As I was driving home from Maine last week I saw signs for Bridgeport.... it made me smile and almost prolong my trip home. I have never been there. On that note, driving to Boston from NYC, though, I did drive near New Rochelle. I wish I had stopped there for a visit. I need to make a plan for that - for now I have found family on both sides - maternal and paternal - who lived in New Rochelle.
I guess I should figure no Sunday letter in mid to late July, as he will be home. That should help my chronology puzzle.
Wednesday, July 18, 1917
Dear Mother,
I have just heard from Grace and she wants Karolyn and I to come see them Sunday but hasn’t any place to put us over Saturday night as the spare room isn’t furnished. That’s all right but something went wrong at the other end and Karolyn isn’t going to Bridgeport yet awhile. As far as I can gather it’s something to do with a school out west which she is trying to secure for the fall.
I put in an application for two days leave before I knew all this and I had to fight with the commandant to get it. He warned me that it would be the last I could ever hope to get before leaving so I’m coming home. I’ll leave here Friday evening early and will probably be in Troy early Saturday morning – about two o’clock or so. I hadn’t thought of coming up yet because I thought that later I’d be able to get four or five days. According to the latest advices from headquarters here we won’t be here but a very short time now. We get practice hikes every other day – five or six miles. Our battalion – six sections – is already organized and will be ready to leave I think within a month. Whether will go to France or Russia I don’t know. It may be either. I do wish I had more time but I can stay until about noon Sunday and I want to see you all before I leave for good.
We have a new lieutenant for Section 80. Who should it be by “Lub” Allen a Phi Delt from Syracuse who graduated from Liberal Arts before my time but whom I knew quite well. They are filling up the sections to 45 men. The new men are all nice chaps in our sections and several of the rough necks have transferred so I’m going to stick with section 80.
I have a strained leg – it’s the tendon just above my heel but I expect it will be all right in a few days. Outside of that I’m as healthy as a mule. You’ll see for yourself.
If you haven’t sent me that money by the time you get this keep till I arrive. I have enough to get home on.
So I’m afraid you’ll have me waking you up early Saturday AM.
Until then, good bye,
Herbert
P.S. If I don’t arrive as I plan you’ll know that I’ve been called out in the meantime on one of these six day hikes. That will cancel my leave.
Herb
Showing posts with label Phi Delta Theta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phi Delta Theta. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Bastille Day
I can guess the date of this letter, luckily. Like yesterday, I have reference points! Makes sorting so much easier.
I have to say, sometimes this does seem more like summer camp that prepping for the first World War; how naïve they all seem. Don't worry, I'm not lonesome! And how about some cake? I would like some cake, please. Bizarre, really, from a 21st century perspective.
I am posting this picture again to remember how young he was... Still waiting on his uniform and asking his mother for cake... What was he wearing all this time as he has enlisted to serve his country?
On the US Army Medical Department web site they mention how "the volunteers paid for their own transportation, clothing, uniforms, and personal equipment. As one put it, "the Americans not only had to be willing to risk their lives, they also had to pay to do it."
I guess Kimber isn't as yellow as Herb originally accused. (I suppose I could see if a death certificate is available for Kimber now that I know his full name and place of birth/residence on Ancestry.com.)
Sunday, (July 15), 1917
Dear Mother,
Sunday again and I guess the rain has cleared up for good. I hope so.
Most of the rail roads that run into Allentown are running Sunday excursions here and the camp to-day is jammed full of visitors.
I had a letter from Case the other day so I knew about the check before I had heard from. I could use about five dollars of it if you can spare it but if you need it for the insurance keep it as I’ll worry along all night.
Yesterday the camp celebrated Bastille Day in honor of the French. There were patriotic exercises and a few field events.
Events in Germany seem to have taken a funny turn but it look as if peace were still a long way off. I sent my clothes Wednesday so you must have them by now. I had to send them collect because they don’t except [sic] express parcels in camp any other way.
Karolyn is I think going to Bridgeport this week to visit her relatives there. I have written Charlie + Grace + asked them to invite her over next Saturday to stay overnight in which case I’ll run over to see her if I can get the leave. It’s awfully hard to get a leave of absence but I think I can get thirty-six hours. It takes about two hours to go from here to Jersey City and the fare is two dollars. I think Chas + Grace will be glad to have us. At any rate they had often mentioned it to me before so it was all right to ask them.
Of course I have written to the folks at Sterling Place. Kimber, as I understand it, is also enlisted in aviation: but neither of them have yet been called.
I have called twice on Morton. He is in Section 47. But I haven’t found him in yet. However I’ll probably have better luck next time.
I know quite a few of the fellows here quite well so there’s no danger of my being lonesome. There are about fifty-five Phi Delts scattered around and I often bump into them.
I would like to have you send me some cookies or cake. We never have either at mess. I buy them once in a while in the store but they don’t taste right.
