Happy Veterans Day! If you, your children, or other living family members have served in the military, we thank you so much for your service. If your parents, grandparents, or any other relatives in the past have served, this day commemorates them as well, and this holiday Monday, we are reminded of their commitment to our country and everything it stands for. Veterans Day, once called Armistice Day, is often confused with Memorial Day. The latter honors our fallen heroes, whereas Veterans Day was created as a way to say thank you and to honor living veterans. It is a fairly new holiday which began early in the twentieth century, when President Woodrow Wilson called on Americans to “remember the armistice,” signed on 11 November 1918, that ended World War I. His intention was to emphasize peace and to honor thousands of men who served in the war.
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Showing posts with label World War I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World War I. Show all posts
11 November 2024
06 June 2022
StLGS June Meetings and Events
We hope you were able to attend our Family History Conference in May, but if you missed it, no worries. The recordings will be available until the middle of August. We have a wonderful hybrid monthly meeting coming up next week, a German Special Interest Group meeting, and a class on Catholic church records. In addition, we have updated the StLGS website to include all of the upcoming meetings and classes for the summer. Time to open your calendars and check out the details below!
04 May 2020
Making the Most of Quarantine Time: Connecting with New Cousins in Far Away Places
(Thanks to StLGS volunteer, Kathy Franke, for sharing this interesting story about the importance of having some of our genealogy online so others can find us and of not throwing away those mystery photographs. We know many of you are sifting through old family photos during this time of quarantine. Maybe you, too, will be lucky enough to identify and learn more about someone in your own family album.)
Kathy writes:
I have a box of photos that were handed down to my grandma, then to my dad, and then to me. In the middle of that sequence, they got transported to my aunt’s house about forty-five minutes away, in a rural area of Missouri. They were left there for years and finally I went to pick them up. My aunt said she was going to throw some away because she did not know who was in some of the pictures, so why keep them? I think she pitched some from her collection, but I have a large box. I have separated them into groups of people I know and by generation and people I do not have any idea about. During all of this, I’ve kept them together in one box (an archival quality one). That way, I’ll know the provenance of the group.
Flash forward to last week. I received a message through Ancestry's messaging service from a man named
Paul Jadot. He found my 2nd great-grandmother, Agnes Sondag (pictured here on the left), in my online tree. His great-grandmother, Marguerite "Gretchen" Sondag, was Agnes’s first cousin. Agnes came to St. Louis after the Civil War but Gretchen stayed in Belgium. Paul was born and grew up in Belgium, speaks Dutch, French, German, and English and has done a lot of research on the Sondag family. He now lives in the U.S. We had a great phone call that lasted more than an hour this morning and we now have a ton of new things to add to our To-Do lists.
Tonight I went to that box of Grandma's photos to find one that I wanted to send to Paul of a man in a white uniform from the Belgian Congo in 1916. The name of the man in the photo is Paul Crélot and the card is signed in French, "your nephew." I have not done much research on this side of my family so was not familiar with the Crélot surname. It turns out that Paul Jadot has Crélot in his tree and Agnes Sondag’s sister married a Crélot who had several children!
Here is the note from my new cousin Paul:
"What a find! I admit that I'm not too proud of the colonial experience of Belgium in the Congo. The country is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC). The capital is Kinshasa. It's a country in constant turmoil. It is eighty times bigger than Belgium."
Paul also translated the caption on the lower left of the front of the photo: Leó le 1r Mars 1914 Congo Belge—he abbreviates the city of Leopoldville as Leó in the Belgian Congo where the picture was taken on 1 March 1914. Leopoldville was the capital of the then-colony. Note: In August of 1914, Germany invaded Belgium and the Belgian colonial army fought against German colonial troops located at the eastern border of the Congo.
I'm so glad I kept these photos and could learn this new information!
