38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division US Army - World War I

In my previous post (immediately below this one), I mentioned how I found out my Grandma's brother, George Britton, was in the 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division.  I did a little research on the 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division and found the following:

The 3rd Infantry Division was activated in November 1917 during World War I at Camp Greene, North Carolina. Eight months later, it saw combat for the first time in France. At midnight on 14 July 1918, the Division earned lasting distinction. Engaged in the Aisne-Marne Offensive as a member of the American Expeditionary Force to Europe, the Division was protecting Paris with a position on the banks of the Marne River. The 7th Machine Gun Battalion of the 3rd Division rushed to Château-Thierry amid retreating French troops and held the Germans back at the Marne River. While surrounding units retreated, the 3rd Infantry Division, including the 30th and 38th Infantry Regiments, remained rock solid and earned its reputation as the "Rock of the Marne". The rest of the division was absorbed by the French Command until brought back together under the Command of General Joseph T. Dickman and by 15 July 1918 they took the brunt of what was to be the last German offensive of the war. General "Black Jack" Pershing said the Division's performance was one of the most brilliant of the United States' military history. During the war two members of the division were awarded the Medal of Honor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

3rd Division Campaigns  - World War I, 1918

 http://www.warfoto.com/3rdsociety3.htm

• Aisne; May 27 – June 6
• Champagne-Marne; July 15 – 18. “Rock of the Marne”
• Aisne-Marne; 18 July-6 August
• St. Mihiel; September 12–15,
• Meuse-Argonne; September 26–November 11

We do not know what Uncle George's specific role was as a Private in the 38th Regiment.  We do know the 38th Regt. played a critical role in the first phase of the 2nd battle of the Marne in July 1918.  In what way and how much Uncle George was involved in that action again is not known. 

Here are excerpts from an account of the Champagne- Marne phase of the battle:

At midnight, July 14/15 the artillery crashed and the last German push of the war started. As predicted, it was a drive to get across the Marne [east of] Chateau-Thierry...[From Chateau-Thierry east were] the Third American Division...where they'd been ever since their machine gunners had come charging up the riverbank six weeks before. Then came another French outfit and next the pea-green Pennsylvania National Guard -- The 28th Division -- which had no line time even in a quiet sector. They were fed in by companies to fight with the French. Farther east {of Reims] there was the veteran 42nd Division, the Rainbow...That night and the next day the 38th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division, made a stand that deserves to rank with the famous ones, and it won.

The 38th was in line just west of where the Surmelin River flows north into the Marne. The Surmelin runs northwest and down either side of its gentle valley there ran two good roads which went south into the main Paris highway. This was to be the main German track, the route by which guns were to move south and help exploit a breakthrough.

[Westpointer, Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander commanded the 38th.] Down by the [Marne] river he put Major Guy Row's 2nd Battalion. The 1st Battalion, only half strength, was farther back in the support, and the 3rd Battalion even deeper in reserve.

Along the river Row's men had three companies in line...from left to right -- each with two platoons dug in down on the riverbank, two more about three hundred and fifty yards back behind the embankment of the east-west Metz-Paris railroad. The railroad was raised up on a constructed embankment about nine feet high and so wide it was very difficult to fight from behind it.

The story continues with a firsthand description of the defense along the River Marne by Captain Jesse Woolridge of Major Rowe's battalion:

"...Newly captured prisoners began to give real information - a grand offensive was to be made [where] the Marne was only about 50 yards wide...We had 600 yards of [this] front all to ourselves...[When it began] it seemed [the Germans] expected their artillery to eliminate all resistance...French Officers attached to our Brigade stated positively there was never a bombardment to equal it at Verdun.