Love to all,
Herbert
Section 80
I have to say, sometimes this does seem more like summer camp that prepping for the first World War; how naïve they all seem. Don't worry, I'm not lonesome! And how about some cake? I would like some cake, please. Bizarre, really, from a 21st century perspective.
I am posting this picture again to remember how young he was... Still waiting on his uniform and asking his mother for cake... What was he wearing all this time as he has enlisted to serve his country?
On the US Army Medical Department web site they mention how "the volunteers paid for their own transportation, clothing, uniforms, and personal equipment. As one put it, "the Americans not only had to be willing to risk their lives, they also had to pay to do it."
I guess Kimber isn't as yellow as Herb originally accused. (I suppose I could see if a death certificate is available for Kimber now that I know his full name and place of birth/residence on Ancestry.com.)
Sunday, (July 15), 1917
Dear Mother,
Sunday again and I guess the rain has cleared up for good. I hope so.
Most of the rail roads that run into Allentown are running Sunday excursions here and the camp to-day is jammed full of visitors.
I had a letter from Case the other day so I knew about the check before I had heard from. I could use about five dollars of it if you can spare it but if you need it for the insurance keep it as I’ll worry along all night.
Yesterday the camp celebrated Bastille Day in honor of the French. There were patriotic exercises and a few field events.
Events in Germany seem to have taken a funny turn but it look as if peace were still a long way off. I sent my clothes Wednesday so you must have them by now. I had to send them collect because they don’t except [sic] express parcels in camp any other way.
Karolyn is I think going to Bridgeport this week to visit her relatives there. I have written Charlie + Grace + asked them to invite her over next Saturday to stay overnight in which case I’ll run over to see her if I can get the leave. It’s awfully hard to get a leave of absence but I think I can get thirty-six hours. It takes about two hours to go from here to Jersey City and the fare is two dollars. I think Chas + Grace will be glad to have us. At any rate they had often mentioned it to me before so it was all right to ask them.
Of course I have written to the folks at Sterling Place. Kimber, as I understand it, is also enlisted in aviation: but neither of them have yet been called.
I have called twice on Morton. He is in Section 47. But I haven’t found him in yet. However I’ll probably have better luck next time.
I know quite a few of the fellows here quite well so there’s no danger of my being lonesome. There are about fifty-five Phi Delts scattered around and I often bump into them.
I would like to have you send me some cookies or cake. We never have either at mess. I buy them once in a while in the store but they don’t taste right.
Love to all,
Herbert
Section 80
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Enjoying Myself
Herb's birthday is July 7th. He was a young 'un in all this, wasn't he? I can't imagine making the kinds of decisions he was making at twenty or even in my twenties. He is such a boy, and then so pleased to be 'grown up at last.'
Again, according to my favorite reference source, Wikipedia, Robert W. Service was a Canadian poet who:
Photo taken from Wikipedia
Can you imagine being a soldier and sitting around singing? Just doesn't compute in this day and age - especially as I write this an Iraq is falling apart again with ISIS marching against Al-Malikis corrupt government. Makes you want to cry for all those people just trying to live their lives.
I can find only a High School in Georgia when I research Booker Washington's College. I guess I am having trouble reconciling an African American High School quartet singing and reciting for the Ambulance Corps, so I am assuming I have misunderstood something here.
The ambulance corps had to assemble their vehicles when they got to France. Though I can't find it now, I have seen photographs of the vehicles in their crates. From the US Army Medical Department web page they indicate:
I found a web page about Section 80 and they had a photograph of the group - rough necks and all. I am not certain, but I am guessing that Herb is either the guy sitting aloof on the top left - his jaw looks like my father's jaw - or he is the second on the left sitting on the bench. In both cases, the man seems camera shy.
Sunday (must be July 1917)
Dear Family,
I had a letter from you yesterday but that was the first in some time. I don’t know what could have become of the other. The parcel post package hasn’t put in an appearance and I am curious as a kid at Christmas to know what it is in it. I know it will be something I’ll like and I thank you a thousand times for remembering me. To think that I am twenty-one. Grown up at last. Honestly, Mother, I can’t believe it. You’ll have to dye your hair gray, too, or no one will believe it.
I had a letter from Steve Lee at Plattsburgh the other day asking me if I was coming up to the second camp. I am writing to tell him what I really have done. I imagine it will surprise him.
I have written to Mr. Case and told him about how I am fixed and asked him to mail my check to you but have had no reply so far. I am writing to Charlie to-day.
It’s nice of you to offer to send me papers but I’m afraid I shouldn’t have much use for them. I buy the New York Times here two or three times a week to keep in touch with things in general.
To-day we are having the first gloomy weather since I have been here. It isn’t raining but it’s cloudy and dull.
