The Slow Death of a Veteran

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From the Hobart High School's "Memories" yearbook of 1921.
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society, Hobart, Indiana.

He didn't die in action, or even in the service, but World War I killed John Small anyway, according to the Hobart News.


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Hobart News, 20 Dec. 1923. See also "Death Summons John E. Small," Hobart Gazette, 21 Dec. 1923.

If I understand the family tree correctly, this John Small was the grandson of John and Mary Jane Small, who (I believe) gave Small's Crossing its name. The farm he grew up on seems to have been in southwest Portage Township, Porter County, based on neighbors' names in the 1900 census and several parcels owned by Smalls in that area on the 1906 plat map. By 1910 his parents had retired from farming and moved their family to the village of Wheeler. In 1920 John and his wife, Martha, were living in Hobart, where John gave his occupation as a teacher in a public school — modestly, perhaps, if the News was correct about his being the high school principal by then.

Martha remarried in 1935, to a widower named Ralph Orr, but when she died in 1975, her remains were brought home from Indianapolis to be laid to rest beside John.

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Moving from the serious to the silly, we note (in the lower right of the page above) that a Hobart night marshal resigned from his position under a cloud. According to an earlier article, he had been suspended after being accused of not only drunkenness, but also poker-playing ("Night Marshal Carrier Suspended," Hobart Gazette, 14 Dec. 1923).

Grief and Glory

One hundred years ago today, the joyous news of the Armistice reached our shores. The Great War was over. Celebrations broke out all over the country.

In Lake Station, one family's joy was tempered by a recent loss: Christina Blank Hazelgreen had died on October 31, 1918, and was laid to rest on November 3.

Christina's daughter, Elna (now about 24 years old), received from a friend in Chicago this letter dated November 12 that expressed a range of emotions from private grief to public joy to horror at the flu epidemic that was still going on.


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The letter reads:

Dear Elna:

Received your letter Sat. telling the sad sad news of your bereavement, in the death of your dear mother.

You have our sincerest sympathy and our hearts truly ache for you, and with you, for we feel that we, too, are bereft of a sincere friend, one whose true womanly influence was always felt in the desire she gave one, to do better and be better. How glad you are now of the years of devoted services rendered.

If we had only known of your sorrow, we would have been with you and yours in those last sad rites.

In trying to lighten the burden of others, we find our own load grows less heavy, and you will find it so in this "7 in 1" drive.[1] Wish you the greatest success.

Will come to see you at the first opportunity. You know we left E[ast] Gary sooner than we expected, and I intended, as much as could be, returning on the following day, to say "Good Bye" to all old friends, and neighbors, but on reaching the city that night, found Jay had made plans to go to Detroit instead. On our return, was a victim of the "flu" and for four weeks, was in the house every minute. Am feeling fine now and glad to be alive. So far, we have made no plans for the Winter, but will probably remain with Hazel. And I want you, Clara and Malcolm to be sure and come to see us. Take a Hammond car to Grand Crossing, then transfer to a 75th street car, last get off at Jeffery, walk to Chappel and we live the sixth door from the corner in a little brick bungalow.

Isn't it glorious the war is over? This was some mad town the 11th. I understand there wasn't much of a celebration in Gary. Well, dear will be glad to see you or hear from you at any time, it seems odd not to have one of our "weekly midnight conflabs" [sic].

Was sorry that Esther Olson had been so ill. Oh that epidemic was something terrible – in many cases it was impossible to bury the dead on account of no caskets being available.

Hazel is waiting for me to make button holes, so will close.

With love and best wishes.

Yours Sincerely,

Belle Lewis.

Belle Lewis appears in the 1910 Census as a resident of East Gary (Lake Station). She and her husband, Jay, had come there sometime after the 1900 Census (which recorded them living in Michigan). Hazel was their only daughter, born circa 1890.

Clara and Malcolm were Elna's siblings.

