Military Monday - Remembering a Female WWI Veteran

I saw this obituary as I was looking through microfilm.  Upon glancing at it I decided to print off a copy because it was for a World War I veteran and that veteran was 95 years old.  I didn't really read the obituary...until last night.  That's when I noticed that this WWI veteran was a woman!

Standard Speaker, 22SEP1986, pg2

"Mrs. William C. Beltz
World War I veteran

Mrs. Elsie L. Beltz, RN, age 95, formerly of Freeland, who resided the past six years with her niece, Mrs. Ruth (Boyle) Priestley of Grand Blanc, Mich., died early Sunday morning at the McLaren Hospital, Flint, Mich.

Born in Quakake, she was the daughter of the late Peter J. and Mary (Eveland) Shoemaker.

She was a resident of Freeland for 85 years before moving to Michigan.

She graduated from the Pottsville Hospital Training School of Nursing, in 1914, and prior to her retirement, she was employed by the Hazleton State General Hospital.

She was an Army veteran of World War I, and served with the Army Nurse Corp.

She was a member of St. Luke's Evangelical Church, Freeland; the Hazleton Chapter Order of the Eastern Star, the American Legion Post No. 473, Freeland, and the Lady Jeremiah Rebekah Lodge No. 93.

Preceding her in death was her husband, William C. Beltz, who died in 1965.

Surviving are three step sons, William, John and Wilbur Beltz, and a number of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. from the Cotterall Funeral Home, Freeland, with the Rev. Richard H. Summy, officiating.  Interment will be in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Tamaqua.

Relatives and friends will be received by the family on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.

Memorial donations to St. Luke's Evangelical Church, Freeland, will be appreciated."

Elsie was born on June 21, 1891.  She enlisted in the military on January 16, 1918 and was discharged on November 5, 1919.  She passed away on September 21, 1986 (US Department of Veteran Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010). Elsie didn't marry until she was about 35 years old and guessing from this obituary she and William had no biological children together.

Women served during WWI, especially in the Army Nurse Corp.  The influenza pandemic that hit during the time created a desperate need for nurses everywhere, and many were funneled into the military.  It's good to see this veteran remembered.  Thank you for your service, Elsie.

Tombstone Tuesday - Maurice Leib Blum

Civilian tombstone - Beth Israel Cemetery

I've been sharing about Maurice Blum recently.  As I try to discover more about the lady I grew up calling "Nana" I need to find out more about the people in her life and Maurice was her husband.  Maurice was born on April 10, 1895 in Warsaw, Poland.  He came to America around 1911.  Married Hazel Hill in the early 1940s and died on May 20, 1971 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  As you can read from my recent posts, Maurice did an awful lot in his life.  He really impresses the heck out of me and I wish I had known him.

Maurice was a veteran of World War I so he has a military stone with his regular tombstone.  I love that.  It not only lets you know someone was a vet, but tells you a little about their service.  Particularly good since getting military records can be a pain in the butt...especially since so many have been destroyed.  At least you might be able to find out more about the person's unit if you can't get their file.  This information can also help you get the right file if your veteran has a fairly common name.

Maurice's Military Marker

"Maurice L Blum
Pennsylvania
PVT Co C 30 Infantry
World War I
April 10, 1895    May 20, 1971"

I haven't had much luck finding information on this unit...for WWII, sure...not so much for WWI, but it'll be something that I check out for sure.  I'm a veteran and as silly as it sounds, I don't know the best places to look for this information.

Where do you look for unit histories?

Military Monday - Maurice's Life Before Hazel

Beth Israel Cemetery, Hazleton, PA

I'm continuing with my research into my "Nana's" family today with a World War I draft registration for her husband, Maurice Blum.  His obituary (here) was filled with so much information regarding his involvement in various organizations, but was lacking in his personal life.  No mention of how old he was.  No mention of where he was born or lived prior to Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  No mention of when he came to America.  Very little information about his marriage to Hazel, and only a passing mention of a sister living in Tel Aviv (a name would have been nice here).  What we do know is that he served in World War I so I went for his WWI Draft Registration.

Maurice wasn't living in Hazleton or even Luzerne county when he registered for the draft and he wasn't married to Hazel yet, so how could I be sure that I had the right WWI registration?  It wasn't hard to discover this.  There are lots of great records out there that touched on Maurice's military service like his WWII registration which not only listed Hazel as his wife, but gave his birth date and birth location. That birth information was exactly matched in a World War I registration in Allentown, Leigh County, Pennsylvania.  I can be pretty certain that this is the right Maurice.  I know stranger genealogical coincidences have occurred, but this with matches that corroborated it from census records that I know to be him and veterans burial records help to solidify this match (a visit to his grave when home also was helpful, but that's tomorrow).

So what did I find about Maurice and World War I and why is it important.