Kathy writes:
I have a box of photos that were handed down to my grandma, then to my dad, and then to me. In the middle of that sequence, they got transported to my aunt’s house about forty-five minutes away, in a rural area of Missouri. They were left there for years and finally I went to pick them up. My aunt said she was going to throw some away because she did not know who was in some of the pictures, so why keep them? I think she pitched some from her collection, but I have a large box. I have separated them into groups of people I know and by generation and people I do not have any idea about. During all of this, I’ve kept them together in one box (an archival quality one). That way, I’ll know the provenance of the group.
Flash forward to last week. I received a message through Ancestry's messaging service from a man named
Paul Jadot. He found my 2nd great-grandmother, Agnes Sondag (pictured here on the left), in my online tree. His great-grandmother, Marguerite "Gretchen" Sondag, was Agnes’s first cousin. Agnes came to St. Louis after the Civil War but Gretchen stayed in Belgium. Paul was born and grew up in Belgium, speaks Dutch, French, German, and English and has done a lot of research on the Sondag family. He now lives in the U.S. We had a great phone call that lasted more than an hour this morning and we now have a ton of new things to add to our To-Do lists. Tonight I went to that box of Grandma's photos to find one that I wanted to send to Paul of a man in a white uniform from the Belgian Congo in 1916. The name of the man in the photo is Paul Crélot and the card is signed in French, "your nephew." I have not done much research on this side of my family so was not familiar with the Crélot surname. It turns out that Paul Jadot has Crélot in his tree and Agnes Sondag’s sister married a Crélot who had several children! Here is the note from my new cousin Paul:
"What a find! I admit that I'm not too proud of the colonial experience of Belgium in the Congo. The country is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC). The capital is Kinshasa. It's a country in constant turmoil. It is eighty times bigger than Belgium."Paul also translated the caption on the lower left of the front of the photo: Leó le 1r Mars 1914 Congo Belge—he abbreviates the city of Leopoldville as Leó in the Belgian Congo where the picture was taken on 1 March 1914. Leopoldville was the capital of the then-colony. Note: In August of 1914, Germany invaded Belgium and the Belgian colonial army fought against German colonial troops located at the eastern border of the Congo.
I'm so glad I kept these photos and could learn this new information!
24 February 2020
The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919
The newly discovered coronavirus has struck in the middle of the 2019/2020 influenza season and perhaps is taking over center stage at the moment. The sudden appearance and mobility of an unknown disease has many similarities with what is probably the best-known health crisis in the last century, and that is the great influenza outbreak following World War I. This world-wide event (a pandemic) was responsible for the deaths of about fifty million people, far more than were killed during the war, and has been described as having the highest mortality rate of any single pandemic in human history.
The flu is a respiratory infection (there really is no such thing as the "stomach flu," although we hear people say they have it all the time!). The virus, like the common cold, is spread from person to person by coughing, sneezing, or touching infected objects. In early epidemics in Europe, the flu was mostly just an inconvenience. Seldom did people die from it, and those who did, for the most part, were elderly or already suffering from other ailments. It is only when the influenza virus began mutating into more potent forms, as viruses do, that the disease became fatal to a wider population.
Efforts to prevent the flu from spreading were widespread, but, as we are seeing with today's coronavirus, not effective enough, and, of course, there were no vaccines or adequate medical treatments.
Want to read more about the 1918 pandemic? The Center for Disease Control's website has an excellent history of the spread of the disease, including a timeline. The Smithsonian Magazine's website also has a good article. And don't forget, it's still not too late to get a flu shot, if you haven't already done so!
Influenza (Also called Flu or la Grippe)
Influenza has been known to humans since the twelfth century when an epidemic spread through Europe in 1173. The disease wasn't named, however, until the eighteenth century, when scientists in Italy assumed that only some heavenly "influence" could strike down so many people in so many locations at one time. Of course, they had no knowledge then of what caused most illnesses; in fact, in the early 1890s, a German doctor declared that he had identified the bacteria that caused the flu. He was wrong, however, since flu is caused by a virus.The flu is a respiratory infection (there really is no such thing as the "stomach flu," although we hear people say they have it all the time!). The virus, like the common cold, is spread from person to person by coughing, sneezing, or touching infected objects. In early epidemics in Europe, the flu was mostly just an inconvenience. Seldom did people die from it, and those who did, for the most part, were elderly or already suffering from other ailments. It is only when the influenza virus began mutating into more potent forms, as viruses do, that the disease became fatal to a wider population.
