Military Monday: WWI Veteran Ormond Brosius

 

By US government related, H.R. Hopps 1917 http://www.dhm.de/lemo/objekte/pict/pl003967/index.html [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Halfway through the year, it finally dawns on me that this year is the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I. And so, rather belatedly, but fortunately not too late, I have decided to do a series of short posts on members of my family who served in that war. Some posts will be much shorter than others due to lack of information, but I feel I ought to share what I can.

This week I thought I would start with my great-uncle Ormond Brosius, because he seems the least distant from me, being the only WWI veteran in my family who I actually met. Granted, I don’t recall the meetings, having been a newborn at the time, and then again when I was about a year old, but I do recall his cabin up in the Grand Tetons. We visited there when I was seven or eight years old, years after his death. And my whole life my dad has delighted in sharing the wild second- and third-hand stories he remembered about his uncle. But today the focus is on his service in WWI.

In April of 1917, just a couple weeks after the United States declared war on Germany, Ormond enlisted in the U.S. Army. In 1979, he recounted the experience in a conversation with his brother Lowell. Oh, and I better warn you that there is some profanity in this transcription.
 

Ormond: Yes. I had to lie.

Lowell: Stay young, that’s the way.

Ormond: There was three of us. When war was declared there was three of us.

Lowell: Yeah, I know. Ma told me.

Ormond: Frank Geller and myself and Burt Sheridan. We got on the Missouri-Pacific and went up to Wichita to enlist. Well, they told their right age. I was 16, see, and they was 18. So we got in this line. They didn’t ask…

Lowell: That’s where the old bullshit started flying, huh?

Ormond: These boys was in the league of the [infantry?]. Ol’ Burt says, “I’m 18.” This old boy wrote it down. “Go on.” And Frank Geller was a-next. And they told him—

Lowell: Was this Mrs. Geller’s—

Ormond: Yes, Mrs. Geller that you was reading about. She just lived across the street. When they come to me, I told the truth. I said, “16.” And he said, “Young man, you come back in a couple of years.” So, the next morning I got right in this line, and when I got there I told them, “18.” “Go right ahead.” See? That’s how that happened. See. Boy, it pays to be a liar sometimes.

Lowell: Yeah, sometimes it does.

Ormond, in his mother's handwriting, "the day he inlisted."

His enlistment date was 24 Apr 1917. Presumably, the most part of the following year was spent in training. He was initially assigned to the 18th Field Artillery, and was already a sergeant by the time he sailed aboard the Aeolus from the port of Hoboken, New Jersey on 23 Apr 1918. He is said to have served in five major campaigns. Based on the units in which he is known to have served, these campaigns seem to have been the Second Battle of the Marne (15 July-6 Aug 1918), for which the 18th Field Artillery received the Croix de Guerre. This battle seems to have been broken up into three separate campaigns in which Ormond might have been engaged: the Champagne-Marne Offensive (15-18 July 1918), the Battle of Champagne (15 July 1918), and the Aisne-Marne Offensive (18 July-6 Aug 1918). He was also likely at the Battle of St. Mihiel (12-15 Sept 1918) and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (26 Sept-11 Nov 1918).

The war ended on 11 Nov 1918. Ormond recalled his experiences following the armistice in his continuing 1979 conversation with his brother Lowell. My mom, Sugar, also got in on this part of the conversation a little.

Ormond: They put us, you know, we was regular army. And after November the eleventh, they quit fighting, you know. And they took us, we went in there, and all them little towns, Bulge, Kottenheim, [Main?] and all of them. They were only about three or four kilometers from one town to the other, see. And I was a sergeant. And I had twenty-six men. And they told me to put one man in a village, you know, a house, and I stayed in a house. And if I told you how many children or kids that old lady had, you wouldn’t believe me, so I won’t tell you. But I lived with them. And I didn’t know no more German than that horse that’s over there.

Sugar: Ha ha! What horse?

Ormond: So when I sit down to the table, all them kids. Now, she had [zweif swanson?]. Can you tell me what that was?