Lately I am beginning to really enjoy myself here. I didn’t like it at first – it was too different from the sort of living to which I was accustomed. But lately I’ve sort of gotten into the spirit of it and find that I like it pretty well. Last night the Army Y.M.C.A. had a nice little free entertainment for the boys. A.M. Wooley, who has been at the front recited some of the “Rhymes of a Red Cross Man” by Robert Service, a Canadian poet. It was very fine. After that a quartette from Booker Washington’s College sang and recited. Most every night there are moving pictures on the grounds and the gang unites in songs. We are learning marching songs now to use on our hikes which will start soon. One of the favorites is “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and Smile! Smile! Smile!” which is a favorite at all the training camps throughout the country.
The Phi Delt dinner Thursday night was a great success. About forty of us were present from eighteen or twenty different chapters. We had a room to ourselves and could make all noise and sing all the Phi Delt songs we liked. Afterwards we went in a body to the only vaudeville theater in town. The dinner was fine, everything from soup on and the whole assessment was only a dollar and thirty cents. There are now more than fifty Phis in camp and we plan to have regular get-to-gether meetings every Monday night + to have our pictures taken when we all get uniforms. I haven’t mine yet, by the way, but there are only about fifteen sections not outfitted out of about a hundred + ten so we expect them to-morrow or Tuesday.
There has been another hitch in transfers on account of the pay roll so you had best address me care of section 80 until I tell you differently.
About 50 of the motor ambulances are now here and the rest are expected soon. Over a hundred two-ton Packard trucks have also arrived this week.
I went to church at the Y.M.C.A. tent to-day. Some preacher from Philadelphia spoke about the war. He was very good.
Love to all,
Herbert
Again, according to my favorite reference source, Wikipedia, Robert W. Service was a Canadian poet who:
"worked as a stretcher bearer and ambulance driver with the Ambulance Corps of the American Red Cross, until his health broke." Convalescing in Paris, he wrote a new book of mainly war poetry, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man, in 1916.
Can you imagine being a soldier and sitting around singing? Just doesn't compute in this day and age - especially as I write this an Iraq is falling apart again with ISIS marching against Al-Malikis corrupt government. Makes you want to cry for all those people just trying to live their lives.
I can find only a High School in Georgia when I research Booker Washington's College. I guess I am having trouble reconciling an African American High School quartet singing and reciting for the Ambulance Corps, so I am assuming I have misunderstood something here.
The ambulance corps had to assemble their vehicles when they got to France. Though I can't find it now, I have seen photographs of the vehicles in their crates. From the US Army Medical Department web page they indicate:
Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, and General Motors Company ambulances were severely tested under combat conditions that demonstrated their advantages in speed and patient comfort. The Ford Model "T" could climb narrow mountain roads where patient movement previously was possible only on mules or in horse-drawn carts. The Ford put new meaning in "fording." It sat high and could get through flooded roads not accessible by lower vehicles. Indeed, French soldiers accused the Americans of painting water lines on their vehicles as depth gauges, and some calls for evacuation would request the ambulance "boats." If a road was blocked, the "T" could go cross-country. It was light enough that three or four soldiers could pick it up and move it if it stuck in a ditch or shell hole.17
Nevertheless, the motorized ambulances were primitive vehicles. The Ford's idiosyncrasies made mountain driving dicey. Its gravity gasoline feed did not work on steep grades, compelling drivers to back their vehicles up the hills. Another problem was that prolonged driving in low gear caused excessive and uneven wear on the transmission bands. To equalize the wear, drivers in mountainous terrain used the low-speed band during climbs, the reverse band to assist in controlling descents, and the foot brake on corners and the steepest parts of hills. Transmission bands would last ten to fourteen days with this technique. Mountain driving was further complicated by brakes that could not handle the steep grades. Drivers kept an eye peeled for strategically placed trees that could stop them if necessary. Sometimes patients had unforgettable rides.
I found a web page about Section 80 and they had a photograph of the group - rough necks and all. I am not certain, but I am guessing that Herb is either the guy sitting aloof on the top left - his jaw looks like my father's jaw - or he is the second on the left sitting on the bench. In both cases, the man seems camera shy.
Sunday (must be July 1917)
Dear Family,
I had a letter from you yesterday but that was the first in some time. I don’t know what could have become of the other. The parcel post package hasn’t put in an appearance and I am curious as a kid at Christmas to know what it is in it. I know it will be something I’ll like and I thank you a thousand times for remembering me. To think that I am twenty-one. Grown up at last. Honestly, Mother, I can’t believe it. You’ll have to dye your hair gray, too, or no one will believe it.
I had a letter from Steve Lee at Plattsburgh the other day asking me if I was coming up to the second camp. I am writing to tell him what I really have done. I imagine it will surprise him.
I have written to Mr. Case and told him about how I am fixed and asked him to mail my check to you but have had no reply so far. I am writing to Charlie to-day.
It’s nice of you to offer to send me papers but I’m afraid I shouldn’t have much use for them. I buy the New York Times here two or three times a week to keep in touch with things in general.
