Tag Archives: Eugene O. McGraw

Beautiful Eyes

Letter transcription:

7-7-64

Dear David and Bonnie:

Tues. evening. We had a hard rain today so the lawn will be in shape for mowing in a day or so. Dad finished the fence so the little dogs next door can’t come over so easily. If they do they will get a bebe or two. When Mark was here for the 4^th he said Dad was pulling “an Uncle Mutch.” At least we haven’t been bothered since he gave three of four of them a pelting last Friday evening.

While Mark & Shirley were here Shirley and I took the children to see Mrs. Myers. Mrs. M. said Kirk has beautiful eyes – in fact she said he is a beautiful child. Of course, his grandmother agreed. You remember the little dog in a basket the girls gave Dad for Christmas? The children discovered it on this visit and Shirley wouldn’t let them have it, but would wind it up and let them watch it. Kirk would get so excited he would act like he would explode. We found it a nice interlude to amuse them. Kirk doesn’t say much but he certainly can communicate without words. Becky seems to have much more fun with him. They play together very well now – and get into trouble together. If M. & S. take a vacation – they weren’t sure because of some unforeseen financial stress – had to buy a new refrigerator – they are going to leave Kirk here. I think we will be able to get along with him if he stays with us.

If John’s plans go according to schedule he should be on his way to Hong Kong

[page 2] at this time since it is Thursday there, and that is departure day.

We are going to the Hospital Administrator’s home this evening to show them some pictures. Mrs. Wahler seems quite interested. We have selected 480 pictures from the whole trip so we are giving a selected round the world program. We watched an 80 hr. trip which Chicago Tribune sponsored. We saw it Sunday evening. A travel agent Harvey Olson (the one L. Kresler works for) and a photographer and another man made the trip. We saw some familiar sights.

Dad had to leave home at 5 a.m. for a baby case. He also has some surgery scheduled so I have no idea when he will be home. Probably not for lunch.

I am trying to get ready to attend School of Mission in Greencastle and hope I won’t have an infection this year. I am not sure about John’s homecoming date. I want to meet him at airport and can’t very well be in Greencastle and O’Hare at the same time. He may not get home before July 24 and I will be home by then.

We haven’t heard from the McGraws. Have you? We wondered about them and the earthquake in Japan.

Love Mother

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/12/31/beautiful-eyes/

Speaking Program

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Letter transcription:

June 25, 1964

Dear David & Bonnie:

Dad brought the enclosed home (more free samples) so I thought I would get them in the mail – not that Bonnie needs them this soon, but so I won’t forget to send them. I think you can use them in the same dispenser – these tablets are made by a different company, but Dad says they are the same with a different name.

Dad had to go on an emergency call Sunday evening just before time for guests to arrive, but he was home before we had finished eating dinner. Alma came for a little while on her way back to Urbana. She left the pictures she took at the shower and wedding and I sent them in to have duplicates made and got prints instead. Will just have to send them back for more duplicates. The pictures she took of you and Bonnie coming out of the Church is better than the one my camera took. I am having an enlargement made of it and will send you one when it finally comes back from the photo shop.

Mark called Sunday evening and said Kirk was running a temperature and they couldn’t get a Dr. so Dad gave a druggist a Rx over the phone. I called Shirley Monday evening and Kirk had improved. She said she gave him some jello and milk and he tossed it then a little later he found a cucumber and ate it and kept it down, so I decided he must be much better.

All of your stock certificates have come back but Sperry. I sent your Blue Cross policy last week.

Last night I went to Morocco and gave a program for WSCS – my subject, Hong Kong. I wore my silk dress I had made in HK and heard a lot of ohs and ahs. The group all seemed to enjoy the program and looking at my art objects. I also took the extra saree along. I think I could have taken orders if I would have wanted to go into business.

This is one of those Thursdays when the telephone isn’t bothering too much. Dad has finished mowing the lawn and looking for something else to do, or maybe nothing to do.

Father Fallon was found dead in his house by another priest this morning. He (Father F) was just in our office Tuesday evening for a Rx.

Alma is supposed to stop this evening. She said she was having a long weekend, since she doesn’t have classes tomorrow.

Have you heard from Bonnie’s parents? We were just wondering if they got out of Japan before the earthquake. Let us know what you hear from them.

Love Mother

P.S. Sending pills later.