At 3:30am the general fire ceased and their creeping barrage started - behind which at 40 yards only, mind you, they came - with more machine guns than I thought the German Army owned...
The enemy had to battle their way through the first platoon on the river bank - then they took on the second platoon on the forward edge of the railway where we had a thousand times the best of it - but the [Germans] gradually wiped it out. My third platoon [took] their place in desperate hand to hand fighting, in which some got through only to be picked up by the fourth platoon which was deployed simultaneously with the third...By the time they struck the fourth platoon they were all in and easy prey.

It's God's truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army...At ten o'clock...the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns...We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants..."    Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division.

"SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE";  The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces (Doughboy Center; http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/2marne.htm 

It was this action that earned the 3rd Division the name of  "The Rock of the Marne".  It was 3 months after this action, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, that Uncle George was killed on October 21, 1918.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive:

Here are some excerpts regarding the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which started on September 25:

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the greatest American battle of the First World War. In six weeks the AEF lost 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded. It was a very complex operation involving a majority of the AEF ground forces fighting through rough, hilly terrain the German Army had spent four years fortifying. Its objective was the capture of the railroad hub at Sedan which would break the rail net supporting the German Army in France and Flanders and force the enemy's withdrawal from the occupied territories.

3 October 1918 To the west, the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division is surrounded. Things are bogged down along the line. Pershing shuffles his divisions for a renewed assault.   The new order of battle includes [west to east]: I Corps - 77th, 28th & 1st Divisions; V Corps - 32nd & 3rd Divisions: and III Corps - 4th 80th and 33rd Divisions.

22 October 1918 By the 22nd of the month III and V Corps had secured the Bois de Foret and Bois des Rappes and had pushed to the norther and westen limits of the Bois de Bantheville. First Army prepares for final assault on Sedan.

THE BIG SHOW - THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE: The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces (Doughboy Center; http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/bigshow.htm )

We learn from the above account that the 3rd Division which included Uncle George's 38th Regiment was part of the V Corp.  It was the V Corp along with III Corp that by October 22 had secured Bois de Foret and Bois des Rappes and had pushed to the norther and westen limits of the Bois de Bantheville.

Pvt. George Britton was killed on October 21.  His death occurred during the operations around Bois de Foret and Bois des Rappes.  Eight days before he was killed, Cunel and Romagne in the central Argonne had been captured. Romagne would become the site of America's largest overseas military cemetery and Pvt.George H. Britton's resting place.

What do we conclude?

Whatever Uncle George did or did not do on the battlefield, we can believe he was a faithful soldier, obeying orders, and doing his duty just like every other soldier who was in the 38th Regt. at that time.  We can surmise that he very probably saw some horrific fighting in those three months from the Marne to the Argonne.   He very probably saw comrades killed or wounded in battle.  And on that day, by bullet, shell, or whatever, he joined those comrades in the Bivouac of the Dead.   RIP

Pvt. George H. Britton

Private George H. Britton, U.S. Army 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division is buried at: Plot G Row 35 Grave 22 in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France.  There is also a memorial stone in the Britton Family Plot in the Leonardson Cemetery, Pittsford Twp, Hillsdale County, Michigan.  A World War I memorial in the Leonardson Cemetery also bears his name along with others from the Pittsford, MI area who were killed in the war. 

That Grave in a Far Off Land

In a previous post, I talked about my Great Uncle, Pvt. George H. Britton who was killed in France three weeks before the Armistice in 1918.

There is a memorial marker for George Britton in the Leonardson Cemetery, Jefferson Twp., Hillsdale Co., Michigan, but Uncle George Britton's buriel was actually in France. Until very recently I did not know where in France he was buried.

A year or so ago I sent off to the National Archives for a copy of his military records. I was disappointed to find out that a great number of WW I military records had been destroyed in a fire, so there was no record of Uncle George.

Late last Saturday night I found out Ancestry.Com had a special going where the public at large could do searches on military records in the Ancestry.Com databases. It was a limited time offer set to expire on Sunday, Nov.14. That left me little time, so I dove in and did a search on Uncle George Britton.

BINGO!

