Treasures from the To-Do Pile: Daddy's high school annual

 

"Memories of I.F.H.S. 1935"

Idaho Falls High School, Idaho

16 pages, black and white, 6.25" x 9.5" (cover slightly larger)

This scan is a clip from p. 6. There are ten such groups over p. 6 and p. 8.  

While this booklet appears to represent only the senior class, it does not specifically say so. Three of the pages are blank and labeled for autographs. Dad's copy also has many autographs on the inside covers and a few throughout the booklet. As you can see in this image, one of the students, Ben Blalock, signed across my dad's name.  Blalock is not listed in the senior lists on pp. 5, 7, and 9.  Many of the autographed names are not listed either; some appear to the teachers, given the inscription they left.

Although the photos are only identified with first initials, I used the list of "Senior Prophecies" on p. 7 to give this list of the full names of the students in this photo:

Robert Keith                                                Naia Hansen

Herbert Hegwer                                           Ila Hanson

Steve Hatch                                                  Billie Hilliard

Arthur Hook                                                 Margaret Harris

Morris Jordan                                               Ethyl Ingram

Dan Kelly                                                     Bernice Gesas

Bob Jahn                                                       Fern Flagler

Jack Holt

The photo is valuable to me, but probably more so is the handwritten note, in my dad's writing, on the inside front cover, specifying his school history. Parentheses, punctuation, notes are his:

Graduated 8th Grade 1929 May 25 at Paris, Idaho, (Wilson School St. Charles)

High School

Freshman 1929-1930 Fielding High, Paris Idaho

Soph 1930-1931 Fielding High, Paris Idaho

Junior Yr    Start 1931 Fielding High --  move to Idaho Falls in fall of 1931 & finish JR grd 1932

(Drop out for 2 years (1932-1933) (1933-1934))

Senior Year 1934-1935 IFHS Idaho Falls Idaho

My daddy, Herb, was the oldest of  eight children. I believe he boarded out from St. Charles to attend high school in Paris. In fall 1929, the entire family contracted scarlet fever or diptheria (accounts differ). Two siblings died and their father, Ben T. Hegwer, was disabled from it. Utah Power & Light moved Ben to the station in Idaho Falls as his health declined; he died August 1933. My dad had dropped out to support the family until his two surviving brothers were old enough to help. He was almost 22 when he graduated from Idaho Falls High School. Barely a year later, he had moved his mom and surviving siblings to Los Angeles where he said he could make enough money to support the family...and he did.

Daddy as Big Brother

Don't you love it when photos are fully labeled?!  This photo shows the Hegwer's in the front yard of their home at the Utah Power and Light Company power plant at Lifton, St. Charles, Bear Lake, Idaho where my grandfather was the superintendent. The fence posts you can see on the right run along the road and the north shore of Bear Lake would be on the other side of the road.  The power plant is a ways behind the photographer.

If Daddy had not labeled this photo, I still would have recognized the location and probably Grandma, but I would never had been sure about all the children, especially my own dad.  All my memories of him are with jet black hair!  I never knew they ever had a dog.

Both the older cursive note and the more recent (1979) printed note are in my father's handwriting.  Daddy has dated the photo as being from the late summer of 1918.  However, the info I've found on the births of the children make me think it's much more likely 1919 or maybe even 1920. If I'm right, Daddy is 6 or 7, the baby about 1, Margaret 4 or 5, and Ray is 3 or 4. And, if it's 1920, Grandma is pregnant with Leila.

If my dad's estimate is correct, he would be almost 5, Margaret 3, and Ray less than 2.  Don't you think Daddy is older than 5? And, Ray older than 2?  And I think it's very possible that Grandma could be about 7 months pregnant....  What I really need is an official birthdate for baby Harry.  My father left me with full birthdates for everyone except Harry, which he wrote only as 1918.  Census ages are consistent with his being born late summer 1919, which fits well with Grandma possibly looking pregnant here.

