Person Page - 30

Mary J. Wood was born circa 1890.¹

Sarah A. Wood was born circa 1891.¹

Benjamin F. Wood was born circa 1893.¹

John L. Wood was born circa 1894.¹

Rilda C. Wood was born circa 1900.¹

Mary D. Wood was born circa 1867 at Missouri.¹

Mary D. Wood married Thomas J. Hiler circa 1888.¹

Mary D. Wood died after 1904.¹

Thomas J. Hiler married Mary D. Wood, daughter of Loranzo D. Wood and Surilda Howard, circa 1888.¹

Thomas J. Hiler died after 1904.¹

George D. Hiler was born circa 1889.¹

Myrtle Hiler was born circa 1890.¹

William E. Hiler was born circa 1892.¹

Gertrude Hiler was born circa 1894.¹

Maudie Hiler was born circa 1900.¹

Aaron M. Johnson was listed as Aaron H Johnson (different middle intial) in at least one source.² He was born in December 1894 in Arkansas.^1,3

Aaron M. Johnson appeared on the census of 1900 at Richland Township, Douglas County, Missouri.^1,3

Aaron H Johnson's parent, Moses F. Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 14 March 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.²

Aaron M. Johnson died in 1907 in Douglas County, Missouri.¹ He was buried at Mt. Ararat Cemetery, McKinley Township, Douglas County, Missouri.¹

Elsie E. Pearson was born on 30 May 1894 in Texas County, Missouri.¹

Elsie E. Pearson married Columbus B Fields, son of John Hartwell Fields and Mary Elizabeth Johnson, on 9 January 1913 at Stockton, Cedar County, Missouri.^2,3,1 Elsie E. Pearson lived in 1913 at Pleasant View, Cedar County, Missouri.⁴

Elsie E. Pearson and Columbus B Fields appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Cedar Township, Cedar County, Missouri, enumerated 27 January 1920. The residence was listed as rented. The official date of that census was 01 Janurary 1920. Their children Virgil W Fields and Virden L Fields were listed as living with them. All members of the household age 6 and above are listed as being able to read and write. Virden is listed as attending school.⁵

Elsie E. Pearson died on 30 January 1955 at Nevada City Hospital, Nevada, Vernon County, Missouri, at age 60.¹ She was buried at Love Cemetery, Cedar County, Missoouri. Cause of death was coronary infarction, due to coronary thrombosis, the interval between the onset of both illnesses and her death was two days. The death certificate seems to indicate she died 15 minutes after entering the hospital. Her normal occupation was listed as housewife.¹

Lillian Allen Davis was born on 11 November 1876 in Mississippi.^3,4,5

Lillian Allen Davis married Henry Wood Johnson, son of Aaron Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood, on 8 June 1900 in Independence County, Arkansas.⁶

Lillian Allen Davis and Henry Wood Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 25 June 1900. The residence was listed as a home (not a farm). The official date of that census was 01 June 1900. This census is unique in that month and year of birth were requested for each individual, in additon to age at the official census date. His children Luna Lenore Johnson, Rilla Oleatha Johnson, Nolan Eric Johnson and Allen Francis Johnson were listed as living with them. Everyone in the household age 10 and over was listed as being able to read, write, and speak English. Luna and Rilla were the only members of the household who attended school (4 months). The census information indicates Lillian Allen Davis had no children (she and Henry had been married only a short time when the census was taken). Although not listed on the census form, the town of Pleasant Plains is in Fairview Township, and this non-farm residence was likely in that town. George M Fields (married to Henry Wood Johnson's sister) is listed as the head of the next household. They were likely next door neighbors.²

Lillian Allen Davis and Henry Wood Johnson appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 20 January 1920. The home was listed as owned with no mortgage. The official date of that census was 01 Janurary 1920. Their children Oscar Eugene Johnson, Sinotte Woodrow Johnson, Gladys Gertrude Johnson, Arsella Johnson and Opal Henry Johnson were listed as living with them, along with George R. Davis, Lillian's brother, and Bryan Speed (age 21), listed as "hired labor." All of the members of the household age 10 and over were listed as being able to read and write, with the exception of George R. Davis. All of the children were listed as attending school after September 1, 1919, as was Bryan Speed.¹

Lillian Allen Davis appeared on the census of 1930 at Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.⁷

Lillian Allen Davis and Henry Wood Johnson appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 24 April 1940. The home was listed as owned, valued at $1000, and on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. Their son Sinotte Johnson was listed as living with them, along with Sinotte Johnson's wife, Lucille Young, and Katy Sue Johnson, the daughter of Sinotte and Lucille. All adult household members were listed having lived in the same house on 1 Apr 1935 (which was stated to be on a farm). Henry Wood Johnson and Lillian Allen Davis were listed as ages 78 and 63, respectively, both not attending school in March 1940. Henry having completed 8 years of schooling and Lillian having completed 5 years of schooling. Henry was listed as having been born in Missouri and Lillian was listed as having been born in Mississippi. Henry was listed as unemployed, not seeking work, and unable to work the week of 24-30 March. No occupation was listed for him. He did not report the number of weeks worked in 1939, but reported $200 in wages and other income (other than wages and salary) in excess of $50. Lillian is listed as not employed for wages, not seeking such employment, and doing housework. No 1939 wage income was reported for her and she did not have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule indicates that a farm schedule was filed for this household.⁸

Lillian Allen Davis died on 2 April 1947 at age 70.^3,5 She was buried at Pleasant Plains Cemetery, Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.⁵

Luna Lenore Johnson was also known as Luna Leonara Johnson.² She was born on 18 October 1888 in Missouri.^1,3,4

Luna Lenore Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, Independence County, Arkansas in the household of her father, Henry Wood Johnson, and stepmother, Lillian Allen Davis.¹

Luna Leonara Johnson's parent, Henry Wood Johnson, included her in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁵

Luna Lenore Johnson married J. E. Johnston on 31 December 1907 in Independence County, Arkansas.^6,7

Luna Lenore Johnson and J. E. Johnston appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 20 January 1920. The home was listed as not being on a farm and was rented. The official date of that census was 01 January 1920. Their children Edwin Johnston, Elston Johnston, Gerald Johnston and H. Erwin Johnston were listed as living with them, along an "orphan girl," Savannah Halmark. All of the members of the household over age 12 were listed as being able to read and write, with all of the children age 5 and over in school.⁸

In February 1945 Luna Lenore Johnson lived in Batesville, Arkansas.⁷ Henry Wood Johnson died in the home of his daughter, Luna Lenore Johnson, on 18 February 1945 at Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas.^9,10,7

Luna Lenore Johnson died on 25 December 1975 at age 87.^3,4 She was buried at Oaklawn Cemetery, Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas.⁴

Luna Lenore Johnson's Social Security Number was 429-19-4522 (issued in Arkansas in 1973; her last residence was Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas.)³

Rilla Oleatha Johnson was born on 5 June 1891 in Missouri.^2,3

Rilla Oleatha Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, Independence County, Arkansas in the household of her father, Henry Wood Johnson, and stepmother, Lillian Allen Davis.²

Rilla O. Johnson's parent, Henry Wood Johnson, included her in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁴

Rilla Oleatha Johnson married Walter Clyde Hickmon, son of Thomas Edward Hickmon and Minnie Humphreys.⁵

In February 1945 Rilla Oleatha Johnson lived in Little Rock, Arkansas.⁵

Rilla Oleatha Johnson lived in 1978 at Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.⁶

Rilla Oleatha Johnson died in March 1982 at age 90.³

Rilla Oleatha Johnson's Social Security Number was 430-19-8616 (issued in Arkansas in 1973; her last residence was Corning, Clay County, Arkansas.)³

Nolan Eric Johnson was born on 11 August 1895 in Missouri.^3,4,1

Nolan Eric Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, Independence County, Arkansas in the household of his father, Henry Wood Johnson, and stepmother, Lillian Allen Davis.²

Nolan E. Johnson's parent, Henry Wood Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁵

Nolan Eric Johnson married Ina L. Johnston on 28 January 1916 in Independence County, Arkansas.⁶

Nolan Eric Johnson and Ina L. Johnston appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 20 January 1920. The home was listed as owned with no mortgage. The official date of that census was 01 January 1920. Their daughter Ida Ruth Johnson was listed as living with them. Both adult members of the household were listed as being able to read and write.¹ Nolan Eric Johnson was listed as a salesman (employee) in a dry goods and grocery store in the 1920 census.^7,1

Nolan Eric Johnson appeared on the census of 1930 at Fairview Township, Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.⁸ He was a manager, garage, in the 1930 census.⁸

Nolan Eric Johnson and Ina L. Johnston appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 24 April 1940. The home was listed as rented for $3 per month and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. Their son James Henry Johnson was listed as living with them. All household members were listed having lived in the same place on 1 Apr 1935 (not on a farm). Nolan Eric Johnson and Ina L. Johnston were listed as ages 44 and 40, respectively, both not attending school in March 1940, and having completed 8 years of schooling. Nolan was listed as having been born in Missouri and Ina was listed as having been born in Arkansas. Nolan was listed as not employed and seeking work the week of 24-30 March. He had been unemployed for 17 weeks as of 1 Apr 1935. His occupation was listed as timekeeper on a road project as a government worker. He worked 35 weeks in 1939, earned $480 in wages and had other income (other than wages and salary) in excess of $50. Ina is listed as doing housework, not employed for wages, and not seeking such employment the week of 24-30 March. No 1939 wage income was reported for her and she did not have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule indicates that a farm schedule was filed for this household. This sheet of the census schedule lists both the town of Pleasant Plains and Fairview Township, suggesting the possibility that some households on the page could be outside the city limits.⁹

In February 1945 Nolan Eric Johnson lived in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas.¹⁰

Henry Wood Johnson died intestate (without a will). The administrator of his estate was his son, Nolan Eric Johnson. The papers for the final settlement of the estate were submitted to the Independence County probate court on between 1945 and 1947. The value of the personal property of the estate was listed as $819.00. The value of his land holdings was not listed in the estate papers. However, the land holding were described, as follows:



It is likely Henry Wood Johnson's widow had 1/3 life estate dower rights on any income-producing real property, which would prevent the sale of the land during her lifetime (or, at least, make the sale of the land somewhat complicated and difficult).

The heirs included his widow, Lillian Johnson (of Pleasant Plains, Arkansas), and nine living children (names below are drawn from various papers, primarily from 1945):

Luna Johnson Johnston (Mrs Edd Johnston), Batesville, Arkansas

Rilla Johnson Hickmon (Mrs W. C. Hickmon), Little Rock, Arkansas

Nolan E. Johnson, Pleasant Plains, Arkansas

Allen F. Johnson, Pleasant Plains, Arkansas

Gladys Johnson Brooks (Mrs Max Brooks), Batesville, Arkansas

Arzella Johnson Millikin (Mrs M. E. Millikan), Bradford, Arkansas

Eugene O. Johnson, Pleasant Plains, Arkansas

Sinotte Johnson, Pleasant Plains, Arkansas

Opal Johnson, Merced, California.

