Memories 78 years later of a Veteran

 I had my day planned until I opened a tote of family memorabilia.  Apparently  the angels(thanks Dad & Donnee) have been tapping me on the shoulder again.  It is the only explanation today that found me opening this tote.  Nor did I intend to spend the day looking & reading all that was in it! It was a tote box that I have been wanting to sort, but certainly didn't anticipate that it would include all these treasures.  The tote contained ALL the letters my uncle, Walter F. Shaffer, sent home to his parents during World War II.  There was papers, letters and information I have never seen before.  Because my grandfather was a telegrapher for the railroad and used carbon paper; he liked carbon copies of EVERY document and he kept every document concerning the death of his son, Walter F. Shaffner.  Walter died 1 October 1944 in the battle at Peleliu Island, Palou Islands.  There are notice of his death from the Marines, letters of condolences from the Marines, a letter of condolence from Representative Mike Mansfield, railroad bill of lading of his personal effects, telegrams that his parents sent to his brothers, Don & Dean and letters from soldiers who served with Walter.  There is correspondence with the military concerning his insurance, headstone, letters from the funeral home in Dillon, letters to/from the military concerning his last pay.  There were touching letters from fellow soldiers that he had served with.  I haven't had time to go through the letters he wrote home.  (and I may need help with that project!)  

1st Lt. Walter F. Shaffner

(1917-1944)

26 years old

The telegram sent to Walter's parents informing them of his death.

Walter's parents: John & Della Kurtz Shaffner

One envelope contained  a letter from a Marine who was a friend of Walter's.  The letter was written on 24 December 1944 stating that he was sending a picture of his grave and the cemetery.  The picture of the cemetery was there but no picture of his grave.  I am sure that picture was saved, although I don't remember any picture labeled with the information that it was Walter's grave.  (I am sure the angels will direct me to it)

Walter's body was brought to Dillon, Montana for a burial on 12 October 1948.  

The Cemetery

The envelope states "photo of Walter's cemetery"

There is no name of the cemetery or location

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

In Grateful Memory

Walter F. Shaffner received a Purple Heart

America must never forget your sacrifice!

Lunch at Helen's after the Parade

This is Labor Day weekend, a weekend that I often spend in Dillon, Montana.  I was unable to go this year, but I am having "withdrawal pains".  And then news of an event that happened 43 years ago in Dillon started me thinking of how my family was involved in the weekend events through the years.

My hometown of Dillon, Montana has hosted an annual Labor Day Fair, Rodeo and Parade for many years.  It is a weekend that most ranching activities in the county would stop and families came to town.  Family reunions were hosted and it was annual trek home for many of us where we saw friends, relatives, drank a few cool ones, watched the rodeo, team ropings, wild horse races, wild cow milking,  4-H animals and admired the entries in the fair.  It is a weekend that the population of Dillon increases!  

I discovered that my mother's (Helen) first time at the Dillon Labor Day weekend was in 1946.  She & my dad were married in July of 1946.  Mom always said she came from a "dry county" in Washington and she never saw anything like this weekend before.  In those days there was a poker game in the bars, people walked the streets freely socializing with a beverage of their choice.  All of this was a new adventure for Mom.  Little did she know in 1946 how her Labor Day weekend would evolve and lunch at Helen's was the norm.

Helen Lloyd Shaffner 

1946

Don and Helen Shaffner-1946

  

It was typical that the Shaffner family participate in the parade.  Many of us walked either in the band or another organization.  If we were lucky we rode a float, rode a horse or created a float.  Parents and grandparents assisted in the floats!

Don Shaffner

Parade 1946

The rodeo in 1946

Sydney pedaled her trike in the Children's section

Participating in the parade began at an early age!

Mom and Dad enjoyed the Labor Day weekend through the years.  Mom decided that she would host their friends & clients at a lunch on Monday after the parade.  As a veterinarian, Dad was often at ranches working cattle during meal time.  It was their way of thanking friends who included Dad at their table for meals.   She knew that the restaurants were busy and there was usually only about an hour between the end of the parade and the start of the rodeo. 