Lowell: I’ll tell you something, you know something. I can understand German now, and I can talk. I can eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben. But to talk it anymore, I can’t… ’Cause I used to have to, you know, when I was young. Oh yeah, that’s Swiss, it’s the same thing. There’s high and low German.

Ormond: Well, that’s the way… And we’d sit down at this table, you know, with all these kids around. This is a big old lady. They didn’t have nothing to eat over there but kartoffeln, or potatoes, see.

Lowell: Rutabagas is another one that they...

Ormond: Yeah, and carrots, and stuff like that. And I’d point at something. We had a schoolteacher there, that stayed with them, old lady and them kids. And I’d point at something, and the kids would all tell me, you know. It didn’t take me long and I was talking—

Lowell: You can pick that up. It’s not that hard.

Sugar: If you wanted your food, you said it.

Ormond: Yeah. So one day they sent an orderly down from headquarters after me, for me to come to headquarters and I didn’t know that there was anybody there that understood English. And it made me mad, and I got to cussing and this schoolteacher, she was a German woman, but she’d been in Chicago one year teaching school. And she was there on a vacation. And they kept her, see. And she could talk English as good as I could. But I didn’t know it. And she could tell what I was saying. And she told me I ought to be ashamed of myself.

Eventually Ormond was sent back to the U.S. He traveled from Brest, France aboard the U.S.S. Madawaska to Brooklyn, New York, on 12 Aug 1919, arriving on 23 Aug 1919. His recorded release from service date is 22 Aug 1919, which seems curious given his date of arrival. I am not yet proficient enough in WWI research to know whether that is a regular procedure or a likely error.

Ormond, age 18, in Army uniform

Sources:

Find A Grave, “Find A Grave,” database and images, Find A Grave (www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 Nov 2009); Ormond John Brosius (Memorial #39305605); record added 10 July 2009 by Lovell Cemetery.

Ormond Brosius (Portland, Oregon), recording of conversation with family and friends by Sugar Brosius, Aug 1979; audio cassette, digitized to mp3 format privately held by Amber Brosius.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Apr 2015), entry for Ormond Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939,” online images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Jun 2018), manifest, Aeolus, 23 Apr 1918, entry no. 40, for Ormond J. Brosius, service no. 1,042,684.

“U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939,” online images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Jun 2018), manifest, U.S.S. Madawaska, 12 Aug 1919, entry no. 1, for Ormond J. Brosius, service no. 1042684.

Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 5): Trading Addresses

Although this is the only photo in this post which was unmarked, I know the subject very well. It is Uncle Lowell himself. There were two copies of this picture in his collection, and my guess is that he had originally a whole handful of them, which he signed and passed out to his buddies.

I have saved the best for last! In this short series presenting my great-Uncle Lowell’s small collection of pictures from his time in the Army, we have finally reached the pile of marked photographs. This sub-collection appears to be Lowell’s buddies, many of them giving their postal address. I presume that they were exchanged towards the end of their basic training (or perhaps their tours of duty), as a way to keep in touch in the future.

Lowell had enlisted on 10 Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from service on 18 Apr 1946. For at least part of that time, he served with the Military Police.

If you find a photograph of your own loved one on this page, you may want to check out the first, second, third, and fourth posts in this series. There may be another, unmarked, photo among those pictures. And if you are able to identify any of those people, please let me know. I would love to find out!

This is one of the few pictures with names and addresses on it that is set in front of a building with slatted siding. I love that it shows the men playing dice and drinking beer. The names are Albert Matkovich, with the address 1271 E 170 St, Cleveland, Ohio, and B. L. (or B. F.?) Simpson, with the address P.O. 62, Bells, Tenn.

Albert Matkovich must have really wanted to keep in touch, because there are two more signed pictures of him in Lowell’s collection.