The children who predeceased him did not themselves have children.¹¹

Nolan Eric Johnson died on 31 October 1978 at age 83.^3,4 He was buried at Pleasant Plains Cemetery, Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.³

Nolan Eric Johnson's Social Security Number was 429-14-6773 (issued in Arkansas before 1951; last residence Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas).⁴

Allen Francis Johnson was born in February 1898 in Arkansas.²

Allen Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Clinton Township, at Douglas County, Missouri, enumerated 19 June 1900. The official date of that census was 01 June 1900. This census is unique in that month and year of birth were requested for each individual, in addition to each individual's age at the official census date. Their children Lovie Jane Johnson were listed as living with them.³

Allen Francis Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, Independence County, Arkansas in the household of his father, Henry Wood Johnson, and stepmother, Lillian Allen Davis.²

Allen F. Johnson's parent, Henry Wood Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁴

Allen Francis Johnson married Margaret Jane Pease, daughter of James Tilson Pease and Maude Jackson Sublett, on 15 March 1918 in Independence County, Arkansas.⁵

Allen Francis Johnson and Margaret Jane Pease appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 21 January 1920. The home was listed as being on a farm that was rented. The official date of that census was 01 January 1920. Their son Maurice Johnson was listed as living with them. Both adult members of the household were listed as being able to read and write.¹ Allen Francis Johnson was listed as a farmer, general farm, in the 1920 census.⁶ He was listed as a clerk, post office, in the 1930 census. [His wife was the postmaster at that location at this time. It was fairly common for small town post offcies to be inside "general stores" at this time. That may have been the case here.]⁷

Allen Francis Johnson appeared on the census of 1930 at Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.⁷

Allen Francis Johnson and Margaret Jane Pease appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 24 April 1940. The home was listed as owned, valued at $800, and on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. Their son Maurice Johnson was listed as living with them. All adult household members were listed having lived in the same house on 1 Apr 1935 (which was stated to be on a farm). Allen Francis Johnson and Margaret Jane Pease were listed as ages 42 and 38, respectively, both not attending school in March 1940, Allen having completed 7 years of schooling and Margaret having completed 9 years of schooling. Allen was listed as having been born in Arkansas and Margaret was listed as having been born in Kentucky. Allen was listed as employed, not seeking work, and had worked 48 hours the week of 24-30 March. His occupation was listed as the operator of a service station and sandwich shop. He worked 52 weeks in 1939, earned $1000 in wages and had other income (other than wages and salary) in excess of $50. Margaret is listed as doing housework, not employed for wages, and not seeking such employment the week of 24-30 March. No 1939 wage income was reported for her and she did not have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule indicates that a farm schedule was not filed for this household. This sheet of the census schedule lists both the town of Pleasant Plains and Fairview Township, suggesting the possibility that some households on the page could be outside the city limits.⁸

In February 1945 Allen Francis Johnson lived in Vancouver, Washington.⁹

Allen Francis Johnson died in 1958 in Arkansas.¹⁰ He was buried at Pleasant Plains Cemetery, Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.¹⁰

Other sources list his middle initial as K and L.² James Henry Johnson was born on 16 June 1925 in Arkansas.³

James Henry Johnson appeared on the census of 1930 at Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.²

James Henry Johnson appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas in the household of his parents, Nolan Eric Johnson and Ina L. Johnston. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. He was listed as: age 14, single, attended school during March 1940, had completed seven years of school, born in Arkansas, and lived in same place on 1 Apr 1935. He was a student and was not employed and not seeking work the week of 24-30 March. He had no wage income in 1939 and no other (non-wage) income in excess of $50.¹

James Henry Johnson died on 5 March 2007 at age 81.³ He was buried at Pleasant Plains Cemetery, Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas.³

Elizabeth Dobyns was also known as Lizzie.^3,4 She was born on 10 January 1872 at Nevada, Missouri.^1,2

Elizabeth Dobyns married Isaac Monroe Johnson, son of Aaron Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood, on 6 November 1893 in Douglas County, Missouri. Both bride and groom are listed as residents of Florilla, Missouri. He is listed as over age 21 and she is listed as over age 18. The license was apparently issued on 30 Oct 1893. The marriage seems to have been performed at the residence of John Dobyns, father of the bride.^3,4,5

Elizabeth Dobyns and her son Charles L. Johnson appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri on East First Avenue, enumerated 14 April 1930. His age was listed as 31 and hers was listed as 58. They were listed as born in Indiana and Missouri, respectively, both did not attend school the previous year, and both could read and write. The home was listed as rented for $40/month and not on a farm. No indication was listed as to whether or not a radio was present in the home. The official date of that census was 02 April 1930. Both members of the household were listed as being able to read and write. Charles's occupation was listed as being the proprietor of a cafe.⁶

Elizabeth Dobyns died on 8 June 1944 at her home at Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri, at age 72. She died from appoplexy (cerebral). Her usual occupation was listed as housewife on her death certificate.^1,2 She was buried at Clifty Hall Cemetery, Missouri.^1,2

Erma Johnson was born circa 1896.¹

Erma Johnson's parent, Isaac Monroe Johnson, included her in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 17 March 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.³

Orval Johnson was born circa 1898.¹

Orval Johnson's parent, Isaac Monroe Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 17 March 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.³

Charles L. Johnson was born circa 1900.¹

Charles L. Johnson's parent, Isaac Monroe Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 17 March 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.³

Charles L. Johnson and her son Elizabeth Dobyns appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri on East First Avenue, enumerated 14 April 1930. His age was listed as 31 and hers was listed as 58. They were listed as born in Indiana and Missouri, respectively, both did not attend school the previous year, and both could read and write. The home was listed as rented for $40/month and not on a farm. No indication was listed as to whether or not a radio was present in the home. The official date of that census was 02 April 1930. Both members of the household were listed as being able to read and write. Charles's occupation was listed as being the proprietor of a cafe.⁴

Charles L. Johnson lived on 8 June 1944 at 844 1/2 S. Campbell, Springfield, Wright County, Missouri.⁵

Chester LeRoy Baldwin was apparently often known as Roy when he was a young boy (and perhaps later in life too). His middle name was sometimes spelled with a lower case "r".² He was probably born on 4 April 1892 at Florilla, Missouri.¹ (His grave marker indicates he was born on 4 April 1893.)³ He was listed as at school in the 1900 census.⁴

Chester LeRoy Baldwin appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Clinton Township, Douglas County, Missouri living with his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovie Jane Johnson (listed as Luvey Johnson, a version of her maiden name) in an extended household at least formally headed (according to the census) by his grandparents Allen Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood. He was listed as age 9, born Mar? 1892 in Missouri. His occupation was listed as attending school.⁵

Chester L. Baldwin's parent, Lovy Jane Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁶

Chester LeRoy Baldwin appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Clinton Townwhip, Douglas County, Missouri living with his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovy Jane Johnson (listed as Lovie Johnson). He was listed as age 18, born in Missouri, and single. His occupation was listed as farm labor on a home farm. He was listed as able to read and write and to have attended school after September 1, 1909.⁷ Chester LeRoy Baldwin was listed as a farm laborer, family farm, in the 1910 census.⁸

Chester LeRoy Baldwin married Ruby Dell Fulks.²

Chester LeRoy Baldwin's brother, Otha Leonidas Baldwin, moved to Montana in 1916, possibly to join Chester LeRoy, who had by then already lived there for some time.⁹

In the 1930s he moved with his family to Bearcreek, where he became the superintendent of schools.¹⁰

Chester LeRoy Baldwin and Ruby Dell Fulks appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Bearcreek, Carbon County, Montana, enumerated 4 April 1940. The home was listed as rented for $10 per month and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. Their children Harold Wayne Baldwin and Wilma Laverne Baldwin were listed as living with them. Chester and Ruby (and the other members of the household) were listed having lived in the same house on 1 Apr 1935. Chester LeRoy Baldwin and Ruby Dell Fulks were listed as ages 48 and 44, respectively, both married, born in Missouri and Nebraska, respectively, and not attending school in March 1940. He was listed as having completed six years of college (or possibly one year, the entry is somewhat open to interpretation) and she was listed as having completed 4 years of high school. Chester was listed as employed, having worked 40 hours, and not seeking work the week of 24-30 March. His occupation was listed as school teacher in a public school as a government worker. He reported 50 weeks worked in 1939, $1800 in wage income, and had other income (other than wages and salary) in excess of $50. Ruby is listed as doing housework, not employed for wages, and not seeking such employment. No occupation was listed for her. No 1939 wage income was reported for her and she did not have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule indicates a farm schedule was not filed for this household.

Chester Baldwin's entry on the census form was on a line that required supplementary questions to be asked. The responses to these questions indicated his father and mother were born in Indiana and Missouri, respectively, his native language was English, he did not have a social security number, and his usual occupation was teacher.¹¹

Chester LeRoy Baldwin lived in July 1950 at Montana.^12,2

Chester LeRoy Baldwin died on 26 November 1955 (10:30 a.m) at Carbon County Memorial Hospital, Red Lodge, Carbon County, Montana, at age 63. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was hospitalized four days for his final illness.^3,1 He was buried at Roberts Cemetery, Carbon County, Montana. His death certificate indicated his usual occupation was teaching and he was the superintendent of a high school and grade school. His address at the time of his death was 418 North Platte Avenue, Red Lodge, Montana.^3,1

Chester LeRoy Baldwin's Social Security Number was 516-24-9614.¹

Otha Leonidas Baldwin was apparently most often known as Otha L Baldwin.³ He was recorded as Otto Baldwin on at least one source document.⁴ He was born on 1 February 1895 in Douglas County, Missouri, (probably in the vicinity of Florilla). His 1920 and 1930 Montana marriage licenses list the location of his birth as Prior, Douglas County, Missouri (his parents lived in Prior at the time of these marriages). His military record and his 1927 and 1936 Montana marriage licenses list the location of his birth as Florilla, Douglas County, Missouri.^5,6,7,8

Otha Leonidas Baldwin (listed as Otto Baldwin) appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Clinton Township, Douglas County, Missouri living with his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovie Jane Johnson (listed as Luvey Johnson, a version of her maiden name) in an extended household at least formally headed (according to the census) by his grandparents Allen Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood. He was listed as age 5, born Feb 1895 in Missouri. No occupation was listed for him.⁹

Otha Leonidas Baldwin's parent, Lovy Jane Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 16 January 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.¹⁰

Otha Leonidas Baldwin appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Clinton Townwhip, Douglas County, Missouri living with his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovy Jane Johnson (listed as Lovie Johnson). He was listed as age 15, born in Missouri, and single. His occupation was listed as farm labor on a home farm. He was listed as able to read and write and to have attended school after September 1, 1909.¹¹ Otha Leonidas Baldwin was listed as a farm laborer, family farm, on the 1910 census.⁴


His work history between late 1911 and late 1916 (and especially during 1916) was spelled out when he applied for a job as a Fireman at the Northern Pacific Railway in late 1916. These pre-railroad jobs are listed in the following table:

From	To	Type of Business	Occupation	Location	Employer (Supervisor)
27 Dec 1911	28 Mar 1916	Farm	Farm Labor	Wood MO	M. H. Baldwin
3 Apr 1916	24 Jun 1916	Farm	Farm Labor	Bloomington KS	W. L. Bowen
25 Jun 1916	15 July 1916	Farm	Harvesting	Alton KS	A Gregory
17 July 1916	24 July 1916	Farm	Threshing	Bloomington KS	G. McReynolds
25 July 1916	25 Aug 1916	Farm	Farm Labor	Bloomington KS	Virgil DeForest
26 Aug 1916	9 Sept 1916	Farm	Farm Labor	Bloomington KS	Henry Guyer
21 Sept 1916	13 Oct 1916	Contractor	Shoveling	Missoula MT	McGuire
20 Oct 1916	25 Oct 1916	Contractor	Shoveling	Missoula MT	Oleson & Johnson
26 Oct 1916	2 Nov 1916	Brickmaking	Firing Bricks	Missoula MT	M Brick & Tile Co (Hank)
27 Nov 1916	23 Dec 1916	Brickmaking	Firing Bricks	Missoula MT	Levi Wilhu

Miles Hadson Baldwin, listed here as M. H. Baldwin, was Otha Leonidas Baldwin’s father. His job application also listed Bert Freeman, Audie Wood, Joseph Turner, and Henry Guyer as personal references. The first three lived in Prior Missouri; Guyer (also listed as an employer) lived in Bloomington Kansas.

It is possible that the railroad liked his experience as a “shoveler” as a qualification for a Fireman position. This was in the days of steam-powered locomotives where the steam was produced in a coal-fired boiler. The Fireman’s job was, in part, shoveling coal into the firebox below the boiler. His work "firing bricks" may also have involved loading fuel into a type of “firebox”.

He evidently moved to Montana in September 1916. He may have gone to Montana because his older brother, Chester LeRoy Baldwin was already established there (although it is unclear where in Montana his brother lived in September 1916).¹²

He enlisted in the US Marine Corps (USMC) on 6 April 1918 at Marine Barracks, Mare Island, Califonria. He had apparently applied for enlistment on 31 March 1918 at Missoula, Montana (he had taken a physical examination at Missoula the previous day, 30 March 1918). He was accepted on 1 April at Portland, Oregon (the significance of this Portland location is unclear). However, it was apparently the USMC policy to wait until enlistees were at a USMC base before they actually completed enlistment papers and took the oath for military service.

