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The Internet has been such a blessing to genealogists, making it so much easier to connect with other researchers and share photos and documents that might otherwise be hidden away in a scrapbook or attic. One of the reasons, I started this blog was to share photos and stories that have been passed down in my own family. But the knowledge transfer goes both ways! Other families may have different items to share. A couple of years ago, I wrote two blog posts about my grandfather’s service in the 309th Motor Repair Unit during WWI. I recently received a comment on one of those posts from Tom Seagraves, whose grandfather, Ernest “Pete” Segraves, also served in the 309th. (No, the different spelling of their last names is not a typo.) During our subsequent correspondence, Tom shared several photographs from Pete's time in the Army. I was thrilled to see the photos and Tom and his father, Milton, graciously agreed to let me post some of my favorites here. I think they provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these soldiers and a fitting tribute as we approach the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Pete's photographs and mementos span his entire service time, starting with the training he received in auto mechanics on the Texas A&M University campus. Records show that Pete and my grandfather, Benjamin Perry Pace, were in training there at the same time, so I was particularly interested in the group photo below. Only Pete and one other soldier are identified, but I was curious whether my grandfather might be in the group too. I scanned the faces, comparing them to the photos I have of my grandfather as a young man. The third man from the left on the front row of standing soldiers certainly bears a strong resemblance to him. I asked my mom (his daughter) for her opinion, without telling her mine, and she picked out the same man! We may never know for certain if it is him, but I'd like to think it is.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves Among the mementos that Pete saved were copies of the Unit, a newsletter published for the members of the 309th. One of the most interesting articles, which I have included below, is a rather tongue-in-cheek description of the unit's trip to France.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves The 309th seems to have spent most of its time overseas at the Motor Overhaul Park in Dijon, France. Several of Pete's photos show the shops and yard there. The building below was identified as the truck and touring car shop.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves The Motor Transport Corps was responsible for servicing automobiles, trailers and trucks, motorcycles and even bicycles. Pete's photos of the Dijon Motor Park yard show large numbers of most of these vehicle types.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves The photo below shows Pete and other residents of Barracks 22, presumably at Dijon Motor Park.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves When the soldiers had free time, they sometimes explored nearby towns. Here, several men are pictured on a bridge at Darcy Gardens in Dijon.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves The fascinating photo below is captioned "65 truck convoy to Le Mans". This event probably took place during the demobilization period after the war ended.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves According to WWI Transport Service passenger lists available on Fold3.com, the members of the 309th sailed home from Brest, France on July 15 , 1919. The photograph below was taken just a few days before their departure.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves The ship that brought Pete, my grandfather and other members of the 309th home was the battleship U.S.S. South Carolina, shown in the photos below. Their journey was the last of four trips made by the South Carolina to transport soldiers home from Europe.  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves  image courtesy of Milton Seagraves I'm very grateful to Tom and his father Milton for allowing me to share these photos. I hope others will enjoy them as much as I have.
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I haven't found time to write long blog entries lately, so I'm going to try a different approach -- more frequent short posts highlighting miscellaneous items of interest that I come across in my research. The first of these posts is below:
I was recently reading some old Scottish records and came across the phrase "Duncan Campbell, brother german of Archibald Campbell of Inveraw." I was pretty sure they weren't referring to a German brother in a Scottish family, but beyond that I wasn't sure what the term meant. A little Googling revealed that brother-german simply refers to a full brother who shares both parents (as opposed to a half-brother). This usage of "german" shares a common origin with "germane", which means closely related. Of course you could have German brothers-german......
For years, I have been searching for information about the death of my great-great grandmother Mary Elizabeth (McFarland) Epperson. A family Bible entry, apparently written by her daughter, stated that she died July 26, 1897 in Joplin, Missouri. However, her husband's military pension application gave her death date as July 28, 1898. I wanted to know which, if either, of these two dates was correct. I also wondered what caused her death, particularly since she was only inher late 40s at the time. Finally, I wanted to know if she was buried near Joplin or elsewhere.