This picture, also signed by Albert Matkovich, appears to have been taken in the same general area. Some of the buildings in the background have the same type of siding as the building in the picture above, and several wooden walkways are visible which are similar to the walkway shown in the picture above. This time Albert Matkovich is shown hard at work shoveling. His address is still 1271 E 170 St, Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Here is Albert Matkovich yet again, with the same address of 1271 E 170 St, Cleveland, Ohio. It is set in front of some sort of long building with windows its entire length, perhaps a barracks? The building number is “I 94 H,” and if you look carefully you will see that every photograph posted below (with the possible exception of one) was taken in front of the same building, as was the picture of Lowell at the top of this post.

In this picture of Pvt Desmond Call you can see a gas mask hanging from the shutter of the window. His address is Soda Springs, Idaho. These were the days of general delivery, in which one could address a letter with only a name and city and the letter would still be delivered. I have found a several cards or letters among my grandparents’ papers which are addressed so simply.

In this photograph of Ed Whitten, he does not rely on general delivery, but gives his full address of 48 Rockvale Circle, Jamaica Plain, Mass. He also parenthetically explains that he lives in the Boston area. In the picture, he is showing his rifle.

This photograph is the one possible exception to the series of photos in front of building “I 94 H.” It is the only one in which the address is not visible, and the only one in which the window shutters are closed. It does, however, appear to be the same building. The man in the picture is identified as Rocco Robertson of Providence, Rhode Island. On the back the street address “87 Harold St” is added.

This photograph of S. J. Marquis is once again taken in front of building “I 94 H,” but in examining the address it becomes apparent that the image has been reversed! He gives his address as 637 Prindle St., Chehalis, Washington. With the relatively short distance of this address from Lowell’s own in Portland, Oregon, I wonder if they ever got together again after the war.

This last photo in front of building “I 94 H,” also showing that gas mask dangling from the window shutter, is of Wynn Tingey of Tremonton, Utah.

Sources:

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

National Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 4): In the Field

This may be a picture of the army camp from a distance, or this may be a picture of the European countryside.

Parts one, two, and three of this short series have already been posted. In this series, I have been posting my great-uncle Lowell’s small collection of photographs from his time in the U.S. Army. He had enlisted on 10 Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from service on 18 Apr 1946. For at least part of that time, he served with the Military Police.

This time, I will post pictures that appear to have been taken in that vague “somewhere in Europe” during the war. None of them are marked with names or locations, and, although I can recognize Lowell himself when he appears, I have no knowledge of the other people who might show up. Because of other (marked) photos in the collection, I can make a guess on a couple of them, though.

In this photo, Lowell is on the left. The cannon they are posing by appears to be similar or the same as the one that shows up in the first post with Lowell and Melvin Chrisman. In fact, I believe that I should have placed this photo with those other two, despite this cannon being set up and the other one still on the truck. The man on the right certainly resembles the man identified as Melvin Chrisman in the other picture, and the pictures could easily have been taken the same day. 

Once again, Lowell is on the left in this photograph. I am inclined to think that this picture was also taken the same day and that the man on the right is again Melvin Chrisman.

Lowell is again on the left, but this time I am not convinced that the man on the right is Melvin Chrisman or that this photo was taken the same day as the other two. It appears to have been taken somewhere in a city, whereas the other pictures look more rural, and the men are wearing different uniforms. The man on the right is armed and also seems to be carrying a canteen and some other unidentified objects.

This picture has me completely at a loss. It appears to have been taken in a city somewhere, and the two men in the picture are unidentified. I could find no one in the marked pictures who in my opinion resembled either of these men. I notice that they are standing under a “one way” sign, which is made out of cardboard and apparently tacked on to the brickwork.

Sources:

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

National Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 3): Around Camp

This photo appears to be of a military camp of some sort. I have no idea what the long white thing is in the middle. Two ideas that occurred to me were a huge Thanksgiving table or a raised roadway. That should give you some notion of how clueless I am about this picture.

As I have already written in the first and second installments of this short series on my great-Uncle Lowell’s army photos, Lowell Brosius enlisted on 10 Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from service 18 Apr 1946. He served with the Military Police for at least a portion of that time.

This time around I am posting some pictures that appear to have been taken around camp. Whether it is basic training camp, a camp where he served somewhere in Europe, some combination of both, or something else, I have no idea. Perhaps research will eventually answer some of those questions.