To-day we are having the first gloomy weather since I have been here. It isn’t raining but it’s cloudy and dull.
Lately I am beginning to really enjoy myself here. I didn’t like it at first – it was too different from the sort of living to which I was accustomed. But lately I’ve sort of gotten into the spirit of it and find that I like it pretty well. Last night the Army Y.M.C.A. had a nice little free entertainment for the boys. A.M. Wooley, who has been at the front recited some of the “Rhymes of a Red Cross Man” by Robert Service, a Canadian poet. It was very fine. After that a quartette from Booker Washington’s College sang and recited. Most every night there are moving pictures on the grounds and the gang unites in songs. We are learning marching songs now to use on our hikes which will start soon. One of the favorites is “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and Smile! Smile! Smile!” which is a favorite at all the training camps throughout the country.
The Phi Delt dinner Thursday night was a great success. About forty of us were present from eighteen or twenty different chapters. We had a room to ourselves and could make all noise and sing all the Phi Delt songs we liked. Afterwards we went in a body to the only vaudeville theater in town. The dinner was fine, everything from soup on and the whole assessment was only a dollar and thirty cents. There are now more than fifty Phis in camp and we plan to have regular get-to-gether meetings every Monday night + to have our pictures taken when we all get uniforms. I haven’t mine yet, by the way, but there are only about fifteen sections not outfitted out of about a hundred + ten so we expect them to-morrow or Tuesday.
There has been another hitch in transfers on account of the pay roll so you had best address me care of section 80 until I tell you differently.
About 50 of the motor ambulances are now here and the rest are expected soon. Over a hundred two-ton Packard trucks have also arrived this week.
I went to church at the Y.M.C.A. tent to-day. Some preacher from Philadelphia spoke about the war. He was very good.
Love to all,
Herbert
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Disappointment
I suppose my readers already suspected Herb did not make it in to the Reserve Corps, given we originally found him in the Ambulance Corps. I am glad 'horribly disappointed' was not suicidal as for this other broker, Walter Scheftel. What was this guy thinking in late May 1917?
I wrote Syracuse University and look what they kindly provided:
This is Harold Kimber, from East Syracuse, NY. He was a very active guy, being associated with several Greek organizations, the Assistant Manager of Track, Chemical Club, Manager of Freshman Baseball, Manager of Varsity Track, Member of the Athletic Governing Board, Treasurer Class, Executive Committee, President Senior Council, and Senior Ball Committee.
And here we find Oliver Wolcott Morris:
Ole Phike was also associated with several Greek organizations, Senior Dinner Club, Corpse and Coffin, Baseball Squad, and the Athletic Dinner Committee. He hails from Long Beach, NJ.
What is Corpse and Coffin, I wonder. It's not Yale, so not the Skull and Crossbones.... Hmmm.
Paul Tracy Crosby, from Seneca Falls, NY, is associated with the Skull and Serpent.... as well as Baseball and Class Team.
The kind folks at Syracuse tell me Steve Lee is Stephen M. Lee, but they could find no photos of him, (Herb was also very camera shy.... maybe because of those front teeth!)
Wednesday evening – date unknown, May 1917
Dear Mother,
Well I wasn’t elected. I feel horribly disappointed. I did so want to get out and do something worthwhile. There doesn’t seem much else left to do. The term of enlistment in the navy + marines is four years – that’s too long. The National Guard – well I don’t like to guard bridges. So I guess I’ll have to sit tight for a couple of weeks.
Phike Morris + Steve Lee were lucky. They leave for Plattsburgh this week. And by a rather remarkable chance both are listed for the same company. They both felt bad because I wasn’t going along – almost as bad as I felt myself. So all there are left of the Phi Delts are Doc Crosby who will be a regular navy doctor in a couple of weeks and Kimber, who seems to be the conscientious objector. I think rather that he is yellow.
I have three nice new front teeth now. They look better than the others but I have not quite become accustomed to them yet. Guess what the bill was. Two dollars. I accused the dentist of cooking up a deal on me with Fred Judson but he stood pat. I don’t know whether to accuse Fred of it or not. It was a very generous offer, made freely, and perhaps I should not say anything.
Charley, Grace, Jane and I were to the movies last night. The wedding is more or less in the air, awaiting developments.
Love to all,
Herbert
I wrote Syracuse University and look what they kindly provided:
And here we find Oliver Wolcott Morris:
Ole Phike was also associated with several Greek organizations, Senior Dinner Club, Corpse and Coffin, Baseball Squad, and the Athletic Dinner Committee. He hails from Long Beach, NJ.
What is Corpse and Coffin, I wonder. It's not Yale, so not the Skull and Crossbones.... Hmmm.
Paul Tracy Crosby, from Seneca Falls, NY, is associated with the Skull and Serpent.... as well as Baseball and Class Team.
The kind folks at Syracuse tell me Steve Lee is Stephen M. Lee, but they could find no photos of him, (Herb was also very camera shy.... maybe because of those front teeth!)