Last night, I found a short notice in an old Wellington, Kansas newspaper that answered all of these questions! The newspaper date of August 4, 1898 makes it clear that the year listed on the pension application is correct. Unfortunately the newspaper doesn't mention the exact date of her death. It also incorrectly reports her husband's initials as W. A. rather than W. N. However, the other details contained in the short paragraph make up for those shortcomings. I learned that she died of malarial fever (a surprisingly common illness in 19th century America), that her remains were transported to Wellington (presumably by train) and then on to her former residence of Rome (Kansas not Italy!). Perhaps the most meaningful piece of information to me is her burial place. Jordan Cemetery is a few miles south of Wellington, Kansas, about 30 miles from where I grew up. After consulting Google Maps, I know that the cemetery is right beside I-35 and I have unknowingly sped past great-great Grandma Epperson's grave many times as I traveled that stretch of highway. The listing of burials in Jordan Cemetery on findagrave.com doesn't include any Eppersons, so it's possible that her grave is unmarked. Regardless, I'm very happy to know her final resting place and I'll be planning a visit soon.
Found on Newspapers.com
Today, as I reflected on Independence Day, I remembered hearing claims that my father's side of the family was related to Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Through years of genealogy research, I have learned to take family stories with a grain of salt. They are worth investigating, but often unreliable. I had never checked into this particular claim, so I decided to see what information I could find.
Researchers have traced our Sherman lineage back to William Sherman, who was born in England and settled in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts in the 1630s. Due to Roger Sherman's status as a Founding Father, I was able to locate his paternal lineage online. I quickly determined that we share no common ancestors, at least as far back as either lineage has been traced. Now, it's possible that the two lines converge at some point in England, but I doubt that the connection would have been remembered after several generations in the New World. After all, how many of us know our third or fourth cousins? Y-DNA testing could provided a definitive answer to whether the two Sherman lines share a common ancestor at any point. I checked the Sherman DNA Project site, which compares Y chromosome data from various Sherman lineages, but unfortunately it doesn't look like any descendants of William Sherman have been tested. I'll keep checking as new DNA sequences are submitted, but for now it looks like the old family story has been debunked.  A few months ago I wrote a series of blog posts about my great-great-great grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson, expanding on his autobiographical story "The Stolen Boy". One portion of the story described how Ambrose and his family traveled from Iowa to Kansas in the spring of 1855. He specifically mentioned passing through Kansas City and camping at Indian Creek. "Crossing the surging Missouri River at a little two horse town called Kansas City, he drove on out to Indian Creek, went into camp twelve miles southwest of Westport. While in camp he had the pleasure for the first time since 1831 of seeing his oldest sister. In a few days, they struck camp and were on the road again." This weekend, we were in the Kansas City area for a family vacation. When I realized that we were only a few miles from the site of this campground (now part of Flat Rock Creek Park in Lenexa, Kansas), I had to visit! As we drove toward the park, I was struck by how much travel has changed in the last 150 years. My ancestors bumped over rough trails in a horse-drawn wagon. The twelve mile journey from Westport to Indian Creek campground would have taken most of a day. I wonder if they had a map to follow or if they just relied on directions from strangers. In contrast, our vehicle rolled smoothly over the grid of paved streets, able to cover 12 miles in a matter of minutes. While my husband drove, I watched my cell phone as GPS satellites tracked our movement along the route that Google had plotted for us.  As we pulled into the parking lot next to a public swimming pool, it was hard to imagine that this spot had once been a campground for pioneers. My first stop was a historical marker (see photo above) at the edge of the creek, which confirmed that the site was once known as Indian Creek Campground. We crossed the creek on a small footbridge.  Standing in the grassy area on the other side of the creek, it was a little easier to picture my ancestors camping there. My daughter made a beeline for the playground and I let my imagination wander. Did Ambrose's children run and play here too? My great-great grandfather, WIlliam, was ten at the time. Did he climb that massive oak tree in its younger days?  I walked down the bank to the creek. It was smaller than I had imagined, but very picturesque. I stood for awhile on one of the flat rocks that gave the area its name. The creek alone seemed unchanged by time. I thought of how my ancestors probably drank water from this creek, unknowingly risking their lives. Many early travelers died from cholera, contracted from contaminated drinking water in campgrounds like this. That was only one of many dangers faced by my ancestors as they made their way to their new home in Kansas. I marveled -- as I often have before -- at their hardiness and courage.