His term of enlistment was for the “duration of the war”.

His serial number was 4,606,952. Another sequence number (111,362) appears on several pages within his military record file. This second number appears to be associated with his application for Adjusted Compensation (a federal “bonus” program) for World War 1 service. His ~1925 application for this “bonus” is described below.^13,14

His next-of-kin/beneficiary was listed as his father, Miles H Baldwin (RFD #1, Prior, Missouri). His military record includes an “Application for a Family Allowance” of (apparently) $30/month. However, this was apparently limited to dependents (a wife and/or children). Since he had neither of these, the allowance went unclaimed.

His military record file indicates at the time of his enlistment he was 70.5 inches tall (5 ft, 10.5 inches), weighed 162 pounds, had grey eyes, brown hair, a ruddy complexion, a 34-inch chest (unexpanded, 37.5 inches expanded), and 20/20 vision in both eyes. His shoe size was listed as “8/2D”. Several scars (and a mole) were noted on his body, including a scar on his left cheek.

His military record indicates the clothing/equipment allowance he was provided (apparently just after initial enlistment) included: 1 belt (for trousers), 2 woolen blankets, 2 field coats, 3 light drawers (knee length), 2 woolen drawers, 1 field hat, 1 pair leggings, 1 set bronze ornaments (insignia, presumably), 1 overcoat, 1 flannel shirt, 3 cotton undershirts, 2 woolen undershirts, 1 pair shoes (russet), 4 pairs cotton socks, 4 pairs woolen socks, and 2 field trousers.^15,16

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 May 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to the Recruit Depot Detachment, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California. He was listed as being sick (and hospitalized) during the first two days of that month.

Records indicate he entered the Marine Corps on 6 April 1918, so his name should probably appear on the Muster Roll for this same detachment at the end of April. As this is written, in late June 2021, the Ancestry search function for these muster roll digital images seems to find a muster roll for Otha Baldwin for April 1918 (and the description of the roll in the list of “found” results seems to have the correct duty station, Mare Island). However, the page image that corresponds to this search result is incorrect. It is a muster roll for a Quantico Virginia unit (for the searched-for month). This Quantico page image does not include his name. This is apparently a glitch in the Ancestry data base.^17,18

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 30 June 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company A, Recruit Depot Detachment, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California for a portion of that month. He was listed as being been transferred to Marine Base, Galveston Texas on 11 June 1918. A muster roll for the Galveston base for June 1918 containing his name has not yet been located (as of 26 June 2021). However, as described below, a muster roll for the month of July 1918 for the Marine base in Galveston (Fort Crocket) indicates he arrived there (from Mare Island) on 15 July 1918. It is likely that June is the correct month (the date of his arrival at the Galveston base was probably recorded in the muster roll for the wrong month). The June date is consistent with information in his service record.

The 30 June 1918 muster page-image containing Otha Baldwin’s name does not have the name and location of his unit typed on it. However, the descriptive information in the Ancestry digital data base does contain this unit/location information (probably transcribed from nearby pages in the muster roll).^19,20

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month of July 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to the 103^rd Company, 8^th Regiment of the Marine Corps at Fort Crockett in Galveston Texas, for a portion of that month. He was listed as joining this unit from the Marine base at Mare Island California on 15 July 1918. As indicated above, the date of his arrival listed on the muster roll is probably incorrect and he actually arrived in June. The muster roll indicates that he qualified as a sharpshooter on 29 July 1918 (almost certainly with a rifle).

Based on a second muster roll for this unit for July 1918, the rifle qualification date should probably be June 29^th. The second July 1918 Fort Crockett muster roll indicates he received his sharpshooter’s badge on 18 July 1918.²¹

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 August 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to the 103^rd Company, 8^th Regiment of the Marine Corps, at Fort Crockett in Galveston Texas for a portion of that month. He was listed as being transferred to the USMC base at Quantico Virginia on 4 August 1918.²²

He boarded the S. S. von Steuben in Hoboken, New Jersey for transit to Europe on 17 August 1918. The ship sailed on 18 Aug 1918 at 2:15 PM. He came ashore in France on 27 Aug 1918.¹⁹

A second US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month of August 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to A Company, 6^th Separate Battalion for a portion of that month. At the date of the muster (31 August 1918), the unit was said to be located at Pontanezen Barracks, Brest France. The muster role lists 6 August 1918 as the start date for the muster, suggesting the “special” unit was formed on that date. He was listed as having transferred to this unit on 8 August 1918. It is possible this was a temporary administrative “holding” unit formed on 6 Aug 1918 for the trip from the US to France by ship.²³

On 11 September 1918, he wrote his parents from “somewhere in France”, while serving in the World War I American Expeditionary Force (A. E. F.) to Europe (it, of course, was not known as World War I, until around two decades later, when there was a World War II). The location in France that he wrote from might have been Chatillon, where the training unit he was in was located at the end of October (as indicated below).

In this first letter, he mentioned the rainy weather; that the wine grapes were not very good for eating; that (although he was in was farm country) people lived in villages, rather than on their farmland; that most of the buildings were made of stone (except for some newer – probably temporary – buildings put up by the US armed forces); the houses seemed almost identical to one another, with tile floors and roofs; he has seen more wine shops than any other type of retail business in the villages; French civilians tended to wear either wooden shoes or else ones “made of heavy leather with a kind of steel sole;” and he and the others in his unit had traveled some of the distance to “the interior” from their “rest-camp” in freight cars, but had marched the last 10 miles with their heavy packs in “heavy rain most of the way”. He gave a listing of the items carried in each pack. Having moved “some distance” inland indicates he was no longer at Brest, his location on 31 August 1918 as given in that date’s Muster Roll.

This is the first of six letters to his parents that were published in the local newspaper serving the area where his parents lived, The Douglas County Herald (Ava, Missouri). This letter was published in the 31 October 1918 issue.

After US troops began to arrive in France, his parents’ weekly newspaper seemed to include a special section in each issue containing printed letters local soldiers had sent to family members. It is possible that only portions of letters were published (that is, material might have been omitted at the direction of the family, or by the newspaper’s editors). In addition, it is possible that he wrote other letters that were not published (again, either due to a family decision or a newspaper editorial decision). It is likely that small-town newspapers throughout the US encouraged families who had members serving overseas to submit their letters for publication.

The letters were apparently censored by the US Army, in the sense that they were reviewed for security. Another letter published in the 31 October 1918 issue, by Garth M Lowry, indicated that the published letter was his “second try”. He had “said too much” in this first try and it was returned to him unsent. All of the soldiers whose letters were published in the Herald’s 31 October 1918 issue gave their location as “somewhere in France.” It is unclear if they were copying a convention used by war correspondents, had been directed to not put their precise location into writing, or, indeed, were somewhat uncertain of where they were.

Otha Baldwin’s letters are impressive. They are extremely well-written. He was a keen observer and gave clear, concise descriptions of the people and things he saw. It is interesting (and quite pleasing) to “hear” a long-deceased relative “speaking” in his own “voice.”.²⁴

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the fraction of October ending 14 October 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to A Company, 2^nd Training Battalion, 1^st Training Regiment, at Chatillon France, for a portion of that month. The muster roll indicates he was transferred to the 45^th Company in October. No date within October 1918 is listed for the transfer, but it was almost certainly on October 14^th, the effective end date for the muster roll (which agrees a second October 1918 muster roll, described below). CCF’s understanding is that US troops who were to be fighting alongside British or French units were issued rifles (and certain other equipment) used by that specific allied European country. This was done, in part, to avoid the necessity for establishing two separate parallel supply lines for ammunition, spare parts, etc. It is possible this additional training upon arrival in France was, at least in part, on the use of this European equipment.

The 45^th Company appears to be an alternative name for Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment of the US Marines. This unit eventually fought alongside, and in coordination with, French Army troops. Thus, if the training in France was for the purpose of learning to use European rifles, and possibly other equipment, they were probably being trained for French equipment. A muster roll for the month of September 1918 containing O L Baldwin’s name has not yet been located.²⁵

A second US Marine Corps Muster Roll for October 1918 (ending 31 October 1918) lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for a portion of that month. He was listed as having reported to that unit on 14 October 1918. The location of the division was not listed in this muster roll, but it was likely at (or near) on of three locations listed below.²⁶

The US military organization in Europe during that war, the AEF, was primarily made up of US Army units, including nationalized National Guard units. US Marines made up only a small fraction of the total number of troops (less than one division out of approximately 41 US divisions in Europe when the Amistice went into effect). All US Marines land combat forces in Europe were in the Second Division of the AEF.

Since the Second Division had entered combat on 14 March 1918, Otha almost certainly joined his unit (Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 2^nd Division) as a replacement. A history of the 2^nd Division indicates they received a fairly large number of replacements between 14 and 31 October 14. During this time period, the division (the headquarters company anyhow) had been at Vadenay Farms, then Herpont, and then Charpentry.^27,28

Otha Leonidas Baldwin apparently completed his European training and joined the 2^nd Division just as what is generally known as the second of three phases of the Meuse-Argonne offensive was ending.

The Wikipedia web site (as it was configured in early 2020) described the Meuse–Argonne offensive approximately as follows (next three paragraphs):

The Meuse–Argonne offensive (also known as the Meuse River–Argonne Forest offensive, the Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and the Meuse–Argonne campaign) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. The three phases of the campaign were fought from September 26, 1918 until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse–Argonne offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers. It is the deadliest battle in American history, resulting in over 350,000 casualties including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives, and an unknown number of French lives. U.S. losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops, the tactics used during the early phases of the operation and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the "Spanish Flu".

Meuse–Argonne was the principal engagement of the AEF during World War I. It was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which brought the war to an end. It was the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the AEF even if, given the scale of other battles on the Western Front, its size was limited and the operation itself secondary, as it was far from the main offensive axis.

Several of the well-known stories about World War I stem from operations during this offensive. For example, both the action for which Sergeant York was awarded the medal of honor and incident known as the Lost Battalion took place during this offensive. US Army Captain Harry Truman (later a US president) participated in this offensive. End note citations include references to sources of general information about US World War 1 military operations in the Meuse-Argonne campaign.^{29,30,27,31,32,28}

Otha Leonidas Baldwin fought in the third and final phase of the Meuse-Argonne campaign. That phase began on or around November 1^st (accounts of the campaign use slightly different dates for the beginning of its third phase).The map on page 186 of a “guidebook” to World War I battlefields published by the American Battle Monuments Commission indicates that at the beginning of the series of attacks that started on 1 November 1918, the 2^nd Division was approximately 2-4 miles east of Romange. The division was probably spread out some distance (perhaps 1-2 miles) along the front line as it existed on that date. The section of the front assigned to the Second Division advanced about 12 miles (roughly northward) between November 1^st and the morning of November 11^th, when the Armistice ending combat operations went into effect.^31,28,27,33

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month of November 1918 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being a member of Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for a portion of that month (from 1 November to 8 November 1918). The muster roll indicates that, during those 8 days, he participated in the following offensive operations: the Argonne Forest and the (apparent) capture(s) of Lundres et St. Georges, Lundreville, heights of Baronville (Hill-299), Foret de Jaulney, Bugancy, Faux, and Foret de Limon (Foret is apparently the French word for “forest”).

Chapter 31 of Volume 8 of the multi-volume set, Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, provides a quite detailed description of the 2^nd Division’s tactical situation during the third phase of the campaign, in addition to the movements of the various medical units.

The November Muster Roll for Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines indicates he became sick and was evacuated to a hospital (on 9 November). The hospital number was unknown to the individual creating the muster roll.

On November 9^th, elements of the second division appear to have been in the vicinity of Letanne (a village that appears to be within perhaps 100-200 yards of the east bank of the Meuse River) and Beaumont (a village perhaps 2 miles east of Letanne). Otha is likely to have been somewhere in the vicinity of these two locations when he was sent to a field hospital -- probably Field Hospital #1 -- late on 8 November or on the morning of 9 November. Field Hospital #1 was apparently located at Sommauthe during the 8^th and 9^th of November, 1918. Sommauthe is a small village (officially identified as a commune in the French governmental structure) located about 2 miles southwest of Beaumont.^33,30,31,28

Otha Leonidas Baldwin appears on what Ancestry calls an “Addenda” Muster Roll that provides a summary of the various hospitals he was assigned to between 8 November 1918 and 9 January 1919, when he was transferred to Toul, France (apparently to obtain transportation to where his unit was stationed as part of the occupation forces in the Coblenz bridgehead in Germany).