Wednesday evening – date unknown, May 1917
Dear Mother,
Well I wasn’t elected. I feel horribly disappointed. I did so want to get out and do something worthwhile. There doesn’t seem much else left to do. The term of enlistment in the navy + marines is four years – that’s too long. The National Guard – well I don’t like to guard bridges. So I guess I’ll have to sit tight for a couple of weeks.
Phike Morris + Steve Lee were lucky. They leave for Plattsburgh this week. And by a rather remarkable chance both are listed for the same company. They both felt bad because I wasn’t going along – almost as bad as I felt myself. So all there are left of the Phi Delts are Doc Crosby who will be a regular navy doctor in a couple of weeks and Kimber, who seems to be the conscientious objector. I think rather that he is yellow.
I have three nice new front teeth now. They look better than the others but I have not quite become accustomed to them yet. Guess what the bill was. Two dollars. I accused the dentist of cooking up a deal on me with Fred Judson but he stood pat. I don’t know whether to accuse Fred of it or not. It was a very generous offer, made freely, and perhaps I should not say anything.
Charley, Grace, Jane and I were to the movies last night. The wedding is more or less in the air, awaiting developments.
Love to all,
Herbert
Thursday, June 5, 2014
More clothing, gossip and Edith
I am having trouble putting this letter in order with the others, though it is clearly early on in our letter writing, as there is no mention of the war and Herb is still feeling his way with Mr. Friedman.
I have no idea who Aunt Phoebe is. I am going to assume that she is a Kirkpatrick from Troy, NY. Obviously Nellie Jane is telling Herb the news, not the other way around, so she must be corresponding or visiting directly with Nellie Jane, not Herb.
Did I mention that I found a Burdella Curry living at the same address with the Lees in Troy? It's a private home, not an apartment building, so they are certainly intimately familiar with one another, but Aunt may be an affectionate title only and she may not be Herb's biological Aunt. It's a unique enough name that with a little sleuthing I should be able to figure some things out. In the census, Oliver is listed as the first 'Head' with William Curry being listed as the second 'Head' at the address, so I assume the Lees answered the door when the census taker came calling
Olive, Aunt Burdella and Margaret
93 6th Avenue, Upper Troy, NY
I don't know who Bill Jackson is, though as Herb doesn't explain who he is to his mother, she must be familiar with him, as are the Cornells, obviously.
And Earl Jessen - he plans to be selling stocks and bonds though he doesn't know the difference? Makes one wonder, doesn't it? We haven't had the Great Depression yet, but wasn't there a financial crisis in the 1880s or something? Really? this is just same s*%#, different day with Wall Street.
I have noticed that there is no mention of a Karolyn in these early letters. I am dying to find out when they meet and how. Given these early letters, it seems he went from zero to sixty in his affection for her.... I mean, if this letter is in the early, early spring, and our letters about Karolyn start in the summer, when does he have the time to meet and court her? Hmm.
Letter is missing the front page
that the Phi Delt gave the Beta Thet’s not a word as to whether he was still going to college or not.
Aunt Phoebe must have had something the same as Dad, didn’t she.
Edith was only in town a few days. She went back Tuesday or Wednesday + took Howard with her. I think she will stay now all through the summer. Aunt Ida is doing very nicely. Of course she’s a bit weak still.
We didn’t go over to Jane’s Tuesday owing to some mix up but are going this Tuesday. To-day Charles + Grace are over visiting Bill Jackson over in Jersey.
There has been an awful lot of work to do lately – all interesting + new. I’ve learned a lot – haven’t even had time for the ordinary routine. Yesterday Mr. Friedman had me out to lunch with him so he’d have a good chance to talk with me about myself. I think he likes me fine. I certainly hope so.
Last Tuesday I ran in to Earl Jessen in the automat. He came down the week before to be a stock + bond salesman. Next week he starts out with a territory around Utica. Mind you, he didn’t know a stock from a bond when he came down. I went down to see him Thursday night at the Empire Hotel 63rd St + Broadway. We took a long walk and had a good gossip about the people we used to know when we were in High School.
Of course, Mother, I shall be awfully glad to get that package but you really ought not have bothered with such things now. You have enough to do. This week I had to have my black suit overhauled. The sleeve linings were loose top + bottom, two pockets were torn and there were several loose buttons + belt loops as well as a badly frayed pair of trouser bottoms. I wouldn’t have done it for a dollar myself but the tailor only charged me fifty cents.
I wish you would keep me posted as to how Dad gets along. Naturally, I’m a bit worried.
Love to all
Herb
I have no idea who Aunt Phoebe is. I am going to assume that she is a Kirkpatrick from Troy, NY. Obviously Nellie Jane is telling Herb the news, not the other way around, so she must be corresponding or visiting directly with Nellie Jane, not Herb.
