Last Day Local (kind of): Polar Bear Soldiers of World War I

You may be wondering why I would blog about an infantry regiment that served in Russia for a Last Day Local post. It's easy. The group now known as the Polar Bears had its beginnings at Camp Custer, now Fort Custer, near Battle Creek, Michigan.

The Polar Bear Patch, shown above, worn by the returning soldiers from the 339th, but also the first battalion of the 310th Engineers, plus the 337th Ambulance and 337th Field Hospital Companies

On July 11-17, 1918, the 85th "Custer" division left Camp Custer, near Battle Creek, Michigan. 30,0000 soldiers made up the Custer division. The 85th Division consisted of the 337th, 338th, 339th, and 340th regiments. The 339th was made up of soldiers from Detroit and Southeast Michigan, mainly.

One platoon of Co. H. 339th Infantry North Russian Expeditionary Force, North Russia. Courtesy of the Sandusky District Library

July 23, 1918, saw General Pershing detaching 4750 men from the 85th Division to form the American North Russia Expeditionary Force (ANREF). This regiment became known as the Polar Bears. The troops had no idea what they were being sent to do. The men decided on the name "Polar Bears" during withdrawal from Russia. The men served in frigid temperatures of 40-50 degrees below zero.

The troops traveled to England, through the Arctic Ocean to Archangel Russia, arriving on September 5, 1918. "Once the men arrived in Archangel it was discovered that many were deathly sick with the Spanish Influenza virus, so another 500 officers and men from the other three Infantry Regiments that had gone on to France were transferred to North Russia as replacements, arriving in Archangel on Sept. 30, 1918." (email from Mike Grobbel)

They continued fighting the Bolsheviks until April, 1919. The Polar Bears arrived home to Detroit on July 3, 1919, seven months after World War I ended. During these seven months, 94 ANREF troops were killed in action. "The soldiers were allowed to go home, if local, or stay in a local hotel; they had to be back at the Michigan Central railroad station by 8:00 AM on the 4th so they could travel to Belle Isle for the "Welcome Home" festivities. They departed on the morning of the 5th for Camp Custer and discharge from the Army." (email from Mike Grobbel)

Source:  Ludington Daily News, 21 October 1919, page 6; column 3, Google News.

The Polar Bears suffered 553 casualties in Russia. 81 deaths were from disease, mostly from the Spanish Flu.

Brief Timeline of the ANREF's Service

July 11-17, 1918   Leave Camp Custer

July 23, 1918        American North Russia Expeditionary Force (ANREF) is formed.

Aug 25, 1918        Depart for England

Sept 5, 1918         Arrive Archangel, Russia

Nov 11, 1918        Armistice Signed

April 1-5, 1919     Final Battle 

June 2, 1919        Head for home with stops in Brest, France and New Jersey or New York

July 3, 1919        Arrive in Detroit

Much has been written about the 339th Regiments time fighting the Bolsheviks. Family history researchers of this regiment will find wonderful primary sources available in Michigan. Books, scrapbooks, diaries, manuscripts, digital images, maps, publications, and more may be found.

Michigan Polar Bear Expedition Resources

A few Michigan resources to look for Polar Bear information can be found at:

1. Bentley Historical Library, 1150 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 A search using the words Polar Bears returned 177 results. Since the Bentley Library is a historical library none of the returns were about the animal polar bear.

a.     A Few of the Collections at the Bentley

                           i.     Polar Bear Association PhotographCollection: photographs commemorating the Memorial Service at the Polar Bear Memorial, White Chapel Park Cemetery, Troy, Michigan

                          ii.     Polar Bear Project Collection,1918-2019: Documents and correspondence, military discharge papers, and newspaper clippings. Most of the correspondence is between the library and family members who felt their soldier was left out of the collection.

                         iii.     Polar Bear Expedition Web Archives: Over 60 individual collections of Primary source material. These archives are available online.

                        iv.     Polar Bear Roster: a roster of the soldiers attached to the Polar Bear Expedition.

                        vi.    Polar Bear Digital Collections: over 2000 digital items.

