Category Archives: Wednesday’s Child

Protected: Wednesday’s Child – Emilie B. Yegerlehner

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Protected: Wednesday’s Child – Infants Steuernagel

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Wednesday’s Child – Carrie E. Steuernagel (1887-1889)

Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

Carrie E. Steuernagel was the youngest child of Charles A. Steuernagel and his first wife, Henrietta Paulina Yegerlehner. If you recall from last week’s Wednesday’s child, Henrietta was my grandfather’s aunt. Carrie died one month and nineteen days after her mother died, and just one month shy of her own second birthday. I do not know the cause of her death. I also find it hard to fathom the amount of grief that Charles experienced in his life. He had a rough time when it came to family. He lost his first wife and two of their three children within four years. When he married his wife’s younger sister Matilda, their marriage did not fare much better. Matilda and Charles were married seven years before she died a month after giving birth to her last child. They had five children together; two of which died as infants. Charles married a third time and lost this wife after only five years of marriage. Dorothy died within days of giving birth to her third child. I think Charles gave up trying to find a wife afterwards.

Carrie is buried at the St. Peter’s Church Cemetery at Hickory Corner, Owen County, Indiana (FindAGrave).

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: July 14, 1942 Envelope

: July 14, 1942, p. 1

: July 14, 1942, p. 2

Letter transcription:

Mon. P.M.

Dear Mother,

It seems as if I’m getting the run around. Now the Captain has put me off until Friday. He may know of some orders coming in etc. or something else anyway today he told me to come back Fri. Fri I’m going to tell him I have some definite plans made for Sun and Mon and must get off at that time. Of course he may have other definite plans also. It might be as you said some time off between duties.

I wrote Mrs. Ahern so probably won’t be bothered by that anymore.

I’m just as much put out and feel as badly as you do about the summer but I can’t figure any solution because if there is no place to live I don’t know what can be done. These houses in Oakdale are OK but they don’t have gas or electricity so that is definitely out. A Lt. and his wife and 7 children are living in one and cooking in the fireplace but I don’t want that. They have been there 3 wks. Yesterday. Sounds

(page 2) like Wittenberg, but they can’t get the stuff to finish the lines.

Maybe we can talk those things over when I get home. I’ve been more dissatisfied here in the last 2 wks than before because its just like you said, the whole summer is almost gone, but I can’t see what can be done about it.

Got a letter from Uncles Wess today¹. They are in Mich., spending the summer. He still writes about the Spanish + American War². Guess it was as big to him as this one is now.

I washed out a suit of underware today. Mine are all in the wash. One bunch has been there since June 30, Maybe they will be out by Fri. Hope so or I’ll have to come home dirty.

Well, as I said last week. I’ll keep on writing each day because Fri. he may put me off again.

Love Daddy

Notes:

Uncle Wess was Silvester Schiele, Roscoe’s mother’s brother. Silvester’s wife Jesse was from Michigan so it seems logical that they went there to vacation in the summers. Search the archives or tags to find more posts regarding Silvester.
Silvester served in Company I, 1^st Illinois Infantry in the Spanish American War in 1898. He was a musician. I recently found him in the U.S., Spanish American War volunteers, 1898 database on Ancestry. I knew he had served in the war but not that he was a musician! This letter provides the “smoking gun” evidence to corroborate the oral history that has been passed down.

Wednesday’s Child – Harvey E. Steuernagel (1884-1885)

2 Replies

Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

This is my fourth Wednesday’s Child blog. Wednesday’s Child is a genealogy writing prompt in which the gravestones of children are highlighted. So far I have written about the gravestones of my uncle and two of my grandparents’ nephews. Fortunately, there are no other graves of young children in this generation. I have to go back another generation to continue this prompt. Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting the graves of my grandparents’ cousins.

