USAAF Keesler Field, Mississippi -- January 1943

My father, Herb Hegwer, was inducted into the Army Air Force in October 1942.  By 12 Jan 1943, he was at Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi. He seems to have  served there pretty solidly into November of 1945,  with the exception of some temporary duty posts for advanced training as an aircraft mechanic at:

•  Los Angeles at Burbank Airport, California 
• Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois, 
• Lake Charles Army Air Field, Louisiana

Military records indicate he specialized in fuel injections systems, engine change, and turbo supercharger work. He worked on, at least, B-17 and B-24's.

Daddy was processed for release at Shaw Field in Sutter, South Carolina on 7 Jan 1946. I assume he had been there since November 1945.  He was shipped to a separation base in Santa Ana, California Jan 10 and finally discharged from there on January 17, 1946. It was an honorable discharge as a sergeant, 139th AAF Base Unit.

The snapshot above is dated "about Jan 12, 1945" and taken at Keesler.  

The back of the photo is clearly labeled in my father's handwriting. Left to right, the soldiers are Donald E. Hunter, Francis J. Hoffman, Thomas A. Hensley, Herbert C. Hegwer, and Howard Hart. It can't be coincidence that their surnames all start with "H", can it? The notation TSS 397 stands for Tech School Squadron 397.

 

 I have several additional photos from this time period of Dad with Donald Hunter. Some are from their visit to the family home in Alhambra while the two were training in Burbank.  It looks as though my young aunt was sweet on Don!

Ancestry of Elizabeth Uredge (1595-1632)

 One of the advantages of having any early American ancestry is that sometimes a new generation is delivered seemingly out of the blue to my door! I love surprises like that!!

The latest issue of The American Genealogist has given me 2 more generations in the ancestry of Elizabeth Uredge, who married John Stanley 14 Oct 1623 in Benenden, Kent, England [1]. Elizabeth and John are some of the 9th great-grandparents from my maternal grandfather's lines.  

An earlier TAG article on Anna Uredge & husband Stephen Vinall included conjectures about the Uredge line [2]. The present article confirms new 10th and 11th greats for me and adds a new surname: Kerwin.  Please see both articles for full discussions, hesitations, children's names, and extractions/transcriptions from newly found and interpreted primary sources.  Masterful research!

The son, John, at the bottom of my chart, is commonly referred to as "Capt. John Stanley."

NOTES

[1] Leslie Mahler & Randy A. West, "The Uredge Family of Counties Kent and Sussex -- Ancestral to Anna1 (Uredge) Vinall of Scituate, Massachusetts, and John1 Stanley of Hartford, Connecticut,"  TAG Jan/Apr 2020, Vol 91(3), pp. 190-194. [published March 2021]

[2] David L. Cummings, "Stephen1 and Anna (Uredge) Vinall of Benenden, Kent, and Scituate, Plymouth Colony, with Clues to the Vinal-Uredge-Stanley Connections,"  TAG Oct 2018, Vol 90(4), pp. 296-300.

 

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.

90th Friday

 

1934-2019

My first blogpost in quite a while. I started to get back to genealogy only in the last few months. Today is the 90th Friday without my husband's hand to hold. It's hard to believe it's been that long. In other ways, it was just this morning.  

Bannard, Carr, Hegwer: All Together

Annotations from the reverse of this photo, in the handwriting of my father, Herb Hegwer:

Location appears to be Uncle Fred & Aunt Jane's place in 5600 block Fair Ave
No Hollywood
Ca
Harry A Hegwer "Mickey"
Chas Wm Carr  -- Uncle Will
Mrs. Chas Wm Carr  --  Aunt Lottie
Herbert C Hegwer  --  myself
Raymond O. Bannard  --  cousin
Fred R. Bannard  --  Uncle Fred

My Comments--People
Mickey was Herb's younger brother.   (Their brother Ray, died in 1937. I think it's significant that he is not in this photo.)

Charles William Carr was a maternal uncle of both Hegwer's in this photo.  His wife, Aunt Lottie, was Charlotte M. Field.

