Category: Military

WWI Photo: Allen Lee Millard Gooch

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ Leave a comment

Here is a photo of my grandfather, Allen Lee Millard Gooch.  He served in the 89th Division, Military Police company in France.  He was inducted on 25 Apr 1918 and discharged 11 Jun 1919.  Below is a picture of him on his motorcycle–his job was to paint signs and ride to the front (or close to it) to post them.  I don’t know the nature of the signs, but I do have letters he wrote home which describe the bullets whizzing by his head as he was riding back to his unit.  I will post some of his letters sometime.  They are amazing!

A few pages from his Military Service Record are posted here.

200th Anniversary of the War of 1812

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ Leave a comment

Today we commemorate a big day in history. Betcha didn’t know!   This month War of 1812 databases are available for free at Fold3.com, so check them out. If you find the Fold3 is a website you like, you can access it for free at your local LDS Family History Center .

Here is a re -post from the Mocavo.com Newsletter regarding the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, by Michael J. Leclerc. There is more information about him on the APG website.

War of 1812 Ancestors

By Michael J. Leclerc

Monday, June 18, marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the start of the War of 1812. The bicentennial is being marked with much fanfare in Washington and elsewhere around the country.

The War of 1812 was the first time the United States officially declared war (although the Quasi-War with France and the first Barbary War preceded it, there were no official declarations of war in those instances). The War of 1812 was vehemently opposed by the New England states, who feared the damage that would come to their merchant fleets. Indeed, the War of 1812 had more official political opposition than any other war through the end of the twentieth, including the Vietnam War. Despite this, and the fact that our national anthem was written at the Battle of Baltimore near the end of the war, Americans don’t know much about it.

One of the major problems leading to the war was Britain’s attacks on U.S. ships. The Royal Navy would board American ships, ostensibly looking for escaped British sailors. In reality, they would look for any able seaman and impress him into the Royal Navy. Lists of these impressed seamen can be found at NARA. Because of this problem, Congress approved the issuing of Seamen’s Protection Certificates, which can also be helpful.

The U.S. Navy played a key role in the War of 1812. Because of this, many of the males who served during the war were younger. Anyone who has visited U.S.S. Constitution in Boston knows that ships of that era had small lower decks. Boys were able to scramble around these smaller spaces more quickly than grown adults. Keep this in mind as you examine your family for people who might have served during the war. Males ranging in age from 12 to their 20s are good candidates to have served.

Many of the veterans received bounty land. Until 1842, most of this land was within the present-day boundaries of Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. If you have ancestors who appeared in those areas before 1850, check to see if they received bounty land. The land grants may give you further clues as to where your ancestor originally came from.

The National Archives has a page dedicated to resources to help you research your War of 1812 ancestors. For those of you who can get to Boston, I strongly recommend a visit to U.S.S. Constitution to see what life was like for her crew during the war. The oldest commissioned warship in existence, she celebrates her 215th anniversary in 2013. Each year on July 4th, she takes a cruise through Boston harbor. A contest is held each year for the public to ride during the turnaround cruise (called that because the ship returns to her berth in the opposite position from when she started so that she will weather evenly on both sides).

Part 2: Allen Lee Millard Gooch WWI Personnel File (Military Service Record)

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ 1 Comment

Here are a few more pages from the World War I Military Service Record for Allen Lee Millard Gooch, my grandfather. This page gives the exact dates of his overseas service, battles he fought in (Meuse-Argonne , and St. Mihiel) and the dates he completed “gas” training, among other things:

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Allen Lee Millard Gooch – Application for adjusted compensation for service in Army; Military Service Records; Records of the National Personnel Records Center; National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis.

Here we see a mention of his stay in an evacuation hospital for “influenza” from 19 Dec 1918 to 21 Jan 1919.  This flu pandemic spread from Jan 1918 to Dec 1920, and killed 50-130 million people worldwide.  It was particularly dangerous to the military because of the close quarters of an under-nourished soldier population. Allen Lee Gooch received the Purple Heart medal, and I think it was for this hospitalization. I am glad that after living to see the end of the war on 11 Nov 1918 he was not killed by the Spanish flu the next month.

Other interesting tidbits on these pages are the name of his brother, Frank Gooch, and a physical description of Allen Lee Gooch Brown hair and eyes, fair complexion, 5 ft 4 1/2 inches tall.

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Allen Lee Millard Gooch – Application for adjusted compensation for service in Army; Military Service Records; Records of the National Personnel Records Center; National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis.

These pages give us his parents’ names, Jack H. Gooch and Victoria F. Gooch, his birthplace (Purcell, Oklahoma), his occupation (Barber), age at enlistment (25 years 3 months), and his signature.  Throughout the file he is identified as “Allen Lee Willard Gooch”, but his middle name is actually “Millard”.  Looking at his signature it is easy to see why somebody thought it was Willard.  The “M” has a tail on it that makes it appear to be a “W”.  This record is only the second place where I have seen his father’s middle initial of  “H” in an actual record, and it is the only place I have seen his birthplace of Purcell given.  Previously, all unofficial family records gave his birthplace as Shawnee, Oklahoma.

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Allen Lee Millard Gooch – Application for adjusted compensation for service in Army; Military Service Records; Records of the National Personnel Records Center; National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis.

“Burned” WWI Personnel File for Allen Lee Millard Gooch

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ 6 Comments

Using the online eVetRecs at the National Archives website http://www.archives.gov/veterans/ I ordered a World War I service record for my grandfather, Allen Lee Millard Gooch.  I knew my chances of getting a file were slim because in 1973 a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), including 80% of personnel discharged 1 Nov 1912-1 Jan 1960.

Indeed, I received a reply to my request that said my requested records were part of the 1973 fire.  I was sad.  Then, amazingly, I received a thick packet with much, or possibly all, of my grandfather’s file with copies of the “burned” records!  Here is a page:

This record–an “Application for Certificate in Lieu of Lost or Destroyed Discharge Certificate”–proves that you never know just where you will find some of the best information.  This record provides us with:

  1. Full name
  2. Place/date of enlistment and discharge
  3. Military unit
  4. Physical description
  5. City and State of birth
  6. Approximate birth year
  7. Probable residence after discharge
  8. Occupation
  9. Signature

This is only one of many pages in this record, and the others are equally interesting.  I may post some more soon.

This record also proves you should never give up just because you are told a repository burned.  Yes, the records burned, but hey—not entirely!!  Let’s hear it for the 42 fire districts that responded to the alarm and battled the blaze for 2 days.

BONUS

I received an unexpected bonus one day when a box containing replacement medals for my grandfather’s WWI service arrived in the mail:  A Purple Heart, a WWI Victory Medal, and a medal for his participation in the battles of Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel.  What a treasure!  I will post photos soon.

To learn more about the Military service records and Official Military Personnel Files go to http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/about-service-records.html

Pre-WWI military records can be ordered here:

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html

Confederate Widow Pension Application by Angeline Shults

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ Leave a comment

Here is an image of Angeline Shults’ Confederate Widow Pension Application, from 23 Feb 1923.  She is my great-great grandmother.  She claimed her husband, Martin Van Buren Shults served in the Confederate Army for three years before being discharged in 1865.  I just discovered this record on Ancestry.com, and there are many more pages in the file.  This page gives important information about Martin’s death date and place, their marriage date and place and their ages, places where Angeline lived, as well as Martin’s middle name.  Prior to this I did not know Martin was in the Civil War, nor did I have any documents with his middle name.  It is an interesting record:

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