I found a listing of where he was buried in France:

George H. Britton
Private, U.S. Army
38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division
Entered the Service from: Michigan
Died: October 21, 1918
Buried at: Plot G Row 35 Grave 22
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
Romagne, France

I also found a listing for Uncle George from the Soldiers of the Great War Volume 2 "Soldiers of the Great War Michigan" (WW I Casualty Listings), as well as a copy of the draft registration for George's brother, Cleo Elihue Britton.

That was pretty neat, but it is not the end of the story.

Last night I did a Goggle search on "American Military Cemeteries in France", and came across the The American Battle Monuments Commission. I did a search on their World War I database and found the listing for Pvt. George H. Britton. I realized it was this database from which the Ancestry.Com search had pulled from.

But there was more.

I checked out the "Services Available" at the ABMC page, and found out it is possible to get photographs of Uncle George's headstone in France. I sent off an e-mail to them, and today received a reply. In about 6 weeks, I should be getting those photos.

But there is one more thing before I close.

I went to Goggle Map and zeroed in on Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France. I then turned on the satellite view and found the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
.

Honestly, I was in tears thinking about it. Grandma's little brother will not be forgotten.

Someday I want to go to France, and go to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. I want to go to Uncle George's grave, put flowers on it, and let the world know he is not forgotten.

RIP

The Newcomer - Tedrow Family

It has been my intent for some time to write a post about the Newcomer - Tedrow connection, with a special reference to the Newcomer - Tedrow - Oates line.

Mary I. Newcomer was born on July 6, 1886, the youngest child of George D. Newcomer and his second wife Malinda (Mikesell) Newcomer. She married Clair Tedrow, and I have record of three sons:




Robert Wave Tedrow (Nov 26, 1909 - May 28, 1996)
Roy Earl Tedrow (Oct. 6, 1911 - Jan. 4, 1940)
George Monroe Tedrow

My father's dad was Mary's brother, Guy Vernon Newcomer. I have memory as a young lad of our going to visit one of dad's Tedrow cousins on their farm near Delta, Ohio.

Robert Wave Tedrow married Julia Elisabeth Willeman. They had five children:

Paul Eugene Tedrow
Dorothy Jane Tedrow
Mary Ann Tedrow
John Robert Tedrow (1940 - 1969)
Thomas Clair Tedrow

Roy Earl Tedrow married Eunice Johnson. They had two sons:

James Earl Tedrow
Richard Clair Tedrow

George Monroe Tedrow married Helen Garber. They had four children:

David Tedrow
Michael Tedrow
Jerry Lee Tedrow
Carol Tedrow

The above gives a basic outline of the Tedrow families connected to my Newcomer line. I now want to look at the Tedrow - Oates part of the family, as I have a particular connection with the Oates family.

Dorethy Jane Tedrow, daughter of Robert and Julia (Willeman) Tedrow, married Raymond Oates. They had a farm just north of Hartley Rd. on US-127 (Meridian Rd.) near Waldron, Michigan.

A big part of Raymond's farm business was selling hay to horse farms in the south; North Carolina sticks in my mind as one of the places he shipped hay to. He would go to local farmers in the area and cut a deal to buy the hay out of their field. He did the cutting and the baling, then would load the hay on semi trailers to be hauled to the buyers down south.

In 1967, the summer after I had graduated from high school, Raymond had bought some hay out of one of my father's fields. As it was, I needed a summer job to fill in until I went off to college in the fall, and Raymond needed an extra hand. So it was I spent the summer working in the hay fields, loading wagons, off loading into semi trailers, or stacking bales in the barn hay loft. By the end of the summer I was in the best physical shape of my adult life.

It was also in that summer I got to meet their children; Betty, Barbara, Ron, Bonnie, Beth, and Brenda. They were pretty young then, and I suspect they don't remember who I was. For myself, though I knew we were remotly connected somehow, at the time I didn't make the connection that "Mrs. Oates" was my 2nd cousin, and all these little kids were also part of "my family".