I was a little disappointed that the site had changed so much from its days as a campground. In 1846, Edwin Bryant camped there and noted its beauty. "The margin of the small stream is fringed with a grove of timber, and from the gentle slope, where our wagons are drawn up, the verdant prairie, brilliant with flowers of every dye, stretches far away on all sides, diversified in its surface by every conceivable variety of undulation" (1). Thankfully such prairie vistas are still common in Kansas, if you just drive a little further west. After a few days in the big city, I was longing for those scenes again. And so like Ambrose and his family before us, we crossed the creek and were soon traveling over the prairie towards home. 1. Bryant, Edwin What I Saw In California (Google Books version) retrieved from books.google.com
Following up on last week's post about my grandfather's military service during WWI, I wanted to share a few other items I have found that shed light on his time in the Army.
On Fold3.com, a subscription site specializing in military records, I found my grandfather mentioned in a cablegram dated Feb 12, 1919. The cablegram had been sent from General Headquarters A. E. F. and listed the status of various soldiers for whom they had received inquiries. Thankfully, my grandfather was listed in the "well and with organizations specified" category. His entry reads "Reference letter January 11, 1919, Private Benjamin P Pace 1,026,434 Company F 309 Motor Repair Unit Q M C on duty at Motor Overhaul Park No. 2, Dijon". It would be interesting to know who initiated the inquiry about my grandfather. Was it family at home who were concerned about him? Or was it an internal army matter? Regardless, the entry is interesting because it gives a location where my grandfather was stationed in France. With this clue, I set out to learn more about the Dijon motor overhaul park. Motor overhaul parks were one of three types of service centers in France operated by the newly created Motor Transport Corps. Service parks were mobile units that performed minor repairs, while motor overhaul parks were permanent or semi-permanent and capable of handling major repairs. Reconstruction parks were responsible for rebuilding or salvaging severely damaged vehicles. The motor overhaul park at Dijon was one of four located in France during WWI. A Google search uncovered an aerial photograph of the facility. The number of vehicles visible is impressive. Newspapers proved to be a great source of information about my grandfather's unit. One particularly helpful article, which announced the homecoming of an Anthony, Kansas soldier, provided many details about the unit's activities during the war. I have created a map (below) to show relevant locations. According to the article, Repair Unit 304 (the first unit my grandfather was assigned to) was sent overseas in September 1918. They first went to Liverpool and then spent two weeks in England. They next sailed from Southhampton to La Havre, France. When they arrived in France, the unit was transferred to the Motor Transport Corps (this is apparently when they were called the 309th Motor Repair Unit). They travelled by train to Dijon and spent a few weeks in that area. They were eventually transferred to Langres and stayed there until the armistice, which occurred on 11 November 1918. The article does not mention the activities of the unit after the war officially ended, although they remained in France for eight more months. From the cablegram described above, it seems that they may have returned to Dijon for part of that time. Other articles described the return of the part of 309th Motor Repair Unit to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The 300 men in the unit sailed from Brest, France on July 14, 1919 and arrived in Norfolk, Virginia on 24 July. From there, the soldiers were sent to the camp nearest their home. Presumably my grandfather was one of those who arrived by train at Fort Sam Houston in the early hours of August 3. About two hundred people were waiting for them and the 309th Auxilliary Society had prepared a large meal with 100 watermelons. For some reason, they were not allowed to serve it to the soldiers, so a dance and feast was planned for the next evening instead. I wonder if anyone was there to meet my grandfather. It seems doubtful, since his family lived in west Texas. Most likely he boarded another train for home, where he was no doubt given a joyful welcome. Other Sources: Organization of the Services of Supply, American Expeditionary Forces (Google Books)  Since it is Veterans Day, I wanted to share this photo of my maternal grandfather, Benjamin Perry Pace, taken during his service in World War I. My memories are of a grandfather who was bald and in his 80s, so it is amazing to see this dashing young man with a very full head of hair! I grew up hearing that Grandad Pace, as we called him, had spent time in France during WWI. I was afraid I would never know more than that about his service, because almost all the service records from that era were destroyed in a fire. So I was very excited when I came across the Texas, World War I Records database on FamilySearch. To my delight, it contained my grandfather's WWI service card, which detailed his training and service. I learned that he received about two months of training at Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College (Texas A&M), which had offered its services to the U.S. government. He was then assigned to QMC Repair Shop 304 which was stationed at Fort Sam Houston. I was a little confused by the note on the back side of the card which said "2/18 Rep Unit 309 to disch". However, after looking at other cards of men from QMC Repair Shop 304, I believe the date should have been 2 Sep 1918. This was just before Grandad was sent overseas, so it is probably the unit that he was assigned to before they left. Grandad Pace served overseas from 17 Sept 1918 to 26 July 1919, a little over nine months. While overseas he received two promotions, to Private First Class and then to Sergeant. He was honorably discharged on 6 Aug 1919, soon after his return to the U.S. I am thankful for my grandfather and all who have served our country!   "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-FJJL : 3 April 2015), Benjamin Perry Pace, 13 Apr 1918; citing Military Service, College Station, Brazos, Texas, United States, Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin.