The Pandemic of 1918 (Also called the Spanish Flu)
The outbreak after World War I was called the Spanish flu because the Spanish did not censor reporting about the spread of the disease while other countries were keeping it under wraps. However, we know now that the virus did not begin in Spain at all. Wherever it did begin (which is still uncertain), the virus spread quickly and widely because of troop movements at the end of the war. Unlike previous strains of influenza, this one attacked everyone and was most devastating to young people who appeared to be perfectly healthy. Within a year, the disease had reached every country on the planet and affected almost every household in some way. Unlike previous incarnations of flu, this variety was a killer. It often led to bacterial pneumonia (and there were no antibiotics until almost thirty years later) and sometimes, and most horribly, developed a symptom called "heliotrope cyanosis," in which the lungs filled with fluid and the patient died of lack of oxygen, their bodies turning blue or purple before they passed away.Efforts to prevent the flu from spreading were widespread, but, as we are seeing with today's coronavirus, not effective enough, and, of course, there were no vaccines or adequate medical treatments.
Implications for Genealogists
Did you have relatives who died between 1918 and 1920? Have you looked at the cause of death on their death certificates or in their obituaries? Were they young and in good health but died suddenly? It is very likely that your family was affected by the great pandemic. Look for death by pneumonia, death by "la Grippe," or other respiratory infections as clues that your relative was a victim of this disease. Here are two examples. As you can see, influenza in both cases led to respiratory infections. Homer, age 36, died of pneumonia just nine days after contracting the flu, and Mary, age 66, died of bronchitis six weeks after she was taken ill.
Want to read more about the 1918 pandemic? The Center for Disease Control's website has an excellent history of the spread of the disease, including a timeline. The Smithsonian Magazine's website also has a good article. And don't forget, it's still not too late to get a flu shot, if you haven't already done so!
19 August 2019
Replacing Military Records Lost in the NPRC Fire in 1973
Friday the 13th of July was an extremely unlucky day for the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) on 
Page Avenue in St. Louis County. On Thursday evening, a fire broke out just after midnight, and within hours, a good part of the sixth floor was blazing. Throughout the next day, the fire appeared to be under control, but by that night, it actually had spread to parts of the fourth and fifth floors. Unfortunately, the building had no fire walls and no sprinkler system on the upper floors. With millions of paper military records inside to feed the fire, it took the whole weekend to fully extinguish the flames, which covered the mid-county area with billows of dark smoke and were visible for miles.
The sixth floor had contained twentieth-century military records of Army and Air Force personnel: about five million World War I service records, nine million World War II records, and an additional six million records from the wars in Korea and Vietnam War. Some Air Force records were stored elsewhere in the building, so they were spared.
But what if you have copies of some of those records? Is there any way you can help supplement what is left or help rebuild a ruined file? Nancy Schuster from the National Archives-St. Louis offers the following guidelines to those who may have copies of military records that might replace what was destroyed.
If you have copies of discharge papers, certificates, or any other relevant papers for your veteran that you would like to donate, you can mail your copies to:
If you have further questions, you can contact NARA-St. Louis at stl.archives@nara.gov
You can check out the genealogy page of their website here.
More information about the fire? An interesting article is available here.
Page Avenue in St. Louis County. On Thursday evening, a fire broke out just after midnight, and within hours, a good part of the sixth floor was blazing. Throughout the next day, the fire appeared to be under control, but by that night, it actually had spread to parts of the fourth and fifth floors. Unfortunately, the building had no fire walls and no sprinkler system on the upper floors. With millions of paper military records inside to feed the fire, it took the whole weekend to fully extinguish the flames, which covered the mid-county area with billows of dark smoke and were visible for miles.The sixth floor had contained twentieth-century military records of Army and Air Force personnel: about five million World War I service records, nine million World War II records, and an additional six million records from the wars in Korea and Vietnam War. Some Air Force records were stored elsewhere in the building, so they were spared.
