I continued to research his family, with hopes of learning a little more about Chatt. You never know where you may find some new information, new information that may change previous assumptions.

Tobias Plants did something a little unusual. Most people migrated westward when they moved on, but Tobias moved eastward, to Crestline, Ohio. Crestline is roughly 40 miles west of Wooster, Wayne County, where Tobias was born. He and his wife Maria remained in Crestline the rest of their lives.

Tobias Plants died of paralysis in Crestline on 12 July 1888, aged 69 years. Information from his obituary:

Tobias Plants was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, 11 March 1820. In 1828 he moved to Ashland County with his father and remained with him until he was of age, then left to work as clerk in a mercantile establishment in Tennessee. He married Miss Mariah Neville on 6 June 1850 and that same day they moved to a farm in Mercer County. After twenty years, he tired of farming, sold out, and moved to Crestline in October 1870. He became a druggist and was a druggist until his death on 12 July 1888, a few days after having two strokes. He was survived by his wife and son William. [3]

Tobias’ widow Maria (Neville) Plants died in 1903 and her obituary was just as informative:

Mrs. Maria Plants died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Anna Carney, on Seltzer Street, on 3 March 1903. She was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania on 3 March 1819. She married Tobias Plants on 6 June 1850, and shortly after that moved to Mercer County, Ohio, where they conducted a general store for 17 years. In 1870 they sold out and moved to Crestline, buying a drug store and continuing in that business until the death of Mr. Plants in 1888. Mrs. Plants was the mother of three children, all deceased. She was survived by two grandchildren, one brother, William Neville, and two sisters, Nancy Neville, and Anna Carney. [4]

Those two obituaries, from across the state, give a little information about Chatt.

From that information, I am rethinking how old Chatt really is. Maria Plants’ obituary indicates that they ran a general store, probably in Chatt, for 17 years, which would have been 1853-1870. That is much earlier than I speculated in last week’s post.  

There were small stores scattered about in rural areas so people would not have to travel far to get goods and supplies. Stores in locations such as Skeels Cross Roads, Hinton, Brehm, and Chatt.

I wonder what they called the village back then. Was it always called Chattanooga?

It is also very interesting to learn that Tobias Plants worked in a mercantile store in Tennessee before he married and moved to Mercer County. Where in Tennessee? Chattanooga, Tennessee?

Lots of conjecture and theories. We may never know. 

Here is a little timeline and some additional information about the Tobias Plant family:

1850 census, Liberty Township, enumerated 16 September 1850: Tobias Plants, 30, born in Ohio, Mariah, 31, born in Pennsylvania. Tobias was a farmer and his real estate was valued at $200. [5]

Three children were born to Tobias and Maria while they lived in the Chatt area. Two of their children are buried in Duck Creek Cemetery, north of Chatt, in Black Creek Township.

Daughter Ann E. Plants was born 2 August 1851 and died 24 August 1851, aged 22 days. She is buried in Duck Creek Cemetery. [6]

Son William A. Plants was born 22 November 1852. [7]

Son Francis Plants was born 29 Nov 1856. [8]

1860 census, Liberty Township, Skeels PO: Tobias Plants, 41; Maria, 42; William, 7; Marion F, 5. [9]

Tobias was a Liberty Township Justice of the Peace, beginning 6 October 1860, per the 1882 Mercer County History.

Son Francis Plants died 2 March 1864, age 7 years, 3 months, and 2 days. He is buried in Duck Creek Cemetery. [7] He was probably the Marion F. enumerated with the family in 1860, 

1870 census, Liberty Township: Tobias Plants, 50, grocer; Maria, 51, keeps house; Susan, 20, school teacher; William 17, attends school; and Jane, 14, attends school. All born in Ohio except Maria, who was born in Pennsylvania. [10] At this point I am not exactly sure who Susan and Jane were, but I have an idea.

Tobias sold his 80 acres in Liberty Township to Jacob Deitsch on 8 October 1870 and moved to Crestline, Ohio. [2]

1880 census, Crestline, Crawford County, Ohio, 470 Thoman Street: Tobias Plants, 60; Maria, 61; and William, 27. Tobias’ occupation was druggist. [11]

Tobias died 12 July 1888, age 68 years, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline.  [12]

Their son William died 5 December 1890, age 38 years, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline. [7]

The widow of Tobias Plants, Maria (Neville) Plants, died 3 March 1903, age 84 years, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline. [13]

People may live in an area for a while and then move away, and it is wonderful when they leave a trail that shows their contributions to the community.

There was another Plants who lived a few miles north of Chatt, in Black Creek Township. Was he related or connected to Tobias in some way? I am working on that…

Chattanooga, Ohio.

[1] Albert Cortelyou to Tobias Plants, Mercer County, Ohio, Deeds Vol. P:48, 12 Sep 1850; Mercer County courthouse.

[2] Tobias Plants to Jacob Deitsch, Mercer County, Ohio, Deeds Vol. 16:441, 8 Oct 1870; Mercer County courthouse.

[3] Death of Tobias Plants, obituary, Crestline Advocate, Crestline, Ohio, 20 Jul 1888; Newspapers.com.

[4] Mrs. Maria Plants obituary, Crestline Advocate, Crestline, Ohio, 12 Mar 1903, Newspapers.com.

[5] 1850 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.287B, dwelling 27, household 28, Tobras [sic] Plants; Ancestry.com.

[6] Ann E. Plants, Find a Grave memorial no. 26808905, Duck Creek Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[7] William A. Plants, Find a Grave memorial no. 100998965; Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline, Richland County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[8] Francis Plants, Find a Grave memorial no. 26800209, Duck Creek Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[9] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.359, dwelling 1007, family 1012, Tobias Plants; Ancestry.com.

[10] 1870 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p.149B, dwelling 124, family 112, Tobias Plants; Ancestry.com.  

[11] 1880 U.S. Census, Crestline, Crawford, Ohio, ED 103, p.468D, dwelling 470, family 503, Tobias Plants; Ancestry.com.

[12] Tobias Plants, Find a Grave memorial no. 100998955; Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline, Richland County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[13] Maria Plants, Find a Grave memorial no. 100998934; Greenlawn Cemetery, Crestline, Richland County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.