Tuberculosis Is Still with Us

I was reading the Wikipedia page about World Tuberculosis Day, which falls today, March 24.  I had not realized that in the 1880's TB was the cause of death for one in seven people worldwide.  That's roughly 14%.  Current numbers that I found by searching online suggest that the world's current population is around 8.2 billion and that about 1.25 million people die annually from TB, for a percentage of about .0002.  Many more people, but a significantly smaller percentage of them overall.  So even though it is still with us, we seem to have improved a little in keeping people healthy.

March 24 was inaugurated as World Tuberculosis Day in 1982 because it was the 100th anniversary of when Dr. Robert Koch announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacterium that causes tuberculosis:  Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  The purpose of World Tuberculosis Day is to draw attention to the fact that it still kills far too many people even now, in pretty much every country, including the United States.

Many well known people historically have suffered from tuberculosis.  There's even a page devoted to them on Wikipedia!  Just a few names I noted are Aubrey Beardsley, Sarah Bernhardt, Anne and Emily Bronte, Anton Chekhov, Frederic Chopin, Edward VI of England, W. C. Fields, Robert Heinlein, Vivien Leigh, Christy Mathewson, Amedeo Modigliani, Moliere, Edvard Munch, Florence Nightingale, George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), Junipero Serra, Igor Stravinsky, and Henry David Thoreau.

I wrote about World Tuberculosis Day in 2016 and had only one relative at that time whom I knew had died of TB.  In searching through my family tree program, I now have found three more cousins who died of tuberculosis.  I as yet have not found an ancestor who died of TB, although I have a note that one of my Hananiah Gaunt grandfathers supposedly did.  I'm still looking for documentation of that.

Henry H. Gauntt, son of Hananiah Selah Gaunt and Margaret S. Scott, died October 16, 1916 in Lumberton, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He was 42 years old and is my 1st cousin 3x removed.

Robert Francis Gauntt, son of John Benjamin Gaunt and Sarah Virginia Woolston, died July 17, 1917 in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  He was only 28 years old and is my 1st cousin 2x removed.

Ridgway Eacritt Zelley, son of Joseph Ridgway Zelley and Sarah R. Eacritt, died September 10, 1928 in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas.  He was 50 years old and is my 3rd cousin 2x removed.

Although the primary affliction we hear about spreading through World War I boot camps is influenza, tuberculosis also was a problem.  What's interesting about Robert Francis Gauntt is that his draft registration, dated June 5, 1917 — only six weeks before he died — indicates that he was having lung problems then.  If he was already sick, he probably wouldn't have made it through induction, so he appears to have acquired tuberculosis without being drafted and going to boot camp.

Steinfirst Serendipity

Bird's-eye view map of Titusville, Pennsylvania, 1896, by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler

The city of Titusville, Pennsylvania, in Crawford County, was incorporated on February 28, 1866.  So today is the 159th anniversary of that event.  Happy birthday, Titusville!

But I've never had family in Titusville, so why do I care about this city?

Well, you never know when or where you're going to find people researching the same families you're working on, or even used to be working on.

Last year I was giving a presentation to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Pittsburgh.  The topic was resources to help find maiden names, one of those perennially difficult research areas.

Several of the examples I use in that talk come from research I did many years ago on the (Jewish) Steinfirst family of western Pennsylvania.  Various members of the family were in Pittsburgh at different times, ranging from 1880 through to the present day.

And would you believe it, someone at the presentation recognized many of the names in the examples I used?  That's his family!

I began my research on the Steinfirsts in 2005 and pretty much stopped in 2010.  I had never determined where they emigrated from in Europe or even whether Steinfirst was the original family name.  One branch of the family, the Stones, I knew did not start out with that name, but I had not learned what the name was in Europe.

And now I know!

Steinfirst, which I had thought was a name the family had created here because I couldn't find anyone outside the family with that name, was actually the name in Europe, albeit spelled a little differently.  Stone was originally Stamm; I had been focusing on names that either started or ended with "Stein", so I was way off and doomed to failure.

More records have become available since I stopped researching the family, which made some of these discoveries possible, along with dedicated research by other individuals.

And even though I am no longer actively researching the Steinfirsts, I am still fond of the family because of the amount of time I put into the research, and I was really excited to have answers to some of the questions I was stuck on years ago.  Plus I'm sharing the research I did with the person at my presentation, so I'm adding to his knowledge of his family.

That's one of the really cool aspects of genealogy:  helping other people find more information about their families.  It just makes you feel good.

Cornelius Elmer Sellers, November 7, 1874–September 14, 1918

Laura May (Armstrong) and Cornelius Elmer Sellers

Today, September 14, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the death of Cornelius Elmer Sellers, my great-grandfather.  None of his grandchildren knew him, because he died well before any of them was born.  This is some of the information I have learned about him through my research, none of which my family knew previously.

Elmer, as he was known, was born November 7, 1874 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Cornelius Godshalk Sellers and Catherine Fox Owen.  His father died when he was 3 years old, and his mother remarried in 1882 in Mount Holly, New Jersey, to George W. Moore.  The family appears to have stayed in the Mount Holly area from that point on.