Labor Day lunch at Helen's became a tradition.  Often the guests would bring salads, desserts, casseroles to help.   But Mom made sure there was plenty of food!  She always had a casserole or two and probably one in the freezer if needed.   Since the rodeo weekend was several days; Helen often had lunch/dinner for anyone who might be hungry.  One year we counted that she had 120 guests for meals during the 3 or 4 days of fair and rodeo.

A weekend I will never forget.  43 years ago!

I returned home for the Labor Day weekend festivities in September of 1979 with my 10 month old son Greg.  Nothing unusual about that as I went home every year.  I arranged for Grandpa Shaffner to watch Greg in the evening so I could join the festivities downtown on Sunday night.  I may have celebrated a it too much; because the next morning I didn't feel great.  I opted to stay at Mom's and stir her casserole for the noon meal.  She took Greg to view probably his first parade.  I was also secretly hoping to catch a nap.  I did fall asleep but woke to my mother sobbing as was Greg.  My first thought was OH NO...I let the casserole burn!  Since there were people coming for lunch after the parade, burning Mom's casserole  would ruined Helen's reputation.  (I didn't burn the casserole either!)

I grabbed Greg and asked Mom what happened??  And through her sobs, she told me of the National Guard jet that had crashed after it had "buzzed" the parade.  What???  My cousin Donnee and my sister  Gail, said they could see the pilot as he flew over the parade and that the jets were lower than the 2nd story buildings.  The Shaffner family always stood in front of the Depot.  The pilot crashed into the grain elevator at the end of street, 3 blocks away from the Depot. The elevator burst into flame as the plane careened down the street away from the Depot.  I shudder to think if the plane had been coming the other way.  There are thousands on the streets of Dillon watching the parade.

But where was Dad?  He had grabbed x-ray film from the Veterinary Hospital and rushed to the human hospital to help since he was on the Board of Directors.  I was a lab technician and I could help as we knew hundreds of people would be hurt.   I comforted Greg, and people began arriving for food!  It was agreed that I should go to the hospital to help in the lab while others helped Mom and care for Greg.   People knew Helen had food!  And they came!  Even friends brought rodeo contestants  knowing Helen would have enough food.  I am sure more than 50 people were fed that day!  

As it turned out, not many people were hurt.  As I recall; 2 were hurt.  The entire story of how the town responded to the crisis, is another story.  But it was an incredible experience and a Labor Day weekend I will never forget.  

Rodeo weekend in Dillon simply isn't the same without lunch at Helen's!

 

Mistake 52 Ancestors in a Year

 My mistake involved my ancestor, my Dad.  It also involved my sister, Gail, and a neighbor girl, Cathy.  This event took place in the late '60's.  Maybe 1968.   

The cows on the meadow before they began their climb up the hill.

Unfortunately no pictures have been found of the actual event, so similar type pictures on our ranch were used for the story. 

We were my Dad’s best hired help, he would often say that he might not have the best crew but he had the best looking.  Of course we were always ready to ride our horses and help.  While it was upsetting to my mother, who didn’t like horses, and she worried about our ventures in the Rocky Hills south of Dillon, Montana.  The Rocky Hills, commonly known as our ranch, had sagebrush, rattlesnakes, rocks and lots of hills.  A great playground for children on horses or driving various vehicles, right?  But it was our ranch and it was where our Dad taught us many lessons.  Mostly how to work!  Sometimes the lessons involved solving a problem.  Sometimes we created the problem!  We were just kids!

This specific instance of a mistake involved trailing cows.  Since Dad was a full time veterinarian plus owning a ranch, his cows were taken to another rancher for feeding and calving.  And since he had 3 available girls to help, who also liked to ride, it was an easy decision.  We were cheap labor while trucking was expensive.