I went on to college and the rest of my life. Those "little kids" grew up, and recently I connected with Betty via Facebook. That summer job working for Raymond Oates was my first "real" job outside of our farm. It marked a turning point in my life as I transitioned from my high school teen years to adulthood.

The Newcomer - Ost Connection

Donald A. Ost

February 7, 1928 - June 17, 2010

Donald A. Ost, 82, of Pittsford, Michigan passed away Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Hillsdale County Medical Care Facility. He was born February 7, 1928, in Adrian, Michigan the son of Martin A. and Clare (Newcomer) Ost. He married Esther Baker in Manchester, Michigan on September 22, 1948, and she survives.

Don retired from the maintenance department of Hillsdale College in 1988, after 10 years of service and he previously owned and operated Don's Garage in Pittsford for over 30 years. He graduated from Addison High School Class of 1945, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and enjoyed woodworking.

Surviving Don besides his wife, Esther is one daughter, Kay (Tom) Sharp of Pittsford; one son, David Ost of Pioneer, Ohio; four grandchildren, Michelle (Bruce) Sharp of Hillsdale, Jennifer (Louie) Lamoth of Mosherville, Jason Sharp of Pittsford and Brian and (Danielle) Sharp of Ransom; four great great grandchildren Kimberly, Wyatt, Carter and Ellie. He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Bonnie Valandra and one brother, Melvin Ost.

Graveside services for Don will be Monday, June 21, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. at Rome Center Cemetery with Dr. Rev. Samuel Wickard officiating. Visitation will be Saturday from 6-8 p.m. at Eagle Funeral Home in Hudson.

Those planning an expression of sympathy may make memorial contributions to Pittsford Jefferson Fire Department.

http://www.eaglefuneralhomes.com/Obituaries/dost.html

After my Great-grandfather George Debolt Newcomer returned from his service in the Union Army after the Civil War, he married Clara Poorman on Dec. 28, 1869. George and Clara had one son, Frank Melvin Newcomer (1870 -1923). Clara (Poorman) Newcomer died in May 1875 when Frank was 4 years old.

George Newcomer remarried in Dec. 1875 to Malinda Mikesell. The offspring of that second marriage was two daughters, Ethel and Mary, and one son, my Grandfather Guy Vernon Newcomer.

Frank Melvin Newcomer married Myrtle Kessler. Our family records indicate Frank and Myrtle had two daughters, Eva and Louise. It was "Louise" who married an Ost and had three childrem, Yvonne, Donald, and Melvin.

Then tonight I came across Donald's obituary as copied above. In the above obituary Doanld's mother's name is "Clare (Newcomer) Ost". At that point I went to the Social Security Death Index Search at Rootsweb.com and did a search on "Clare Ost", and got no results.

I tried another search for "Claire Ost" and got a bingo:

"Claire L. Ost" Birth: May 7, 1907. Death: Oct. 6, 1995. Last residence: Ottawa Lake, Monroe County, Michigan.

I have a dollar bill that says the middle initial "L" is for Louise.

But an educated hunch, no matter how probable, is not proof. What I need is objective documentation that this Claire Ost is indeed Frank Newcomer's daughter. That documentation will have to wait until I come up with the $ 27.00 to send off to the Social Security Administration for a copy of Claire Ost's application for a Social Security number.

This is a situation that illustrates some of the pitfalls of genealogical research. I have a name, but it may prove out that name was a middle name. The name given in an obituary is different then the name I have and is spelled slightly different from the name found in the SSA Death Index.

The other issue is where my data says Donald's sister is Yvonne, the obituary calls her Bonnie. We have another discrepancy that calls for investigation.

Check, double check, and recheck, and even then there is an outside chance you get it wrong, and future genealogists will pick up on your work and perpetuate your mistake.