The first such grave is that of my grandfather’s cousin Harvey. Harvey was the son of Charles and Henrietta Paulina (Yegerlehner) Steuernagel. Henrietta was my grandfather Roscoe’s aunt. She died long before my grandfather was born in 1904. Henrietta was only 23 when she died in 1889. Henrietta died the mother of three children, none of which survived long enough to have children of their own. After Henrietta’s death, Charles married Henrietta’s younger sister Matilda Savilla Yegerlehner.

Harvey E. Steuernagel is buried at St. Peters Cemetery at Hickory Corner, Owen county, Indiana. (FindAGrave)

_______________________________________________

: July 7, 1942 Envelope

: July 7, 1942, p. 1

: July 7, 1942, p. 2

Letter transcription:

Tue Eve

Dear Mother,

Do you remember the agreement that you typed and I signed to take a correspondence course in naval regulations etc? Well I got the course and that is what I’ve been doing this P.M. We always get an afternoon off and since I had the duty Sat and couldn’t take it Sun. I’m taking it today because the fellow who had it Sun. took Mon. That sentence sounds like Boly S. but its OK. There are 14 lessons in the course and one must get one in each month. If I can keep awake I don’t think it will take that long. The first lesson has 77 questions.

I went to the Captain today about the leave and he told me to come back next Mon. That will be the 13^th so if I don’t get orders before then I’ll probably get to leave here around the 14^th or 15^th at least that is what he thought today. Sometimes it takes 3-4 days to get the papers made out so can’t be sure just what day it will be. By then I may hear from the other. And one fellow I know of got some little vacation between the time he left here and the time he had to report in Fla. That would help a lot we’ll just have to wait + see.

We had a pretty good shower yesterday Eve and last night but not enough to soak up this dry ground around here

(page 2) There was one new (Jg) came in today and there are others due Captain Mills told me today between now and the 12^th so that is why he is holding me until then.

Mrs. E had her cleaning done today and was taking a bath. Told me if any of the boys came home to keep them out of the bathroom. Just as if they would break the door down. And just as if I’d fight them off.

Lentz went to bed last night at about 7:00 PM. He had been up most of Sat. + Sun. Couldn’t hardly get him up this AM at 7:30.

I rather enjoy the course. Think it will give me something to do during the Eve. The questions are given and the answers have to be copied of out of a book. Not hard but tedious.

Don’t know where I’ll eat yet this Eve. Have to wait to see where Lentz goes.

This room is still vacant. Wish you were here so we could live there, if I had know[n] that that Dr. was going to be transferred. We could have sent Dorothy home and you could still stay, but those things we don’t know.

Well Solong

Love Daddy

Wednesday’s Child – Ralph C. Yegerlehner (1918-1918)

8 Replies

Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

Ralph C. Yegerlehner was the first child of Samuel Albert Yegerlehner and his wife Esther Mary Zurcher. He lived and died in one day. Samuel was my grandfather’s oldest brother so Ralph would have been his first nephew. My grandfather would have been about 13 years old when Ralph died. Ralph was also the first grandchild for John Henry and Lovina (Schiele) Yegerlehner. There must have been so much joy and anticipation surrounding this birth and it ended so tragically.

Ralph is buried at St. Peters Cemetery on the Clay County & Owen County line.

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: June 29, 1942 Envelope

: June 29, 1942, p. 1

: June 29, 1942, p. 2-3

: June 29, 1942, p. 4

Letter transcription:

Mon Eve

Dear Mother,

To begin with-no I didn’t tell Dorothy anything about not moving. I did say under the circumstances it probably would be better if you stayed there-because I might be shipped out 2 weeks before the appointed time and that would be too late for you to travel etc. but I didn’t say the moving deal was definitely out.

Mr. Strole is to get 2⁰⁰ out of the check and that is all. Ira wanted me to let him know when it came in so he could make a collection but that can be forgotten.

I got 3 letters from you today two this A.M. and one this P.M. none Sat. You see the mail is delivered in

(page 2) the P.M. and there is no Sat. delivery so that makes the difference.

Don’t let what people say about us moving or not moving get you down of course it gets the best of one but skip it. Ignore the whole situation. If things look like we can we will.