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/12/28/speaking-program/

Normal Routine

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Letter transcription:

June 9, 1964

Dear David and Bonnie:

I wouldn’t be writing you first, but for two things. Mrs. Myers called me Saturday afternoon late and wanted to know where you were, or something to that effect and I soon discovered you had forgotten to stop and tell her goodby. I think she was rather disappointed, but said she was glad you hadn’t, because she thought it was better not to say goodby. At any rate, I told her we had attended a wedding at 12:30 and that I was getting ready to go to the reception and that you were getting ready to go to Bloomington, and I presumed you had forgotten to stop. I think you had better write her a letter. I haven’t had time to stop and see her myself since I had an appointment to get a permanent this afternoon and had several things to do this morning. The second thing is about a package which came today from Dr. Cole. It had a letter attached, so I just forwarded it on to your Boston address and hope it doesn’t arrive before you do, but since it is a package it shouldn’t get there before the 11^th.

We took the folks to the airport and it was almost 4 o’clock by the time we left them, so they shouldn’t have had too long to wait. Dad told Bonnie’s Dad that they would probably be in Chicago before we got to Kentland. We arrived home at just about 6 o’clock.

Dad ran the mower a while this evening after dinner, then had to go to the hospital because of an accident. One of those families we had used the – “you pay us, or you don’t get any more allergy shots in this office” – and they had made one $10.00 payment on the accumulated account. Dad made the comment when he was called, “can’t pay their bill, but the kid has a motor scooter.” That was how the accident occurred – the youngster was out for a ride.

Now that the wedding and commencement is over, we are getting back into the normal routine around here. With John coming home next month, I have a few things to do to that room to get ready for him, so although the excitement of the past month is over, I have plenty to keep me busy. (over)

[page 2] I kept putting boxes back into the furnace room for you to use for your packing, now I have to start burning. I also have quite an accumulation of pretty wrapping paper and bows and ribbons, but have decided to keep that for a while.

Let us know all about your new place of abode and how you are getting along.

Love Mother & Dad

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/12/24/normal-routine/

Bishop Amstutz

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Letter transcription:

Feb. 9, 1964

Dear David: We were invited to North Point Church today to hear Bishop Amstutz speak. After the service there was a dinner in honor of the Bishop and Bishop Ward’s widow. After the church service we were introduced to Bishop A. Since he was from Singapore I was sure he would be Bonnie’s Dad’s “Boss.” I told him we were going to Malacca to see McGraws. He said he knew about the engagement and that Bonnie’s mother had been granted permission to return for wedding. Since he had no way of knowing about us he was quite surprised when we told him who we are and where we were going. Bishop A. was in Indiana area in 1962 and I remember going to Attica to hear him speak. Since he has met thousands of people since then he would have no way of remembering me but seemed quite pleased when I told him about attending meeting. After the meeting and dinner (in a Chinese restaurant and pure Chinese dishes – nothing just for tourists) one of the men here – laison officer – drove us to Ferry dock and we came back to hotel. We have both been sleeping and just getting ready for trip to Djakarta tomorrow. Recently Bishop A. had been in Djakarta. The Methodist church has some mission work on Sumatra. The weather has been foggy the past two days so we are glad our sightseeing was done earlier. We still have a show every time we look out at harbor, so we have sightseeing whether we are out or in our room. Since Bishop A. doesn’t speak Chinese but Malayan he had to have the local Chinese minister translate for him. We could understand all Bishop A. said but not anything interpreter said as he translated. At one point Bishop A. said some flowery words about his interpreter – the Chinese congregation all chuckled. At the dinner liaison officer said translator said “more polite talk.” We entertained liaison officer Delmar Byler and his wife last night. One of the hotels here has a floor show which is a sampling of Chinese Opera. This is not season for Opera so we couldn’t see the real thing. The Bylers came to our room after dinner and we showed them some slides we brought from home of the family and a few of flowers & Mormon Temple on Hawaii. They visited until after midnight. Since we didn’t have to start for church until 10 o’clock this morning we weren’t in any hurry to get to bed. I may not be writing so much when we get to Bali, all depending on how much John has for us to see. Your new suit is finished and mailed home. It may be 6 weeks before you get it. We also mailed home several things we thought we wouldn’t need. We will know next time not to pack so much. Also I have a new suit and coat so won’t need ones I wore from home. I was so tired of those brown tones. I have a bright red suit and coat as bright as Bonnie’s velvet formal.

Have to leave our room every evening so the floor boy can come in and fix our beds. We had such a large noon meal decided we didn’t need much so ate very little. When we returned to room our beds were ready. All this service may spoil me. I think I could use an Amah or house boy and as many as live here I am sure one of two wouldn’t be missed. Tomorrow we fly Japanese Air and when you board one of their planes food starts flowing. We will have a 7 or 8 hr. flight so will probably be well fed by the time we reach Djakarta.