2. Sandusky District Library, 55 Sanilac Road, Sandusky, Michigan 48471. This small-town library in the thumb of Michigan has excellent genealogy related sources and they are online for you to explore. The search results doesn't allow me to save the url. To find the two collections below. Go to the library main web page, click on Genealogy, using the left sidebar go to Documents and scroll down for the Schroeder Scrapbook. For the Erickson memorabilia do the same, but click on Pictures on the left side bar.

a.     Collections at the library:

                        i.     Polar Bear Regiment, William Schroeder, WWI Scrapbook: a 51-page scrapbook filled with digital images including soldier photographs and letters written by William.

                       ii.     Polar Bear Regiment, 339^th Infantry, WWI: Mauritz E. Erickson’s memorabilia including discharge papers, reunion program, journal cover, and pictures. The pictures show the conditions which the Polar Bears were living in at the time.

3. Detroit’s Own Polar Bear Memorial Association is “dedicated to the memory of the 339^th Infantry Regiment, the 1^st Battalion of the 310^th Engineers, the 337^th Ambulance Company, and the 337 Field Hospital of the U.S. Army’s 85^th Division.” (From the “Introduction - "Detroit's Own" Polar Bear Memorial Association - Grobbel”) This website is the work of Mike Grobbel, and it is one of the best websites for Polar Bear research that I have seen.

a.     Website Highlights:

                    i.     Ceremonies and events of the association

                   ii.     HonorRoll: lists the casualties and cause of death of the soldiers

                  iii.     Military Decorations

                  iv.     Engagements: a list of battles fought qirh mpa

                  v.     Polar Bear Stories: soldier stories told by the soldier themself or a family member, many include photographs.

                 vi.    Articleand Reference Information: filled with links to information about the Polar Bear Expedition

               vii.    PhotoAlbum: 241 photographs from the collection of Casimer “Cash” Nowak, Co. B. 310^th Engineers. Courtesy of his son, Roy Nowak.

             viii.    More links: many, many links to explore

               ix.    Books: books relevant to the Polar Bear Expedition.

4. Michigan Heroes Museum, 1250 Weiss Street, Frankenmuth, Michigan 48734. This museum displays Michigan soldiers. Some Polar Bear Exhibition artifacts can be found here.

F  Fold 3 ($): Fold 3 has records of the Polar Bears. Search by soldier's name, battle name, place, etc. Michigan residents can get online access to Fold 3 with a Library of Michigan card. 

AAncestry.com: U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939.

Books about the Polar Bear Expedition

There are many books available to learn more about the Polar Bear Expedition and I urge you to go to the Detroit's own Polar Bear Memorial Association website. 

One book that is fully downloadable and available free from Guttenberg.org is The History of the American Expedition Fighting theBolsheviki, Campaigning in North Russia, 1918-1919.

Polar Bear Memorial

Photo Courtesy of Bolandera, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan is the site of the Polar Bear Memorial. It is the resting place of 56 soldiers who were brought home from Russia by a group of Polar Bear members. It was created in 1930. 

I have highlighted just a few of the hundreds of resources available for those researching their Polar Bear Expedition ancestors. You will notice a definite Michigan slant because most of the soldiers were from Michigan. Do you have a Polar Bear ancestor? Check out the above resources to find him. Feel free to leave your ancestors information in the comments.

 

 

 

S.S. Glover Jr. Civil War Pension File-Lumley Affidavit

 Glover, Samuel Stillman; Pension File No. 28715, Civil War Pension File, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) John W. Lumley Affidavit

State of Michigan

County of Manistee

Bear Lake Mich May 21st 1904

John W Lumley Being duely sworn 

sayes that he is the supervisor of

the Township of Pleasonton in the

County of Manistee and State of Mich

and I am the Custodian of the records

of the Supervisors Office in the Town

of Pleasonton and have been for the

last Six years and there has not

been any Property assessed to SS

Glover or Adda L Glover in that 

time                                          Seal

Signed Sealed and             John W Lumley

delivered in Presence of    Supervisor of Pleasonton TP

Lee Anderson

C D Shirtliff

Bear Lake May 21st 1904

Subscribed and sworn to before the

undersigned a Notary Public in and

for Manistee County Mich this 21st day

of May AD 1904              CD Shirtliff

Commission Expires March 25th 1906    Notary Public

The above transcribed affidavit of John W. Lumley was found in the Civil War Pension Records of S.S. Glover, Jr. This affidavit is one of thirteen in the file. 