I can generally recognize Lowell when he appears in a photo, but most if not all of the pictures this week are unmarked, and I do not know who the other people are. Once again, I will do my best to guess at identities based upon the few marked pictures in Lowell’s collection, but many in this group of pictures are particularly poorly focused and I don’t foresee my success rate as being very good this week.

In this picture, for instance, I wouldn’t dare try to guess the identities of the men. I imagine that if I had been there and known them personally the figures in this photograph would be sufficient for identification, but that is not the case. The buildings are reasonably clear, though, and it is interesting to imagine what life was like in those wooden-skeletoned tents.

The only identified person in any of Lowell’s pictures who remotely resembles this man is Wynn Tingey, but I am not convinced that this is he. Whoever he is, note that he is displaying something in his hands. I think it may be a pistol, but it was evidently moved during the shutter exposure. I also enjoy the fact that he is photographed against a background of clean laundry.

Here are two more men against the same background of clean laundry. Note that the man on the left is holding a pistol. I could not find anyone in Lowell’s marked pictures who resembled either of these men enough to merit hazarding a guess at their identities.

I rather like this one. It is set against the same backdrop of clean laundry, but in this picture the subject is also photographing the photographer. I think the man may be the same one who was holding the pistol above, but that picture is too blurry to make a very good comparison.

There certainly seems to have been a lot of posing going on in front of that clean laundry that day. I would say that the man pictured on the left is the same one who was aiming a camera at the photographer in the picture just above, and the man on the right is the same one who I thought somewhat resembled Wynn Tingey.

I would guess that this photo was taken within seconds of the one above. The man on the left is almost certainly the same man in the photograph above (as well as the photograph above that), but the man on the right appears to be a different person than in the picture above. I would guess him to be Melvin Chrisman, although he also somewhat resembles Albert Matkovich and S. J. Marquis.

Whew! It is exhausting examining every face and comparing it to every face in every other photograph. I think that at this point I am ready to turn down the level of ambition just a bit. We appear to remain in the laundry day photo session, but only for a short time longer.

 

And now we shall move toward a different area of the camp (if, indeed, it is the same camp), away from the living area toward what appears to be (judging from my experiences watching old movies—I claim absolutely no firsthand knowledge of army camps) the motor pool.

This is perhaps one of my favorite pictures in this series, and not only because there is a puppy in it. It is also one of my favorites because you can see Lowell’s reaction to the puppy. He was a dog-lover, too, and you can see it in his face. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Lowell is the man on the right. While the other man is posing for the picture and trying to show the puppy to the camera, Lowell’s focus is on the puppy.

Here is one last picture, which appears to have been taken in the same general area:

Sources:

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

National Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 2)

Lowell and two unidentified buddies standing in front of a Jeep. The Jeep number is partially visible. The vehicle has a tattered-looking cover, and a shovel and what appears to be an ax are attached to the side. With those tools, I wonder if it may have been intended for use in some sort of fire-fighting, though I don’t know if there was much demand for that in the Army in WWII. Lowell is the man on the left, with the cigarette in his hand. I never knew Lowell to smoke; he always chewed snus during my lifetime.

As I said in the last post, my great-uncle Lowell Brosius served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He enlisted on 10 Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from service 18 Apr 1946. At least part of that time he was an MP. I am posting some more of his photographs from his army days. Most of them, unfortunately, are unmarked. But some are marked, enabling me to make guesses as to the identities of some of the unmarked individuals.

This photo was obviously taken in front of the same Jeep as the photo at the beginning of this post, and the man at the right of this picture is clearly the same man at the center of the above picture. He resembles men identified in other photos as Desmond Call and Rocco Robertson, however his hairline does not quite match up with the hairlines in either of the identified photos. It is possible that it is one of those men with his hair swept forward, but I am not convinced. The man at the left of this picture resembles men identified in other pictures as Ed Whitten, S. J. Marquis, and Melvin Chrisman. In this case I would guess that it is Melvin Chrisman.