Love Mother

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/12/10/bishop-amstutz/

Nikko

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Letter transcription:

Sat. Jan. 25, 1963 [sic 1964]

Dear David,

We took a trip – left here Thurs. afternoon and went by express train to Nikko. Spent the night at a Resort Hotel, then Friday took a tour of the area. We visited a Shinto Shrine and had to take our shoes of to enter a certain part of shine. Our guide had some sox to put on. I thought my feet would freeze because we were up in the mountains and it was cold. After our tour was over and we returned to hotel to wait to get train back to Tokyo I found a nice warm radiator and toasted my feet and legs and by the time we were on the train I felt thawed. The train was nice and warm so did some more toasting – there was a radiator under each seat. The trains here are very punctual and if they are supposed to start at 5 o’clock – they do that. We came back to Okura Hotel and after a little relaxation in our room went to the Emerald Room and had dinner – we are eating in the various restaurants here in the hotel and hadn’t visited Emerald Room yet. There was an orchestra – something none of the other restaurants here in the hotel have. We sat by window and could look out on swimming pool area and Japanese Garden. Very picturesque. We are going shopping this morning to buy me some pearls and a few other things. This p.m. we are taking a tour of city. Tomorrow a.m. we will fly to Kyoto. We will spend a week there, then fly to Hong Kong. When we get that far I will try to make contact with Bonnie’s parents. We talked to Chief Officers of U.S.I.S. here in Tokyo. He assured us it is safe to go into Cambodia – in fact, he said, your friends will love you if you take a lot of pictures. He said we should plan to stay longer than one day. I think I mentioned the American Embassy is just around a curve from this hotel. I hope you are not feeling too disappointed about not being accepted at Yale. You know there is still Northwestern. I think you would find, if you could investigate all Theological schools, one just as good for you as Yale. Also remember what I wrote before, it evidently wasn’t God’s will that you go there this year. Let us know what you are doing – if you have made application to Drew or some other. Where is Drew? When I looked out this morning I saw a fine snow. We are seeing a lot of interesting things here but it isn’t warm enough for my taste. I will be glad to get into a warmer climate. I hope it will be a little warmer in Kyoto. We have received several letters since we have been here. We left several mailing itineraries around Kentland, so people know where to send mail. I have just washed my hair and am under dryer while I write this. Our guide told us yesterday that this is a very unreligious nation. Many people are both Shinto & Buddah flowers. Many places have shrines to both side by side. We explained (or tried) the differences between our religion & Catholic. She seemed surprised when I told here we didn’t use sign of cross (that is cross ourselves) or confession. We saw a Catholic church yesterday. At the resort where we ate lunch I saw a contribution box with a Catholic name – I think it was St. Anthony’s church. Dad has been carrying the yen and I didn’t have anything to put in the box. I doubt that I would have made a contribution. Our church has a great challenge in this country. There is only about a 3 or 5% following here, that is Christian and Methodist isn’t the only denomination. Of course we have a challenge all over the world. I think my hair is dry and Dad is getting ready to go to breakfast, so I will have to finish this so I can go with him.

Love Mother

Tell Bonnie this is for her also.

Some of the surviving photographs from Nikko, Japan:

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/12/02/nikko/

Travel Plan Changes

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Letter transcription:

[Wright 533 – handwritten by David]
Mrs. R.S. Yegerlehner
146 West Graham Street
Kentland, Indiana
Nov. 2, 1963

Dear David –

Bill brought the desk blotters and the calendar this morning. I took a blotter to Mrs. M. She seemed very pleased. She has several things in her living room she has added since you left: a new chair, a new t.v., magazine rack and some art objects. I suppose you know H. Funk bought the hotel and Dick & Marge Ryan are running it. They are also running an Insurance business where Harold used to have his office. Harold is back in his own building.

Rosemary Murphy is working with the 7^th & 8^th grace children in our church. I thought she needed the class room Bible Study class was using, so by vote of my class they decided to go to the kitchen. Rosemary is promoting a camp project for next summer. Three of the boys in her class are working on our driveway edge to earn something to go into the camp fund. Before the three boys came here the entire group had earned $25.00 today. I said something to Dad not long ago about working on the driveway and he said he wasn’t interested. He took up the geraniums yesterday for some nurses at the hospital. He said since we would be gone this winter he wouldn’t try to keep them – He didn’t have much success last year.

I had sub-district meetings this week and I am glad they are over. I also finished a study class I was teaching at Raub. Clarence & Clara stopped last Saturday on their way to Ruth M.’s Just as they were leaving Floyd & Steve came. They had just come from Ruth’s. Floyd & Steve had spent a few days in Chicago. Ruth had intended to go with them, but Ruth couldn’t get off from work.