Esther Olson was some relation to Elna — either the wife or daughter of Elna's cousin on her mother's side, Floyd Olson (also an East Gary resident).

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[1] I don't know exactly what she is referring to, but it may have involved the Fourth Liberty Loan Drive.

The Death of Henry Shearer

This veteran of the Great War died an untimely death in January 1923. He was laid to rest in Hobart Cemetery.


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Hobart Gazette 9 Feb. 1923.

I am confused about what, if any, relation he had to the other Shearers I've written about. I used to think that his father, Jeronomy, was also known as Jerome and thus was the father of Ainsworth's own Calvin C. Shearer — evidently I was mistaken about that.*

His mother's maiden name being Perry leads me to wonder if she was related to Harriet Perry Chester Casbon. But I am going to have to get a faster internet connection or a better computer before I can figure that out.

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Beneath Henry's obituary we find a tribute to little Ramie Schumacher.
_______________________
*However, I now think that Calvin Shearer's father, Jerome, was the brother of Cora Shearer Maybaum's grandfather, Daniel (Porter and Lake Counties (Goodspeed/Blanchard), 1860 Census).

From a Soldier to His Mother

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Images courtesy of Eldon Harms.



We know that Walter Ensign served in the armed forces during World War I. Evidently he sent this postcard "From Walter to Mother" while he was in camp in Mississippi. (According to his 1921 passport application on Ancestry.com, he was eventually sent to France.)

I think that much is in Walter's own handwriting. Someone else came along and added the surname, thank goodness, or we might not have known who Walter was. And I don't actually know which of these soldiers is Walter.

"Mother" was Elizabeth-or-was-it-Nora (Shearer) Ensign.

A Soldier's Belated Funeral

On November 6, 1920, a telegram from New York reached F.B. and Carrie Price on their Ainsworth farm: the body of their fallen soldier, their son James, was again on American soil. That day the ship bearing his coffin had docked. A U.S. soldier would accompany his remains to Crown Point.

The News now suggested that it was influenza that had killed him, not the wound he received in action, or nephritis, or exposure. (The Gazette merely said that he had recovered from his wound sufficiently to return to service, but then was "taken ill" and died at Base Hospital No. 22.)

The journey from New York home took nearly two weeks. On Friday, November 19, James' coffin arrived at his parents' home.

So many people came to the funeral on the afternoon of Sunday, November 28, that the Merrillville Methodist Church could not hold them all, and some were left outside. Seventy-five American Legion members were there, from the Hobart and Crown Point posts. Among the pallbearers were George Tabbert and Otto Sizelove of Hobart, both of them veterans; George said that James' company had relieved his detachment during fighting in the Argonne forest, where James was wounded.

James Price was finally laid to rest in the Merrillville cemetery.


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Sources:
♦ "Card of Thanks." Hobart News 2 Dec. 1920.
♦ "Funeral of James I. Price Will Be Held at Merrillville, Sunday Afternoon." Hobart News 25 Nov. 1920.
♦ "Funeral of Jas. Price Next Sunday." Hobart Gazette 26 Nov. 1920.
♦ "James I. Price, Who Died in France, to Be Buried at Merrillville." Hobart News 11 Nov. 1920.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 2 Dec. 1920.
♦ "Merrillville Items." Lake County Star 3 Dec. 1920.
♦ "Remains of Jas. Price Brought Home." Hobart Gazette 12 Nov. 1920.

My Brave Sons

From the Schavey envelope collection.


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Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Unidentified, so I don't actually know if they are his sons. The original is done up as a small postcard, with "Correspondence" and "Address" professionally printed on the back, but it was not used.

The man on the right is the same one who stood beside the young woman in the previous photo. I'm still not sure he's a soldier, but the man on the left certainly looks like one, and is that a service banner in the window behind them?