John W. Lumley was the Supervisor of Pleasanton Township, Manistee County, Michigan.  Lumley states that no property was assessed to S.S. Glover or Adda L. Glover in the last six years.

Affidavits provide interesting information of the soldier and the time after the civil war when he was applying for his pension.

 

Those Thursday Places: Leaving our Battle Creek Home after Thirty One Years

There are a lot of memories when you live in one house for thirty-one years. My husband and I have been sharing our favorite memories of living at 309 N. Moorland Drive in Battle Creek, Michigan since we decided to downsize and move to Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

It started a little over a year ago in Spring of 2021. Kirk and I decided it was time to think about moving to a more manageable place as we age. We both saw our parents having to move in their late 80's because of health problems and we didn't want our kids to have to deal with that. Plus, I'm a little bit of a control freak and wanted to make the decision myself, with Kirk's input, of course. 

We decided we would get our Battle Creek house ready for sale, have a couple of garage sales, and look at apartments in Kalamazoo. We did not want the stress of trying to sell a house and buy a condominium at the same time with the way the real estate market was, and still is. I never realized how tight the rental market was.

First, I made a list of apartment possibilities in the Kalamazoo and Portage Michigan area. We took a day and did some drive by's to make sure they were in areas that we would want to live in. I made pro and con lists on the way. Moving Tip: Look at the cars in the parking lot. They tell a lot about the renters and the management. The next step was to set up some appointments to see what was available. We wanted a three-bedroom apartment, but those are hard to find.

Kirk outside our new home.

Every place we looked didn't have any availability. It was discouraging. Finally, we visited SaddleCreek at the Preserve, in Texas Township. It is on the west side of Kalamazoo. Rinda, the leasing agent, was wonderful. She didn't have any available apartments but took the time to show us an apartment and talk to us about when an apartment might become available. This was late April and she thought late August or September. When someone moves out of Saddle Creek, the entire apartment is upgraded. Although, it was a two-bedroom, Kirk and I really liked the development, the location, Rinda, and the apartments. This was the only place we put money down to reserve a spot. I am so thankful we did.

Was it hard to say goodbye to our home, our neighbors, and our friends? It was, but this move has been one of the best things we ever did. It was a hectic summer and Kirk's mom died about a week before the sale on our house closed and our move. The move was tiring. I'm not able to lift as much weight as when we moved 31 years ago! 

I have never once thought we made a mistake. The hardest part for me was getting rid of all the things I saved for my kids. Can you believe they didn't want their baby clothes, scrapbooks, toys from the 80's, or their Boy and Girl Scout books, uniforms, or badges? All those things and more I had saved. I took a lot of pictures and found good homes for most of it. I saved one tub of things per child and put the tubs in a closet.

We have many good memories of our time in Battle Creek. Here are a few:

• Kirsten and Travis starting Kindergarten and going through 12th grade in the Battle Creek Lakeview school district.
• Kirsten's success with music and theater in Battle Creek.
• Travis's success with DECA (Distributed Education Clubs of America).
• Soccer, baseball, softball, track, and golf matches. Many soccer games and track meets in the rain. 
• Kirk and I coaching youth soccer.
• Kirk's success as an elementary school counselor and being awarded Elementary Counselor of the Year twice.
• My volunteer successes at fundraising for PTA and Lakeview's Show Choir Spartanaires.
• Making the house a home.
• Doing too many house projects ourselves.
• All the celebrations-our special tree trimming parties.
• Numerous birthday celebrations.
• Getting to know Kirsten's and Travis's friends who would visit.
• Many Mario Kart competitions. "Who hit me? I'm in last place!"
• Engagement parties for Kirsten and Chase, Travis and Alayna.
• Dog sitting my grand pups, Ella, Study, and Caesar.
• Enjoying the gardens and gazebo in Spring, Summer, and Fall.
• Summer fun including bike rides, trips to the school playground, playing in the pool, looking at stars, playing volleyball, and more.
• Kirsten running into the basketball hoop with the car and Travis never letting her forget it.
• Travis getting caught with liquor in the trunk. It was confiscated and returned on his 21st birthday.
• and so much more.

It was a wonderful place to raise children. We could have grown older in our house, but it was time to put Battle Creek behind us and move on. We will now begin to make new memories in our new home.

