James Price

As December wore on, mixing with the dreary recitations of the names of sick people in the local social columns, happier news began to trickle in: the names of men discharged from military service. The Gazette of December 20 reported that in the past week Charles Kisela, Roy Cook, Ed Severance, Evan Roper, Charles Frame, Otto Larson, Ernest Sonntag, Walter Bender, Emil Kossow, Elmer Hideen and Harry Carlson, among others, had all come home to stay.

Amidst those happy homecomings, Fremont and Carrie Price learned that their son, James, would never come home. On December 18 they finally received official confirmation of the earlier report. James had died in France on November 16, at the age of 23. Nephritis was given as the cause of death, but later reports added, "[w]hether death resulted from wounds or exposure has not yet been learned," and according to information at the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society museum, the exact cause was never determined.


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(Image from Gold Star Honor Roll)


Sources:
♦ "Another Lake County Hero." Hobart Gazette 27 Dec. 1918.
♦ Indiana Historical Commission. Gold Star Honor Roll. A Record of Indiana Men and Women Who Died in the Service of the United States and the Allied Nations in the World War. 1914 – 1918. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Commission, 1921.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 26 Dec. 1918.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 20 Dec. 1918.
♦ "Tribute to a Ross Township Soldier Boy." Hobart News 2 Jan. 1919.

The War Comes Home to Ainsworth

As we've seen, in July 1917, Clarence Goodrich and his younger brother Harold had both volunteered for the Indiana National Guard, which was drafted into the regular army the following month; by December of that year, both young men were at Camp Shelby in Mississippi (where Harold celebrated his 20th birthday), and by the summer of 1918 both were in France. Their parents still had their eldest and youngest sons, Arthur and Howard, living at home with them.

I don't know what became of the divorce proceedings Caroline Goodrich reportedly began against Charles early in 1918, as I've heard no more about it. Perhaps they made up their differences and saved their marriage.

They received several letters that summer from their boys in France. In the middle of June Harold wrote to say that he expected they would see action very soon. In a letter dated July 15, Harold announced that he had been in battle.

That letter reached the Goodriches around August 13 — the day they received a brief telegram from the government: Harold had been killed in action on July 18. No further explanation.

As usual in such cases, there could be no funeral, no laying their boy to rest, as his remains were somewhere in France. But no doubt the Gazette spoke truly when it said the family had "the deep sympathy of the community."

And with no news of Clarence, for the moment they could only presume — hope — he was still alive.


Sources:
♦ "Ainsworth Boy Killed and Hobart Boy Injured in War." Hobart News 15 Aug. 1918.
♦ "Harold Goodrich Killed in France." Hobart Gazette 16 Aug. 1918.

The War Comes Home to Hobart

Most of the Kostbade family got together on Christmas Day 1917 for dinner. William and Emma were surrounded by six of their eight children: three boys and three girls, ranging in age from 24 to three. Even Mabel had come over from Gary with her husband, Lee Blake. Only two were missing — 19-year-old William Jr., who was stationed at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, and 18-year-old Edward, now with the army in France.

The family was just finishing their dinner when they heard a knock at the door — a messenger with a telegram from the War Department.



Edward had been among Hobart's first volunteers after the declaration of war. He had been stationed at Syracuse, New York when he volunteered to join an infantry regiment bound for France. His volunteer spirit had won for him the sad honor of being Hobart's first World War I casualty.

Two days later the News carried the text of a resolution passed by the Hobart town board, recognizing Edward's service and extending condolences to his family.

William Jr. got leave to come home from Camp Shelby and mourn with the family. There could be no proper funeral. William Sr. had wired to the War Department asking whether it were possible to bring his son's body home, but he had not yet received an answer.


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Edward C. Kostbade, First Hobart Boy to Be Killed in War." Hobart News 27 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Resolution." Hobart News 27 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Young Life Sacrificed in France." Hobart Gazette 28 Dec. 1917.

Lake County 1864 (northern half)

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Via U. of Alabama, from Alvin J. Johnson, Johnson's Indiana (New York: A.J. Johnson, c. 1864).

No Ainsworth. Merrillville given as "Merrittsville."

In the course of the American Civil War, Indiana furnished 196,363 soldiers, sailors and marines. Of those, 26,672 died, in battle, in prison, of disease, or from other causes. (Source)

Lake County casualties, from the Rev. T.H. Ball's Lake County, Indiana : from 1834 to 1872 (Chicago: J.W. Goodspeed, 1873), as transcribed at Genealogy Trails.