Several cryptic (and confusing) notes appear in his “section” of this muster role. The first note apparently identifies his “home unit” (the 45^th company). Then the roll lists the various hospitals where he was treated, which (as best CCF could interpret the information) were:

8 Nov 1918, Field Hospital #1, for Rheumatism, joined from “Comd” (his normal command?)

12 Nov 1918, (possibly) sent to Field Hospital #16 (from Field Hospital #1) for Otitis Media (a type of ear infection, apparently). (Both Field Hospitals #1 and #16 appear to have been affiliated with the 2^nd Division. It appears that multiple field hospitals were associated with a division because each field hospital “specialized” in different types of medical issues. One reason for this, in particular, was to avoid having patients who had been overcome by poison gas mixing with others, to prevent non-gassed patients from being affected by fumes from the clothing (and perhaps bodies) of those who had been gassed. There were poison gas injuries among the casualties during this third-phase campaign.)

15 Nov 1918, sent to “MH#8 (possibly Mobile Hospital #8)

16 Nov 1918, sent to “EH#24 (probably Evacuation Hospital #24) from ARCH#114 for flu (influenza) – the muster roll does not seem to record when he left MH#8 or entered “ARCH#114”. ARCH is probably an abbreviation for American Red Cross Hospital.

5 Dec 1918, (possibly) sent to Base Hospital #89

28 Dec 1918 (possibly), an entry was made that he was “Cl 1 Cas” (possibly a Class 1 Case, which might have been a sign he was recovering, since he was released less than 2 weeks later). His military record file obtained from the US National Archives – separate from the USMC Muster Rolls – indicates he was declared “cured” on 18 December 1918. If “cured” and “Cl 1 Cas” mean the same thing, then one of the two dates (18 December or 28 December) is incorrect.

9 Jan 1919, transferred to Toul

This “Addenda Muster Roll” seems to be dated July 1919, even though the information on it relating to Otha Baldwin is from many months earlier. It may have been a summary administrative report prepared when the medical units were “packing up” to leave France. In could be that the muster roll was a convenient form or format to capture this summary information.

The initial reason he was hospitalized on 8 November is stated as for “rheumatism”. This could have been a symptom of influenza – or possibly something like a euphemism for combat fatigue or “shell shock”.

There is some degree of correspondence between the hospital numbers listed in the “addenda” muster roll and the information in the letters he wrote while hospitalized, but there are also some inconsistencies among the various sources of information. Base Hospital #89 and Evacuation Hospital #24 were both in Hospital Center, Mesves. At least 8 base hospitals and 3 evacuation hospitals were located in the Mesves complex. His military record indicates he entered Base Hospital #89 from Base Hospital #7. This may be an error, since Base Hospital #7 was not in the Mesves complex (but a “unit 7” is mentioned in one of his letters (below).

The US Army did employ Mobile Hospitals in World War 1, including several used in support of the Muese-Argonne operations. ARCH#114 might be an abbreviation for American Red Cross Hospital. CCF has been able to find very little information about these Red Cross hospitals, and nothing about one with the specific number of “114”.

Chapter 31 of Volume 8 of the multivolume administrative history, Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, provides detailed information about the movements of both troops and medical units associated with the 2^nd Division during the third phase of the Meuse-Argonne campaign. In particular, this chapter contains some interesting information about how during this campaign, mud conditions were so severe that Ford ambulances (which, until then had been quite adequate), were outperformed by G. M. C. ambulances (which were equipped with chains). It also notes that ambulances drawn by two-mule teams performed well in the mud for “short hauls” – although the mules tired relatively quickly in the heavy mud. The information in this section suggested the division did not have the proper equipment readily on hand to rig ambulances to be drawn by four-mule teams. The next group of end note citations includes references to other sources of general information about US World War 1 military hospitals and medical care.

USMC Muster Rolls and medical records included in his military records obtained from the US National Archives relating to his long hospitalization in November and December 1918 (and for the first few days of 1919) mention rheumatism, an ear infection, and flu. They do not mention a gunshot wound. However, an item in his National Archives military record file, along with an item in his civilian employment records (which was apparently transcribed from a military-record item in his possession when he returned to his civilian employer in 1919), mention a gunshot wound (“GSW”). It is possible that he had been wounded earlier (prior to November 9^th), but that injuries from the wound were minor or superficial, so that he had been treated at an aid station and returned to duty with his unit at the front.

It is also possible that the mention of a gunshot wound is incorrect; perhaps from a piece of paper was placed in his record folder in error.

The gunshot wound was described as affecting his cheek and both hands. Injuries to three locations (presumably at the same time) suggest his wound(s) might have been caused by shrapnel from an artillery shell exploding overhead (or perhaps by secondary fragments created by an exploding or impacting artillery shell), rather than a something like a rifle bullet. However, this is speculation. We cannot know for sure from the small amount of available information. (CCF had noticed around 2018 that his civilian employment records mention that (1) the recorded gunshot wound, while he was serving in the US Marines, had affected his face and that (2) he had a scar on one cheek. However, CCF later obtained his full military service record from the US National Archives. That record indicated that the cheek had been scared when he was examined by a military physician around the time when he enlisted in the US Marines. If both items are addressing the same scar, the scar predated his military service.)^{34,35,36,37,30,16}

He was also listed on a second US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 30 November 1918 for Company L, 2^nd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines. The second roll contains a somewhat cryptic notation that might mean he was expected to re-join the company in January 1919 (which he did). It is also possible this second muster roll was a supplement to the initial November 1918 roll, which was prepared later, after he had rejoined the company in January.³⁸

On Thanksgiving Day, 28 November 1918, during the time he was hospitalized, he wrote his parents from Unit 7 of “Hospital 24”, which seems to have been in "Mesnes, France." At the end of the letter, he gave his mailing address for future letters as: “Mesnes Hospital Center, APO 798, American EF”. The location he wrote as “Mesnes” is more commonly written as “Mesves” in most documents. This letter was published in the 2 Jan 1919 issue of The Douglas County Herald.

In the letter he indicates that the previous day (which would have been 27 November) he had been transferred “from hospital 24 to unit 7 of the same hospital” and he expected to be “classified in a few days”. That statement is not completely clear, but what seems to have happened is that he was eventually (about 20 or 30 days later) “classified” as fit to return to duty; he later (starting in mid-January 1919) served in occupation forces in Germany. However, a month later (28 December 1919, when he wrote his next published letter) he was still in Mesves France, and was still hospitalized (or at least stationed in or near the hospital). It appears from the “Addenda Roll” that was not “classified” until late December (if that is indeed what the cryptic note in that roll referring to “Cls 1” refers to).

In this 28 Nov 1918 letter, he describes the Thanksgiving Dinner he had been served: “the potatoes were fine, but the turkey was awful.” He indicates he had been “issued” a box of chocolate candy, something he had rarely seen while serving in Europe. And he talked about the rain and the mud, suggesting that, despite being hospitalized, he was ambulatory (not bedridden) and could go outside (getting a thick coating of mud on his boots).³⁹

The 30 Jan 1919 issue of The Douglas County Herald newspaper published a letter from Otha Leonidas Baldwin to his family that had been written on 28 December 1918, again, during the time he was hospitalized. At that point, he was still at Mesves (which was spelled Messues in this letter) France. However, he was apparently recuperating quite well, because he refers to being assigned “work” (duty of some type). (Or, possibly, he had been “classified” as “cured” at this point. As mentioned previously, his military record suggests he may have been classified as healthy on either 18 or 28 December 1918, even though he remained “stationed” at the Mesves complex until early January 1919.)

He says that, when not working, there is little to do (he specifically mentions a limited availability of books). Since there is little to do except talk to each other, small groups of soldiers do that.

He indicates he has spoken with men (or, in his words, “boys”) from every part of the US, and has learned a great deal.

He mentions that each of the “wards” (which may have been large tents, or groups of tents) had a Christmas tree. There had been a contest for the one that was decorated the best. The Red Cross had provided candy and nuts, which were not otherwise available (including a stocking – apparently one for each hospitalized solider -- presented on Christmas Day).

Their Christmas Day breakfast was disappointing, but the midday meal was outstanding: hot turkey and dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, etc. Their evening meal on Christmas Day was all of these things again, but cold this time.

He wrote that he had not received any mail from home since arriving in Europe. He was aware that influenza was sweeping across the US, and he was concerned that it might have affected his family (or might do so in the future). He does not mention cases of influenza among soldiers or civilians in France. Mentioning the health of US Army personnel might have been a “too much” item that would have caused his letter to be returned to him unsent (even though this letter was written after the effective date of the Armistice). It is interesting that none of the published letters written while he was hospitalized mention why he had been hospitalized.⁴⁰

The 11 Nov 1918 armistice agreement ending combat between Germany and the Allies (primarily Britain, France, and the US) called for the Germany armies to not only withdraw from land they occupied (as of November 11^th) in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, but also to withdraw all of their troops from a zone within Germany, between the historic (pre-war) German border and the Rhine River. The allied armies would move in – peaceably – and install troops to occupy this German territory. In addition, the allies would occupy “bridgeheads” (on the other side of the Rhine) within a radius of 18 kilometers from bridges at three cities on the Rhine: Cologne, Coblenz, and Mayence. There would also be a 6-kilometer-wide zone just beyond the Rhine River (and just beyond the boundaries of the bridgeheads), where neither side would be allowed to have army forces. Coblenz is sometimes spelled Koblenz.

The US zone of occupation consisted of (1) a portion of the region between the front line of 11 November 11 and the Rhine River around Coblenz and (2) approximately the northern 2/3rds of the Coblenz bridgehead. The non-bridgehead portion of the US occupation zone seemed to formally include an area within France, a small portion of Belgium and much of Luxembourg, in addition to a portion of Germany. However, within this zone, US troops seemed to be stationed only in Germany. The 2^nd division of the AEF (the division that the US Marines in the AEF belonged to) was stationed in the northern portion of the Coblenz bridgehead. Maps on pages 487 and 489 of a “guidebook” to the World War I battlefields published by the American Battle Monuments Commission show the US occupation zone.

The initial emplacement of the occupation forces had been completed by 16 Dec 1918, a time when Otha was still hospitalized in Mesves France.^31,28,27

The 27 Feb 1919 issue of the Douglas County Herald published a letter from Otha Leonidas Baldwin to his parents that had probably been written on 16 January 1919. He wrote from Waldbrestback Germany, while he was apparently still in transit to his next assignment, which was in the US forces that would occupy a portion of the German homeland for several months. He initially re-joined his company within the US Marine Corps forces assigned to the 2^nd Division of the AEF (now in the Coblenz bridgehead in Germany).

He wrote that, just prior to beginning this letter, he had finally received two letters (the first that he had received since entering Europe -- about 6 months earlier). One of these was from his parents. He does not mention who the other letter was from. He indicates it was partly by luck that he had received the two letters on this day. They were among a group of letters that had been misdelivered to another unit. He had just happened to run into the person who was distributing mail to members of that other unit. The letter from his parents had been written on 24 Dec 1918, which left him wondering what he had missed in the several months between when he left home and that 24 Dec 1918 date. His wording seems to suggest earlier letters from his parents (and others in the US) might have still been in transit.

He then described his recent trip from the army hospital at Mesves (which he called Musses-Buley) to Waldbrestback, where he was writing (material in a long-format end note for the “hospital” portion of this O L Baldwin narrative indicates that the large hospital complex at Mesves extended to Buley, a nearby village). Apparently, the entire trip (or almost all of it) had been on various trains. He does not give a lot of details, but he seems to be traveling with a group of soldiers who had also been discharged from the hospitals at Mesves to rejoin their units in the “army of occupation” in Germany.