Gail had gone with Dad through the hills in a jeep to survey the route.  So she knew the route. The cows had to climb out of the creek bottom up the steep hill in the picture below,  following an old cow/horse/deer trail.  Dad had told me in previous trails that just follow the cows, they know where they are going.  Dad was in the “lead”, meaning he was with the first bunch of cows going up the hill.  It was basically single file for each cow, heavy with calf, to lumber up the hill.  I was in the middle encouraging the cows up the hill, but they knew to stay on the trail.  Cathy was also in the middle, somewhere, following the cows up the hill.  Gail was at the drag or at the end of the line of cows, but she was the one who knew the trail!  When I got to the top, the cows were still on the trail.  But I could not see Dad anywhere.  I knew he was riding a colt so the alarm bells went off.  Now it was common for Dad to change his mind, so I tried not to worry.

The trail is in the middle of the picture.

I continued following cows, watching for Dad and checking draws & hillsides for a man & horse.  By the time Gail got to the top of the hill she realized the cows had split with the middle bunch taking a left turn instead of a right turn!  But still no dad.   Suddenly Dad appeared, a bit upset.  He had been waiting at the gate where we would leave our ranch property & trail to the first night camp.   Geez…I was following the cows who seemed to know where they were going!!!  

A similar day trailing calves in winter.

After turning the cows in a different direction on a hillside, we made to the correct gate.  My mistake cost us a few hours and tired cows.  Of course it was cool weather, probably December or January, so we rested the cows at the gate before trailing on down the hillside to the first night camp.  

But the cows were OK.  Dad was OK, his help was OK.  And we learned another lesson or two!

A similar type of day trailing cows.

Yes, Dad seemed to pick cold days.  We were lucky if it wasn't raining or snowing!  

Often we had to walk to keep our toes warm

Conflict-Purple Heart-Walter Shaffner

Conflict

52 Ancestors in a year.

This week's writing challenge is Conflict.  I struggled with what to write and then I opened up a folder of old, ancient certificates.  Which led to getting them scanned, but there is not a large enough flatbed scanner in Billings for several of them.  They are old and fragile and the store refused to run them through a roller type scanner.  Smart Decision!  

But amongst the certificates was the one issued to my uncle, Walter F. Shaffner, (my father's brother) who was killed in World War II.  There must have been angels on my shoulder pushing me to look at the folder after I posted a picture on Facebook of his headstone at the Mountain View Cemetery in Dillon, MT.  Of course there are his original letters to his parents during the war and I am still looking for the last letter he wrote home.  I had the articles from the newspaper in his file, but I had to locate which paper!  

Walter F. Shaffner

1917-1944

One of the letters he wrote home during the war.

My grandmother, Della Kurtz Shaffner, had 3 sons in the South Pacific during World War II at the same time.  She kept all their letters.

Walter was killed October 1, 1944.

The Purple Heart letter & certificate

Mountain View Cemetery

Dillon, MT

 

Landed! 2022 52 Ancestors in a Year

 Landed!  Who was really on the passenger manifest?

One of the fascinating aspects of genealogy is finding ancestors on passenger lists and immigration information.

The Gabel’s were elusive in searches because of spelling of the name.  It could be Gabel, Gable, Goebel, Gebel or various other spellings.  Because they were Germans from Russia, it was hard to find them without using wildcards in searches.  And because there were no visa’s or information available; what first name did they use when immigrating?  What papers did they have when leaving Russia?  (I will probably never find that answer!)

Leroy’s great grandfather, Phillip Gabel and family landed in New York at Ellis Island on 10 June 1907.  They left Libau, Lativa on 20 May 1907.  The ages are correct for each member of the family, calculating their age from census records in 1910.  While the first names differ from names used in later life, it was normal for Germans to have 2-3 first names.  Another clue on the passenger record was their destination in Lincoln, Nebraska to his brother Heinrich Gebel.

But there was one troubling entry on the manifest of a child Anna, that 11 months old.  It appears that a line was drawn through her name, indicating she either didn’t get on the ship or never got off.  In research at Ellis Island, the official answer was that Anna never boarded the ship.  What happened to Anna?