Here is another (rather blurry) photograph taken in front of that Jeep. This one, too, is unmarked. The man on the left is clearly (blurrily) the same man who was on the left in the second picture. I think that the man second from the left is the same man who was on the right in the first picture. That might be Uncle Lowell in the middle, but if it is it’s not a very good resemblance. However, I couldn’t find anyone else in the marked photos who it could be. The second man from the right could be Desmond Call or Rocco Robertson or S. J. Marquis or Albert Matkovich. The features are too blurry in this photograph for me to hazard a more positive guess. But I do feel pretty sure that the man on the far right is Wynn Tingey (or Wynn Fingey; I’m not quite confident about the handwriting on the marked photo).

As you can see, this time all the pictures were unmarked, but perhaps some of my guesses may help someone identify their family in one or more of these photos.

Sources:

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

National Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 1)

An unmarked picture, that to my untrained eye appears to have been taken at a military base somewhere. Perhaps this taken where they underwent their training. I do not recognize any of these men as my Uncle Lowell, but the shadows from the helmets make any identification difficult.

My great-uncle Lowell Brosius served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He enlisted on 10 Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from service 18 Apr 1946. He served with the Military Police.

Our family was very close to Uncle Lowell. When he could no longer drive, my dad (and usually I tagged along) would go over to his trailer house once a week and offer him the opportunity to do some grocery shopping. Sometimes Lowell would take us up on the offer, and other times he didn’t need to do any shopping, so we would hang out with him and visit for a while. When Lowell’s health began to fail and it was no longer advisable that he live alone, he moved in with us. We had a nice, finished basement which we fixed up as an apartment for him so he could have his independence, but we could check on him any time. If he became unwell enough to require nursing, we would have had to find a nursing home, but that never became necessary. He passed away one October morning in 1995, sitting in his easy chair.

As his closest family, we inherited his small collection of photographs. Unfortunately, most of them are unmarked, but some of them are. Today I thought I would showcase some of his photos from the war. Perhaps you will find someone from your family among these pictures.

[Please note, my comments on each picture appear below the image.]

This is one of the marked photographs, marked only “Lowell Brosius Speed Patrol Maurmelon France.” I recognize Lowell as the passenger in the Jeep. If you look carefully, you can see that the sign above the rear fender reads “Military Police.” The Jeep is numbered 20655756, and perhaps some day that will be of use in my research. Or yours, if you happen to recognize the driver. As for the driver, although he is unidentified in this picture, I may be able to make a guess. He resembles a man identified in another of Lowell’s pictures as Desmond Call. But then again, he also resembles the one identified as Rocco Robertson. But, really, I think Desmond Call is the more likely candidate. (Those photographs—and all others referred to in this post—will be in an upcoming post, and then you can compare them for yourself.)

This photograph is marked “Melvin Chrisman.”

This picture appears to have been taken in the same time and place as the one of Melvin Chrisman above. This one is not marked, but I’m pretty sure that is Uncle Lowell squatting atop the tire of that vehicle. I can picture Lowell and Melvin taking turns posing with the artillery while the other handles the camera.

The next group of pictures has a similar theme: army buddies posing with an interesting vehicle. This time it is some sort of caterpillar-tired thing marked “USA 950858.”

This first picture is Uncle Lowell. He had two copies of this one. The other print is in better condition and slightly brighter. It is easier to make out the numbering on the vehicle. But in my opinion this print shows Lowell’s face a little more clearly.

Here is the apparent mate to the picture of Lowell above. Unfortunately, it is not marked, so I cannot identify the man posing. He looks a little like a man identified in another photo as B. F. Simpson, but I am not convinced they are the same man. In the other photo, B. F. Simpson is kneeling on the ground, wearing a hat, so it is difficult to compare.

This is apparently the same vehicle, or at least the same type of vehicle, as the one pictured above, but taken from the opposite side. Perhaps it was taken in the same place, looking the opposite direction, though an inspection of the backgrounds in the three pictures inclines me to think that unlikely. The man is another unidentified friend of Uncle Lowell’s. He resembles men identified in other photos as Ed Whitten and S. J. Marquis, but this picture is too grainy for me to decide with much certainty between the two.