---

Addendum February 16, 2011

Esther Lou Ost
March 15, 1931 - February 6, 2011

Esther L. Ost, 79, of Pittsford, Michigan passed away Sunday, February 6, 2011, at Hillsdale County Medical Care Facility. She was born March 15, 1931, in Somerset Center, Michigan the daughter of Floyd and Josephine (Spencer) Baker. She married Donald A. Ost in Manchester, Michigan on September 22, 1948, and he preceded her in death on June 17, 2010.

Esther retired as an auditor from Hillsdale College in 1988, after 25 years of service

Surviving Esther is one daughter, Kay (Tom) Sharp of Pittsford; one son, David Ost of Pioneer, Ohio; four grandchildren, Michelle (Bruce) Sharp of Hillsdale, Jennifer (Louie) LaMoth of Mosherville, Jason (Kimberly) Sharp of Nelsonville, Ohio and Brian Sharp of Ransom; four great great grandchildren Kimberly, Wyatt, Carter and Ellie; one sister, Harriet (Donald) Dear of Sarasota, Florida. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and two brothers, Leo and Larry Baker.

Graveside services for Esther will be Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at North Rome Cemetery with Dr. Rev. Samuel Wickard officiating. Visitation will be Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at Eagle Funeral Home in Hudson.

Those planning an expression of sympathy may make memorial contributions to Alzheimer's Association.

http://www.eaglefuneralhomes.com/Obituaries/eost.html

Martha (Lee) Gray & her Daughter Sadie

This picture is a scan of one of a series of tintypes that are in my father's possession. The families pictured in the tintypes are of the Gray and Lee families. In the majority of them we can only conjecture who the people in the picture are. This one we are pretty sure of.

The little girl is my Grandmother Sarah (Sadie) Elizabeth Gray with her mother Martha (Lee) Gray. This picture would have to have been taken relatively shortly before Martha passed away Feb, 12, 1886 at the early age of 26. Sadie was only 4 1/2 when her mother died. Sadie's older brother had died in infancy in 1880.

Seven months latter in Sept. of 1886, Sadie's father Francis (Frank) Gray remarried to Mary Herriman. Frank and Mary had seven children, giving Sadie 5 brothers and two sisters.

(The Lee/Gray Tintypes can be seen on my Rootsweb site.)

The Lee - Borton - Clark - Ladd Connection

My paternal Great-grandmother, Martha Jane Lee was born in 1860, and married Francis (Frank) Gray on Feb. 4,1875. Her only surviving child was my Grandmother, Sarah (Sadie) Elizabeth (Gray) Newcomer. Martha had just turned 26 years old when she died on Feb. 12, 1886. Little Sadie Gray was only 4 1/2 years old when her mother died. Her father remarried, and she was raised by her step-mother.

Martha (Lee) Gray had an older sister Mary Ann Lee (1844 - 1923) who waa married to Silas Borton. Mary and Silas had a daughter, Ella May Borton (1870 - 1943), who married Edwin Elmer Clark.

It was through Edwin and Ella's daughter Ida Jane Clark (1897 - ????) the connection was made to the Ladd family. Ida Clark married Ernest Efflin Ladd.

Ernest and Ida's son, Ernest Lavoy Ladd married Elizabeth Wiederkher. This is the Ladd family that lives near Waldron, Michigan on the Meridian Rd. (US-127). If I have this figured out correctly, Ernest Lavoy Ladd is my third cousin.

I know Ernest and Elizabeth's sons, Stephen and Mark, through our time together at the Waldron High School. I had been told we had some "shirt-tail" cousin relationship, and it was a desire to pin down that relationship that led to this posting. If you are keeping score, I and my siblings are related to Stephan and Mark as 3rd cousins, once removed.

She had a "Baby" Brother

Joy Anne Newcomer

December 28, 1943 - June 2, 2010

Joy Newcomer, 66, of Waldron passed away Wednesday, June 2, 2010, at home. She was born on December 28, 1943, in Hudson the daughter of Rex & Mildred (Bavin) Newcomer.