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[11/2/2012 update] The curator of the DeWell family archives has pointed out to me that the Hobart News of February 20, 1919, included a photo of Frank Schavey in uniform (Frank being Mable Schavey's uncle). Here it is:



That's a scan of a bad microfilm print-out. The original newspaper might be more helpful, if only I could get my hands on it. When I see a resemblance, perhaps I'm seeing what I want to see. At any rate, I've abandoned my Boy Scout/forest ranger/Halloween theory.

Armistice Day Anniversary

The first anniversary of Armistice Day brought thousands of people to downtown Hobart to celebrate the end of the war and the return of their soldiers — about 5,000, from Hobart itself, from neighboring farms and from nearby towns. The weather cooperated, with clear skies and mild temperatures.

In the afternoon, even before the main festivities, the town had a rare treat. A couple of pilots had been in the area taking "high-altitude" photographs for the government, and Harry Coons, president of Hobart's Commercial Club, had persuaded them to put on a little air show. Astonished schoolchildren were among those watching as the aircraft flew over the town and performed aerial stunts.

At 6:00 p.m., many businesses in Hobart shut down so that their owners and employees could join the fun — only the ice-cream parlors stayed open; and in the Watson building, the ladies in charge of feeding the crowds reported handing out some 4,000 plates between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. (And the food was free to the diners — paid for by subscriptions, or donated.)

After an hour and a half of eating, about 100 local men who had served in the late conflict began assembling in front of Odd Fellows Hall (Fourth and Main). They were in civilian dress, but each had been provided with a white ribbon, printed with the words: "Hobart Veteran, Armistice Day, 1919" in gold letters. These men, led by a Hobart musical band and four Civil War veterans carrying the American flag, marched the two blocks north to Community Hall (the former Hobart House).

There they halted, and they and the crowd pressing around them listened to an address by the Rev. A.H. Lawrence — only ten minutes of solemn speech, and then everything dissolved into merry-making. A Chicago vaudevillian provided comic relief; a quartet sang; the Hobart band played and young folks transformed the newly paved Main Street into an open-air dance hall. Later the dancing went indoors, to the polished floors in Community Hall and Odd Fellows Hall.

It was "a splendid demonstration of community pride and patriotism," said the Gazette, "not unlike the old Fourth of July celebrations held back in the 90's."

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The same issue of the Gazette brought us some news about our old friend, John Killigrew:

While workmen were digging for a sewer lead to the new house which John Killigrew is having built on Michigan avenue, on land purchased from Oscar Carlson, two large and handsome Indian tomahawks were unearthed. Mr. Killigrew feels proud of the recovery of the old relics.

(It also reported that the "Jolly Four," whose identity I hope to discover, planned to host a masquerade ball at Ainsworth on November 19.)

According to the following week's News, the new Killigrew bungalow was being built by Walter Boal and Willard Stevens, and was to have seven rooms. I don't know where it was, or is.


Sources:
♦ "Hobart Celebrates for Returned Soldiers." Hobart News 13 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Hobart Has Big Celebration." Hobart Gazette 14 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 20 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 14 Nov. 1919.

The Kids Are Growing and So Is the Store

As Carrie Raschka's two youngest daughters had close birthdays, she decided to host a joint birthday party to celebrate Bernice's fourth and Wilma's second. (I haven't been able to find an exact birthdate for Bernice, but I believe it was sometime in July 1915; Wilma had been born July 15, 1917.) And so some fifteen little children came to the Raschka home on Lake Street on Wednesday, July 9, 1919. They spent the afternoon playing games and eating goodies. A week later Uncle Charles and Aunt Luella Olson came out from Fort Wayne, bringing with them 18-year-old Cousin Flossie and probably some birthday presents as well.

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Back in Ainsworth, the store that the Raschkas had enlarged in 1905 was growing once again:


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You will notice the lengthy article on that page about the return of George Severance, Jr. from military service. He was at last safe at home with his family, including his wife of two years — and I think in those two years they'd spent more time apart than together.