Dr. Ganey a Dentist recently had a[n] appendectomy-after leaving the hospital he got a 10 day leave and during that time they moved then after he was back 2 days he got order to leave so there you are. Maybe after July 1 the end of the fiscal year we will know

(page 3) something. I haven’t done anything about the flight business because it may not be what its cracked up to be but I still haven’t decided definitely either way.

Haven’t talked to or showed Mrs. E the pictures yet. She got her letter today I saw it in the mail but haven’t got any responses yet.

We didn’t do anything yesterday but sit on the front porch-then read + listened to the radio. Jim went home about 3:00 oclock.

I’ve got to get some laundry this eve. I’m all out of socks.

Maybe I told you this job. There are 12-15 new (jg)s coming in in

(page 4)the next few days. The boys who have just finished their internships-so that might make a difference on what our standing might be.

Well I must get after that laundry and mail this on the way.

Love Daddy

Wednesday’s Child – Wesley Foster McCammon (1916-1927)

4 Replies

: Emma Foster with her grandchildren, Juanita and Wesley McCammon, circa 1917-1918

: Gladys Foster with her neice and nephew, 1918

: Gravestone for Wesley McCammon and his mother Lydia Allie (Foster) McCammon; Little Flock Cemetery, Shelburn, Sullivan, Indiana, USA

: June 5, 1942 Envelope

: June 5, 1942, p. 1

: June 5, 1942, p. 2

: June 5, 1942, p. 3

: June 5, 1942, p. 4

Wesley was the son of Jesse and Lydia Allie (Foster) McCammon. He died when he fell off the back of a wagon and was trampled to death. His short life was also filled with tragedy. When he was almost three, his mother died. He spent the rest of his life moving back and forth between grandparents’ homes and his father’s house. Jesse McCammon remarried in 1921, and quickly started a new family with his new wife.

My grandmother Gladys was Wesley’s aunt. Part of the time, Wesley lived with my grandmother, great uncle Jim and my great grandmother Emma in Terre Haute. In one of the letters I exchanged with Wesley’s sister Juanita in the 1990s, she talked about how my great grandmother’s sister Minerva wanted to adopt the two of them after Allie died. My great grandmother would not let her. Emma wanted her grandchildren close to her, not over in Illinois where Aunt Minerva lived. It made me wonder, if Minerva had adopted the children, would Wesley have lived? (FindAGrave)

Letter transcription:

Fri.

Dear Mother-

Guess you’ll miss a letter one day because I was on duty and didn’t get a chance to write until about 2300 and that would do no good because no mail leaves the base after that time.

When we are on duty we have to inspect the mess. That is we have to see that things are clean and then we get our own meals there. They serve us meals in a special officer’s mess. They have several colored persons who are in the navy but are training them to be mess boys. Last night at one of the tables across a guy was pouring some ice water to an officer and th a chunk of ice went out with the water and

(page 2) you should have seen the colored boy make a pass for it. The other colored mess boys get tickled and it was a little to break the stiff silence. They really have some service. Meet you at the door-take your cap, pull your chair back and then serve in courses with a finger bowl etc.

The X card won’t do any good because they are calling in all of those already issued and it is doubtful if the Drs. unless they have no other way will g be able to get a card. We had an officer notice to that affect a day or two ago.

So far as I can tell I’d still like you to come down and if you can get here one week from Sat. I’ll

(page 3)have duty on Fri nite before and will be off on Sat. Just like I am this P.M. You had better take a pulman from Cincinatta. And you have to get off the train at Newport News. Rather than Norfolk as I thought. At Cincinatta there are separate gates for pulman and coach passengers so be sure and inquire – they have a man stationed at every gate-And don’t burden yourself with many clothes because there aren’t any places to go without a car. You’ll understand when you get here. I think . Should I get you a room in a hotel or do you want to stay here I’d rather stay in a hotel. If not we would have no time to ourselves. It’s just like pulling teeth to get to

(page 4) our room now. Mrs. Evans has to talk. Has told me about the death of her husband several times etc. Think it over.

