Reprinted with permission of the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (WPGS). This article first appeared in the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 37, Number 3 (2011): pp. 3-10. To learn more about WPGS, please visit www.wpgs.org. Philatelic Genealogy: Writing Home to Western Pennsylvania During World War I by James R. Miller A previous article on Civil War envelopes and letters appeared inthe WPGS Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 1 A bout two million American soldiers, sailors, and Marines served in Europe from 1917 to 1919 with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during and just after World War I. 1 Surviving postcards and envelopes document their service and help fill gaps due to the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. 2 This paper presents three postcards and three envelopes (one with a letter) of western Pennsylvania soldiers during their military service, with basic genealogical data on the sender and recipient. As with any source of genealogical information, old envelopes and postcards must be studied in combination with other sources before reaching any conclusion. These postcards and envelopes were purchased by the author on ebay for $5 to $15 each. Mr. F.W. Tower of Springboro, Pennsylvania received an envelope from J.S. Tower, 58 th Prov[isional] Co[mpany], Aug[ust] Auto[matic] Repl[acement] Draft in 1918.[Figure 1] The enclosed letter begins Dear Clair and Nell. A Frank W. Tower and his sons Joseph S. and F. Clair are in Beaver Township (just west of Springboro) in the 1910 U.S. census. 3 A Clair and Nellie Tower, husband and wife, are in Springboro in the 1920 U.S. census. 4 The automatic replacement draft sent soldiers to units that had experienced 1 Wikipedia, American Expeditionary Forces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/american_expeditionary_forces, accessed 27 November 2010). 2 Walter W. Stender and Evans Walker, The National Personnel Records Center Fire: A Study in Disaster, The American Archivist, Vol. 37, No. 4 (October 1974), pp. 521-549 (online at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire- 1973.html,) accessed 1 December 2010). 3 1910 U.S. census, Beaver Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Enumeration District [hereafter ED] 2, p. 8B (written), National Archives and Records Administration [hereafter NARA] series T624, roll 1,332. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 4 1920 U.S. census, Springboro, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, ED 40, p. 2B (written), NARA series T625, roll 1,555. Viewed on Ancestry.com.
4 Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly 37:3 (2011) losses. 5 The letter is datelined Camp Lee, Va., Aug. 18, 1918. Camp Lee (now Fort Lee) is a U.S. Army base near Petersburg, Virginia. 6 Figure 1. 1918 envelope from Brest, France to Springboro, Pennsylvania with sender's name and military unit, censor's stamp and signature, YMCA logo, Soldiers Mail, and military postmark (Author's collection) Joseph Tower wrote We have got all of our over sea equipment so I am sure that we won t be here long. He may have taken the letter across the Atlantic as the envelope was postmarked on 7 September 1918 in Brest, France (indicated by No. 716 in the postmark), where many U.S. troop ships arrived. 7 Joseph S. Tower was killed in action less than two months later on 1 November 1918. 8 The envelope has a censor s stamp, applied after an officer read the letter to assure it did not indicate the soldier s exact location, anticipated troop movement, his unit s morale, or other information that could be useful to the German army if the envelope fell into their hands during wartime. 9 The envelope was provided by the YMCA (Young Men s 5 Edward J. Drea, Combat Studies Institute, Unit Reconstitution-A Historical Perspective, (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1983; on-line at http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/resources/csi/drea3/drea3.asp, accessed 3 February 2011). 6 Wikipedia, Fort Lee (Virginia), (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fort_lee_(virginia), accessed 3 February 2011). 7 Theo. Van Dam, editor, and War Cover Club, The Postal History of the AEF, 1917-1923 [hereafter Postal History of the AEF], (State College, Pennsylvania: American Philatelic Society, 1980), p. 83; Wikipedia, Brest, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/brest,_france, accessed 2 December 2010). 8 Pennsylvania Department of Military Affairs, Record of Burial Place of Veteran, Joseph S. Tower, Crawford County, veteran 1,841,749. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 9 War Letter, Censorship! (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/warletters/sfeature/sf_censorship.html, accessed 7 September 2010).