Joy lived most of her life in the Waldron area where she was a graduate of the Waldron High School. Joy earned a teaching degree at Eastern Michigan University. She retired from the Lakeville Community School (near Flint) in 1997, after thirty years of service.

Survivors include her parents, Rex & Mildred Newcomer of Waldron; a sister, Carol (Mike) Newcomer-Cox of Morenci; two brothers, John (Carol) Newcomer of Chantilly, Virginia, and Bill (Nancy) Newcomer of Ada; and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be on Monday, June 7, 2010, at 11:00 AM at the Waldron First Church of Christ with minister Don Crain officiating. Burial will follow at the Waldron Cemetery. There will be a visitation on Sunday from 4 until 8 PM at the church.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Waldron First Church of Christ or to the Waldron District Library.years old,

Arrangements were through the Eagle Funeral Home-Charles Fink Chapel in Morenci.

(http://www.eaglefuneralhomes.com/Obituaries/jnewcomer.html)

On one of the bookshelves in our parent's house are three pictures together in a tri-fold picture frame. The picture on the right is a young boy about 2 1/2 years old. The center frame holds a picture of a young girl about 4 years old. There are two people in the frame on the left; a young girl about 6 years old is holding a bottle in her right hand for the baby laying on the pillow. Her left elbow rests on the pillow as she rests her head in the upheld hand. Her hair is long, hanging down below her shoulders.

The young girl holding the bottle for her baby brother is my sister Joy. The story is that at a very early age I worked hard at putting the grump in "grumpy". The only way they could get my picture taken was to have Joy give me the bottle. She was the oldest of the four of us and I was the youngest. The girl in the center picture was my other sister Carol, and the picture on the right was of my brother John.

This was during our early years when we lived on the Newcomer farmstead on Tuttle Rd. near Waldron, Michigan scarcely a few miles north of Ohio state line.

It was at this house where the alleged hammer incident took place. Joy and Carol had been playing on the enclosed porch. There was a little fuss about something or another, and all of a sudden a hammer was flying through the air and into the kitchen door window, breaking said window. That alleged incident aside, the two sisters remained friends.

The years went by. We now lived around the corner, down the road on the Hartley Rd. farm. Joy, being the oldest, was the first to get her drivers license. Dad didn't have to drive us kids to all the various things we needed to go to. Somewhere in those years, both Joy and Carol had been involved in 4-H. Joy had played clarinet in the band until she had to have braces. She then was in the percussion section.

I was now in Junior High. We had a study hall, and there were some Senior girls in that study hall. Joy was one of them. She was graduating from high school. At the Commencement program, she walked across the stage and received her diploma. There was an open house reception at our house afterwards.

Another four and a half years, and I sat with mom and dad at the commencement program at Eastern Michigan University. We watched Joy again cross a stage as she received her college diploma.

Joy never married. I remember her having one date with some brainy intellectual guy, but nothing came of it.

She loved her nieces and nephews who came along over the years, but her main legacy lives on in the children that passed through her 2nd grade classroom during her 30 some years of teaching. I find myself wondering how many of them went on to be doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers, etc. She was at the same. school long enough to have some students who were children of previous students.

Eventually she retired and moved back to the Waldron area. She became involved in her church, helping out with the food pantry and Bible studies. She and a few of her friends would get together and they learned how to play Bridge. Her friend Sue mentioned to me about how Joy would trump her ace, keeping a straight face, then with a chuckle and grin playing the trump card.

Over the past year her health deteriorated. It became clear this was going to be it. She began to put her affairs in order. She told us she had made her peace with God, and was ready.

When we heard she had become bedridden, we changed our plans for the Memorial Day weekend, and went down home a week early. We visited with her knowing it was probably the last time we would see her alive in this world. We said our goodbye.

A week and a half latter while at work, I got the call...