Sources:
♦ "Goldman's Store Building Being Enlarged." Hobart Gazette 1 Aug. 1919.
♦ "Hobart's First Soldier Returns." Hobart Gazette 1 Aug. 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 10 July 1919; 17 July 1919.
♦ Untitled social column. Hobart News 19 July 1917.

Bricky and Bally

And with a little more research, we confirm that "Bricky" was Milton Ballantyne, our source being this page from Hobart High School's Aurora yearbook for 1915:


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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

But we don't know which of those freshmen is Bricky.

As we know, during World War I Milton and Elmer Ballantyne belonged to Co. K, Hobart's home guard. Here is Milton in uniform:



Handwritten notes on the back read:

1917
Milton Ballantyne
Walter MacPherson
Pat Clifford

The writer does not specify left to right, so we still don't know for sure.

Here is brother Elmer (in 1918, according to a handwritten note on the back):



I think I perceive a resemblance between Elmer and the man on the left in the previous photo, so maybe that is Milton.

And I suppose if Milton was "Bricky," Elmer was "Bally."

The Return of Dr. Dwight

Ruth Mackey had last seen her husband, Dr. Dwight Mackey, in October 1918, when she went east to tell him goodbye as he prepared to sail for France. After nearly nine months of waiting, she got word that he had arrived back on American soil just after Independence Day 1919, and was at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

On July 11, Dr. Dwight returned to Hobart. The Gazette's account helpfully noted the doctor's improved surgical skills:


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South of Ainsworth, down on the farm of Otis and Minnie Guernsey, their eldest son Will's return from the service was honorable but less glamorous. He had been in the army for a year and 14 days and had never left the U.S. His father was glad to see him back "just in time to help put up hay."


Sources:
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 18 July 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 10 July 1919; 17 July 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 18 July 1919.

A Veteran Returns, a Veteran Departs

In early June 1919, Edward Sauter set sail from France, homeward bound.

His mother, Augusta Sauter Fiester, was showing around Hobart a memento he had sent her — "a handsome beaded hand-bag" purchased in France, which she "prize[d] very highly." That Friday the 13th was no unlucky day for her, as she received a telegram from Edward, announcing that his boat had docked in American waters. Ten days later — having made a detour to Camp Taylor in Kentucky for his discharge — Edward was back home in Hobart. According to the Gazette, he had spent nearly a year as a gunner in France, and had seen "much active service, likewise great hardships," but now he returned in triumph, bearing "numerous souvenirs." The News crowed: "Edward Sauter … is looking the picture of health. He weighs more than 200 pounds and stands more than six feet in height."

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As new veterans returned, old veterans were leaving — the whole generation that had fought the Civil War was passing, more and more of them, as we are now losing the generation that fought World War II.


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Sources:
♦ "Chas. W. Estelle." Hobart Gazette 20 June 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 12 June 1919; 19 June 1919; 26 June 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 27 June 1919.

Clarence Goodrich Comes Home

"Clarence Goodrich has landed at Boston," said the Hobart News of April 17, 1919. He was on his way home from "over there."

He arrived back at his parents' farm on Sunday, April 20. That same day, the Merrillville Study Club held a memorial service for the four Ross Township men who died in the war — among them, as we know, Clarence's younger brother, Harold. The memorial service ended with the planting of four trees along the Lincoln Highway, each marked with the name of one of the fallen soldiers.

The report doesn't state whether Clarence attended that ceremony, but as Harold's brother and a veteran of the battlefields himself, he was an object of much attention. The last day of April, the Goodriches hosted an evening reception at their farmhouse in Clarence's honor; some 300 people from Ainsworth and vicinity attended. They were eager to hear about Clarence's experiences, and Clarence was willing enough to talk.

Harold, he told them, had fallen just a few feet from him on that day in July 1918 — killed in the heat of battle, and instantly, Clarence believed. But something about the way Harold had said goodbye the evening before suggested that the young man had a premonition of his own death. As for Clarence himself, he had gone through much fighting without ever being wounded, and through an epidemic without ever getting sick.