Did I mention that I found a Burdella Curry living at the same address with the Lees in Troy? It's a private home, not an apartment building, so they are certainly intimately familiar with one another, but Aunt may be an affectionate title only and she may not be Herb's biological Aunt. It's a unique enough name that with a little sleuthing I should be able to figure some things out. In the census, Oliver is listed as the first 'Head' with William Curry being listed as the second 'Head' at the address, so I assume the Lees answered the door when the census taker came calling
93 6th Avenue, Upper Troy, NY
I don't know who Bill Jackson is, though as Herb doesn't explain who he is to his mother, she must be familiar with him, as are the Cornells, obviously.
And Earl Jessen - he plans to be selling stocks and bonds though he doesn't know the difference? Makes one wonder, doesn't it? We haven't had the Great Depression yet, but wasn't there a financial crisis in the 1880s or something? Really? this is just same s*%#, different day with Wall Street.
I have noticed that there is no mention of a Karolyn in these early letters. I am dying to find out when they meet and how. Given these early letters, it seems he went from zero to sixty in his affection for her.... I mean, if this letter is in the early, early spring, and our letters about Karolyn start in the summer, when does he have the time to meet and court her? Hmm.
Letter is missing the front page
that the Phi Delt gave the Beta Thet’s not a word as to whether he was still going to college or not.
Aunt Phoebe must have had something the same as Dad, didn’t she.
Edith was only in town a few days. She went back Tuesday or Wednesday + took Howard with her. I think she will stay now all through the summer. Aunt Ida is doing very nicely. Of course she’s a bit weak still.
We didn’t go over to Jane’s Tuesday owing to some mix up but are going this Tuesday. To-day Charles + Grace are over visiting Bill Jackson over in Jersey.
There has been an awful lot of work to do lately – all interesting + new. I’ve learned a lot – haven’t even had time for the ordinary routine. Yesterday Mr. Friedman had me out to lunch with him so he’d have a good chance to talk with me about myself. I think he likes me fine. I certainly hope so.
Last Tuesday I ran in to Earl Jessen in the automat. He came down the week before to be a stock + bond salesman. Next week he starts out with a territory around Utica. Mind you, he didn’t know a stock from a bond when he came down. I went down to see him Thursday night at the Empire Hotel 63rd St + Broadway. We took a long walk and had a good gossip about the people we used to know when we were in High School.
Of course, Mother, I shall be awfully glad to get that package but you really ought not have bothered with such things now. You have enough to do. This week I had to have my black suit overhauled. The sleeve linings were loose top + bottom, two pockets were torn and there were several loose buttons + belt loops as well as a badly frayed pair of trouser bottoms. I wouldn’t have done it for a dollar myself but the tailor only charged me fifty cents.
I wish you would keep me posted as to how Dad gets along. Naturally, I’m a bit worried.
Love to all
Herb
Monday, May 26, 2014
Jumping to March 1917
Let me begin by wishing everyone a very happy Memorial Day.
I have been transcribing letters like mad. They are not in order and many do not have envelopes or dates, so a guessing game ensues. This letter I have assumed to be early March based on research in the NY Times archives about the Bronx Building and Loan and Herb's mention of Spring - that's an obvious clue. This is the earliest letter I have come across so far, so no mention of enlisting at this time - just a dutiful son updating his mother on his comings and goings at his job in New York City away from his immediate family up in Troy, but in the hometown of his father's family, the Lees.
I found an article in the NY Times Archives dated March 11, 1917 about the investors - depositors in this case - losing $100,000 to 'peculations'. I had never heard that word before, but one can assume what it means and dictionary.com indicates: to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. I couldn't attach the article because it is a PDF, but trust me when I say it was a moment of elation when I found the article, to learn about what he was referring to and to get a specific date in time to place the letter in the sequence of Sunday letters home.
From all of my transcribing and consulting my family tree I have figured out who some of the people Herb is gossiping/talking about. I believe that Jane Parker may be the sister to Russell Parker who is first cousin Edith's husband. Edith is Charles' sister and daughter to Ida. The wedding to which Herb refers is that of Grace Hughson and Charles. It's so rewarding when Herb mentions something by name - in this case Banker's Trust, Charles' employer.
Herb's description of Hasbrouk Heights is pretty great, too. So many mysteries solved in this letter alone.
Dad Reece - though I believe it may be spelled Rees - is Aunt Ida's second husband. She was widowed quite young from her first husband, John Cornell, a butcher in New York City. John and Ida Rees live in Huntington on Long Island and John describes himself in the 1920 Federal Census as a poultry man on a private estate. (Might Ida and Mr. Rees have met through her first husband's employment as a butcher? Tantalizing to speculate.) Edith and her husband Russell seem to be having some marital trouble and I believe they eventually divorce, as she describes herself divorced in the 1930 Federal Census. In 1915 Russell is a stage manager; in 1920 a actor in theatricals and by 1925 he describes himself as a movie actor. Has Edith headed home to Mom/Ida because Russell is on the road? Doesn't sound like he is taking good care of his wife and two children, Howard and Ruth....
