Military Monday: Waldo Swander

Waldo E. Swander was born in York Township, Sandusky County, Ohio in 1887 to William and Emiline Swander. During World War One, Waldo Swander served as a Sergeant in Company B with the 308th Engineers of the American Expeditionary Forces. Mr. Swander passed away in Fremont, Ohio on December 23, 1923 at the age of 36. He was survived by his wife Carrie. Waldo E. Swander was laid to rest at the Castalia Cemetery. The Corps Castle, logo of the Army Corps of Engineers is inscribed on the center of his tombstone.

Lawrence Moore, 1880-1919

Lawrence Moore was a graduate of Sandusky High School and the Princeton University. During World War One, he served as captain in the Motor Transport Corps. After the war's end, Lawrence Moore worked as an engineer for the Westinghouse Electric Company. While working for Westinghouse in England in December of 1919, Mr. Moore became sick and died in a hospital in London, England. He was not yet 40 years of age. His remains were returned to the United States, and he was buried in the North Ridge section of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Lawrence Moore was survived by his mother, Mrs. Mary Moore, of California, and formerly a Sandusky resident. Lawrence was the grandson of Judge Walter F. Stone, who had been a Supreme Court Judge for the state of Ohio. An obituary for Lawrence Moore appeared in the December 26, 1919 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Charles Albert Peters, 1864-1932

Charles Albert Peters was born in Sandusky in 1864, to Jacob and Salome Peters. He was a printer by trade, being connected with the Acme Printing Company in Sandusky for several years. According to the Sandusky Register of December 25, 1932, Charles A. Peters died at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland on December 23, 1932, after an illness of six weeks. Mr. Peters was survived by his wife Ada, and a brother, William F. Peters. Another brother, A.J. Peters, preceded him in death. Charles A. Peters was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

Sentimental Sunday: When Santa Wore a Beard Made from a Mop

Pictured above are my husband and I with our cousins Mary Clyde and her husband June, who live in Georgia. Since I married into the Paul family, Mary Clyde has been so very kind to share lots of the Paul family heritage with me. Below is a story that Mary Clyde recently told me. It involves a Christmas time spent in Germany, when her father, Clyde Paul, was serving in the Army during World War Two. To set the scene, here is a picture of Uncle Clyde and Aunt Mary, when Uncle Clyde was still in military service.

Here is the story of the Christmas in 1944, as retold by Clyde Paul's daughter, Mary Clyde.

Another Christmas story was when Daddy was in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge during WWII in Germany - the Christmas of 1944.  On Christmas Eve Daddy & several Army buddies were holed up in a bombed out home that still had the family living there.  The children of the family asked the soldiers to celebrate Christmas with the family which they did.  Daddy said Santa visited the children that night - he was wearing an old red suit with a beard made from a mop and all he brought the children were cookies made with NO sugar (since sugar was in short supply).  The children gladly shared their cookies with the soldiers.  Daddy said that was the best cookie ever.

Uncle Clyde and Aunt Mary opened their home to us many a time when we traveled the many miles from Ohio to Georgia. They loved me as though I had been born a Paul, not just someone who married into the family. I cherish this story, and feel very lucky to have married into such a wonderful family! I can only imagine what the "Santa" looked like, with a beard made from a mop!






































 


Correction: Uncle Clyde's grandson Andy informed us that his grandfather was serving in France in 1944,  not in Germany. Thanks for letting us know, Andy!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: December 21, 2013

Randy, at GeneaMusings, invited us to make a surname Christmas tree today! Visit GeneaMusings to read more about this edition of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! Here is my Christmas tree made of surnames, including my current last name.

The way I made was tree was to use WordPad, and I centered all the words. I changed the colors of the font to green and brown for the Christmas tree. For the gifts, I used the letter "e" in Webdings font, and changed the colors of the gifts along the bottom of the tree.

Thanks for such a fun activity so close to Christmas!

Clement Clark, Marine Engineer

Clement Clark was born in Sandusky, on December 21, 1856. Mr. Clark lived his entire life in Sandusky, where he was employed as a marine engineer. Through the years Clement Clark worked on several different Great Lakes boats. On October 31, 1911, Clement Clark was issued a patent for an emergency brake. The full text of this patents is available at Google Patents.























On December 10, 1932, Clement Clark passed away suddenly. He was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery next to his wife Mary, who had died in 1926. An obituary for Clement Clark appeared in the December 11, 1932 issue of the Sandusky Register. Mr. Clark was survived by three daughters, eight children, and a brother who was living in New Rochelle, New York.

Tombstone Tuesday: Sheldon White Neill, 1902-1927

Sheldon White Neill's lifespan only covered twenty five years. His name represents three different family names from his family tree. Of course Neill is the surname of his father, J.J. Neill. White was the maiden name of his mother, Harriet White Neill. Sheldon was the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, Catharine Sheldon Neill, wife of  W.H. Neill. Sheldon White Neill was born on June 2, 1902. He died on December 13, 1927 from myocardial disease and typhoid fever. An obituary for Sheldon White Neill, which appeared in the December 13, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, reported that Sheldon had graduated from Ohio State University in 1924. He was survived by his father, two brothers, and five sisters. Funeral arrangements for Sheldon White Neill were handled by Marquart and Keller, and he was buried in the family lot at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. He left this earth much too soon.