The Gazette of May 9 included a brief summary of his military experience:

Clarence was in the service about two years. On April 10, 1917, he enlisted with Co. F, at Gary, and when he went to camp at Hattiesburg he was assigned to Co. F, 151st Inf., but when he later went to France he was transferred to Co. I, 104th Inf., 26th Division. He sailed overseas March 2, 1918, and upon returning to America he was discharged April 19, 1919. He saw considerable service being in the Marne, in the Pas Ferris sector, July 4 to Aug. 1, 1918, and in the Marne offensive from July 18 to Aug. 23, in the St. Mihiel offensive, Sept. 12 to Sept. 15, and the Truyon sector from Sept. 14 to Oct. 5, and the Marne-Argonne offensive, Oct. 10 to the signing of the armistice.

And now he was back on the farm.


Sources:
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 9 May 1919.
♦ "Honor Soldier Boy." Hobart Gazette 2 May 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 24 Apr. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 25 Apr. 1919.
♦ "Memorial to Fallen Heroes." Hobart Gazette 25 Apr. 1919.
♦ "South of Deepriver." Hobart News 17 Apr. 1919.

Liberty, Victory … Whatever

The leadership structure for the fifth Liberty Loan drive had been announced in March. In mid-April came the announcement of quotas for northwest Indiana's major towns, including Gary, East Chicago, Crown Point, and, of course, Hobart, with a quota of $109,800 in bonds. (Nobody bothered setting quotas for one-horse burgs like Ainsworth.)

The official opening of the drive itself — now called the "Victory Loan Drive" — would begin on Monday, April 21, 1919. Leading up to it would be a series of four-minute speeches at the Gem Theater, two given by those experienced speakers, the Rev. A.H. Lawrence and John Killigrew, and one by "some foreign speaker."

John Cavender, in charge of the Hobart part of the drive, expected a "war exhibit car" to pass through Hobart the Sunday before the drive — at least, he had "heard nothing so far to the contrary." And then on Monday, canvassers would go forth to ask for money.


From the Hobart News of April 24, 1919.

The Victory Loan Drive seems to have gone off like a damp firecracker. As May opened, the News complained that the drive was "lagging sadly to the rear in Hobart." Volunteer canvassers were in short supply, and so were volunteer subscribers. The Gazette chided those who sat back and waited to be solicited. "The resources of the three banks in Hobart for the first three months of this year increased over $100,000. This shows that there is money in this community, and plenty of it." Both papers conceded that the interest rates weren't as appealing as some stocks and bonds offered lately, but the Victory Bonds were a surer investment. And, of course, there was the appeal to patriotism: "Don't let the boys returning from France, where they fought your battles, learn that you have not subscribed for a bond," the Gazette warned. "The boys have shed their blood — let us all pay the cost."


From the Hobart Gazette of May 8, 1919.

There was no parade this time, and if the "war exhibit car" came through Hobart, its appearance was not reported on. Although volunteers were still in short supply, several unnamed local women worked steadfastly as canvassers. As the drive ended, Hobart limped "over the top." Subscriptions in the town itself fell just short of $72,000, but many Hobart residents worked in Gary and had subscribed for bonds at their places of employment; those amounts, added to the total, brought Hobart over its quota.


Sources:
♦ Advertisement. Hobart Gazette 8 May 1919.
♦ Advertisement. Hobart News 24 Apr. 1919.
♦ "Have You Taken a Bond?" Hobart Gazette 2 May 1919.
♦ "Hobart Goes 'Over the Top' in the Victory Loan Campaign." Hobart News 15 May 1919.
♦ "Loan Drive Starts Monday." Hobart Gazette 18 Apr. 1919.
♦ "Victory Loan Drive Will Start Next Monday." Hobart News 17 Apr. 1918.
♦ "Victory Loan Is Not Progressing as Rapidly as Previous Loans." Hobart News 1 May 1919.