I’m going down town to get another shirt or two seems of as if laundry is very slow. And this one is smelling rather badly.

Got a letter from Mom today, said she was up and around some. Well, I’ll wait until this PM. mail maybe there will be something to answer.

I called Jim but couldn’t get him on the phone. So I wrote to him. But I’ve found a way by which I can call him now, going to try to get him to come to town Sat. nite if he can get off.

Just got your Tue letter. The one you started Tue + finished Wed. Guess I have all the questions covered. Will try to keep a letter coming each day.

Love Daddy

Wednesday’s Child – Michael Yegerlehner (1940-1940)

3 Replies

: May 30, 1942 Envelope

: May 30, 1942, p. 1

: May 30, 1942, p. 2

: Gravestone for Michael Yegerlehner: Fairlawn Cemetery, Kentland, Newton, Indiana, USA

While my grandfather was busy in Norfolk, Virginia, acclimating himself to Navy life, my grandmother was at home in Kentland, pregnant with her fourth child. In 1940, Gladys had been pregnant with her third child, Michael. This is a child that you will not hear mentioned in any of the letters between my grandparents. Michael only lived for a few days. I don’t know what was wrong with Michael, only that he couldn’t survive. I haven’t gotten around to ordering his death certificate to see if it has any more illuminating details. My uncles John and Mark were 10 and 8 years old, respectively, in 1940. My uncle John once told my father that he remembered how horrible that time was for the family. (FindAGrave)

Both my grandparents were worried about my grandmother’s pregnancy this time around. They had lived through the tragedy of Michael’s birth and death in 1940. They were worried that this pregnancy would end as tragically as the last. Fortunately for me, it did end happily. In May 1942, my grandparents were not blessed with foresight. I can only imagine how frustrating it was for my grandfather to be so far away from his wife during her pregnancy.

Letter translation:

Fri

Dear Mother,

How you folks do talk about 4 of you coming down. In the first place – gasoline. I might be able to get an X card¹ and in the second place where would 4 people sleep when I’ve been trying to think up some way to get a place for you to sleep Just one. I thought I might get you a place at this Hotel I wrote you about but I find today it is full. It’s just a problem which I can’t figure out. I know the boys would get a kick out of seeing the place around here but how. They are better off at home much as I’d like to see them and you. It would be very uncomfortable to sleep in a car or under the sky.

Got my laundry back today-4 shirts-2 underware-6 pr. of socks and 2 hank. $1.45. Now you see why I wear shirts so long at one time. I’m going to send out a K. suit but don’t know where to send it.

(page 2) I’m sorry about the bill to Mrs. Dennis². I remember her paying that. Check the Massengillᶟ bill. That $25.00 is right but I thought I had paid them about ½ and then you had the return. I may not have paid the ½ but I thought I did. I believe I bought the stuff on the day I was examined and he was there once since and I gave him a check that day.

The magnolias are in full bloom and they are quite pretty. It is a big white blossom about 3 inches long and as big around as a banana and is a white bloom, then it opens into a large flower.

We were discussing the room + rent condition and the above that I wrote is secured.

Dr. Lentz is out playing golf but I just got home-he works at a different place than I and he gets off earlier or they don’t check so closely.

We will just have to wait and see about the rent etc for a few days or weeks yet. I guess I’d better write to Clay City⁴ again

Love

Daddy

Notes:

An X card was a type of rationing card for gasoline and automobiles. They were very hard to come by and were usually reserved for police, fireman, civil defense workers & various VIPs. There was a scandal when 200 Congressman were issued X cards.
Mrs. Dennis: The only Mrs. Dennis in Newton County, Indiana was Maria Dennis. On the 1940 census, she was an 81 year old female, born in 1859 in Illinois. She was living with the family of one of her grandchildren, Ira Miller.
Massengill: The S. E. Massengill company was a pharmaceutical company formed in 1898.
Clay City: Clay City is where Roscoe’s parents lived.