Frederick R. Bannard was the husband of Jane Catherine Carr, sister to Charles. Raymond Otto Bannard was their son.

My Comments--Location
In the 1930  census, Fred & Jane Bannard were at 5630 Fair Ave and her parents, John Henry (died in 1933) & Anne Matilda (Causier) Carr at 5624 Fair.  The area changed jurisdictions often as Los Angeles grew.  Today with Google Maps, the house now at 5630 is probably basically original but clearly had additions. Next door, the street number is 5624 but the building is a large post-WWII apartment building.  But, given city directories & voter registers, they all seem to have left this street by about 1934.

My Comments--Dating the photo
The earliest date I have for the Hegwer's in Los Angeles is 1936; Herb would have been 23, Mickey about 18, & Ray Bannard about 20.  I think they all look older than that in this photo.  

Mickey died in Jan 1944, having enlisted Nov 1941.  So the photo is most likely between 1936 and 1944, and more probably before 1942.  Given who's not in the photo, I think this photo is more likely late 1940, maybe even at the time of Ann Matilda (Causier) Carr's funeral in 1940.

So...I'm not sure about the date/place combination.  Dad was pretty good about labeling photos and especially good about locations-- I am very hesitant to doubt him on that.  On the other hand, given that he did not give a date, I think he must have had some general doubt and that could include the location, too.

Maybe some of the other descendants can help me out here?!

Great Book: Elements of Genealogical Analysis

Elements of Genealogical Analysis by Robert Charles Anderson is really a great book!   I have been working through it for almost a year and still enjoy every single page.  It's not the sort of book a reader just goes through once and puts back on a shelf:  the content is concise yet very dense.  There's a lot there to consider.  I believe the sort of study groups that erupted for the Jones book would be very appropriate for "Elements."

If you appreciate the Great Migration Newsletter articles about how a passenger list or a town record was analyzed, then there is absolutely no doubt that you will enjoy "Elements."  You'll also appreciate it if you like to read books about evidence and analysis in genealogy and it's an absolute must-read for anyone with colonial New England ancestry.

I think one of its strengths is both the number and depth of the examples for every single point Anderson set out to make.  The detailed analyses of documents -- not simply what is printed on them but where, when, why, by whom -- support any discussion of the genealogical proof standard.

SCGS Jamboree 2016 in Brief

This is Part Two of my Jamboree experience this year. Part One is here.

FRIDAY – Yeah! An average commute so I wasn't late...just tired.

8:30 to Noon  – Extra $50 Hands-on Workshop with Blaine Bettinger on Third-Party Tools for Autosomal DNA

As expected, an “Oh, Wow” Experience for me! Ok, maybe I would have preferred less time on admixture and more time on GEDmatchTier One Tools and a lot more on DNAGedcom. At least I do now see that there is some value to the admixture tools in general. Overall, the workshop was well worth my time but it was also evident that not everyone had done the workshop preparation as listed in the registration materials. Since I had done all the preparation, there was a good deal of repetition and that time could have been much better used on the Tier One tools &/or DNAGedcom. Still I feel it was worth the price.

A thought: Remember how Thoma MacEntee did the weekly prompts/steps to review genealogy research? Given my success at following Blaine Bettinger's workshop preparation instructions for third party tools, I think Blaine (or someone) should continue that concept and have weekly prompts to take users through GEDmatch and DNAGedcom. That may be what his upcoming book is going to do...we should know by next month!

I spent the afternoon in the exhibit hall, perusing, picking up freebies & brochures. I asked some questions and got some help at My Heritage. It turns out most of my issues are them and not me. Great freebie bag, though....

Overall, the exhibit hall did not have the excitement it has had. A couple of my favorites were missing and I was unable to purchase two books I had planned to buy.

With no exciting sessions to see and relatively little to do in the exhibit hall, I went home mid-afternoon, trying to beat both Friday drive-time traffic and getting past a Dodger stadium before the home game traffic. 

SATURDAY

The biggest surprise Saturday morning was the commute: the absolute easiest & fastest I have ever, ever had to Burbank for anything!