Passenger manifest for Henrich Phillip Gabel & family

Looking for additional Gabel relatives found an August Gabel boarding a ship at Libau, Latvia on 13 May1907, with a daughter Anna, 11 months old.   Anna again, had a line through her name.  Is it the same Anna as on the passenger ship of June 1907 with Philip Gabel?  Did they leave her behind for his brother to take her?  Whose daughter is she?  Why was she left behind?

August Gabel and family were also detained at Ellis Island upon arrival on 31 May 1907.  The passenger manifest indicates that a telegraph for money was sent to his brother Heinrich Gabel in Lincoln, Nebraska.  They were discharged on 4 June 1907.  The company owning the passenger ship was charged for 8 breakfasts, 10 dinners and 8 suppers.  

Did August and his wife wait for Philip and his family to arrive at Ellis Island? 

 Did they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska together?

Finding the Gabel ancestors arrival in the United States was interesting as well was educational.  But lots of unanswered questions remain.

2022 Maps 52 Ancestors in a Year

 Maps!  Who doesn’t love maps, trying to figure out the route you will take to your vacation.  Or how about trying to figure out a route west via the Oregon Trail that your ancestors took?  Or where the land was that your grandfather homesteaded?  Or the cemetery where ancestors are buried?  

One of map tools I use is Google Earth Pro.  Using Google Earth Pro I was able to plot the lands the Lloyd family settled on when arriving in Oregon in 1845 and filed on the Oregon Donation Land Claims.

If my memory is correct, Mom found the cemetery on a trip we took to the Oregon coast.  I wasn’t very old, but I remember a hill with trees and somehow Mom found the cemetery.  Now I wish I could remember more as well as taken an interest in it when we were there.  I bet the headstones might have been more legible!

2022 Branching Out 52 Ancestors in a Year

When creating and researching your ancestry and developing a family tree, it is helpful to “Branch Out”.   There are lots of different branches on a person’s family tree and how any branches does one need?  

I have discovered in researching genealogy that occasionally you call “halt” to those distant branches.  But then you discover an important piece of information on that last twig.  

As I first began working with family trees and learning genealogy; I began collecting death certificates, obituaries, marriage licenses and birth information.  This collection was valuable when connecting members of the Gabel family.  

Common with all immigrants when choosing a location to live, was near where other relatives lived.  But how people were related was not often shared with younger members of the family or they did not listen or care when told.  So when asking for information in family members, the answer was often “I don’t know” or Dad said “we were cousins”.  

Since there were several Gabel families in the 1920 census living in eastern Montana and listed as farmers as well as born in German or Russia; somehow they had to be related.  Many lived in sugar beet growing areas as well as close to other families from Russia, who were also farmers and born in Russia; somehow there had to be connection.

Unfortunately many of the older immigrants did not marry when coming to the United States.  Only a few had lost their wives and remarried.  But that marriage certificates often had their parents names on it.  The parents who were in Russia!  

Obituaries of the older immigrants,  which were written by their children seldom had the immigrants parents names listed as probably they had no idea.  

Marriage certificates of the children of the immigrants often listed a different name for their mother.  Many of the immigrants may have 2 first names such as Catherina, Margaretha or Anna,  and often were referred to by various names.  Leroy’s great grandmother was Katherine, Margaret or Margaretha Katherine.  At time I wondered if his great grandfather had 2 different wives!  

It was hard to establish his great grandmother’s maiden name as well.  The marriage certificate might sat Cellen, Gabel, Clam or various other names.  Finally discovering her obituary, which was written in Germany, I assumed the information provided by her husband listing her maiden name was Klamm was accurate.  

Using the last name Klamm in an ancestry search along with a first name common for Germans from Russia, I discovered a Conrad Klamm who was crossing the Canadian border and going to a Philip Gabel residence in Lincoln, Nebraska!  And then through DNA, Leroy’s DNA has a matches Klamm DNA!

All discovered by branching out!