37:3 (2011) Philately and World War I 5 Christian Association). 10 Soldier s Mail, written in the upper right, was accepted in place of a stamp from 1917 to 1920 on mail sent by military personnel from overseas. 11 Miss Eleanor Matthews of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania received a postcard written on 21 December 1918 in Mayen, Germany. [Figure 2] The postcardbegins Dear Baby Sister and is signed Your Brother, Al. A John J., William A., and Elanor Matthews, father, son, and daughter, are in Pittsburgh in the 1910 U.S. census. 12 A John J. Matthews is in the 1918 Pittsburgh directory at the street address written on the postcard. 13 William A. Matthews is shown as William Alfred Matthews on his 1917 Selective Service registration, also at the same street address. 14 Figure 2. 1918 postcard from Mayen, Germany to Pittsburgh, Pa with sender's first name, censor's stamp and signature, and military postmark (Author's collection) American soldiers occupied Mayen, Koblenz (or Coblenz), and parts of the Rhineland following the November, 1918 armistice. 15 The postcard has a 10 William Howard Taft and Frederick Harris, Service With Fighting Men, Part 1 (Ohio: Association Press, 1922), p. 284. 11 Theo. Van Dam, The Postal History of the AEF, pp. 13-14. 12 1910 U.S. census, Pittsburgh Ward 25, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, ED 624, pp. 3A-3B (written), NARA series T624, roll 1,308. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 13 R.L. Polk and Company, Pittsburgh City Directory, 1918 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: R.L. Polk & Co., 1918), p. 1826. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 14 World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, registration card for William Alfred Matthews, Precinct 6-26, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Draft Board 20; Viewed on Ancestry.com. 15 Wikipedia, Koblenz, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/koblenz, accessed 2 February 2011); Theo. Van Dam, The Postal History of the AEF, p. 151.
6 Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly 37:3 (2011) Figure 3. 1919 envelope from Coblence [Coblenz], Germany to Scottdale, Pennsylvania with sender's name and military unit, censor's stamp and signature, YMCA logo, Soldiers Mail, and military postmark (Author's collection) Figure 4. 1919 envelope from the U.S. Army Ambulance Service with the Italian Army to DuBois, Pennsylvania with sender's name, rank and military unit, censor's stamp, Soldier's Mail, and military postmark (Author's collection)
37:3 (2011) Philately and World War I 7 censor s stamp and signature and the 775 in the postmark indicates the Fourth U.S. Army. 16 A photograph of a church in Mayen appears on the postcard s other side (viewable on Philgen.org, search on Matthews). Mrs. J.J. Hawthorne of Scottdale, Pennsylvania received an envelope from Wm. A. Hawthorne, 12 [th] A[ero] S[quadron] in March 1919. [Figure 3] A Mary J. (Mrs. John J.) Hawthorne and her son William A. are in Scottdale in the 1920 U.S. census at the street address written on the envelope. 17 The envelope, provided by the YMCA, was mailed from Coblence, Germany (shown in the return address and indicated by No. 927 in the postmark). 18 This envelope has a censor s stamp and signature. The 12 th Aero Squadron took part in the Rhineland occupation. 19 Spencer M. Free, M.D. of DuBois, Pennsylvania received an envelope from Sgt [Sergeant] Spencer M. Free Jr. in January 1919.[Figure 4] A Spencer M. Free, physician, and his son Spencer M., Jr. are in Dubois in the 1920 U.S. census at the street address written on the envelope. 20 Spencer M. Free, Jr. served with the U.S. Army Ambulance Service with the Italian Army, which provided care to Italian soldiers in Italy during World War I. 21 This envelope has a censor s stamp, Soldier s Mail, and a military postmark. The military unit details provided by this envelope are not available from Spencer M. Free s veteran s burial record. 22 An unmailed real photo postcard (RPPC) is labeled Pvt. [Private] Harry M. Curren, 144 Ambulance Co., 111 Sanitary Train, A.P.O. [Army Post Office] 796 and Ford City, Pa. [Figures 5A and 5B] RPPCs were produced singly or in limited quantities by amateur and local commercial photographers and were especially popular 1910-1920. 23 A Harry M. Curren of Ford City registered with Selective Service in 1917, is in Ford City in the 1920 census, 16 Theo. Van Dam, The Postal History of the AEF, p. 85. 17 1920 U.S. census, Scottdale Ward 1, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, ED 201, p. 7A (written), NARA series T625, roll 1,664. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 18 Theo. Van Dam, The Postal History of the AEF, p. 86. 19 Wikipedia, 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_reconnaissance_squadron, accessed 3 February 2011). 20 1920 U.S. census, DuBois Ward 1, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, ED 78, p. 3B (written), NARA series T625, roll 1,553. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 21 Charles Lynch, Joseph H. Ford, and Frank W. Weed, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1925), Chapter 39, American Operations in Italy, (http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwi/fieldoperations/chapter39.html accessed 4 February 2011). 22 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission [hereafter PHMC], Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Card, 1929-1990 [hereafter PVBC], Archive Series 2-2, folder 604, Spencer M. Free, Westmoreland County. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 23 Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh, Real Photo Postcard Guide, The People's Photography (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2006), pp. 10-11, 19.