[page 2] We had a very successful UNICEF drive last Tuesday night – another item in a busy week. We had a very good response from children and parents and I mailed a check to U.S. Commission for UNICEF for $189.15 – $32.00 more than last year.

We may have to change the time when we visit Bonnie’s parents. Since the government of Indonesia has broken diplomatic relations with Singapore we may not be able to fly from there to Djakarta and if we have to go from Hong Kong to Djakarta we will definitely have to change dates. John is having his vacation Feb. 8 to 23 so it may have to be after that time that we go to Malacca. We will probably know more about it when you come home Thanksgiving.

Love Mother

P.S. It was nice hearing from you Oct. 26.

©2016 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2016/11/17/travel-plan-changes/

Thanksgiving 1966

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November 24, 1966 envelope

Letter transcription:

November 24, 1966, p. 1

Thanksgiving Day 1966

David, My very Dear

The book which you so kindly purchased for me arrived, and can’t tell you how grateful I am for your getting it to me, and also, I hope you will forgive me for asking you to purchase your own Christmas gift, but you don’t know what it meant to me. I am enclosing check, and I had thought it would be more.

I have a gift for Bonnie, and your mother is going to include it for me in a mailing to you both before Christmas.

I am at home alone today, very disappointed because I wanted to see baby David, whom I have not yet met. Your Mom invited me for Thanksgiving dinner, and Mark and Shirley and the kids and Lea and her husband, and John. Last night about ten o’clock Gladys called me on the phone and said that both the little kids had broken out with chicken pox. Becky had had it a couple of weeks ago and they thought the two little children were not going to get it, and when they arrived in Kentland your Dad discovered they were in full bloom. So of course, my never having had it, they did not think it wise for me to come. Gladys brought me my dinner, which I am going to eat in a short while. Mark, Shirley and the children were returning to Indianapolis this evening because Mark must work tomorrow.

The day is very gloomy and overcast, but not cold. Looks as if it might do something. There are so many things I would love to discuss with you, but I do not have the strength to write what I would like to. I look forward every week to your letter, and you will never know how I appreciate it. I know your time is very precious to you, and it is wonderful thing for you to take part of it to write to me.

My very dear love to you and Bonnie, and I am sure she is thrilled to have her folks here.

Always your
Grandma

P.S. Gladys said she would write you about the Nizer book. Your Dad does not have it, but you will hear from her about it.

Lena’s Postcards #1

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[Editor’s note: As my posts about the smallpox epidemic have been going for several months now, I’m going to make a little adjustment. I will still post a few days a week on the epidemic until the articles run out. This is the first post in a new series titled Lena’s postcards.]

Lena (Scofield) Hackleman was my other Indiana grandfather’s great aunt. Lena married late in life so she never had her own children. However, she married a man with six sons, the youngest of whom was six when his father remarried. Lena also had many nephews and nieces. The extended family corresponded regularly. When Lena died in 1935, her niece Ina (Kerschner) McGraw inherited many of the old family papers. Ina was my great grandmother. This branch of my family was among the early settlers of Fayette County, Indiana.

Back row: Daniel Kerschner with Eugene, Oliver McGraw, Ina McGraw with Charles, Norma Strong, Ella (Scofield) Kerschner/Front row; John W. Hackleman, Esther Strong, Lena (Scofield) Hackleman/Taken c.1911-1912, Fayette County, Indiana

This collection contains over 100 postcards which were sent to Lena and her husband, John Wesley Hackleman.

: 19 May 1909 from Appleton, Wisconsin (front)

: 19 May 1909 from Appleton, Wisconsin (back)

Postmark: May 19 1909 Appleton Wis. 10 AM

Addressed to:

Mr. J. W. Hackleman
Connersville
RR #2 Ind

This is where you get off when you come to Appleton. All are well.

Yours
J.C.H. [John Carl Hackleman]

Book of Me – Prompt 7: Grandparents

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The Book of Me – Written by You is a weekly blog prompt created by Julie Goucher of the blog Angler’s Rest. This is a fifteen month writing project to highlight my life so that I will have something to leave behind for my descendants. The Book of Me prompt for week 7 is Grandparents.

What were their names?
Where were they from?
Were they related? – Cousins perhaps
Where were they born? Another County or state/area?
Photos
What did they do?
Did you know them?
What was your relationship with them?
If you didn’t know them have you researched about them?