But what if you have copies of some of those records? Is there any way you can help supplement what is left or help rebuild a ruined file? Nancy Schuster from the National Archives-St. Louis offers the following guidelines to those who may have copies of military records that might replace what was destroyed.
- NARA-St. Louis will accept photocopies of papers but NOT original documents.
- NARA will NOT accept photographs or anything other than paper.
- They are NOT equipped to handle digital copies nor will they take medals or other memorabilia.
If you have copies of discharge papers, certificates, or any other relevant papers for your veteran that you would like to donate, you can mail your copies to:
The National Archives-St. Louis
Attn: Military Documents
PO Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138
If you have further questions, you can contact NARA-St. Louis at stl.archives@nara.gov
You can check out the genealogy page of their website here.
More information about the fire? An interesting article is available here.
15 April 2019
Missouri Soldiers Database: 1812 through WWI
Did you know that the Missouri State Archives has a massive database on their website holding information on Missouri soldiers who fought from the nineteenth into the beginning of the twentieth century? Called The Soldiers Database: War of 1812–World War I, it contains information, according to the website, on more than 576,000 Missourians "who served in the military from territorial times through World War I. . . . The records primarily consist of individual service cards, but the extensive collection also includes muster rolls, special orders, reports, and more."
The service cards were originally created "to collect historical and statistical information about the men and women who served in the military." The information on them was abstracted from original records and maintained by the Missouri Adjutant General's office until they were transferred to the Missouri State Archives. The original cards contain a wide variety of information, including description of wounds, dates of enlistment, service, and discharge, and, of course, personal data.
The Soldiers Database includes entries for twelve wars and military engagements, from the well-known, such as the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I, to the "battles that were peculiarly Missourian, including the Heatherly War of 1836, the Mormon War of 1838, and the Iowa (Honey) War of 1839. The bulk of the service cards, more than 380,000 of them, record the fractured history of Missouri during the bloodiest of all American wars—the Civil War." There are descriptions of all the wars on the site.
The database can be searched by soldier's name or unit. Digital images of original service records are linked for many of the soldiers; however, not all.
Begin your search by placing either a surname or last name, first name into the search box. You will get a list from which to choose that gives you names, wars, and some description. Next, click on a person of interest and you will get a screen like the one below. If there is a button at the bottom next to "Image" so you can view the record, click on the button. A PDF will download to your computer. In this case, notice the interesting information on the soldier's Civil War record on the white card below.
Ready to search? Here is the URL:
The service cards were originally created "to collect historical and statistical information about the men and women who served in the military." The information on them was abstracted from original records and maintained by the Missouri Adjutant General's office until they were transferred to the Missouri State Archives. The original cards contain a wide variety of information, including description of wounds, dates of enlistment, service, and discharge, and, of course, personal data.
The Soldiers Database includes entries for twelve wars and military engagements, from the well-known, such as the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I, to the "battles that were peculiarly Missourian, including the Heatherly War of 1836, the Mormon War of 1838, and the Iowa (Honey) War of 1839. The bulk of the service cards, more than 380,000 of them, record the fractured history of Missouri during the bloodiest of all American wars—the Civil War." There are descriptions of all the wars on the site.
The database can be searched by soldier's name or unit. Digital images of original service records are linked for many of the soldiers; however, not all.
Begin your search by placing either a surname or last name, first name into the search box. You will get a list from which to choose that gives you names, wars, and some description. Next, click on a person of interest and you will get a screen like the one below. If there is a button at the bottom next to "Image" so you can view the record, click on the button. A PDF will download to your computer. In this case, notice the interesting information on the soldier's Civil War record on the white card below.
Ready to search? Here is the URL: