#29-2020 Newsworthy. John Shaffner-telegrapher

John F. Shaffner

1926

Telegrapher at Union Pacific Depot in Dillon, Montana

John F. Shaffner (my grandfather) secured a position as a student telegrapher in September of 1907 with the Pennsylvania Railroad when he was 20 years old.  By December of 1907 he was classified as a "telegrapher".  Grandpa wrote that in the years following the turn of the 18th century, the country was in a real panic, jobs were scarce and wages were low.  Work day was usually 10-12 hours usually from 7 to 6.  He had worked as a printer previously earning $2 a day.  When he became an apprentice, his wage was increased to $3.00 a day.  John's first position as a telegrapher was at a tower a few miles out of Muncy, Pennsylvania and that is where he began to court Della Kurtz who would later become his wife.  He worked for the railroad for 5 years (until February of 1912) and then a short time (5 months) for Congressman Lafferty from Oregon.  He was anxious to go west so wrote to the Northern Pacific asking for a job and was offered a position on any division between St. Paul and the west coast.  He chose the Yellowstone division and was even a pass to Glendive, Montana.  When he got there he was put on a train for Sims, North Dakota where he remained for 2-3 years.  He began with the Yellowstone Division in September of 1912 and worked until June 1917.  When he moved to   Dillon he began with the Oregon Short Line and then the Union Pacific Railroad.  He worked as a telegrapher until 1944, for 33 years.

A telegrapher often got the news before the newspapers did.  Grandpa stated they were not connected with any newspaper, they didn't make public announcements, unless it was an emergency.  He remembers getting the news of inaugurations, when Pearl Harbor was bombed, when Woodrow Wilson was elected President.  When they got the news of Pearl Harbor attack, it was announced to people that were around the depot.  Since there was no television, the baseball scores were sent by telegraphy.  He would get the scores and give them to the theater which would announce them to the audience.  He stated there were telephones but the news and such all came in by telegraphy.  

John F. Shaffner

1989

Donnee Stibal (John's granddaughter) wrote in his scrapbook beside the picture that Grandpa was cleaning house and wanted to give it to the museum for the old depot where he originally typed with it.  She took him down to turn over to them.  John Burrows understood the Morse code when Grandpa typed out a message to him.  She thought the typewriter was made of iron as it was heavy.   Grandpa typed letters on it until not too many years ago.

Donating his Typewriter

The newspaper article in the Dillon Tribune

21 November 1989

Page 10, image 10

#12-2020. Popular Labor Day weekend in Dillon-1979

#12-2020 Popular.  1979 Labor Day weekend in Dillon, Montana!  A popular weekend!

In September 1979 I was in Dillon, Montana for the annual Labor Day weekend festivities.  It was and is a very popular weekend in southwestern Montana.  It is the County Fair and Rodeo weekend.  It is the weekend that many return to their “roots”, hold family reunions and celebrate the end of summer.  

Dillon, Montana is in Beaverhead County, the largest county in Montana.  There were and still are more cows than people.  My father was the veterinarian and had a veterinary practice in the county and parts of other counties.  His speciality was large animals, and cows were a big part of his practice.  He traveled to many ranches through the year, often eating in homes or cookhouses at the ranches because of the distance from Dillon.  Sometimes he was gone for a couple of days during calving time or fall rush of working cattle.  For many years the roads were not even paved so ranchers were very generous to provide him a hot meal.  

And so began the tradition of my Mom (Helen) & dad (Don) hosting a “feed” at their house in Dillon after the parade on Labor Day.  This was their way of thanking clients and friends for feeding Don!  It was common knowledge that Helen would have food available.  And of course, my sister & I grew up with many of the ranch kids, so our house was often the common meeting place for many.  She feed lots of people throughout the Labor Day weekend!

Since it was a popular weekend, my grandfather volunteered to babysit my son for an evening.  This would be his first time at Dillon Labor Day weekend!  Of course I  joined my friends and family in the local celebrations downtown.  The celebrations occurred in the bars up and down Main Street.  Meeting friends & relatives you haven’t seen in years, is always fun and requires a “cheers” or more than one!

On Monday of Labor Day weekend is the Parade.  It is the last day of the festivities with a rodeo in the afternoon.  It is a very popular day.  But since I had celebrated too much, I thought attending the parade was not a wise decision and it would be best to stay at my parent’s house & stir the goulash and help get things ready. Mom took Greg, my son.   It was normal to have 50 people descend on the house after the parade, quickly eat and rush to the rodeo which started about 2 hours after the parade ended.