I was fortunate enough to know all of my grandparents. All four lived into their eighties and beyond. The first of the four to die lived past his 84^th birthday and the last lived to celebrate his 100^th birthday. Both my grandmothers lived into their 90s. Growing up, I lived near none of them so I only got to see them during summer vacations and special holidays throughout the year. After my parents’ divorce in the mid 1970s, I didn’t get to see my paternal grandparents as often as I would have liked. I often wish that I had lived closer to family growing up. As an adult, I made a conscious choice to live near part of the family. As a result, my children are growing up knowing and interacting more with at least one set of their grandparents. Now if I could only figure out how to make the commute to New York City faster….

Despite the distance between us, I got along with all my grandparents and loved them dearly. As an adult, looking back, I struggle with my feelings regarding my maternal grandparents’ chosen profession as religious missionaries. I know that they were well respected by their students and they maintained many friendships with them over the years after they retired and returned to the United States. I have many strong feelings against the practice of sending missionaries to convert native peoples. However, they were my grandparents and they lived in a different era when such practices were acceptable. I think I inherited some good qualities from each of my grandparents. I hope that I am honoring them and keeping their memories alive by writing their stories.

“We’re all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.” — Liam Callanan, The Cloud Atlas

Roscoe, circa 1920s

Roscoe Schiele Yegerlehner was born in 1904 in rural Clay County, Indiana. He was the son of a farmer and his second wife, born the sixth child out of seven. His father’s family descended from Swiss immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1850s. His mother’s line was equally all German, including descendants of a small Protestant German sect that settled in the Pennsylvania Dutch area in the 1730s. Although Roscoe was not related to his wife, he was related to himself. He was the product of several degrees of cousins intermarrying across the generations.

Roscoe graduated from high school in 1922. He worked as a teacher in the rural county schools for several years, while attending the Indiana State Normal School in the “big city.” During this time he met his future wife and they married in 1929. Roscoe continued to teach and eventually moved up to the high school and became principal for a while. During the 1930s (The Great Depression), a shift occurred and Roscoe decided to become a doctor. He continued to teach while attending medical school and eventually the family moved north to Kentland, Indiana where he practiced medicine for almost 30 years. He was a Mason, a Rotarian and he also served on the school board in Kentland, Indiana.

Gladys outside her office where she worked as a stenographer, c1924

Gladys Ruth Foster was born in 1905 in Terre Haute, Indiana. In comparison to her husband Roscoe, Gladys was the sophisticated city girl. Gladys was the youngest of 6 children born to her mother. Although the census records of 1900 and 1910 show that Gladys’ father lived with the family, by 1920, he was mostly out of the picture. Gladys’ mother kicked him out after she had enough with his alcohol problems. Gladys graduated from high school and afterwards took a stenography course. She worked as a stenographer until she married in 1929. The first few years that Gladys and Roscoe were married, they lived in Clay County with Roscoe’s parents. When Roscoe went back to school to become a Doctor, Gladys took a beautician’s course to help support the family. Afterwards, she handled the correspondence and accounts for Roscoe’s medical practice. Gladys’ ancestry was mostly English and Irish. One branch of her family descended from the early Quakers who settled in Pennsylvania with William Penn.

Eugene, c1950s

Eugene Oliver McGraw was born in 1909 in Falmouth, Indiana and grew up in rural Fayette County and Centerville, Indiana. He was the oldest of four sons. His father was a farmer and harness maker. “Mac” graduated from high school in 1927. He attended university at both Earlham College and Oberlin College. Eugene became a minister and a teacher, and eventually a missionary in Asia. He met his future wife in Malaysia while working for the Methodist mission.

The ship burning after it was bombed (Photograph by Eugene McGraw)

In 1941, they married and less than a year later, they were forced to flee back to the United States to escape the Japanese. They narrowly missed being on their ship when it was bombed in the harbor.

Eugene’s ancestry was a mix of German, English and Irish immigrants. With the exception of his Irish great grandmother who emigrated from Ireland in the years prior to the potato famine, all his immigrant ancestors arrived prior to the American Revolution, with several serving in the conflict.

Louise – College Graduation, 1936

Estelle Louise Leonard was born in 1915 in Holbrook, Massachusetts. She was an only child. Her parents separated before she was born (although they reunited many years later). Louise grew up with her mother and her maternal grandparents. When she was a few years old, the family moved to California, living in both Oakland and Alameda. Louise graduated from high school in California and then attended the state Teacher’s College in New Jersey (near where her father lived). She became an English teacher. After graduating, she worked on several Indian reservations in the west teaching English before she joined the missionary service. Louise was also related to herself. She was a descendant of several Mayflower passengers as well as several early 17^th century immigrants to Massachusetts. Over the generations, many of these lines crisscrossed and tangled. On one branch alone, she was descended from same ancestral couple six or seven times.