Herb attended 3 years at Syracuse University and was obviously a member of Phi Delta Theta. The boys in Brooklyn were some of his fraternity brothers.
Sunday (Sometime in early March 1917)
Dear Mother + all,
I was of course delighted to hear that you are all pretty well again. It’s been a nasty winter, take it by and large and I guess we are all pretty glad that Spring is coming.
I got my shirt all right – on Tuesday I think it was. It’s a peach, Mother. I like it awfully well. Many thanks.
Tuesday we went over to call on Jane Parker. I had a very nice time. We played cards a while + chewed about the wedding.
Did you happen to read in the New York papers about the Building + Loan Association here in the Bronx that went to smash (?). Mr. Hughson had about eight hundred dollars in it, Grace had a couple of hundred + Mabel + Bess Elmore each had some about three hundred between them I think. The funny thing was that Charlie has been after Grace to take hers out for some time. She had at last been persuaded and next month she was going to give it to Charlie to put in the Employees Special account at Banker’s Trust where it would have drawn nine per cent.
Charlie + Grace haven’t been able to find a house that they could afford or wanted anywhere so they have pretty well decided on a six room apartment over in Jersey City. I haven’t seen it but they both are quite enthusiastic. It’s a new apartment – not yet completed – and is in a strictly residential section on the heights on the west side of the town – with a nice view of the open country. From there into Wall Street is only about a thirty minute ride which isn’t bad at all.
Charlie + Grace went to Huntington to day to stay until to-morrow. Aunt Ida is pretty well now I guess but still a bit weak. Edith is in town again. She and the kids are staying with John while she hunts for a flat. Charlie + I were up to see them Friday night. I wouldn’t mention it if I were you but Dad Reece thinks that Russell ought to be made to feel the responsibility of his position and support her. I think he’s right too. If Russell isn’t forced to come through now when he’s making good money he may get the idea fastened tight in his head that he doesn’t have to support his family.
There wasn’t anything to worry about in Mr. Friedman’s wanting to talk to me, mother. We just went out to lunch together at his invitation so we could eat and chew the rag together peacefully. That’s a common habit in Wall Street. I’m confident that he thinks pretty well of me.
I don’t think there’s any reason for worrying a great deal about the rail road strike. The mail trains would undoubtedly be run under government orders + if the food gives out I’ll walk home.
I’m glad Harry is satisfied with his work.
Do you suppose he could lend me about fifteen dollars in a month or so. I really need a new suit myself + I can’t save any money for it, because I need a new hat + new shoes even worse. I’ve got to look up + coming when I go around to the other offices interviewing some pretty substantial men sometimes when I am hunting information. If he can let me have it I can get on my feet all right, I’ll appreciate it.
As ever,
Herb
I’m going over this afternoon to see the boys in Brooklyn. I haven’t seen them I a month. I had an invitation to the annual Phi Delt Banquet at the Onondaga March 31st. I suppose they think I’m prosperous by now.
This photograph was a picture my cousin Chuck attached to his tree on ancestry which I copied back in September of last year. He had it labeled as Ida Rees and the Lees. Looking closely, and having found some photographs of my own which were labeled, I believe I can identify some of the people. Here's my attempt:
Unknown man (could this be Mr. Doring?), unknown woman (could this be Ida?), Nellie Jane Kirkpatrick Lee, Aunt Burdella (or is she Ida?)
Margaret Lee, Olive Lee, Burdella
Let me attach the photographs for my readers to review to see if you think I am correct with my guess of the people.
Labeled Aunt Berdella, Margaret and Olive
Margaret Lee and Berdella
Nellie Jane, Oliver and Herb - June 15th, 1930, so 15 years roughly after these letters were written, though this photograph shows Nellie Jane in a manner to compare with the unlabeled photograph.
I have been transcribing letters like mad. They are not in order and many do not have envelopes or dates, so a guessing game ensues. This letter I have assumed to be early March based on research in the NY Times archives about the Bronx Building and Loan and Herb's mention of Spring - that's an obvious clue. This is the earliest letter I have come across so far, so no mention of enlisting at this time - just a dutiful son updating his mother on his comings and goings at his job in New York City away from his immediate family up in Troy, but in the hometown of his father's family, the Lees.
I found an article in the NY Times Archives dated March 11, 1917 about the investors - depositors in this case - losing $100,000 to 'peculations'. I had never heard that word before, but one can assume what it means and dictionary.com indicates: to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. I couldn't attach the article because it is a PDF, but trust me when I say it was a moment of elation when I found the article, to learn about what he was referring to and to get a specific date in time to place the letter in the sequence of Sunday letters home.