This is my mother's recipe for goulash. 

She gave me this recipe when I married.

She made more than 1 batch for a crowd.

Since I didn’t feel 100%, I laid down to rest.  Yep, fell asleep.  Suddenly my mother was at the bedroom door, holding my son who had attended his 1st parade, crying loudly.  I woke up immediately!  My first thought was I had burned the goulash!  And believe me, mother’s goulash was good, expected at the lunch and heaven help me if I had burned it!  Through tears she told me about the jets flying over of the parade and that one had hit the grain elevator where the parade passed by.  In disbelief of the events unfolding, and that my immediate family was safe, I rushed to the hospital.  The human hospital.  Dad was on the board of trustees for the hospital & had already left for the hospital to provide help.  He even stopped at his veterinary hospital to get x-ray film.  I was a medical lab technician and I had worked with the medical technologist there.  Anticipating injuries and fatalities, I rushed to help. The lab welcomed me with open arms.  We prepared for a major disaster as it was common to have thousands of people in town for the weekend and at the parade.  People, who had ever been employed at the hospital rushed to help.  I said, I can draw blood on patients until my best friend is brought in.  Knowing she was at the head of the parade on a horse and the jet had gone down near the front of the parade, I was worried sick.  And then we waited.

Suddenly Dad came into the lab and said he was going home to eat.  What???  Dad leaving; highly unusual.  He told us there was limited injuries; maybe 2 or 3 with burns.  Imagine our surprise!  But a welcome surprise.  There were many things that happened that day, many positive things displaying how a small community comes together & works together in a crisis.  Some things were truly unbelievable.  

My husband who was at home in Huntley, was on a tractor piling corn silage during harvest, and heard the first news of the crash on his radio.  He knew my family always stood by the depot for the parade.  He rushed to the phone to call my parents house.  He was quite glad to hear good news that we all OK!

My family is standing in the lower right of the left hand picture.  

So a popular weekend turned into a popular memory; one I will never forget!  Nor will the town of Dillon or anyone who was there!  And I think of it every time I make goulash!

#13 In the Paper 52 Ancestors in a year

This week's challenge, #13, "In the paper".  I struggled with this challenge as I thought of a couple of ancestor discoveries "In the Paper".  Then my niece, Morgan gave me an idea!  

My grandfather, John F. Shaffner, was in the paper more than once!  He was nearly 104 when he passed, so he had lots of interviews.  He also wrote his life story and history more than once.  (And the story is the same each time!)

John was born 18 September 1887 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania and passed away 17 July 1991 in Dillon, Montana.  He came west with the railroad, serving in North Dakota and Montana.  Grandpa married Della Rae Kurtz in Dillon on 12 September 1913.   He homesteaded in Beaverhead County, Montana where he raised 4 boys.  He gathered and worked on his genealogy most of his lifetime.  Working with his granddaughter, Donnee Shaffner Stibal, he documented family and labeled pictures.  It is truly quite a collection.  Now that they are gone, I so wish I had asked him a few questions!

Grandpa was quite a character!  We all have stories about him; as he taught us all in various ways from learning what hard work was, how to be scared when he drove, perhaps not trusting his mechanical skills but to look forward to each day.  His comment "yesterday is history", was a guideline for me in many situations.  And most importantly how important family was.  I hope more there are more blog challenges to provide more Grandpa Shaffner stories.

He was interviewed for his 100th and his 103rd birthday!  

100th birthday interview

When he is 102 (1989) he returned his typewriter to the desk at the depot

 And he celebrated his 103rd Birthday!

On his 100th Birthday his family gathered to celebrate

His sons, Dean and Don 

second row:  daughter in laws-Eloise, Stella (husband George) and Helen

He lost 2 sons, Walter & George

and 2 wives

With his grandchildren

Bob, Geoffrey, John

Sydney, Gail, Grandpa, Donnee

With his great children

Lori, Grandpa, Lynda

Megan, Greg, Annie

 Josh, Luke, Courtney

The Women in my father's Family

Mother's Day got me to thinking of all of my female ancestors.    I decided to find the pictures, thus the delay in posting!  Quite a collection of women!  I can't imagine their lives, what they lived through, and how hard they worked.