Getting a Haircut: Wordless Wednesday

Picture scanned from a black photo book that was once Daisy Fredricks.

I can't just put a picture up and not explain it, so it should be not so Wordless Wednesday! The picture was taken on the Fredricks Family Farm, Coates Highway, Brethren, Michigan. The date is unknown.

The people in the picture are: unknown, Otto August Fredricks, his grandson first name unknown, last name Bruce.

 

Using the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center in your Genealogy Research

Home page of the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center

The Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library has a digital map library that researchers need to use when conducting family history. There are over 10,000 digital images of historic maps available to you from the comfort of your home. The access is free, and no registration is required.

Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

If you are in the Boston area you can visit the Boston Public Library and use the Leventhal resources on the first floor of the McKim building. Onsite researchers have access to over 200,000 maps and 5,000 atlases.

Gray, Ormando Willis. "Map of the county of Carleton, Canada West." Map. Prescott, C.W: D.P. Putnam, 1863. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:4m90fh53p (accessed August 12, 2022).

The scope of the Leventhal map collection is international in area. Using the search term Canada West brings up almost one hundred examples. Maps using the search terms Prussia, Scotland, and Switzerland are available. There are a lot more country maps than these three. My ancestors traveled via the Rhine River to get to the ship that would bring them to America. A map of the Rhine River is available.

Town, city, and county maps in the United States are readily found on the website. Some of them even include landowners. A search for Shoreham, Vermont led me to an 1859 map with landowners, schools, ferries, and more shown. My Shoreham Vermont ancestors were in Michigan by then, but collateral line relatives were listed.

Cropped Version 

International Correspondence Schools, Fisk, E. F., and International Textbook Company. "Map ninth division railway mail service." Map. Scranton, Pennsylvania: International Correspondence Schools, 1908. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:0z709338r (accessed August 12, 2022).

The search terms are unlimited. I found searching a wider area was a good place to start and then narrowing it down from there helps. Did you have an ancestor who worked for the railroad? Try searching <state> railroad. My mother talks about taking the train from Kaleva, Michigan to Traverse City, Michigan to go to the doctor as a young woman. A Michigan railroad map shows the route she would have taken.

Howell, C. W. "Map of the battle field of Spottsylvania C.H." Map. Washington, D.C.?: s.n., [1865?]. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:kk91fs28h (accessed August 12, 2022).

Are you interested in battle maps where your ancestors served? Search for military maps. There is a vast selection of military maps. Many from the American Revolutionary War time. I have a relative, Harlan Poor, who died at the Battle of Spotsylvania. I found a map of the battle of Spotsylvania.

I have shown you just a few of the maps I found related to my family history. The maps are easy to use, fully downloadable with zoom and rotation features. Underneath each map is a full explanation of the map, including usage rights.

Maps are important to genealogists. If you aren't using maps in your research, I encourage you to. Maps provide clues to where your ancestors might have lived. Maps give you the names of places where your ancestors lived at the time they lived there.  

The Leventhal Map Collection is one of the best I have seen. It encompasses Boston, New England and beyond from the 15th Century to the present. I know I will be returning to this collection as I research, I hope you do too. 

Raymond Graf WWII Draft Registration

Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Raymond Graf accessed 7 August 2022.

World War I draft registration cards can be bountiful in information for how little they are.  They provide clues to a family researcher that will help one find more information. 

The card above is for the husband of my maternal aunt, Leona Inez Fredricks.  Leona was the daughter of Otto August Fredricks and Daisy Ellen Graf. You may notice that Virginia Marie Graf (nee Miller) is listed as Raymond's wife. Leona was Raymond's second wife. 

Raymond Paul Graf, son of Henry Jerome Graf and Effie Bell White Graf, filled out his draft card on 16 October 1940 at the age of 25.

As far as I know, the information provided on Raymond's card is accurate.