They had left Mesves on 10 Jan 1919, arriving at Toul France on the morning of 12 Jan 1919. During the trip to Toul, they passed through several towns and cities that had suffered war damage. They spent one entire day in Toul, leaving on the morning of 13 Jan 1919, passing through Metz and Luxembourg (at night, while it was dark), arriving at Coblenz in the pre-dawn hours of 14 Jan 1919. Near the beginning of this leg of the trip, they passed through what had been the “old front lines.” Apparently, beyond the “old front lines”, there was relatively little war damage. He thought the land and scenery beyond that point was quite attractive. It is possible that much of the area he had seen in France, prior to this train trip, had suffered extensive war damage.

He said they stayed on the train in Coblenz until full daylight (it was probably warmer inside the train than outside). After disembarking, they spent the entire day in Coblenz (which he thought was very attractive) before leaving to travel about 20 kilometers to Neuwied (which he thought was even more attractive). He indicated that Waldbrestback (where he was writing) was “picturesque” and “clean,” with mountains and was on a small stream called the Wied River. He indicated he had been on one of the nearby mountains the previous day (probably 15 Jan 1919) and had been impressed by the view.

He indicated his final destination (the location of his new assignment) might be at another nearby small town named Bremscheid.

The hospital complex at Mesves was well behind where the front lines had been at the time of the Armistice. Thus, his trip, to his unit in the Coblenz bridgehead, which took perhaps 6 days, was longer (in distance) than other members of his unit (those not hospitalized) had traveled. They had started from near the November 11^th front line. However, his trip may have been much easier. At least one of the source documents about the movements of 2^nd Division during World War 1 describes the trip from its positions at the time of the armistice to the Coblenz bridgehead as a “march”.

It is possible that the train trip to the Coblenz bridgehead took so much time because the trains had to be routed around areas where tracks had been severely damaged by for years of war. There had, of course, been no “thru” rail traffic across the area where fighting had been in progress during those past four years.^41,27

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 January 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for a portion of that month. He was listed as having joined that unit on 13 January from hospital via a Replacement Battalion. The Ancestry muster roll collection does not seem to contain a roll from a Replacement Battalion (i.e., where he might have been assigned during the first 12 days of January, or perhaps once he was pronounced or classified as “cured” by the hospital medical staff).

The “stations” (unit identifications) described by the Ancestry suggest he was in “Company K” in several of the musters for 1919. This is apparently an error made by Ancestry transcribers. The digital image of the original muster rolls clearly indicate “Company L” (or Company 45, in a few instances).⁴²

The 3 April edition of The Douglas County Herald published a letter from Otha Leonidas Baldwin to his parents that is undated, but which must have been written some time in February or March 1919. He gives what is apparently his mailing address: 44 Dienodorfes Strasse, Heddesdorf, Neuwied of Rhine.

In this letter, he indicates he is “living” in a “large town” for the first time since arriving in Europe and has easier duty than when he was “in the company.” This suggests that, while he is still in the 2^nd Division, he is not “working” in the same infantry company he had served with since joining the 2^nd Division (including while in combat). As indicated below, he has been “detached” to the Military Police (M. P.) His M. P. assignment seems to have been primarily in a support role; he seems not to have been an on-patrol “policeman.” It could be that, since he had been hospitalized relatively recently, he might have been assigned lighter duty, even though he had recovered to the extent that he could return to his regular company and division.

He indicates his primary duty at the time was to “care” for two horses (although, interestingly, his work “duty” did not include feeding the horses, or mucking out the stables). He indicates that – aside from this “horse care duty” -- his time is his own, except for assembling for reveille immediately before breakfast and retreat immediately before “supper.” (He puts the word “supper” in quotation marks, perhaps to indicate that – like any good southern Missourian -- he still uses that word for the end-of-day meal, even though others – and maybe the Marine Corps itself -- may call it “dinner”.)

He writes about the recreational opportunities available to him there, such as a YMCA, K of C, a moving picture show, a theater, and Rhine River excursions (which he has not yet gone on).

He indicated that the “old men” in his company had been paid the previous day, but not “us Mariners.” It is unclear if his “company” contained a mixture of members of the US Army and the US Marine Corps (which may have had different payroll systems) or if “old men” referred to longer-service members of the company, rather than replacements who (like him) had joined the company in October 1918, or later (perhaps some payroll-related records had not yet caught up with the unit). Organization charts in the various general references about the 2^nd Division suggest that US Army and USMC troops did not serve together at the company level.

He indicated that he personally had not been paid since August. His military record contains a page entitled “Pay Account Record.” This page is difficult to decipher. However it seems to indicate he was paid in September and October, but after that, including for the time period when he was hospitalized, the page seems to contain a note about an amount of $82.49 that was “due and unpaid,” followed by several months when he was paid only extremely small sums. Presumably, any “back pay” that he was due caught up with him when he was discharged.⁴³

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 28 February 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for that month. He was listed as sick on 6 Feb 1919. He was listed as detached to the Military Police between 22 February and 28 February (although still formally a member of Company L).⁴⁴

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 March 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for that month. He was listed as detached to the Military Police for the entire month.⁴⁵

The 1 May 1919 issue of The Douglas County Herald published a letter from Otha Leonidas Baldwin to his parents from “Germany” dated 3 April 1919. This letter is mostly a travelogue of a day-trip riverboat excursion down the Rhine River taken the previous day (2 Apr 1919, which was a Wednesday). The trip was narrated by a tour guide. The letter contains a lot of details. Otha probably either took notes during the trip, or else he had something like a booklet or brochure describing the trip in front of him as he wrote the letter. (Compilers Note: In what follows, I have tried to keep the original spelling of place names in Germany used in the published letter. That is, I did not try to check his spelling -- and hopefully did not introduce any spelling errors of my own into these names.)

He wrote that because of the cold weather he was inside the dining room of the boat during much of the trip. From there, he could see only one shore of the river. Thus, he describes the things on the west bank of the river on the way downriver (traveling northward or northwestward) and the things on the east side of the river during the return trip. Near Coblenz, the Rhine flows approximately toward the northwest – or possibly north northwest. The first half of his trip was downstream and the second half was an upstream return.

The trip started at Neuwied at 9 AM. He wrote that much of the first part of the trip (between Lentesdorf and Konigswiner) was through a mountainous area, with steep hills alongside the river – and with vineyards growing on many of the steep hillsides.

He mentions Hammerstein (site of ruins of an old castle), Honningen, and Lembsdorf (the northernmost point of the 2^nd Division occupation zone – and the beginning of the six-kilometer-wide neutral zone). He next mentions Linz or Linsham (in the neutral zone), the ruins of Ockensfles, a high stone cliff at Erpelerhey, and a bridge at the village of Erpel, where the 2^nd Division had first crossed the Rhine (during the re-positioning to begin the occupation, not in combat – here he means most of the members of the 2^nd Division – he personally had been hospitalized in France during that re-positioning).

Then to Drachenfels, which is apparently a mountain, where a river flowing off the mountain falls into the Rhine. He was impressed by the beauty of the town of Konigswinter at the foot of Drachenfels. Konigswinter is where the Rhine leaves the mountains and begins to widen.

Perhaps another 10 kilometers farther on, the boat passed Bevel, a village on the opposite side of the river from Bonn. Four kilometers past Bevel, the boat turned, and he began describing things on the east side of the river, as the boat traveled southward (back upriver). They passed Bonn (on the east side of the Rhine River). He thought Bonn was very pretty and (with a population of 80,000) probably the largest town he had seen in Europe.

Further along on the return trip, he mentions ruins at Godesburg – and also a health resort there. Later (re-entering the mountains at Mehlem), ruins at Colondo and (near there) a convent on the island of Nonnenustral, “said” to be the home of 300 “girls” (nuns) especially selected for their beauty (this sounds like something that might be “said,” most often, by river tour boat guides as part of their spiel to foreign tourists, especially when the group of tourists might include young soldiers). Then they passed the Appollinaries Church (with two towers under repair).

Then to Remagen, where a large bridge crosses the Rhine.

CCF’s understanding is that this bridge had been built during what we now call World War I to aid Germany in supplying their troops fighting in France. Later, in World War II, this bridge was (briefly) important because it was the only “original” bridge over the Rhine captured “still standing” by US forces – although the partly stone bridge collapsed after a few days of heavy use by the US and its Allies (the retreating German Army had planted explosives on the bridge attempting to destroy it, but only a fraction of these had detonated; it is possible the explosives that did detonate caused some hidden damage that contributed to the later collapse of the bridge). This collapsed bridge (and other bridges that had been demolished by retreating German forces during World War II), were, of course, quickly rebuilt by the World War II Allies or replaced by temporary bridges. It is interesting that Otha mentions this bridge – built during one war -- that, many years later, had its “15 minutes of fame,” or actually perhaps something like 9 days of fame, in later war.

He obviously greatly enjoyed this trip and (near the end of the letter) mentioned a possible second excursion, going upriver from Niewied.

He also wrote about being skeptical of a news story he had seen (apparently in a newspaper published for members of the AEF) about a sizable fraction of the soldiers in the AEF re-enlisting.⁴⁶

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 30 April 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines (identified here as the 45^th Company of the 5^th Regiment), for that month. He was listed as detached to the Military Police for the entire month (identified here as the 2^nd Military Police, or M. P., Company).⁴⁷

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 May 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines (identified here as the 45^th Company of the 5^th Regiment), for that month. He was listed as detached to the 2^nd Military Police Company for the entire month.⁴⁸

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 30 June 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for that month. He was listed as detached to the 2^nd Military Police Company for the entire month.⁴⁹

His period of detached service to the 2^nd Military Police Company in Neuwied, Germany, ended on 8 July 1919.⁵⁰

He embarked on U. S. S. George Washington at Brest, France and sailed on 25 July 1919 for return to the United States. They arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey (Pier #3) on 3 Aug 1919.^51,52

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending 31 July 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for that month. As indicated above, he was listed as detached to the 2^nd Military Police Company for the first 8 days of the month. Presumably, he, and others in his unit, were in transit to Brest to board the ship returning them to the US during the approximately-two-weeks between July 8 and when they boarded the troopship on July 25.⁵⁰

A US Marine Corps Muster Roll for the month ending for August 1919 lists Otha Leonidas Baldwin as being assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Regiment, US Marines, for the first 13 days of that month.

He was honorably discharged on 13 August 1919 due to the expiration of the term of his enlistment. He was discharged at Quantico Virginia. Presumably, some of the time during the days between when the ship docked and 13 August was spent in transit between Hoboken New Jersey and Quantico.

At discharge, his military efficiency was rated Very Good, and his obedience, sobriety, and character were rated Excellent at the time of his discharge. He was recommended for re-enlistment and for the Good Conduct Medal. He was paid in full, $211.52. The discharge papers indicate he was given mileage to Missoula Montana (it is unclear if the mileage allowance was included in the $211.52 or if it was in addition to that amount).^53,16


Otha L Baldwin's Northern Pacific Railway personnel file contains a document filled out circa 1 July 1920 that lists his address as 411 Adler, Missoula, Montana. It states that his salary at that time was $139.50 per month, he had brown hair and gray eyes, he was 5 ft 11 inches tall, he weighed 168 pounds, and he had a scar on the left side of his face. He was listed as having one dependent, Winnifred Baldwin. His parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovy Jane Johnson lived at Prior Missouri at that time.

The purpose of this 1920 document and the significance of the date on it are unclear. This is at least partly because the top portion of the document is not visible in the image (it is not certain if the July 1st date is when the document was filled out or if it might represent something such as when the term of some type of employer-provided insurance policy begins or ends). This form might also somehow be related to his marriage to Winifred Myrtle Greenup (listed as Winnifred Baldwin) a few days later in July 1920. Most documents in his Northern Pacific Railway personnel file refer to him by his full name (with his middle name spelled out in full). In this narrative, that spelled-out middle name has been replaced by his middle initial in several places to save space and (hopefully) to make the narrative read a bit more smoothly.⁷

Otha L Baldwin married Winifred Myrtle Greenup, daughter of Dorris E Greenup and May Stanley, on 6 July 1920 at Missoula, Missoula County, Montana. Otha is said to be residing at Missula Montana and to be age 25. Winnifred is said to be residing at Hamilton Montana and to be age 18. Both are said to not have been previously married. Marriage performed by William Dyson, Justice of the Peace. Witnesses were Mary L Magee and W. C. Medcalf.^54,55

He was awarded the USMC Good Conduct Medal effective 6 October 1920 (over a year after completing his enlistment).⁵⁶

He requested and was granted several relatively long leaves of absence from his employer, Northern Pacific Railway, during the course of his employment there (and, interestingly, he seemed to be accumulating seniority with the railway even when he was on leave; the “start date” of his employment did not change despite these leaves of absence).