8 Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly 37:3 (2011) Figure 5A & B. Unmailed ca. 1918 real photo postcard labeled Ford City, Pennsylvania (Author's collection)
37:3 (2011) Philately and World War I 9 and is shown in the 1930 census as a World War I veteran. 24 A.P.O. 796 corresponds to the 36 th Division, which included his sanitary train and ambulance company. 25 This postcard, presumably showing Harry M. Curren in uniform, is not postmarked and may have been sent home inside an envelope. Because of their photographs, RPPCs are exceptional sources of family history information. Prior to overseas military service, U.S. soldiers trained in this country. Mrs. Ellis Louk of Bradford, Pennsylvania received a postcard from Augusta, Georgia in September 1917. [Figure 6] The postcard text begins Hellow father and is signed Lewis Louk. An Ellis Louk and his son Lewis are in Bradford in the 1920 U.S. census. 26 The picture on the front of the postcard Figures 6A and 6B 1917 postcard from Augusta, Georgia to Bradford, Pennsylvania with sender's name and a photograph of soldiers exercising (Author's collection) [not shown] shows soldiers exercising. Lewis Louk may have written this postcard at Camp Hancock, a World War I training site just outside 24 World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, registration card for Harry Mack Curren, Precinct 1A, Ford City, Pennsylvania Draft Board 2, NARA series M1509, no roll cited; 1920 U.S. census, Ford City, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, ED 17, p. 3B (written), NARA series T625, roll 1,508; 1930 U.S. census, Ford City Ward 2, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, ED 3-17, p. 11B (written), NARA series T626, roll 1,993. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 25 Theo. Van Dam, The Postal History of the AEF, p. 85; and 2 nd edition (1990), p. 134. 26 1920 U.S. census, Bradford Ward 6, McKean County, Pennsylvania, ED 123, p. 7B (written), NARA series T625, roll 1,600. Viewed on Ancestry.com.
10 Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly 37:3 (2011) Augusta. 27 He served with the 112 th Infantry and returned to Bradford after the war. 28 The postcard has a stamp, as it was not mailed from overseas. This article shows how old postcards and envelopes document and let us glimpse our ancestor s wartime experience. The locations and the military unit names and numbers written on these postcards and envelopes may help in finding additional information on their military service. Many more envelope and postcard photographs involving western Pennsylvania residents are available. Anyone interested in philatelic genealogy and in adding new envelope and postcard photographs to Philgen.org is encouraged to contact the author. 29 Acknowledgments The author thanks the Archives Library Information Center at the National Archives and Records Administration for help with the abbreviation U.S.A.T.C., the genealogists who posted online family trees and responded to email and message board queries, and Lisa Birsinger for database and website support. 27 The New Georgia Encyclopedia, World War I in Georgia, (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/article.jsp?id=h-3223, accessed 2 February 2011). 28 PHMC, PVBC, 1929-1990, Archive Series 1-7, folder 286, Lewis Edward Louk, McKean County. Viewed on Ancestry.com. 29 For examples of other types of information available from postal history, please visit http://philgen.org, and click on NEA, American Ancestors, or a state name in the Main Menu.