Although this portion of Lowell’s army photo collection was pretty low in names, I hope that my guesses may have helped someone out there!

Sources:

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

National Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem] Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Brosius Family in Chautauqua County, 1875-1880

(Continued from “Brosius family in Howard County, Kansas 1873ish-1875.”)

Howard county was gone. It had lately vanished into the mists of memory, and the twin counties of Elk and Chautauqua filled its vacancy. So without the trouble of actually moving, the Brosius family found their address had changed from Howard to Chautauqua county. How much of an effect the change in the civil government had upon John S. Brosius and his wife Frances is an open question. Little is known about this period in their lives. They apparently remained in their home in Belleville Township for some time, and were probably trying to start a family. Sadly, it would appear that their young marriage was beset by tragedy. John’s obituary mentions “[t]hree boys and one girl... born to this marriage,” and the known birth dates of two of these children suggest the period of 1875-1879 for the births of the first boy and the girl (“John Brosius Dead”). However, neither of those two children appear in the 1880 census. They must have died very young. Unfortunately, no documentation for the births and deaths of these children has yet been found.

Even less is known about John’s sister Rebecca during this period. During the 1875 Kansas census, she evidently was still dwelling in Belleville Township, but in the household of P. N. Williams. No explanation for this residence is offered within the census; it does not state her relationship to the head of the household, nor is an occupation ascribed to her. The clearest clue is entirely circumstantial: she is the last named member of the household, after a W. Henderson, whose occupation is given as “Farming.” In general, households on a census record are sorted with the family first and then any servants or employees. Although not directly stated, W. Henderson and Rebecca Brosius are probably the farmhand and the domestic servant, respectively.

John and Rebecca’s stepfather John Rodgers was also residing in Belleville Township. His wife, John and Rebecca’s mother, Margrette, had passed away in 1873, leaving him with three children in a relatively wild country. The operations of the James and Younger brothers, still famous for their outlawry, were sometimes uncomfortably nearby. Even closer to home, in Chautauqua county itself, something as simple as a quarrel concerning a water bucket could result in one brother murdering another (Cutler). Even without taking these dangers into consideration (and as a man, John Rodgers may have felt fully capable of protecting his children from such dangers), men at that time were seldom educated in child-rearing. John Rodgers may very well have wished for a companion to take over his duties in this area.

His choice fell upon a young woman named Ellen Edwards, fifteen years his junior, and possibly the daughter of his neighbor Isaac Edwards. Presumably after a suitable period of courtship, the wedding took place on 24 June 1877. So at the age of twenty years, Ellen found herself stepmother to three children, ages twelve, eight, and four.

This image has been trimmed from the original at FamilySearch.

Through all the joys and sorrows of the lives of the Brosius and Rodgers families, they were no doubt aware of the decreasing importance of the nearby city of Peru. Not much farther away from their homes, but to the northwest instead of the east, another city’s star was rising. At the formation of Chautauqua county, the hitherto miniscule town of Sedan was named the county seat, probably on account of its position near the geographical center of the county. At the time of its appointment, it contained only “a store, blacksmith shop, a district school building and one or two residences,” but with its new-found importance, Sedan quickly became a center of building and commerce (Cutler). In 1878, John S. Brosius and his wife Frances took up residence there, perhaps because the town provided ample employment and experience for anyone who wished to start a career in carpentry. Hitherto a farmer, John was embarking on his vocation as a carpenter.

As young John began his new business, his stepfather began his own new family. On 23 Sept 1878, the former Ellen Edwards, now Ellen Rodgers, became mother to a daughter of her own. The baby, named Mary Ellen Rodgers, bore no blood relationship to John S. Brosius, of course, but she was certainly known to him. There is ample evidence that he kept up relations with his half-siblings, and it is more than likely that these relations extended to his step-siblings as well.