 A few months ago, I received a series of texts that saddened me. The first was photo of my great-grandparents' house about to be demolished by a looming piece of heavy equipment. Next came a video of the actual demolition. I still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch it.
I never knew my great-grandparents, and the house had been vacant as long as I can remember. But still, the old house was special to me. For one thing, my parents got married there. Plus, it was located just down the road from my childhood home, so I saw it almost every day when I was young. It was a handsome old house, somehow managing to age gracefully even though neglected. In the spring, a huge wisteria vine covered the house in lavender blooms. The photograph I have chosen to share was taken when the house was in its prime. I won’t show that last photo. That’s not how I want to remember it. What saddens me most is that despite growing up within sight of the house, I never got to go inside it. During my childhood, we never entered the house despite its close proximity to ours. Eventually the floor deteriorated to the point that it wasn’t really safe to go inside. When a cousin inherited the house and made plans to renovate it, my hopes of seeing the interior of the house were revived. But the house was too dilapidated and he was forced to abandon the project. He eventually sold the property and the new owners decided to tear the house down. I knew it was coming, but it was still a shock. When I went back home this summer, I tried to avoid looking at the strangely empty spot where it once stood. I wish I had insisted on going inside the house at some point, but I didn’t. And now it’s gone. I regularly check several genealogy websites for new online records. One of my favorite sites is FamilySearch.org, the genealogy web site of the LDS church, which provides an ever-increasing number of online records at no charge. A list of their online collections can be found by clicking “Search” in the menu bar (from any page on the site) and then clicking “Browse all published collections” at the lower right of the page. The list of “Historical Record Collections” can be narrowed using the options in the left sidebar (see screenshot below). Recently added or updated collections in the list are marked with an asterisk. I simply use my browser’s “Find” function to quickly identify these marked collections.  I assumed that the “Historical Record Collections” list covered all of the digitized records on the site. But recently, while browsing through the FamilySearch Catalog (also found under the Search menu), I came across some digitized records that didn’t seem to be included in the list. Of course, my eyes lit up at the prospect of new records to explore! I wanted to find a way to efficiently locate these items, so I started looking at the Catalog search settings. I discovered that the “Search These Family History Centers” box has an option for “Online” (shown in screenshot below). This setting can be used in combination with any search (place, keyword, etc.) and will limit the search results to online items (e. g. digitized books) or collections with at least one digital item. Once you select an item, you may have to scroll through the Film Notes to find which of the records in the collection have been digitized (these will have a camera icon in the far right column). One disclaimer: some digitized records and books do have access restrictions. The ones I have come across can be viewed by going to a Family History Center or, in some cases, a partner library.  My favorite way to use this new trick is to pair it with the Place search. This lets me quickly find the online records available for a particular place. (Hint: Be sure to check all levels of the geographic hierarchy. Different records can often be found at the state, county and township levels. Take advantage of the handy “Places within…” link found just above the results list). Of course you will also want to check the FamilySearch Catalog for records that have not yet been digitized. Genealogists should never ignore these traditional sources. That said, there is nothing quite like the instant gratification provided by online records. I have already found records for several relatives, as well as for a client's ancestor. I'm looking forward to many more discoveries!  I love this photograph of my great-great-grandmother Mahala Rebecca (Hampton) Pace. Her gentle smile and kind eyes make me wish I could sit and talk with her.
Mahala was born on 6 Jan 1843 in Fannin County, Texas. At that time, Texas was actually an independent republic! She married David Wright Pace on 21 Aug 1860 in Collin County, Texas. They had thirteen children, all of whom survived to adulthood -- a rarity in those days. Mahala passed away on 1 May 1916 at Era, Cooke County, Texas at the age of 73. |
Teresa ShippyTeresa is the the owner of KinSeeker Genealogy Services. She has a Ph.D. in Biology and a lifelong fascination with genealogy. She been researching her own family history for over 20 years and loves helping others "find their stories." Archives
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