52 Ancestors Week 9: Disaster

Although I have been unable to find an example, surely in my nearly nine years of blogging I have alluded to the fact that my Grandpa Jack's family home burned sometime shortly after he returned from the service in WWII. It is a fact of which I have long been aware, and is the reason that so few photos from Grandpa's side of the family exist. Some of the few that do survive are actually singed around the edges, physical artifacts of that disaster.

For some reason, though, I never could seem to find any independent information on the fire. All I knew was the little that Grandpa told me. However, a mere two weeks ago, I finally found my first independent source: an article appeared in the 18 Aug 1948 edition of the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. So now I finally have a date for that fateful blaze. It must have happened on 11 Aug 1948.

The article reads:

Interior of Home Damaged by Fire

Fire, heat and smoke damaged the interior of the two-story home of Francis A. Hoyt, 1102 South Thirty-fifth street, Wednesday.

Two companies of firemen brought the blaze under control. It is believed a kerosene stove in the kitchen caused the fire. Hoyt told firemen he heard what sounded like an explosion in the stove.

 

Though brief, there is some valuable information contained in that article. First of all, as aforementioned, I can finally put a date to the incident. Secondly, the address is given. From city directories and other sources, I know that the Hoyts lived in that house from at least 1940 and continued to live there until at least 1957. There must have been some serious renovations made. Thirdly, it was a two-alarm fire. This makes me certain that this article is truly the correct event. In the past I have managed to find another article concerning a fire at the Hoyt house, but that one was a minor chimney fire and quickly put out. This one bears much more the character of the fire Grandpa spoke of. Lastly, the article says that the fire was believed to be caused by the kitchen stove. That rings a bell somewhere deep in my memory. It seems that Grandpa once told me that.

Incidentally, the Francis A. Hoyt referred to in the article was Grandpa's dad, my great-grandfather.

Citation:

"Interior of Home Damaged by Fire," Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 18 Aug 1948, p. 12, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 Feb 2020), World Collection. 

Military Monday: WWI Veteran Albert Hoyt

 

Thank you to my cousin who sent me these wonderful pictures of Albert Hoyt in his Army uniform.
In this one, Albert is on the left. The other people are unidentified.

This week I will discuss (albeit briefly) the service of the only World War I veteran in my direct line: my great-grandfather Francis Albert Hoyt, Sr. He enlisted in the United States Army on 22 Oct 1918. Of course, the war ended on 11 Nov 1918, less than a month later, so he never saw any action. He was discharged on 29 Apr 1919, having served his six months. I have thus far been unsuccessful in identifying his unit or where he was stationed. However, I do know that he had enlisted in Missouri.
 

Albert Hoyt at attention in camp.

Sources:

1925 Iowa state census, Pottawattamie, Iowa, population schedule, Council Bluffs Ward 5, dwelling 3510 5th Ave, line 106-107, household of F. A. Hoyt; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Feb 2010); citing Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.

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 11 Jun 2016), entry for Francis Hoyt; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 A Valentine from my grandfather Jack Hoyt to my grandmother Rose. Unknown date.

Romance in Omaha

Today would have been my grandfather’s 87^th birthday. Would have been. Last month he passed away, and is at long last back with Grandma. One of his all-time favorite stories to tell was the account of how he met Grandma, and it was also one of my favorite stories to hear. This story is doubly appropriate right now, given that yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and this is the tale of a real-life romance.

Grandpa’s real name was Francis Albert Hoyt, Jr., but he always went by “Jack.” Grandma was born Rose Stroesser, but she had the nickname of “Frenchie.” Both had served the U.S. Navy during WWII, but that is not how they met. Rose had been stationed most of the time in Washington, D.C. , whereas Jack served aboard the U.S.S. Moffett and saw quite a bit of action in the Mediterranean. When the war was over, he became restless, never content to stay home.

He lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the river from Omaha, Nebraska. He spent a great deal of time in Omaha, as it was the larger city. There was a dance hall on 19^th and Dodge Street called the Music Box. Many local big bands passed through there, including Lawrence Welk in his early days. The Music Box was more than just a dance hall; above the dance floor was a mezzanine containing a lounge, and on the third floor was a bowling alley.

Jack occasionally worked at the Music Box as a bouncer. The dance floor was for all ages, but the lounge was only for those 21 or older. Perhaps he helped to enforce the age restriction. He has also mentioned that there were rules against letting go of your partner’s hand, and he would remind the jitterbuggers to hang on. One evening, as Jack was in the bar (whether he was bouncer or patron that night, he has never mentioned), a lovely young woman and a group of her friends passed through on their way to the bowling alley. 

Rose and a date (not Jack) in the lounge at the Music Box, 19 Jan 1947

“Who is that woman?” Jack asked the bartender.

“That’s Frenchie Stroesser,” the bartender replied. “Stay away from her. She’s out of your league.” (Or words to that effect.)

Jack remained nonplussed. “Joe,” he said, “I’ll have you know I’m going to marry that woman.”

The bartender bet him a fifth of bourbon that he wouldn’t. But of course, Jack won the bet. And whenever he told this story he would always add, “I never got the bourbon, though.” But that didn’t matter to him because he did get the girl.

Quite often Jack would end the story there, but my favorite part was in a postscript. There were several things he had to do before marrying Rose. He had to ask her father for her hand, and he had to convert to Catholicism. But also, most delightfully to my ears, he had to persuade her to marry him.

Jack had been born 15 Feb 1925, but Rose had been born 5 May 1924. Although their ages were close, the fact remained that Rose was older. Her brothers and sisters teased her about “robbing the cradle,” and she was self-conscious about it. But Jack found the perfect way around their nine month age difference:

God made a man for every woman, he told her. However, there was a slight error when He created Rose—there was no man for her! So He immediately got to work. Nine months later along came Jack. This clever anecdote did the trick. Jack Hoyt and Rose Stroesser were married on 25 June 1949.

Wedding portrait of Jack and Rose Hoyt