The first leave of absence was for his World War I military service, discussed above. After returning to work following his discharge, he took leaves of absence on approximately the following dates (and for the durations that are listed):


Several of these requests are for early in the year; he would have been away from work during January, February, and March (perhaps good months to be away from Montana due to severe winter weather?). The company employment records suggest that in few instances he returned to work somewhat before the end of the full duration of his requested leave of absence.

In addition to the leaves of absence (which he requested), he was laid off for various periods of time on several occasions. The company records sometimes refer to these layoffs as “suspensions,” although sometimes the records state that the employee has been “relieved.” In all of these instances, the reason for the layoffs (and for the eventual callback) appears to be associated with the ebb and flow of company business. The approximate dates (and durations) of these “layoffs” include: May 1922 (about 2 weeks), March 1925 (about 6 weeks), December 1925 (about 5 weeks – possibly “conveniently” at roughly the same time of year when he often asked for a leave of absence in the 1920s and early 1930s), January 1935 (about 7 months), January 1936 (about 4 weeks), April 1936 (about 2 months -- he married Elena Herrin during this "layoff leave"), February 1938 (about 4 months), December 1938 (about 4 days), and January 1939 (about 5 months). Seniority seemed to carry forward through these layoffs, just as if he had been working. In some cases, when the layoff was expected to be longer than 90 days, the railroad’s internal documentation noted that his Aetna insurance policy should be canceled (it is unclear what this policy covered).

The records also include several disciplinary suspensions. In most instances, suspensions of this type do not seem to have involved missing work (nor, presumably, any loss of pay). The punishment in these cases (sometimes called “record suspensions”) seems to have been only that the infraction was entered in the personnel file, including what the length of the suspension would have been if it had been an actual suspension (these seem to have been, in effect, “suspended” suspensions). There were also at least two instances involving actual suspensions (where he did miss work -- and was not paid).

The leaves of absence, layoffs, "actual" disciplinary suspensions, and changes of job status (such as promotions and demotions) were documented on two company forms. One was called: Recommendations for Promotion, Transfer, Change of Pay, and Re-Employment. The other was called: Notice of Suspension, Dismissal, or Resignation. His personnel file contains about 55 of these forms. These forms do not appear in the file for "record suspension" disciplinary actions.

Apparently, one of the benefits for working on the railroad was a pass to ride on passenger trains, presumably for free. During some of the layoffs, the internal documentation noted that his pass had been turned in. In others (especially after he had achieved 20 years of service) the documentation noted that it had not been turned in. In addition, the pass seemed to be valid on a larger fraction of the company's rail system after he achieved 20 years of service.

One of the purposes of the pass may have been to enable employees to travel to work assignments at company facilities some distance from their normal residences. Most of Otha L Baldwin’s work locations were in Missoula, Montana, but there were times when the two types of "employment" forms in the personnel file suggest he worked out of Helena Montana but lived in Missoula. Missoula and Helena are about 115 miles apart.⁵⁷

On 14 October 1922 he was involved in a situation where he was accused of failing to report of work when called in. A formal investigation was conducted. He was given a 30-day "record suspension" (apparently affecting only his work record, not actually causing him to miss any work). In this particular case, he did report to work when he was called in a second time on the same date (despite having a sprained arm). The "record suspension" was for failure to report when first called in.

His Northern Pacific Railway personnel file contains a record of this investigation (and similar investigations of other events, which are described below). These records contain transcribed questions and answers during a sort of “hearing” held concerning the incident. There are about eight such written transcripts in the personnel file. While the details of the incidents are difficult to fully comprehend due to the use of railroad jargon, the transcripts are interesting because they provide an opportunity to “hear” Otha L Baldwin speaking in his own words (if not to actually hear his voice). The transcripts for some of the later incidents, which involve the operation of steam locomotives, are especially difficult to fully understand because of the technical jargon.⁵⁸

His son, Otha L Baldwin Jr, died on 4 January 1924 in Hellgate Township, Missoula County, Montana. As noted above, he applied for a leave of absence from his employer just a few days later -- and he applied for two additional leaves of absence later in 1924. These leaves of absence may have somehow been related to the death of his son.^7,54

Otha Leonidas Baldwin and Winifred Myrtle Greenup lived at 816 Rose Avenue, Hellgate Township, Missoula County, Montana, in January 1924.⁵⁴

He applied for adjusted compensation (or a “bonus”) for his World War 1 military service probably circa 1925, when his mailing address was P. O. Box 367, Missoula Montana. His application number was 49975 and his Case Number was 111,362 AFC. The “veterans’ credit” for his adjusted compensation was $470.50 for 318 days credited military service: 133 days stateside plus 318 days overseas minus a 60-day “deduction” (the deduction applied to everyone). Under the terms of the Adjusted Compensation Act, no credit was received for service after 30 June 1919, so he did not receive “bonus” veterans’ credit for his last ~5 weeks of military service, during almost all of which he was overseas or in transit back to the US.

Under terms of the Act, this compensation was apparently in the form of a certificate for 125% of the dollar amount of the “veterans’ credit.” The monetary value of the certificate was payable on the veteran’s birthday in 1945 (or payable to a beneficiary on the death of the veteran, if it was earlier than the 1945 date). The certificate could be used as collateral for borrowing.

The filled-out form in the application papers in his OMPC does not seem to contain a date. However, the address given for his beneficiary (his father, Miles H Baldwin) is the address that his father used in registering to vote in Sanger, California for the 1926 election. So, the application was probably made within a year or so of that date.

As this is written (30 June 2021), the date for the divorce ending his first marriage has not yet been found. Since his father was named the beneficiary for this “bonus program certificate,” that divorce (or perhaps the decision to be divorced) probably came before the date for this Adjusted Compensation application.⁵⁹

On 29 December 1926 he was involved in a situation where he was accused of not being available to be contacted to be called in to work (apparently at Missoula, Montana). A formal investigation was conducted. He was given a 10-day suspension (on his record). The transcript of the interview for the formal investigation is in his personnel file. The documentation of this investigation (and of the resulting record suspension) were completed after he had begun a leave of absence in early January 1927.⁶⁰

Otha Leonidas Baldwin married Signe Raunberg, daughter of Lars Raunberg and Marie Nilson, on 4 January 1927 at Missoula, Missoula County, Montana. Both were listed as residents of Missula Montana. His age was listed as 31 and hers was listed as 20. Marriage was performed by Frank T (or possibly L) Jones, Justice of the Peace of Hellgate Township, Missoula County, Montana. Witnesses were Joseph W Dixon and Carolyn Worden Dixon. Otha Leonidas Baldwin began a 90-day leave of absence from his work at Northern Pacific Railway on the same date as this marriage.^61,7

On 11 July 1927 he was involved in a situation where he was accused of failing to report to work at Missoula, Montana, when called in following a "suspension". A formal investigation was conducted. He was given a 10-day suspension (on record). The transcript of the interview for the formal investigation is in his personnel file. It isn't clear from the personnel file which "suspension" he was being called back from. It might have been that the leave of absence that began on 4 Jan 1927 extended longer than the stated 90 days. The investigation transcript suggests he resided at the Lennox Hotel (presumably in Missoula) at this time.⁶²

Otha Leonidas Baldwin was listed as a registered voter for the 1928 general election, while residing with his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovy Jane Johnson at their residence at 1217 Olive, Sanger, Fresno County, California. He was registered as a Democrat and his occupation was listed as laborer. He may have registered as a voter in California during the time he was on a leave of absence from his employer that began 12 March 1928 or during a second leave of absence (for "sickness") that began 22 June 1928. These leaves of absence are discussed above. His normal residence at this time was in Montana.^{63,64,65,66,67,68}

Otha Leonidas Baldwin appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Sanger, Fresno County, California in the household of his parents, Miles Hadson Baldwin and Lovy Jane Johnson, at 1217 Olive Avenue. His occupation was listed as a fireman, railroad, in the 1930 census (this type of fireman provides coal to the boiler that makes steam to power the locomotive). The official date of this census was 1 April 1930, but the census taker actually visited the home on 15 April. Otha Leonidas Baldwin was probably in California, instead of his usual residence in Montana, because he had been granted a 90-day leave of absence by his employer effective 11 April 1930. Strictly speaking, he probably should have been enumerated in Montana, where he had been on the April 1st official census date.⁶⁹

Otha L Baldwin married Ethel E Brunson (listed on the marriage license and marraige certificate as Ethel Dewit), daughter of Wiley E Brunsen and Minnie Sheldon, on 19 August 1930 at Missoula, Missoula County, Montana. Marriage was performed by H. W.Rause (?, possibly Rawn), a Justice of the Peace, and witnessed by Mrs W. S. Brunsen (Minnie Sheldon) and Alice Brunsen (the surnames of the two witnesses were recorded on the marriage certificate as Brunson). The Justice of the Peace also seems to have issued the license on the same day, while acting as the district court clerk. Both principals were recorded as residents of Missula Montana and both were said to have been previously married and "now divorced" (at the time of this August 1930 marriage).⁷⁰

Otha Leonidas Baldwin married Elena Herrin, daughter of Frank P Herrin and Theresa Jacka, on 2 May 1936 at Jefferson County, Montana. Both principals are listed as residing at Helena Montana. He is listed as age 41 and was previously married. She is listed as age 16 and was not previously married. The marriage was performed by William Murtaugh, who is listed as an officer of the Salvation Army (a captain). Witnesses to the marriage were George F Haynes and Ardith Lay. The maiden surname of the mother of the bride was indexed by FamilySearch as Jacks, but, based on examining the handwriting in the document image (and other documents related to her and her family), the correct name appears to be Jacka.^71,72

On 27 May 1937 Otha L Baldwin was promoted to "Hostler" at Helena, Montana. Most of the time he worked for Northern Pacific Railway he held positions as either a Fireman or a Locomotive Engineer. The place for salary or wage rate information on the Recommendations for Promotion, Transfer, Change of Pay, and Re-Employment Forms for those Engineer and Fireman positions is filled by the word “Schedule”. Apparently, in those positions, the railway had a schedule reflecting a fixed relationship between (1) job classifications and years of service and (2) pay rate. Thus, (after 1920) no specific dollar amounts are shown on Recommendations for Promotion, Transfer, Change of Pay, and Re-Employment Forms for when he was either a Fireman or a Locomotive Engineer (which was the vast majority of his over-30-year career). However, on two occasions his job title was changed to “Hostler” (a person who “cares for” steam engines). For those positions, a salary was given on the form, in terms of dollars per day. For this 1937 move to a Hostler position, his salary was listed as $5.63 per day.⁷³

On 14 February 1938 Otha L Baldwin was relieved as a Hostler because he was replaced by a more senior (higher seniority) worker. The reason for this change was stated as being because the Fireman’s list was reduced (how this affected the number of Hostler’s positions is unclear). A few days later, on 19 Feb 1938, he was returned to service as a Fireman, having replaced a less senior Fireman.⁷³

Otha Leonidas Baldwin and Elena Herrin appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana at 1915 Harris Street, enumerated 12 April 1940. The home was listed as owned, valued at $1500, and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. Otha and Elena were both listed having lived in Sanger, Fresno County, California and in Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana ("same place"), respectively, on 1 Apr 1935 (they were not married to each other on 1 Apr 1935; that date was during an time period when he was on 7-month-log layoff from his railway job).

Otha Leonidas Baldwin (listed as "Otha Li") and Elena Herrin (listed as Lona, or possibly Lora or Lova) were listed as ages 45 and 19, respectively, both married, born in Missouri and Montana, respectively, and not attending school in March 1940. He was listed as having completed one year of high school and she was listed as having completed 2 years of high school.