Margaret Maria Fetter was born 19 May 1820 in Pennsylvania.  She married Gabriel Shaffner (father of John Martin Shaffner)  24 December 1845 in Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Margaret died 11 November 1903 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  She is also buried in the East Harrisburg Cemetery.  The date on the picture written by Donnee Shaffner Stibal is about 1901.  She is holding Walter Ruskin Shaffner.  Estimating Margaret's age would make her 81 year old.  Margaret's ancestor were from France; her Great Grandfather was George Fredric Fanoit who came from Montebeliard,  France in 1842.

Elizabeth Deborah Fletcher, who was born 4 July 1858 in Covington, Tioga County, Pennsylvania.  She married John Martin Shaffner on 16 September 1880 in Whitesville, Allegheny County, New York.  There is no date on the picture.  Elizabeth died 17 November 1899 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  I discovered that she was buried with her father-in-law at the East Harrisburg Cemetery.  There was no headstone.  Her last child, Walter Ruskin Shaffner, was born 7 September 1899.  I wonder if she was pregnant in this picture.

The Peter Paul Deewall Family.

Peter Paul came to the U.S. in 1842.  He married Catherine Troutman in Pennsylvania in 1847.

Mary Etta was the oldest girl born in 1831.  George Albert was the youngest son born in 1865

Catherine died in 1877, so this picture was taken in the 1870's.  

Mary Etta Deewall Kurtz, who was born 17 December 1849 in Pennsylvania.  Her father was Peter Paul Deewall (Duval)  who came to the U.S. in 1842 from Ludweiler, Germany.  Mary Etta married Emanuel Kurtz 23 February 1871 in Pennsylvania.  

My grandmother, Della Kurtz Shaffner.  This picture was taken in 1905 taken at her high school graduation.  She was salutatorian, although her name is at the top of the graduate list so perhaps she was valedictorian.   And I have the speech that she gave, which is labeled her salutatory speech.    She graduated from Muncy High School, in Muncy, Pennsylvania.

Della Kurtz Shaffner, my grandmother.  She married by grandfather, John Fanoit Shaffner on 12 September 1913 after their trip through Yellowstone Park.  Donnee Shaffner Stibal wrote on the picture:  Jerry and Grandma.  She rode the horse from Custer, Montana to Dillon, Montana.  After John & Della married they returned to Simms, ND where he worked as telegrapher on the railroad.  He also worked at Custer, Montana as a telegrapher.  They homesteaded near Dillon, Beaverhead County, Montana.  The story I heard was that Grandpa rode the horse to Dillon!  Since Donnee got the information from Grandpa; I will believe her story!

Walter Shaffner, World War II casualty

For some reason,  my mind has been telling me that I have forgotten something for the 1st of October.  I kept looking at my calendar thinking I had forgotten an appointment.  And then I began planning my next blog and looked at dates.  Someone upstairs is nagging me....

John & Della Shaffner's son, Walter Fanoit Shaffner was born the 29th of December 1917 in Dillon, Montana.  He went to college at University of Montana in forestry and joined the ROTC graduating from college on 9 June 1941.  

Walter enlisted in Marines in 1942 as a private, received his commission to 2nd Lieutenant and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in field.

In the Dillon Tribune issue of 5 February 1943 there is a picture of Walter F. Shaffner with a Resing submachine gun.  The article beneath the picture states that ...A Dillon Marine Corps officer, Second Lieutenant Walter F. Shaffner is eligible today for assignment to a combat unit or specialist's school for final training after completion of reserve officer's school at Quantico, Virginia, according a release from Marine headquarters in San Francisco.  Lieutenant Shaffner, while training in Quantico qualified as an expert with both the rifle and pistol.  

Dillon Tribune October 27, 1944. First Lieutenant Walter Shaffner, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Shaffner, was killed in action in the South Pacific on October 1, according to word received from the War Department by his parents yesterday.  Information as to the place of his death has been withheld for security reasons but the message stated that he was buried on an island in grave No. 150.

Walter F. Shaffner

As you research ancestors, you learn about genealogy serendipity and this story is one of my unbelievable ones!  My sister, Gail mentioned that a person in Dillon had been at a meeting where the speaker upon learning he was from Dillon, Montana; inquired if he knew Walter Shaffner's family.  This person then asked Gail about Walter.  I was excited to learn that someone knew him because of course; he was a forgotten soldier except to his family.  

Upon learning the name, I searched the internet and located the man, wrote him a snail mail letter and below is what I received in return.  I will not name the individual because I don't have him permission.  When Dad read the letter, tears came to eye and he said...this man knew Walter and described him perfectly.  Dad also went onto to say that while they knew he had been killed in battle; they never knew the story.  