WWI Draft Registration*

Name and Age - Maurice L Blum / 22
Home Address - 609 N 6(th) Allentown PA
Date of Birth - April 10, 1895
Citizenship - declared intention
If not citizen, what nation are you a subject - Warsaw, Russia
Occupation - (unk) foreman silk mill
Employer - Allentown Silk, Allentown
Dependents - sisters
Marital status and race - single / caucasian
Prior military service - None
Exemption claims from military service and grounds - Two sisters in Europe

And about how Maurice looked (although there was a head shot of him with his obituary) - he was of a medium and slender build with blue eyes and light brown hair.

Remember that the borders to countries change.  They still do and always have.  Heck state and county borders in our own country do the same!  We all (should) know that Warsaw is in Poland not Russia, but at the time this was apparently not the case.  Even if you don't remember your history very well, what Maurice tells us in this registration lets us know that Warsaw was under Russian control then.  We also see that he is responsible for the support of 2 sisters that are still in Europe (presumably in Warsaw)  and that Maurice was not yet an optometrist.

From this registration I know his date and place of birth and can find him a bit more easily in the census records knowing that I may not find him in Luzerne county.  I can use his birth information to help narrow down searches including finding him on passenger lists and naturalization records.  Only two sisters are mentioned here and we know that one was alive and well in Tel Aviv in 1971, but we don't know her name or when she eventually passed on.  One hard to read record can yield a lot of information that will help me to find more and get to know Maurice (and thus Hazel) a little better.

*WWI Draft Registrations can be viewed from many genealogy search sites, both paid and free of charge like our wonderful National Archives!

Random Acts Of Genealogical Kindness - Karl A. Morgenthaler

Easton Express, 15APR1964, pg 38

Because we all have collateral information surrounding those obituaries and news articles we copy for our records.  Let's share them and hope that they benefit someone researching their genealogy.

“Karl A. Morgenthaler

A Requiem Mass for Karl A. Morgenthaler, 70, Columbia, N.J., was celebrated this morning in St. Jude Catholic Church, Blairstown.  Mr. Morgenthaler died Monday in Monroe County General Hospital, East Stroudsburg.

Rev. Michael Garry was the celebrant.  Interment was in Cedar Ridge Cemetery, Blairstown.  The pallbearers were James R. Snedeker, Howard KaKay, Richard Baumbach and Roy Fostle.

The funeral was conducted from the MacFadden Funeral Home, Belvidere.”  

There is a memorial for Karl on FindAGrave that shows that he served with Co E 132 Infantry during World War I and was a Sergeant.  He was awarded the Purple Heart, was born on November 15, 1893, and is buried with his wife, Myrtle.

Karl's Social Security Death Index information on Ancestry.com showed that his last residence was in New Jersey (which we knew from the obit), but that his card was issued in Illinois.  Oh, how I love the SSDI.  Without that piece of information it may have been much more difficult for someone researching Karl to know that he lived in Illinois!  In fact, Karl's WWI enlistment card was filed in Illinois.  We see from his military marker on his gravestone that he served in WWI and even received the Purple Heart, but did you know that Karl claimed exemption from service on that draft card citing tuberculosis?  Another nice piece of info gleaned from his draft card was that he was single in 1917 when filling it out.  That will help someone narrow down a marriage date.

A possible match for Karl can be found in the 1930 US Federal Census with his wife listed as Irene.  Living next door to a Philip and Katharina Morgenthaler who this Karl lived with in previous censuses.  If this is the right Karl, then he was born in Illinois and lived there through the 1940 census.  This Karl is marked as a veteran of WWI, but that doesn't mean it's him.  There were lots of veterans for that war. By the 1940 US Federal Census this couple had one child, a son, name Karl.  Is this the correct Karl?  Probably, but more research to confirm this would need to be done.

Always keep in mind that just because someone filed for an exemption from military service didn't mean that they didn't serve, especially when Soldiers were in demand.  Thank you for your service, Karl and rest in peace.

Military Monday - Martin Joseph Cayemberg

MJ Cayemberg awarded Purple Heart

 "Martin Cayemberg [sic], 875 Shawano avenue, was awarded the Purple Heart, United States Army medal for meritorious service in the World war, during the Memorial day program at the Columbus club Friday morning.  Cayemberg [sic] served with Co. A, 38th infantry, Third division.  H. J. Menard, master of ceremonies for the Memorial day observance, is pictured above pinning the medal on Cayemberg [sic] who is at the left."

MJ Cayemberg w/WWII Soldiers at DAV

"Nurse's Aide Miss Marianne Van Drisse is shown serving lunch to Privates Paul M. Albert, Jack Stricker, and Robert Davis with Martin J. Cayemberg, commander of the local D.A.V. after they donated blood to the American Red Cross mobile unit Monday evening.  The unit will complete a five day engagement here Friday afternoon."






Some newspaper clippings I came across in a scrapbook of articles that was passed on to me.  I had found the below article on him being "slightly wounded" during World War I in the Washington Post, but hadn't seen the articles on him being awarded the purple heart until I began scanning those albums!

Washington Post 11FEB1919 pg 8

Thanks to that fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973, this was the only information NPRC could/would release to me.  Can anyone explain to me why it's on a Freedom of Information Act form?

Without these newspaper articles an important part of Martin's life and military story would not have been told.