1928 in St. Charles, Idaho: 1st and 2nd Grades

This photo of the thirty-four 1st & 2nd graders of the 1927/28 school year completes my little series: these four class photos of Wilson Grade School in St. Charles, Bear Lake County, Idaho, are the only ones I have.  The school is not named, but again, the building matches that of the well-labeled 7th/8th grade photo.  The teacher is Mrs. Bowman and there are no individual student grade levels indicated.    This photo is unique in that, for the first time, the names on the back are in two distinct hands and not all children are fully named.  [Again, I've used brackets below for my comments.] 

1. Reed Pugmire
2. Mark Pugmire [name in different handwriting]
3. Darl Transtum [surname in different handwriting]
4. Maretta [may have originally been 'Marie'; written over in different handwriting] Crossly
5. Lilias Pugmire
6. June Wilhelmsen
7. Erma Peterson
8. Elzo Bunderson
9. Dean Pugmire
10. Ardy Bunderson
11. Averill Pugmire
12. Rex Arnell
13. Lelia Hegwer [about age 6 1/2 at the time of the photo]
14. Oral Pugmire
15. Lavon Calton
16. Rula Bunderson
17. Nora [Nona?; no surname]
18. [blank]
19. Leah Pugmire
20. Oreal Linford
21. Doris Transtrum [last syllable of surname in different handwriting]
22. Armond Windly
23. Rao Floyd
24. Virl Rich [Vearl Rich--see reader's comments below]
25. La Ree Laker
26. Dale Brewer
27. Rex Linford
28. Cecil Windly
29. Boyed Colton
30. Ross Bunderson
31. Jennie Mickleson
32. Estella Peterson
33. Fawn Hill
34. Mong Pugmire

It bothers me that two of the children are not fully identified; perhaps someone can help.  And, I wish I had the time to put all of the children of Wilson Grade School into family groups.

Related Posts:

7th & 8th graders

5th & 6th graders

3rd & 4th graders

1928 in St. Charles, Idaho: 3rd & 4th Grades

Here are the 3rd and 4th graders at Wilson Grade School in St. Charles, Bear Lake, Idaho for the 1927/28 school year.  As with the previous photos, the names are annotated on the back on the photo, but this time, grade level for individual students is missing.  The school name is also absent, but the front of the building is clearly that of the well-labeled 7th/8th grade photo.  The teacher is labeled as 'Miss Grojean.'  Note that both the photo and the listing on the back have consecutive students numbered as #3.

1.  Rex Wilhelmsen

2.  Junior Pugmire

3.  David Micklison

3.  Billie Wilhelmsen

4.  Stanley Mickleson

5.  Noel Linford

6.  Delmar Arnell [originally posted as 'Ginell;' please read the comments below]

7.  Rondle Peterson

8.  Cortney Brewer

9.  Laura Stewart

10.  Leora Pugmire

11.  Leona Peterson

12.  Clea Wendly

13.  Wane Pugmire

14.  Marion Pugmire

15.  Jessie Stewart

16.  Sterling Rich 

17.  Marion Brewer

18.  Labore Lovar Pugmire

19.  Ray Hegwer  [Ray would have been about 11 1/2 when the photo was taken.]

20.  Ione [Jane?] Rich

21.  Presely Floyd

22.  Ephrian Croossly

23.  Oran Peterson

24.  Robert Minor Pugmire

Related photos/posts

7th & 8th graders

5th & 6th graders
1st & 2nd graders

1928 in St. Charles, Idaho: 5th & 6th Grades

The reverse side of this photo is labeled as Grades 5 & 6 of St. Charles, Idaho 1928-27.  It certainly appears to be the same school (Wilson Grade School in St. Charles, Bear Lake County, Idaho) as in the more specifically labeled photo of the 7th & 8th graders.  The teacher is identified as Jack Wright.

The numbering on the front goes left to right, beginning with the boys kneeling in the front and proceeding up to the back row, and ending with #29.   There is a #6 at the end of the kneeling row and again at the beginning of the second row.  I do not know who made the annotations but it appears to be by an adult.  The names on the back are in numerical order with each one labeled with grade level; there are no other annotations.  [I've used these brackets below for my comments.]

1.  James Pugmire 6B

2.  Max Williamson 6B

3.  Lamel [Laurel?] Pugmire 6B

4.  Alfred Keetch 6B

5.  Claude Willianson 6A

6.  Weldon Peterson 5A

[a second #6 at the beginning of second row]6.  Elmer Transtrum 6A 

7.  Cloyd Minor 6A

8.  D'Orr Bunderson 6B

9.  Myrtle Pugmire 6B

10.  Effie Hymas 6A

11.  June Bunderson 6A

12.  Irene Peterson 65A

13.  Lamel [Laurel?] Windly 65A

14.  Melba Pugmire 5A

15.  Ben Bunderson 5A

16.  Preston Booth 6A

17.  Dannie Benson 6A

18.  Helen Hill 6A

19.  Venice Pugmire 6A

20.  Verla Pugmire 6A

21.  Aseal Rich 5A

22.  Billie Floyd 6A

23.  Carl Clark 6A

24.  Murnell Michaelson 6B

25.  Jack Wright -- Teacher

26.  Lawand [Lawang?] Michaelson 6A

27.  Enid Peterson 6A

28.  Chloey Floyd 6A

29.  Margaret Hegwer 6A [My Aunt Margaret is about 13 here; she died about 18 months after this photo was taken.]

Related Posts
7th & 8th graders
3rd & 4th graders
1st & 2nd graders 

1928 in St. Charles, Idaho: 7th & 8th Grades

 

This is one of the photo scans I brought home from my visit with my aunt in March.  As you can see, it is labeled as the 7th & 8th grade class of Wilson Grade School in St. Charles, Bear Lake County, Idaho.  I have no idea who did the typing or annotations.

If you look closely, you can see that each of the students has been 'numbered'  left to right and in sequence: top row 1 to 9, second row 10-17, third row 18-27, and front row of kneeling boys 28-34.  Mr. Ralph Brimhall, principal & teacher, was annotated on the back by name and as "the old man."

On the back of the photo, each numbered student is listed in a column by grade level.  The writing on the back is apparently one handwriting but with two differently colored inks, perhaps written at two different times.  The names are in blue but annotations and marriages are in black. 

Here is my best guess at transcribing the names and notations on the back.  I can send a scanned copy to anyone who is interested.

Eight

2 Dewedle Peterson

3 Harold Peterson

4 Preston Michilson

8 La Preal Pugmire

9 Or Reta Rich

14 Preston Pugmire

16 Cleone Widely

18 Myrna Wilks

19 Vernon Rich

20 Valois Arnell

22 Virginia Bunderson

23 Lillan Bunderson

24 Lee Bunderson

25 Almer Peterson

26 La Preal Brewer

27 Corrine Wilermian

28 Alfred Peterson

34 Lester Wilermiam Clark ('Clark' and the strike-through in black)

35 absent Dora Allred

36     "     Emma    "

Seventh

1 Beatrice Michilson

5 Principal

6 Herbert Hegwer

7 Myrle Linferl

10 Agnes Croseley

11 Donald Stewert

12 Andrew Michilson

13 Lowell Floyd

15 Winona  "

17 La Ree Peterson

21 Fern Hill

31 Reed Laker

32 Adriaen Stewert

33 Man Cleavland

30 Elden Even Pugmire

29 Evan Allred

Married

OrReta Rich -------------------

Myrna Wills  -------------------

Virginia Bunderson now Mrs Devirl Wittington -- 1932

Lee Bunderson -- married Margaret Grandy, Paris -- 1935

La Priel Brewer  --  "        Jullian Thornoch, Bloomington -- 1931

Corine Wilskilmson xxxx " Cleneta Arnold, St. Charles about 1932

Dora Allred            "  Andrew Thompson, Bloomington - 1935

Beatrice M.            "  -------------------------

Agnes Crossley       "   ------------------------

Winma Floyd         "    Bob Rosen, Paris

LaRe Peterson        "   Emmet "Hum" Monson, St. Charles 1933

Erma Allred            "  Curtis Pugmire                    "           1934

The ditto marks are clearly for the word 'married' in the Married section.  I interpret the lines after the names as meaning that the writer knew the person was married but did not know to whom.  I cannot read the marks after Corine Wilskilmson; I think it originally said "(dead)" but was later written over as "deceased."

My dad is #6.  He would have been 14y 5m when this was taken.  He did not start school until 1923, but was promoted quickly to finish 3rd grade by the end of the school year 1923-24.  Dad frequently talked about 'Junior' Pugmire being his best friend in St. Charles.  I wonder if that is one of these Pugmire boys?

I also have scans of the 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th, and 5th/6th classes of that year.  I'll get them into the blog shortly.  I do so hope someone will find these all useful!  Have a great day!

Related Posts

5th & 6th graders

3rd & 4th graders

1st & 2nd graders

Uncle Benny Hegwer

This photo is one of the treasures I brought home with me from my visit last month with my Aunt Lelia in Utah.  Once again, she pulled out photos I have no memory of ever having seen before!  (More of them will probably appear here over the next few weeks!)  I believe this is the only photo I have of Uncle Benny where he is not a babe-in-arms.

Uncle Benny was the seventh child of my grandparents Bertha (Carr) and Ben Hegwer, whom you saw in a previous post.  In fact, I now know that both that photo and this one of Benny were taken by Bertha's sister, Ann Carr, on the same day, 12 October 1929.  Benny was born here in the family home at the plant for Utah Power & Light at Lifton in St. Charles, Bear Lake, Idaho, on 24 December 1926, so he is almost 3 years old in this photo.  His father, Ben, was the power plant superintendent.

It strikes me that sometimes a photo can be appreciated for its content and composition or, sometimes, a photo is valued because of who or what it records, regardless of artistic merit.  And, sometimes, it may be valued for the greater story it tells.  For me, this photo is in this last category and I hope I can express myself adequately...

Thankfully, Grand-Aunt Ann annotated the back of her photo: 

So, it seems all the more charming to me and personal to know the names of the cats.  Maybe it's because of the name "Fuzzy," but Benny and the cats all look so playful and are obviously planning their next adventure.

But, doesn't the impact and character of this snapshot change when I tell you that Benny died just 17 days after this moment in time?

Shortly after the 2 photos were taken, the whole family became very ill.  His sister Margaret died five days after Benny, the death certificates saying scarlet fever (but Aunt Lelia swears it was diphtheria).  Their father, Ben, never fully recovered and died 3 August 1933.  Brother Ray also never fully recovered but lived til 1937.

One small snapshot can be so much more than just the image on its front side.

For Veteran's Day: Uncle Mickey

He died before I was born and the family did not talk much about my uncle Mickey. I just remember that it seemed a difficult topic for them. The great sense of sadness was a constant. Over the years, I learned from them that he had died in World War II in something to do with a plane crash. Much later, as I became more serious about formal genealogy, researching Uncle Harry became one of my goals.

A LITTLE ABOUT UNCLE MICKEY
Uncle Mickey was the fourth child of Benjamin Theodore Hegwer and his wife, Bertha Maud Carr. Mickey was born in 1918 at the Lifton Power Station where Ben worked and a house at the station came with the job. I have very few photos of the family while they were there in the Bear Lake, Idaho area, but this one is a favorite from May 1925 on 'the old canal at little dirt dam' at Lifton -- Herb, Wyla, Ray, Mickey, Lelia (left to right).


His name was really Harry Albert, but I didn't know that until I was an adult. A sister-in-law said he was very handsome and a good tennis player. A sister says "his name was really 'Henry' but no one ever, ever called him that." I have never seen it on a document, but 'Henry' is a family forename in each of his parent's families. By the time I had real questions to ask, there was no one left who knew how they got 'Mickey.'

Years later, after moving to Los Angeles, the family lived near the Stapp family, whose son 'Babe', was an Indy 500 driver. 'Pop' Stapp took quite a liking to Mickey and he accompanied them to Indianapolis at least once. I remember seeing Aunt Barbara's photos of Mickey at Indy with a race car (I wish I had a copy of the photo). This one is Mickey and 'Pop' Stapp in their front yard, circa late 1930s; I don't know what they were celebrating.

At 5'8" and 145 lbs., Uncle Mickey enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on 15 November 1941 at Fort McArthur, Los Angeles County, California [1]. He served in the Sixth Air Force [2], earning at least 2 medals [3,4], but was with the First Air Force at the time of his death.

A request for his compiled military records received two responses: there was nothing more to request and that I wasn't a close enough relation to request it anyway. There may be more info there, but I think what I found next will be enough for me.

SEARCHING FOR THE CRASH
A very brief Los Angeles Times article about the plane crash gave me, for the first time, a date and a location: 8 January 1944, a crash into the James River of Virginia [5]. When the article was posted to the AP, Uncle Mickey and one other man were still missing while 9 crew members were being treated for exposure. I had never considered that there would have been other men involved in a crash! With all this new information, I was able to do a more thorough internet search and found an article in the "The News" of Frederick, Maryland of January 10 [6] and the same article in the Frederick Post on the next day. This article listed Uncle Mickey and 3 other crew members by name. I am purposely omitting the names of all the crew. It is possible that the crash survivors are still living and the subject could be a difficult one for them or their families.

I also found Uncle Mickey in an online obituary index for the Alexandria, Virginia library. For a very small fee, they sent me a copy of the front page item from the Alexandria Gazette of 13 Jan 1944. The librarian also included a very nice letter naming the other newspapers she had searched on her own and several suggestions of other things to try. ( I have had very good experiences with local libraries and their services. Writing this blog entry reminds me that I should write more often to local libraries even when I have not found anything from them online.)

Using the pilot's name in a few different search engines, I found the crash listed at the Aviation Archaeological Investigation & Research website. They showed the plane as a B24, serial number 42-7339. The site had lots of general info about accident reports, which was all very new to me. Uncle Mickey's name also showed up at Accident-Report.com, specializing in military aviation accident reports. I could order a specific report from them, but I first decided to see if I could find it another way.

Coincidentally at about this time, one of the genealogy societies in my area had a guest presentation by the local NARA archivist. He listened to my brief question about military crash reports and he suggested I check the national NARA website for their military specialist. While I couldn't find a specific reference to such a specialist at their extensive site, I did find an email address for something they now call "Find and Request" and sent off my question about finding crash or accident reports from WWII.

They responded the very same day that such records were held at the Air Force Historical Research Agency in Alabama. Who knew?! While NARA had included a postal contact address, I went online to see what I could find. Quickly, I had a new email address and dashed off another query that Friday. While I expected a general reply about how to order a search, on Monday I received a short email that just asked me to include a mailing address since they could not send reports by email. No order form, no fee, no wait: I had the 19-page document in my hands 5 days later. Here's an excerpt of the first page.


THE CRASH
It's been 3 years since I received the accident report and it is still difficult for me to review it. The report lists the entire crew and lots of detail about the plane and its flight history. Signed, individual statements from each of the 9 survivors make up the bulk of the pages.

Very generally, they took off for a training mission, encountered bad weather, and the instructor pilot gave orders to abandon ship; he was one of the first off the plane and 6 other crew parachuted with him. The problem was that one of the crew had spilled his parachute all over the flight deck and could not jump. By the time the student pilot and one last crew got to the bomb door, Uncle Mickey and the crew member without a 'chute were the only other ones left on board. Crew statements said that Uncle Mickey refused to jump since the other man couldn't. The student pilot decided to try to land the plane and went for the nearby James River, wheels up. He and the engineer were picked up by fishing boats. The man who could not jump was found in the river later, dead. Uncle Mickey's body was found still wedged in the wreckage when the plane was recovered later.