Your letter of inquiry as to your Uncle Walter's military experience in the South Pacific brought back for me many memories of those far away and long forgotten bloody struggles on islands rarely mentioned in comment today.  Putting your uncle's experience in perspective, the First Marine Division badly mauled and ridden with malaria left Guadalcanal December 22nd, 1942 and sailed in transports first to Brisbane, Australia and then subsequently to Melbourne, since the former was too tropical a location to give optimal chances for recovery from malaria, whereas the latter did.  It was there that your uncle Walter came in early 1943.  Your uncle was assigned as a replacement infantry officer and joined "C" Company of the First Battalion, First Regiment, the unit which I had commanded for most of the year preceding the initial assault on Guadalcanal August 7th, 1942.  I gave 2nd Lieutenant Shaffner command of the second platoon of the "C" Company, and was immediately impressed with his quiet but very effective leadership of that platoon. When the first division was deemed again ready for combat, we were shipped north to a staging area on New Guinea and then turned loose in an assault against Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, December 26th, 1943.  Although initial Japanese resistance was light, the beachhead itself was extremely narrow, only a few yards wide and then immediately we plunged into a formidable jungle swamp (which had then been noted on aerial photographs as "rainforest").  As the rest of the division came ashore, we received our orders to move out of the swamp and be prepared to attack the airstrip which the Japanese had constructed on Cape Gloucester to support the major airbase they had maintained at Rabaul.  From the moment of our landing it never stopped raining for eleven days.  Approaching the airstrip and emerging from the swamp, "C" received intense machine gun fire, but were assisted in the final assault which seized the airstrip by adequate support from both mortars and artillery.  Having seized the airstrip in late afternoon, we hastily prepared the perimeter defense of fox holes lightly "protected" by bar wire hastily assembled.  During the hours between midnight and dawn, "C" company sustained and repelled a determined Japanese counter attack, during which your uncle distinguished himself as he led his platoon in frustrating the Japanese attempt to re -conquer the airstrip. The Cape Gloucester campaign lasted many months, with nearly every day marked by at least a partial tropical downpour, as the Japanese retreated toward Rabaul, the first regiment was engaged in active combat in pursuit, mainly with long foot patrols through the jungle, where again your uncle demonstrated his competent leadership as a platoon leader. When the caands near Guadalcanal, which then, had become a major staging area for American force. Reaching Pavuvu, I was promoted to Major and became second in command of the battalion, saying good- bye to beloved "C" Company after commanding it for nearly three years.  Captain Everett Pope succeeded as "C" Company commander. In late summer we were informed that our next objective would be the capture of Peliliu, an island in the Palau group, five hundred miles east of the Philippines, in order to neutralize its airstrip in preparation for the larger assault planned by the army in returning to the Philippines.  It was forecast as a "quickie" operation, to be preceded by five days of bombing and shelling by the Air Force and Navy. Landing on the beach soon proved it was the exact opposite.  The Japanese had been fortifying the steep limestone ravines inland from the beach for many years, so the shelling and bombing were largely ineffective and the casualties on the beach mounted with each passing hour.  Fighting day and night against bitter Japanese resistance, casualties continued to mount.  On the fourth day orders were received from Regiment that "C" Company would be transferred from the First Battalion to temporary duty with the Second.  It was with a sense of foreboding,  remembered to this day; that I watched Captain Pope lead what was left of the Company away toward their new assignment, which was to assault a heavily defended spur of Bloody Nose Ridge, the principal line of the Japanese defense in depth.  The ferocity of the struggle on that hill during the following night cannot be adequately described.  Only a dozen men stumbled back down at dawn's first light.  Sadly, your uncle Walter was not one of them.  He died there that night as bravely as he had led his troops from the day he joined "C" Company.  You and your family have every reason to take pull pride in your uncle's unflinching valor as I, myself, take in having served as his commanding officer.

Walter's body was returned to Dillon for burial where a ceremony was held 12 October 1948.

His father applied for a Headstone or Marker

Mountain view Cemetery, Dillon, Montana

And then in my files is this receipt for a headstone purchased by Donnee Shaffner Stibal on July 24, 1989

Recognition for Walter Shaffner at the Veteran's Park in Dillon, Montana

Don Shaffner included his brothers on this wall of memory for those that had served.

Donnee never forgot Walter, always keeping his memory alive for the family to remember.

And then she died on 1 October 1993, 49 years later.

The Angels are still tapping on my shoulder........