Otha was listed as employed, having worked 20 hours, and not seeking work the week of 24-30 March. His occupation was listed as fireman on a steam railroad in private industry. He reported 32 weeks worked in 1939, $1100 in wage income, and had other income (other than wages and salary) in excess of $50. The number of weeks Otha worked is consistent with the 5 months he was laid off from his railway job in 1939, as noted above. Elena is listed as not employed for wages, and not seeking such employment. No occupation was listed for her. No 1939 wage income was reported for her and she did not have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule indicates a farm schedule was not filed for this household.^71,7

On 29 July 1942 he was promoted to Locomotive Engineer.⁷⁴

On 29 December 1942, while working as an Engineer on Locomotive 5106, he ran through a switch on a siding at Austin, Montana. An investigation was held. He was suspended for an “actual” five days. The transcript of the investigation/interview is included in his personnel file.⁷⁵

On 14 April 1943, while he was the Engineer on Locomotive 1853, he was involved in an incident where improper operation resulted in damage to the locomotive’s driver wheels (discovered when the locomotive arrived at the Missoula, Montana, roundhouse, following a trip from Paradise Montana). A formal investigation was conducted. He was given a 15-day suspension (on record). The transcript of the interview for the formal investigation is in his personnel file.⁷⁶

On 2 June 1943, Otha L Baldwin was involved in an incident that resulted in an injury to one of his hands at Missoula, Montana, while he was the Engineer on Locomotive 1356 (the tip of a finger was cut off). A formal investigation was conducted. He was given a 10-day suspension (on record, not “actual”). The transcript of the interview for the formal investigation is in his personnel file.⁷⁷

On 14 November 1945, while working as an Engineer on Locomotive 4503, he derailed the engine at Blosburg, Montana. An investigation was held and he was suspended for an “actual” 10 days. The transcript of the interview/investigation is in his personnel file.⁷⁸

Otha Leonidas Baldwin and Elena Herrin were divorced some time prior to 22 November 1946, when she remarried.⁷⁹

Effective 12 June 1949 he was demoted to Fireman due to a reduction in the number of job slots for Engineers on the railway. He seems to have immediately “bumped” someone to be restored to a Hostler position, at a pay rate of $11.29 per day. However, effective 1 July 1949 someone apparently “bumped” him out of the Hostler job, so he returned to being a Fireman (at the “Schedule” pay rate for Firemen, possibly somewhat lower than $11.29 per day, although it is possible the Hostler pay rate was similar to – or perhaps even slightly lower than – the Fireman rate, but the Hostler positions were attractive due to better working conditions).⁸⁰

Otha Leonidas Baldwin died on 12 July 1950 (9 AM) at Madera Sanitarium, Madera, Madera County, California, at age 55.^2,81,82,83 He was buried at Sanger Cemetery, Sanger, Fresno County, California. His death certificate indicated he died from cerebral contusions two days after a skull fracture injury (and other severe trauma injuries) from a motor vehicle accident involving a car and a pickup truck at an intersection in rural Madera (the accident occurred at 8 AM on 10 July 1950). He and his son, George Lawerence Baldwin, were on a one-month vacation trip and had planned to return to Montana around July 20th. They had visited Otha's father and stepmother in Sanger, and were on their way to Yosemite, possibly as a stop on their return to Montana. His son was also injured in this accident. The death certificate indicates Otha was divorced and his occupation was a train engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad. His usual residence was 1915 Harris Street, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana. He was a member of the Eagles Lodge and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers. The pallbearers at his funeral were all members of Sanger Aerie 1147, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

His son's pet Chihuahua dog, Lubie, had also been in the car. The dog was missing after the accident. The dog was recovered a few days later after a "county-wide search". It was found by Joe Urrutia. George Baldwin had earlier been quoted (apparently while still hospitalized following the accident, possibly before his father died from his injuries) as saying "My dad and my dog are my only best friends." The newspaper story said "George cried with happiness" when he received word the dog had been found.^{6,81,84,83,85}


Notes and Observations (Possible Impact of World War 1 Service) –

CCF probably first became interested in Otha Baldwin because (1) it seemed that his four marriages and divorces, together with (2) the age of each of his brides, made him seem somewhat of a “colorful” character. Each of his brides seem to be around age 20, or younger, at the time of the marriage. Thus, it seemed that, as he got older, his wife (at the time) was almost always in her mid-20s, or younger.

Now that I have a fuller picture of his life, certain aspects of his personal history, especially (1) his combat experience (and two-month hospitalization) during World War 1, (2) the four unsuccessful marriages, (3) the death of his toddler-age son in 1924, and (4) several relatively-long apparently-voluntary leaves of absence during his work career, might be evidence Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming from his military service – and/or possibly from the death of his young son.


Notes and Observation – Purple Heart Medal (by Carl Fields, compiler, 15 June 2019) –

I was somewhat surprised that Otha’s military record did not mention him receiving a Purple Heart medal, since his military record suggests he was wounded (gunshot wound) in Europe during his World War I service in the US Marine Corps (as discussed above, existing records concerning this wound -- or wounds -- are very sketchy). However, I later ran across an article that provided background information on the Purple Heart Medal. This article provided the explanation of why his military record did mention this medal. I later saw a few other articles that addressed this topic.

The medal was first awarded (by George Washington) during the Revolutionary War (and is the oldest US military decoration). However, it fell out of use after the Revolutionary War, until the US Army renewed in February 1932 (around the 200^th anniversary of George Washington’s birth). At that time, the medal was awarded to several individuals (retroactive to the beginning of US involvement in World War I), but the award was limited to members of the US Army (the US Marine Corps was not included). In addition, at the time of the 1932 renewal, the basis for making the award was not necessarily limited to being wounded in action, which is the current practice.

During World War II, eligibility for award was expanded to the Navy and Marines, but was made retroactive for service men (and probably service women too) only back to 7 Dec 1941.

In 1952, the retroactive time period for all services seems to have been extended back to the beginning of World War I. However, by that time, Otha was deceased, and thus could not have personally received such a retroactive award.

I have not (as of late June 2021) ever been in contact with any of Otha’s direct descendants (that I am aware of, or remember). I am not aware if any of them ever applied for this award based on Otha’s World War I service. If no one has, I would expect a direct descendant (or perhaps the “closest” living direct descendant) might be entitled to apply for a Purple Heart medal based on his military record.

Notes and Observations (Start of a memoir essay by CCF) --

This is the start of a draft of a memoir-type item that I began writing in conjunction with an informal learning class at the University of South Carolina Aiken around 2018 or 2019. It was never finished. I have included it here to provide some insight into why I made this effort to document the life of this distant cousin, who I almost certainly never met--



I do family history research. Unfortunately, I – like many people – got interested in this rather late in my life. In addition, I didn’t plan the date of my birth very well; my parents were in the forties when I was born. A result of these gaps in planning is that most of the older members of my family (those who might have direct memories of the even older ancestors) were deceased by the time I became interested in asking questions. Because of this, I pretty much have to rely on written documents to learn about the older family members.

These documents tend to be somewhat dry. In many cases, I can find things like date of birth, date of their marriage, who they married, date of death, and where they are buried. That doesn’t really give much of “feel” as to what the family member was like.

However, there are a few instances where I’ve run into more information, such as the records of an estate sale of possessions of a great-great-great-grandfather, who, at the time of his death, owned personal property that included six books and 2 beehives. That information perhaps provides tiny (but extremely limited) hints about his personal life. I would, of course, dearly love to know the titles of those six books, and what he was doing with those beehives, but that information is (probably) forever lost.

But, but – I can speculate on what might have been. For example, it’s possible, just possible, that my long-ago g-g-g-grandfather kept bees because honey was the only sweetener available (and/or affordable) to people who lived in rural North Carolina in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Of course, when I write up these speculations, I have to be very clear to differentiate between the things I know (such the approximate year of his birth) from the speculation (that he kept bees so he could have honey on his breakfast biscuits). To be honest, even his year of birth isn’t really a known-for-certain “fact,” I’ve estimated it was 1750 because a 1761 court record (in a “bastardly case”) indicates he was “about 10 or 11” at that time.

In addition, I don’t know if the surname he used most of his life (Jarman) was his father’s surname, the surname of his (perhaps unwed) mother, or possibly a stepfather’s surname. And to make things even more cloudy, alternative versions of his surname (such as German and Jamaney) appear in a few places.

In the fall of 2019, I took an informal learning course on fiction writing. One of my objectives was to learn some fiction writing techniques, to improve my ability to write these speculative profiles, which, are, I guess, “short stories,” in a sense.

For my optional class project, I picked one my dad’s first cousins, Otha Leonidas Baldwin, who had an interesting life, in addition to an impressive name. I might add here that, back around the turn of the 20^th century, “Otha” wasn’t as unusual a first name as I had expected. When I search for “Cousin Otha” on Ancestry.com, information on two or three other “Otha Baldwins,” born in the same era, show up to complicate my life (probably far more than they ever complicated his).

Otha also left a surprisingly large number of documents in his wake – and these are just what I’ve been able to come up from research primarily on the internet and in the US National Archives. I haven’t traveled to Montana to visit county courthouses to search for any public records relating to real estate transactions, or to his four divorces (that’s four that I’ve found evidence of, thus far, although I don’t expect to find any others). I wrote earlier that he had an interesting life.

Otha was born in Florilla Missouri on 1 February 1895. I don’t know much about the first several years of his life. There is only an occasional mention of him (in the local newspaper) at school, such as occasionally making an honor roll (which he did less frequently than his evidently more-academically-inclined older brother had, a few years earlier).

In late 1916, he applied for a job at the Great Northern Railroad in Montana. His job application listed 9 previous jobs between 1911 and 1916, when he was ages 16 to 21. These jobs included farm labor, shoveling (on a construction project), and brickmaking. The job application provides the approximate date when he moved to Montana, during autumn 1916. He might have gone there because his older brother, Chester L Baldwin, was employed in Montana as a school teacher.

He was hired by the railroad company as a fireman. This is the man who worked inside the then-steam-powered locomotice (engine car), along with the engineer, who was the actual “driver”. The fireman’s primary job (in 1916) was to shovel coal into the firebox. It was the combustion of the coal that supplied the heat that made the steam for the engines of that time.

He had been in this job for only a few months, when the US entered World War I. He appears to have applied for a leave of absence from his railroad job and enlisted in the US Marine Corps.
He served in Europe.

US forces in Europe during World War I were called “The American Expeditionary Force,” (AEF). The AEF was made up of several divisions. Most of the divisions were US Army or federalized Army National Guard. US Marines made up much of the Second Division of the expeditionary force (but there were also US Army elements in that division).

His service in the field was interrupted when he was hospitalized in early November 1918. He later returned to his unit in January 1919, after the Armistice. That unit was then stationed as an occupation force in Germany. He returned home to the US during the summer of 1919.

The reason for his hospitalization is unclear. The portions of this military record that directly refer to the hospitalization mention rheumatism, an ear infection, and flu (this hospitalization was during the worldwide “Spanish Flu” pandemic). However, other places in his military records briefly mention a “gunshot wound” that affected his face and both hands.

He wrote several letters back to his parents while he was serving in Europe…..

(I wrote about 10 more paragraphs before abandoning this effort (until today, 27 June 2021).

Those additional paragraphs have (in revised form) been incorporated into the main narrative of Otha’s life, which appears above. The title of this piece indicates I apparently planned to include something about the dog, Lubie, who was in the vehicle at the time of Otha’s fatal accident in 1950. I’m often amazed that, ironically, I can find relatively unimportant things, such as the name of a pet, while the knowledge of so many more important things has been lost.