Saturday held no research-necessary sessions, so I settled with being entertained by Michael John Neill on Pre -1850 Censuses. I've heard him before on that topic, but he's one of my favorite speakers and I knew it would be enjoyable. Note: I think his Casefile Clues is the most under-revered genealogy books/newsletters there is. I think of it as a book because I printed out Volumes 1&2 and put them in a binder. Super!!

I tried Newspapers.com in the Tech Zone.  Found some things worth pursuing. 

I bought 2 more FTDNA autosomal kits and went home after lunch. I really like how FTDNA re-organized and fully staffed their conference booth.  It was the best FTDNA conference experience I've ever had.  Unfortunately, the commute home was not so good.  

SUNDAY'S program didn't have enough great stuff to overcome the commute and the thought of sleeping in, so I stayed home to sleep in, console Hubby, and blog.

Big News! Oh, my goodness! I've made the big time...after all these Jamborees, I'm finally one of the unnamed background extras in one of Randy Seaver's Jamboree photos!! I can prove I went to Saturday!

Overall Conclusion

I think that the next time Jamboree has a schedule that really motivates me, I will take Hubby along and get a room at the hotel for 2-3 days. My total commute time for the three days I attended was over 10 hours and that doesn't count the stress and energy and parking fees and the lonely husband issues....

SCGS Jamboree 2016: DNA Day

I hadn't expected to attend Jamboree this year, but when the schedule first came out with a full day of excellent speakers on intermediate/advanced sessions for DNA Day and an extra Friday workshop, I was hooked for the whole conference. Unfortunately for my blogging, the daily commute precluded my posting each day...more on that later. Here's a summary of my impressions.  A blog post on the rest ofJamboree to follow.

DNA Day

Even though I allowed 90 minutes for a commute that can be done in an hour-ish, I was 30 minutes late and arrived to find myself “locked-out” of Kitty Cooper's session on triangulation. Fortunately, her blog posts are thorough so I think I can tough it out and fill in the gaps myself. I spent the time left that session in with Katherine Borges & Linda Magellan on Recruiting DNA in Europe. Those few minutes were enjoyable and informative while I let myself unwind from the drive.  On to the rest of my day:

10am with James V. Bartlett on Intermediate DNA: Autosomal DNA – Specific Steps to Insure Success

An excellent presentation and syllabus: lots of detail yet very easy to follow. I need to follow his suggestion of having a few “standard messages” ready to use for cousin contacts. Duh..no wonder I was never happy with my attempted messages...I was trying to make one fit them all. Also, I need to keep trying: Jim cited much improved response rates by the third inquiry he sends out to an individual. His tips on spreadsheet management are useful, too.

11:30an with Tim Janzen on Organizing All of Your DNA Match List Data

Another excellent presentation in every regard. He provided very detailed info on how he structures his spreadsheets. Maybe I can make this work...I really like the idea of giving a new cell to each individual email to/from a cousin contact. In general, he works his analysis more at the segment level than by total size of a match.

2:00pm back with James V. Bartlett on Segment-ology: Learning about Autosomal DNA

Still very good and by this point I didn't need to take as many notes. I choose to think that's because of all my new knowledge and synthesis skills rather than from info overload! I think I've really got a good grasp now on analyzing matches that could be on either one of a chromosome pair.

3:30pm with Diahan Southard on Circles or Triangles? What Shape is your DNA?

Another excellent presentation as always from Diahan! I went into this expecting to still be strongly favoring triangulation. However now, I must admit that I see there is indeed some logic & science behind Genetic Networking (seems to be the generic term for “DNA Circles"). I still count myself in the triangulation camp, but I will be less overtly critical of a certain company's circles. I really liked Diahan's emphasis that while you may have DNA matches in circles, you MUST then “do the genealogy.”

5:00pm with Blaine Bettinger for Genetic Genealogy: Year in Review 2016

Good presentation, well organized. Yes, a lot really did happen in just the last year. Key quote: “We need to expect our match lists to change over time.” It's clear that more updates and more changes are going to be a fact of life.

Overall, a great day and it's going to take me hours and hours of work to start implementing all that I learned and/or am now more motivated to actually do.