Fifth Liberty Loan Drive!

The war was over, but the paying for it wasn't. Late in March 1919 the Gazette announced the leadership organization for Lake County's part in the fifth Liberty Loan drive. John C. Cavender was chairman for Hobart Township. In Ross Township, the general chairman was Sam Wood, with Alex Boyd heading the effort in Merrillville, and William Wood in Deep River.

We shall see what parades, etc., may follow to whip up the bond-buying sentiment. For my own part and on behalf of these people, I'm tired of being harangued to buy Liberty Bonds — but I may be wasting my sympathy. Although many returning veterans said they were sick of war, I do not know that civilians felt the same way. It was still a time of fervent declarations of patriotism and a warlike hatred of all things German.

Such attitudes would be strengthened in anyone who caught one of the "special" shows at the Gem Theatre on April 5.

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"The Heart of Humanity" was war propaganda released in February 1919 — too late for the war itself, but in good time for the fifth Liberty Loan drive.

Go here to see a short clip from the film … now, don't you feel like buying some Liberty Bonds, just to show that evil Hun?


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ Advertisement. Hobart Gazette 4 Apr. 1919.
♦ "The Fifth Liberty Loan." Hobart Gazette 21 Mar. 1919.

English Only!

Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Indiana, That all subjects and branches taught in the elementary schools of the State of Indiana … shall be taught in the English language only …: Provided, That the German language shall not be taught in any of the elementary schools of this state.

The war was over, the enemy vanquished, and no imminent danger drove the government of Indiana to protect its young citizens from the German language when the "McCray anti-German bill," quoted above, was passed by the Indiana legislature on February 25, 1919, and immediately signed by the governor.

The bill applied to all Indiana elementary schools, which included public, private and parochial schools, and any schools connected with "benevolent or correctional institutions." A lingering bitterness over the war no doubt inspired its focus on the German language, but its general requirement that all instruction be in English likely could be attributed to the "100% Americanism" ethos that had arisen, as I've mentioned, with the new wave of immigration from southern and eastern Europe, that had been nourished by government propaganda and popular sentiment during the war, and that would in turn feed the Klan movement of the 1920s.

The new English-only law provided that violators were subject to a fine between $25 and $100 and/or up to six months' imprisonment in the county jail, and each day the law was violated constituted a separate offense.

So far as I can tell the law did not affect high schools or colleges.

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Meanwhile, Fred Rose, Jr. (the son of a German immigrant) came home on leave from Camp Custer. He said he expected to be discharged from the army "very shortly." He had been expecting to be discharged very shortly for a couple of months now.


Sources:
♦ "German Language Barred From Indiana Schools." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Legislature Restricts the Teaching of German." Hobart News 27 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.
♦ Roach, William A. Laws of the State of Indiana Passed at the Seventy-First Regular Session of the General Assembly Begun on the Ninth Day of January, A.D. 1919. Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford, Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1919. http://books.google.com/books?id=8V84AAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA869&ots=xw7Pj3sYa3

"They Have Had All the War They Want"

Our Liberty Bond volunteer finally had her son safe at home again. And so sick had that young man been of war and of France that he even passed up a chance to see Paree.


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The "Local and Personal" column of the Hobart News of February 20, 1919.

Voting, Drinking, Tipping

Or: What the Indiana General Assembly Was Up to in February 1919


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From the Hobart News of Feb. 20, 1919.

So, among other things, Indiana women got a very limited right to vote, and an attempt to repeal Indiana's state-wide prohibition was defeated.

The anti-tipping bill is amusing, but the item that follows it is a sobering reminder of the war's cost, even to those who survived it. The "insane" soldiers were likely those with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and those who had suffered head injuries with brain damage.