Lucille A. Buffo was born on 2 May 1937 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.²

Lucille A. Buffo married John Robert Smith, son of Robert William Smith and Ruth Inez McGowan, in 1970 at West Miffllin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.^2,1

Lucille A. Buffo lived between 1970 and 2004 at Level Green, Pennsylvania.³

Lucille A. Buffo died on 9 January 2004 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 66.²

William Orville Fields was most commonly known as either Orville Fields or W. O. Fields. His birth certificate (issued retroactively, a "prior birth registration") spells his middle name as Orvil. In some records his first two names are reversed.^4,5,3 He was born on 4 December 1898 (at 10 PM) in Independence County, Arkansas. His grave marker and the Social Security Death index list the year as 1897. He was probably born in Pleasant Plains, Independence County, Arkansas, since that is where the family probably lived at the time of his birth. His (delayed) birth certificate (issued in 1942) lists the place of his birth as Newark, Arkansas, which is likely where he lived in 1942 (and which may be the only "home town" he remembered; the family moved there around 1905).^6,3,7,8

William Orville Fields appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairview Township, at Independence County, Arkansas in the household of his parents, George McClellan Fields and Sarah Clementine Johnson.²

William O. Fields's parent, Sarah Clementine Johnson, included him in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 4 February 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁹

William Orville Fields (listed as William A Fields – his middle initial was really “O”) appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Big Bottom Township, of Independence County, Arkansas in the household of his parents, George McClellan Fields and Sarah Clementine Johnson, at Newark Town (crossed out). The official date of that census was 15 April 1910. He was listed as age 12, born in Arkansas and single. No occupation was listed for him. He had attended school since 1 September 1909. He was listed as able to read and write and speak English.¹⁰

William Orville Fields married Pearl Jane Platt, daughter of James Platt and Etta Jones, in December 1917 at Magness, Independence County, Arkansas.¹¹

William Orville Fields lived in 1918 at Newark, Independence County, Arkansas.¹² His occupation was listed as farming in 1918.⁶

William Orville Fields purchased a $50 war bond (Liberty Loan) in 1919.¹³

William Orville Fields (listed as Orville W Fields) and Pearl Jane Platt, (listed as Pearl J Fields) appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Newark, Independence County, Arkansas at Hill Street, enumerated 10 January 1920 (10 Jan 1920). The official date of that census was 01 January 1920. The home was listed as owned without a mortgate (and on a farm). William Orville Fields and Pearl Jane Platt were listed as age 22 and 20, respectively, both born in Arkansas, and both married. William Orville Fields’s occupation was listed as a Farmer on a general farm and working on his own account (self-employed). Pearl Jane Platt was listed as having no occupation. Their daughter Wynona Marie Fields (age 18 months) was listed as living with them. Both adult members of the household were listed as being able to read, write, and speak English, and did not attend school after September 1, 1919. An agricultural census was filed for this household.¹ William Orville Fields was listed as a farmer on a general farm in the 1920 census.¹⁴

William Orville Fields immigrated circa February 1925 to Arizona (from Newark Arkansas). This was apparently the first of several moves between Arkansas and Arizona, before he eventually settled fairly permanently in Arizona, perhaps in the mid-1940s.¹¹

William Orville Fields registered to vote in Maricopa County, Arizona, on 16 June 1926 (as W. O. Fields). He was registrant number 13856 and registration file page number 25601. He provided the following information: party affiliation: Dem, occupation: laborer, native of: Arkansas, address: Henshaw Road & 16th, height: 5 ft 9 in, weight: 145 lbs.¹⁵

William Orville Fields (listed as Orvell Fields) (listed as Pearl Fields) appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Newark Town, Big Bottom Township, Independence County, Arkansas(Newark Town, Big Bottom Township, Independence County, Arkansas), enumerated 9 April 1930 The official date of that census was 02 April 1930. Their ages were listed as 32 and 31, respectively, both listed as born in Arkansas, ages at first marriage (presumably this marriage, for each of them) were listed as 21 and 18, respectively (which seems odd, unless an unknown person had an earlier marriage that CCF is unaware of, as this is written in April 2020), both did not attend school the previous year, and both could read and write.

The home was not listed as either owned or rented as owned and was on a farm (although, except for small pasture, most land that the family farmed was not contiguous with the residence, and was some miles distant (this is known by CCF from oral family folklore absorbed while growing up in Newark in the 1950s). No indication was listed as to whether or not a radio was present in the home (this line was blank for everyone on this page of the census schedule). CCF believes (as of April 2020) that in 1930 this family lived on a homestead immediately north of an unknown person that was owned by an unknown person . In CCF’s childhood during the 1950s, the home the William Orville Fields household is believed to have occupied in 1930 was referred to (by CCF’s older family members) as “The Gibson Place,” while the home that the an unknown person household lived in 1930 was called something like “The Old Home Place” (the home that CCF’s father, and the aunt and uncles that he knew, had grown up in). This home may have been provided rent free by an unknown person in return for providing farm labor and management services.

William’s occupation was listed as Farmer, general farm, and he was listed as employed. No occupation was listed for an unknown person . No military veterans were listed as living in the household. The household of William Orville Fields’s father and stepmother is listed immediately prior to his on the same page of the handwritten census schedule.¹⁶

William Orville Fields filed for divorce from Pearl Jane Platt on 20 April 1937 at Independence County, Arkansas. The divorce decree was issued on 17 Nov 1937 (Certificate 5101).¹⁷

William Orville Fields appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Newark, Independence County, Arkansas, enumerated 4 April 1940. The home was listed as owned, valued at $700, and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 April 1940. His daughter Wynona M Fields was listed as living with him, Both household members were listed having lived in the same house on 1 Apr 1935. William was listed as age 42, widowed, born in Arkansas, and not attending school in March 1940 (the widowed is almost certainly incorrect, since he had been divorced a few years earlier and his ex-wife was also living in Newark). William was listed as having completed one year of high school. William was listed as working (and not seeking work) the week of 24-30 March, but nothing is listed for the number of hours worked. His occupation was listed as a farmer in the farm industry, working for his own account (self employed). During 1939 he worked 52 weeks, but no wage income is listed. The return indicates he did have non-wage income in excess of $50 in 1939. The population schedule sheet indicates a farm schedule was not prepared for this household. It is possible the three sons of G M Fields who were apparently living in Newark in 1940 -- Orville, Ralph, and Lacy -- were jointly farming the land in the GM Fields estate, and the farm equpment, crops, income, etc., were recorded in the farm schedule associated with the Sallie Fields household. As indicated above, Column 6 indicates the home is not on a farm. However, Column 20 for W.O. Fields indicates the 1935 residence ("same house") was on a farm, although on the line for Wynona, Column 20 indicates the 1935 residence (also "same house") was not on a farm.¹⁸

Henry Wood Johnson witnessed a delayed birth certificate on 21 May 1942 for his nephew, William Orville Fields, who had been born (according to the certificate) on 4 Dec 1898. He used the name H. W. Johnson. The birth certificate appears to contain two copies of H. W. Johnson's signature. The form appears to have been signed on 21 May 1942.⁸

His military "army enlistment record" is dated 21 October 1942. His enlistment location is given as Phoenix, Arizona. His residence is listed as Independence County, Arkansas. He is listed as entering as a private, entering the service from civil life to serve for (essentially) the duration of the war. He is listed as born in 1898 in Arkansas. His education was given as "grammar school", civilian occupation: "general farmers", and he was listed as divorced, with dependents. His height was listed as 69 inches and his weight as 138 pounds. Family folklore is that he was discharged after approximately 90 days (he was rather old and frail to go through the rigors of military training -- he had probably been a long-term smoker at this time of his life).¹⁹ He lived in 1942 at Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, (this is according to what is apparently a different army elistment record on the internet.)²⁰ His occupation was.²⁰

He had at least one extended visit to his brother Ralph Fields in Detroit, Michigan in the mid-1950s (and a few shorter visits). He also had extended visits to Arkansas in the 1960s, at least once renting a room and living in Newport for some number of weeks or months. He had begun receiving Social Security disability income around the late 1950s.⁵

William Orville Fields died on 25 October 1968 at Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, at age 69.^21,7 He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona.⁵

William Orville Fields's Social Security Number was 432-26-5425 (card was issued in Arkansas).⁷

Personal recollections about William Orville Fields are described in an end note.²²

James W. Fortune was born on 8 July 1871 in Missouri according to his death certificate. Census information suggests he may actually have been born at least one year later.^5,6

James W. Fortune married Easter Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of Aaron Francis Johnson and Alabeth Wood, circa 1894 in Missouri.^1,3,6,5

James W. Fortune and Easter Elizabeth Johnson emigrated some time between November 1894 and November 1896 from Missouri to Washington state.⁶

James W. Fortune and Easter Elizabeth Johnson appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Diamond Precinct, Whitman County, Wahington, enumerated 13 June 1900. The residence was listed as rented and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 01 June 1900. This census is unique in that month and year of birth were requested for each individual, in addition to each individual's age at the official census date. Their children Ena Fortune, Ruth Fortune and Austin J. Fortune were listed as living with them (Ruth was listed under the name Berta in this census). Both adults in the household were listed as being able to read, write, and speak English. They had been married for six years. None of the three children (the eldest age 5) were listed as attending school the previous year. Easter Elizabeth Johnson was listed as the mother of three children, with all of them living as of the date of the census. The family listed immediately prior to the James W. Fortune household in this census is Peter Johnson, age 25, listed as a farmer, and also born in Missouri. It is not known if there was any connection between the Fortune housheold and this Peter Johnson (but Johnson might have been J. W. Fortune's employer -- J. W. Fortune's wife's maiden name was Johnson).⁶ James W. Fortune was listed as a farm laborer in the 1900 census.⁶

James W. Fortune moved to Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, circa 1904.⁵

James W. Fortune and Easter Elizabeth Johnson appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Spokane (Ward 5), Spokane County, Washington at 210 Montgomery Avenue, enumerated 15 April 1910. The residence was listed as owned, mortgaged, and not on a farm. The official date of that census was 15 April 1910. Their children Ena Fortune, Ruth Fortune, Austin Johnson Fortune and Frances Fortune were listed as living with them (Austin was listed with middle initial W), Easter Elizabeth Johnson and James W. Fortune were listed as ages 38 and 37, respectively, both born in Missouri, both married (first marriage for both), and having been married for 16 years. Everyone in the family over age 10 was listed as being able to read, write, and speak English. All children were listed as attending school. The children's names were listed as Erna I, Ruth, Austin J, and Mary F Johnson. James W. Fortune was listed as being employed as a salesman in real estate on his own account. He was employed on the date of the census and reported zero weeks of unemployment during 1909. Easter Elizabeth Johnson was listed as having four children, all of them living, as of the date of the census.⁷

James W. Fortune appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Spokane (Dodd District), Spokane County, Washington at 1507 North Wall Street, enumerated 12 January 1920. The home was listed as rented. The official date of that census was 01 Janurary 1920. His children Ena F. Fortune, Ruth A. Fortune and Frances Fortune were listed as living with him. All members of the household were listed as being able to read and write. Frances was listed as attending school after September 1, 1919.² James W. Fortune was listed as a real estate salesman (wage earner) in the 1920 census.²

James W. Fortune died at 12:30 pm on 30 April 1920 in his home at N 1507 Wall Street, Spokane, Spokane County, Washington, at age 48.^2,4,5 He was buried at Riverside Park, Spokane, Washington. His death certificate indicates he died from valvular heart disease and his occupation had been oil stock salesman.⁵

One source suggests Ena F. Fortune's middle initial might have been "I".⁴ She was born on 25 November 1894 in Missouri.^5,4

Ena Fortune appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Diamond Precinct, Whitman County, Wahington in the household of her parents, James W. Fortune and Easter Elizabeth Johnson.⁵

Ena F. Fortune's parent, Easter Elizabeth Johnson, included her in an application for membership in the Choctaw Indian tribe on 14 March 1903. Members of the tribe were to receive land allotments when tribal lands in Indian Territory were divided among individual members of the tribe (Indian Territory was included in Oklahoma when Oklahoma became a state in 1907). The application was made under a special procedure for certain members of the tribe (and their descendants) who had not received land allotments in Mississippi that were promised under Article 14 of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Minor children were eligible for land allotments (although the children's allotments were much smaller than those for adults). The application for tribal membership was not approved.⁶

Ena Fortune appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Spokane (Ward 5), at Spokane County, Washington in the household of her parents, Easter Elizabeth Johnson and James W. Fortune, at 210 Montgomery Avenue.⁷

Ena F. Fortune appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Spokane (Dodd District), Spokane County, Washington in the household of her father, James W. Fortune, at 1507 North Wall Street.² Ena F. Fortune was listed as a stenographer for a grocery in the 1920 census.²

Ena F. Fortune married Charles Cadore.^8,4

Ena F. Fortune lived on 7 December 1934 in Illinois.⁸

Ena F. Fortune died on 20 September 1968 at age 73.⁴ She was buried in Iroquois Memorial Park, Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois.⁴