Transcription:

Name    Raymond Paul Graf

Gender Male

Race      White

Age        25

Relationship to Draftee Self (Head)

Birth Date          1 Jan 1915

Birth Place          Washington, Iowa

Residence Place   Washington, Washington, Iowa, USA

Registration Date            16 Oct 1940

Registration Place           Iowa, USA

Employer           Self

Height   5’ 11”

Weight 150

Complexion       Ruddy

Hair Color           Black

Eye Color            Brown

Next of Kin         Virginia Marie Graf

Those Places Thursday: Fontainebleau, WWII Infantry Officers Candidate School, France

Source: Military Records, citing World War II Army Service from   9 July 1943 to 6 July 1945; Private Papers; privately held by Brenda Leyndyke, [address for private use], Kalamazoo, Michigan 49009, 2022. Bruce Glover Military Papers stored in Records Jacket.

Wait, my dad was trained at Fontainebleau? In France? My dad, like many others, never talked about his time in World War II. It wasn't until I typed my dad's autobiography that I learned he spent time at Fontainebleau, France. Even in his autobiography he doesn't say much about it. I would have loved to have learned more about his time there. I don't think my dad was as impressed as I am about his living there for eight weeks. I have only seen pictures of Fontainebleau and I am in awe of the history of the place. 

WWII Six Week Wonders

Here is what he says about it:

 "While in the hospital I heard through the army newspaper we received of an infantry officers training school in France and signed up for it and was accepted. I have no recollection now of whether it was an excuse to delay my return to the front lines or not, but logically I imagine it had something to do with my decision. At any rate, the training was held in Fontainebleau, France which at one time was Napoleon’s Castle. The horse troughs were still out in front of the buildings, and we were housed in various rooms of the castle. They talk about 90-day wonders which are men who became officers with 90 days of training. We were six-week wonders as the war was raging furiously on the fronts as the Germans were finally being pushed back into Germany and were being attacked in the East by the Allied forces and the West by the Russians. The training was a snap for me because I was an Infantryman. I felt sorry for some Air Corps enlisted men that were also in training but had difficulty in their training as it was like learning a foreign language to them.

       As the men graduated after six weeks, they were immediately assigned to a front-line company and rushed to their posts. Some of them joined their company one night and the next day was either dead or back in the hospital as a casualty of War. As best as I remember I graduated on May 5, as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry, and May 6 the War ended in Europe. AS I LOOK BACK ON THESE EVENTS, I’M CONVINCED THAT SOMEONE UP ABOVE WAS LOOKING AFTER ME AND YOU’LL NEVER CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE."

History of Fontainebleau

 

Jacky Delville, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Napoleon remembers Fontainebleau as “…the true residence of Kings, the house of the centuries. It was not a rigorously architectural palace, but it was certainly a place of residence well thought out and perfectly suitable. It was certainly the most comfortable and happily situated palace in Europe."  It was home to Louis VII, Henry II and his wife, Catherine de ‘Medici, Kings Louis XII through Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon. Eventually, during World War II it was occupied by Germany until the Allied troops pushed Germany out of the Paris area. It became a training center and now is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Fontainebleau is approximately sixty-nine kilometers (forty-three miles) southeast of Paris. 

 

What a piece of history Fontainebleau was and still is. I wish my dad had been a photographer and we had pictures of his time there. It is a wonderful piece of my dad's military history.

My Favorite Gravestone-Mercy Prence Freeman

My husband and I took a long trip to New England a few years ago and we spent quite a bit of time in cemeteries. There is nothing like the grave marker carvings that we found in New England. Cove Burying Ground in Eastham, Massachusetts had some of the best carvings that we saw.  

Cove Burying Ground is one of the oldest cemeteries on Cape Cod. It is the burying place of three Pilgrims: Constance Hopkins Snow, Joseph Rogers and Giles Hopkins.

Freeman Family Plot

I have a number of ancestors buried in the Cove Burying Ground cemetery. The John Freeman family is one. Major John Freeman and Mercy Prence Freeman and their son, Edmond Freeman are buried in the plot. The two smaller gravestones in the middle of the plot are foot stones. Mercy Prence is my eighth great grandmother on my father's side of the family.

Marcy Pence Freeman

1631-1711

Inscription inside of Heart

HERE LYES
BURIED Ye BODY
OF MARCY FREEMAN
WIFE TO MAJOR JOHN
FREEMAN AGED
80 YEARS DEC'D
SEPT Ye 28th
1711

Marcy's head stone has a winged head with an hourglass over it, meaning time flies. It is the oldest winged head carving on Cape Cod. I find the intricacy of the carving fascinating, especially since Marcy was buried in 1711. The carver is unknown.