From all of my transcribing and consulting my family tree I have figured out who some of the people Herb is gossiping/talking about. I believe that Jane Parker may be the sister to Russell Parker who is first cousin Edith's husband. Edith is Charles' sister and daughter to Ida. The wedding to which Herb refers is that of Grace Hughson and Charles. It's so rewarding when Herb mentions something by name - in this case Banker's Trust, Charles' employer.
Herb's description of Hasbrouk Heights is pretty great, too. So many mysteries solved in this letter alone.
Dad Reece - though I believe it may be spelled Rees - is Aunt Ida's second husband. She was widowed quite young from her first husband, John Cornell, a butcher in New York City. John and Ida Rees live in Huntington on Long Island and John describes himself in the 1920 Federal Census as a poultry man on a private estate. (Might Ida and Mr. Rees have met through her first husband's employment as a butcher? Tantalizing to speculate.) Edith and her husband Russell seem to be having some marital trouble and I believe they eventually divorce, as she describes herself divorced in the 1930 Federal Census. In 1915 Russell is a stage manager; in 1920 a actor in theatricals and by 1925 he describes himself as a movie actor. Has Edith headed home to Mom/Ida because Russell is on the road? Doesn't sound like he is taking good care of his wife and two children, Howard and Ruth....
Herb attended 3 years at Syracuse University and was obviously a member of Phi Delta Theta. The boys in Brooklyn were some of his fraternity brothers.
Sunday (Sometime in early March 1917)
Dear Mother + all,
I was of course delighted to hear that you are all pretty well again. It’s been a nasty winter, take it by and large and I guess we are all pretty glad that Spring is coming.
I got my shirt all right – on Tuesday I think it was. It’s a peach, Mother. I like it awfully well. Many thanks.
Tuesday we went over to call on Jane Parker. I had a very nice time. We played cards a while + chewed about the wedding.
Did you happen to read in the New York papers about the Building + Loan Association here in the Bronx that went to smash (?). Mr. Hughson had about eight hundred dollars in it, Grace had a couple of hundred + Mabel + Bess Elmore each had some about three hundred between them I think. The funny thing was that Charlie has been after Grace to take hers out for some time. She had at last been persuaded and next month she was going to give it to Charlie to put in the Employees Special account at Banker’s Trust where it would have drawn nine per cent.
Charlie + Grace haven’t been able to find a house that they could afford or wanted anywhere so they have pretty well decided on a six room apartment over in Jersey City. I haven’t seen it but they both are quite enthusiastic. It’s a new apartment – not yet completed – and is in a strictly residential section on the heights on the west side of the town – with a nice view of the open country. From there into Wall Street is only about a thirty minute ride which isn’t bad at all.
Charlie + Grace went to Huntington to day to stay until to-morrow. Aunt Ida is pretty well now I guess but still a bit weak. Edith is in town again. She and the kids are staying with John while she hunts for a flat. Charlie + I were up to see them Friday night. I wouldn’t mention it if I were you but Dad Reece thinks that Russell ought to be made to feel the responsibility of his position and support her. I think he’s right too. If Russell isn’t forced to come through now when he’s making good money he may get the idea fastened tight in his head that he doesn’t have to support his family.
There wasn’t anything to worry about in Mr. Friedman’s wanting to talk to me, mother. We just went out to lunch together at his invitation so we could eat and chew the rag together peacefully. That’s a common habit in Wall Street. I’m confident that he thinks pretty well of me.
I don’t think there’s any reason for worrying a great deal about the rail road strike. The mail trains would undoubtedly be run under government orders + if the food gives out I’ll walk home.
I’m glad Harry is satisfied with his work.
Do you suppose he could lend me about fifteen dollars in a month or so. I really need a new suit myself + I can’t save any money for it, because I need a new hat + new shoes even worse. I’ve got to look up + coming when I go around to the other offices interviewing some pretty substantial men sometimes when I am hunting information. If he can let me have it I can get on my feet all right, I’ll appreciate it.
As ever,
Herb
I’m going over this afternoon to see the boys in Brooklyn. I haven’t seen them I a month. I had an invitation to the annual Phi Delt Banquet at the Onondaga March 31st. I suppose they think I’m prosperous by now.
This photograph was a picture my cousin Chuck attached to his tree on ancestry which I copied back in September of last year. He had it labeled as Ida Rees and the Lees. Looking closely, and having found some photographs of my own which were labeled, I believe I can identify some of the people. Here's my attempt:
Unknown man (could this be Mr. Doring?), unknown woman (could this be Ida?), Nellie Jane Kirkpatrick Lee, Aunt Burdella (or is she Ida?)
Margaret Lee, Olive Lee, Burdella
Let me attach the photographs for my readers to review to see if you think I am correct with my guess of the people.
Margaret Lee and Berdella
Nellie Jane, Oliver and Herb - June 15th, 1930, so 15 years roughly after these letters were written, though this photograph shows Nellie Jane in a manner to compare with the unlabeled photograph.
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