As for his full sister Rebecca, it is possible that she made a trip back to her birthplace in Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Whether she made an appearance in person or not, some business was conducted on her behalf there. She, alone of the three Brosius children, had retained ownership of her inherited land in South Shenango Township. Being still a minor, of about seventeen years of age at the time, it was requisite that her guardian, David McKinley, handle her legal affairs. On 23 Mar 1878 he petitioned the court for permission to sell her land. This permission was granted, and on 25 Apr 1878 the land became the possession of Henry Myers for a consideration of $400.

But by the time the census was taken in 1880, she had returned (if she had ever left) to Kansas, and was now working as a domestic servant in the household of Samuel D. Thomason. She would almost certainly have met the youngest arrivals in her extended family: her nephew Clarence, born to John and Frances Brosius in about 1879, and her stepsister Liddia Margaret, born to John and Ellen Rodgers on 11 Mar 1880.

Like her brother John, she now made her home in Sedan. She appears three pages away from his household in the population schedule, which in a bustling young city like Sedan may not have implied much distance. Of course, one would need to see a plot map in order to make an accurate judgment on that head.

John Brosius’ household contains, as expected, himself, Frances, and Clarence, but there is also an unexplained fourth person. His name is Wesley Ewing, age 17, and his occupation is described as “Works on Livery Stable.” Whether he is any sort of relation to either John or Frances, or whether he is a boarder or a guest, is not recorded.

The household of John Rodgers bears no such surprises. They still remained in Belleville Township, and appear exactly as would be predicted, with John, his wife, and five children.

Citations and Selected Sources

1875 Kansas State Census, Howard, Kansas, population schedule, Belleville Twp, p. 10, dwelling 76, family 76, line 9, Rebecca Brosius; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 1 Feb 2014); citing Roll: ks1875_3, 1875 Kansas State Census, Microfilm reels K-1 – K-20, Kansas State Historical Society.

1875 Kansas State Census, Howard, Kansas, population schedule, Belleville Twp, p. 14, dwelling 114, family 114, line 20-23, Household of John Rodgers; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 Dec 2013); citing Roll: ks1875_3, 1875 Kansas State Census, Microfilm reels K-1 – K-20, Kansas State Historical Society.

1875 Kansas State Census, Howard, Kansas, population schedule, Belleville, p. 14, dwelling 117, family 117, line 30-31, Household of John Brosius; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 Dec 2013); citing Roll: ks1875_3, 1875 Kansas State Census, Microfilm reels K-1 – K-20, Kansas State Historical Society.

1880 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Belleville Township, enumeration district (ED) 66, p. 293 (stamped), dwelling 4, family 4, household of John Rodgers; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 Nov 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 375.

1880 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 15, p. 31, dwelling 290, family 298, Rebecca Brosius; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 Nov 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 375.

1880 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 75, p. 28, dwelling 260, family 267, household of John Brosius; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 Oct 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 375.

Chautauqua, Kansas, Marriage records, 1875-1883, v. B: 79, Rodgers-Edwards, 24 June 1877; digital image #59 of 238, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 Jan 2014).

Crawford, Pennsylvania, Orphans’ Court Record 753, No. 17: Petition of David McKinley Guardian of Rebecca Brosius for leave to sell real estate, April Term 1878; Crawford County Office of the Clerk of Courts, Meadville. Xerox copy sent to author by Gloria Brosius.

Cutler, William G. “Chautauqua County.” History of the State of Kansas. Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1883. Page numbers not indicated in transcription. Transcribed by Dwayne Crandall, Carol Crandall, and Bonnie Bunce in Kansas Collection Books. The Kansas Collection, April 1999. Web. Accessed 5 Nov 2006.

Find A Grave, “Find A Grave,” database and images, Find A Grave (www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 Aug 2014); Mary Ellen Cobb (Memorial #24270422); Record added 30 Jan 2008 by Del Huggins.

“John Brosius Dead,” (Sedan) Sedan Times-Star, 22 Apr 1920, p. 1, col. 2. Xerox copy sent to the author by Gloria Brosius.

State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics, “California, Death Index, 1940-1997,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Mar 2015), entry for Lydia Margaret Hall’s 1953 death.