Severance News, Bad and Good

The "Local Drifts" in the Hobart Gazette of February 7, 1919 carried items about both Alberta Severance and her soldier husband, George Jr.


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The End of Company K

The bad news came to Captain Charles Reeve late in January 1919: Co. K was doomed. The adjutant general of Indiana had ordered more than a dozen state militia companies mustered out of service, and Hobart's was one of them. (Valparaiso's was another.)

Co. K had over a hundred men in its ranks, with uniforms and rifles; several hundred dollars in its treasury; a silk flag, and a great deal of pride.

Captain Reeve set about preparing for the end, whenever it might officially come. He had to prepare discharge papers for all his men, compile muster rolls, and collect, list and pack up any company property that had to be returned to the state, such as uniforms. Early in February he notified the Indiana attorney general that by the 11th his work would be done and his company ready to be mustered out at the state's pleasure.

A week or so later, Captain Reeve heard back from the state. February 27 was set as the day.

But the captain's preparations were not quite complete. A young Michigan City man named Pedroski (first name not given) had at one point joined Company K and received a uniform; he still had that uniform and failed, or outright refused, to return it. After tracking Pvt. Pedroski down in South Bend, Captain Reeve sent Sgt. Kenneth Humes and Pvt. Milton Ballantyne after him. They returned the evening of Sunday, February 16, with their prisoner, and put him in the Hobart jail. On Tuesday night, facing a court martial, Pvt. Pedroski told a "hard luck tale," presumably to the effect that he was hanging onto his uniform because he had no other clothes to wear and no money to buy them. The court's response was to give him a suit of civilian clothes, make him promise to pay back $20 in costs, and — once he had changed his uniform for the civvies — let him go.

(Incidentally, beside this story in the News ran a short article reporting that the subject of the previous summer's manhunt had been caught, and tried and convicted of the assault on Mrs. Davenport: one John Sims of Gary, a former serviceman who appeared in court in uniform. The article did not say how he had been found.)

February 27 arrived at last, and brought with it Colonel Charles A. Garrard of the Indiana militia. That evening he completed the mustering-out of all of Co. K's members, excepting the captain and two lieutenants. Some $700 in the company's treasury was distributed among its members in proportion to their attendance at drills. The silk flag was given into the custody of the members who were Odd Fellows; they intended to display it, and a membership roster, in a glass case at the Hobart public library.

Afterwards, the former militiamen and their families held a dance in celebration of the adventure and companionship of Co. K, and the little company marched into history.

♦    ♦    ♦
The following Co. K membership list comes from a list on display at the Hobart Historical Society. It may be the membership roster mentioned above, but I don't know for certain. I promise it's the last Co. K membership list I'm going to post!

Militia Roster 1917-1919


Sources:
♦ "Co. K Militia Boy Given Summary Courtmartial." Hobart News 20 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Co. K Mustered Out." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Co. K Ready to Be Mustered Out." Hobart Gazette 7 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Hobart Militia Co. One of Fourteen to Be Mustered Out." Hobart News 30 Jan. 1919.
♦ "Hobart Militia Co. to Disband." Hobart Gazette 31 Jan. 1919.
♦ "The Negro Assaulter of Mrs. Davenport Convicted and Sentenced." Hobart News 20 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Will Muster Out Co. K February 27." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1919.

Youthful Cantankerousness

I never knew Carl Krausse, but I have heard stories about him. Indeed I have. The stories always involve the years when he managed Stommel's, and include the phrase "quite a character" or "something else." The specifics range from his yelling at people for parking on the public street in front of his store, to his refusing to sell a customer something if he found out the customer looked at it elsewhere first, to his keeping guns hidden under the merchandise displays so he could shoot any would-be robbers.

So I was amused when I came across this letter he wrote to the Gazette's editor from New York, where he was stationed with the army. He was only about 23 years old, but already we get a hint of that legendary cantankerousness.


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From the Hobart Gazette of January 24, 1919.