There was an accident review board and their summary is signed by a major and 4 captains. There had been a relatively minor mechanical failure, but the instructor pilot was found 90% responsible for the crash and loss of life for 3 reasons: he could have turned back when the mechanical failure was first discovered; he should have stayed with his crew and made more effort; and if he had checked the weather conditions properly, he would have known that flying only 15 mintues north would have taken them all out of the bad weather. As far as I know, Mickey's family was not given any of this information at the time of his death.

Uncle Mickey is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale, as are two of his brothers and one set of his grandparents. It's a beautiful view from his grave site, surrounded by tall, stately trees.

CONCLUSIONS
It's good to keep talking with family about what I find. It seems that with each of my 'finds,' they remember more than they had been able to tell me earlier. And, talking about one thing always leads to more or new info on other subjects.

Attending presentations at local genealogy groups can give an opportunity to talk with experts in all sorts of fields. Libraries near where events occurred can have information and be of other help. Sending an email to a government agency and asking questions can also be very helpful. Using more than one search engine can be useful, too.

Uncle Mickey's life was brief but he still left quite a story. I still feel the sadness, but not from knowing nothing at all.


SOURCES
Grave marker photo by MHD; children photo in MHD collection

[1] NARA - Access to Archival Databases: World War II Army Enlistment Records, created 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the period ca. 1938 - 1946, Record Group 64; online at aad.archives.gov, entry for Harry A. Hegwer, downloaded 19 Dec 2005. Image at ancestry.com: US World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; cites NARA Record Group 64.

[2] Something About Everything Military: The Sixteen Air Forces, online at www.jcs-group.com/military/aaforces.html, downloaded 31 Aug 2005. "Sixth Air Force -- Constituted as Panama Canal AF on 19 Oct 1940. Activated in the Canal Zone on 20 Nov 1940. Redesignated Caribbean AF in Aug 1941, and Sixth AF in Feb 1942. Served primarily in defense of the Panama Canal; also engaged in antisubmarine operations. Campaigns: Antisubmarine, American Theater."

[3] Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug 1943, p. 5. Online through ProQuest Historical Newspapers. "Air Medal Goes to 78 Army Men - Washington, Aug. 3. The War Department tonight announced awards of the Air Medal to 78 officers and enlisted men of the United States Army 6th Air Force assigned to the Caribbean Defense Command for long-range antisubmarine patrol flights over the Pacific and Caribbean area. Those decorated include ... Sergt. Harry A. Hegwer, gunner, Alhambra, ... ." (Uncle Mickey was one of 4 men listed in this brief article)

[4] Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug 1943, p. A20. Online through ProQuest Historical Newspapers. "Southlanders Win Air Medals on Four Fronts - More names of Southern California fighters appeared yesterday in a War Department list, which had been transmitted ... Awards of the Air Medal to the following California men with the 6th Air Force in the Caribbean, also were announced: ... Sergt. Harry A. Hegwer of Alhambra, ...." (Thirty men were listed in this article, from Australian, Caribean, South Pacific, and Sicilian operations.)

[5] Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan 1944, p. A. Online through ProQuest Historical Newspapers. "Two of Bomber Crew Missing After Crash -- Langley Field (Va.) Jan. 10 (AP) -- Two members of the crew of a four-engined bomber from Langley Field were missing and nine others were suffering from shock and exposure after their plane crashed in the James River near here Saturday, the Army announced today. One of the missing is listed as Staff Sgt. Henry A. Hegwer, 25, of 1913 Princess St., Alhambra, Cal." [NOTE: the street name should be 'Primrose;' that was Grandma Bertha's house and is still there.]

[6] The News (Frederick, Maryland), 10 Jan 1944, p. 1, col 6. Online at NewspaperArchive.com.