Cornelius and Catherine Sellers had three children who died young, and George and Catherine Moore had at least two children, only one of whom survived to adulthood.  Elmer's surviving sibling was Howard Evans Moore.

On November 7, 1903, Elmer married Laura May Armstrong and accepted her 7-month-old son, my grandfather Bertram Lynn Armstrong, and raised him as his own.  They went on to have eight additional children I have documented, three of whom lived to become adults.

Elmer was in the New Jersey National Guard.  In 1905, he received a service medal for five years' service, which was reported in the Trenton Times of March 20.  After five years, he was still only a private.

Elmer registered for the World War I draft on September 2, 1918, only two days before he passed away.

Elmer's occupation was listed as plumber on his 1903 marriage record, farmer in the 1915 New Jersey state census, and ship builder on his 1918 draft registration, but I have been told that the family was always poor and never really had any money.  When Elmer died, however, the funeral home costs were more than $100.  It took me a while to figure out where the money had come from — Elmer's mother had paid for the expenses.  She outlived him by five years.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" - Julie Bowen

 

I suspect I will be running behind all season with my Who Do You Think You Are? commentary, but I'll continue to forge ahead.  Onward to the second episode!

I had not heard of Julie Bowen before the advertising for the new season started.  The teaser for her episode said that she would investigate family lore and learn about two ancestors cut from very different cloth.  One made a daring choice and earned his family's pride.  Bowen was going to need to find a way to forgive the other.

The opening shot told us we were in Los Angeles, and the view looked to be from the Hollywood hills.  Bowen is in her home making guacamole, which even she admits is "so California."  For her intro she sits on a stool in a room in her house.  She was born in Baltimore as Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (what?  that's not a good name for a marquee?).  Her mother is from the Midwest and always told her and her sisters to go outside and play in the fresh air and sunshine, so being naturally dramatic the girls created plays in the back yard.  Bowen always knew she wanted to be an actor.

Bowen moved to New York to realize her dream and went through lots of auditions.  Her significant roles have been on Ed (2000–2004), Boston Legal (2005–2008), and Modern Family (2009–present) (none of which I have seen, which apparently is why I didn't know who she was; her Wikipedia page mentions that she appeared on an episode of Jeopardy!, which I think is pretty cool).  She feels lucky to have her career and loves what she does.  She shot the pilot for Modern Family while she was pregnant with twins, who were born on the day the show was picked up for production.  She says that was when her life changed, and her family suddenly became the most important thing in the world to her (um, why didn't that happen when her older son was born?).

Bowen's parents are John Alexander Luetkemeyer, Jr. and Suzanne Frey.  She wants to learn about one ancestor on each side of her family.  On her father's side, her father's grandmother, Granny LeMoyne, said they had an ancestor whose home was a stop on the Underground Railroad.  On her mother's side, she knows that her great-grandfather Charles Daniel "Big Charlie" Frey was an illustrator for the Chicago Post.  He died before she was born, but she visited his apartment once and was impressed by how glamorous it was, with smoked mirrors, a black and white marble floor, and two grand pianos.

While Bowen talks about her ancestors, several photos and home movies are shown.  Unlike a lot of the celebrities who have appeared on this program, it seems that the Luetkemeyer family has no shortage of images of its ancestors, which is wonderful.

In the now-standard foreshadowing part of the intro, Bowen says that history is history and she doesn't want to claim any Nazis or slave owners.  It would be incredibly sad to find out she had those in her family, but if it's true she wants to know.  History is important because we repeat it if we don't know about it.  (True!)

Bowen starts with her mother's side of the family.  Her mom has sent Big Charlie's obituary, which was published November 12, 1959 in the Chicago Tribune.

"Charles Frey, Ad Executive, Dies at Age 73", Chicago Daily Tribune, November 12, 1959, page W13

Charlie was born in Denver, Colorado and was 73 years old when he died.  Bowen is looking forward to learning more about him because he's the other "artist" in the family.  No one else was as exotic or exciting.  Because Charlie died in Chicago, that's where she's going to start finding out about him (of course).

In Chicago, Bowen heads to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (identified by the "SAIC" on the outside of the building).  She tells us she sent the information she knew about Big Charlie to a genealogist, who told her to meet there.  The genealogist in question is Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG, whom Bowen asks why Charlie would have gone to Chicago from Denver, where he was born.  Bloom immediately says they should look on Ancestry.com (these plugs are geting more and more obnoxious in their heavyhandedness; this was 7 minutes into the episode).  She adds that normally one would search in the closest census but that they'll have to search in the 1900 census, because the 1890 census was burned.

(I am flabbergasted that a Certified Genealogist would state this inaccurate information.  She must know that the greatest part of the loss of the 1890 census came about due to the paper being waterlogged after the fire and left to become moldy.  I can't think of any reason that someone on the production crew would require her to say it was burned.  On the other hand, Ancestry.com used to have an article on its site titled "A Fire Destroyed the 1890 Census, but It Doesn't Have to Destroy Your Search", so maybe an Ancestry rep asked her to phrase it that way?  The article, by the way, is no longer on the Ancestry site, but this 2008 blog post might be close to it in content.)

So Bowen somehow finds the search page for the 1900 census and enters "Charles Daniel" for First and Middle Name(s), "Frey" for Last Name, "1886" for Birth Year, and "Denver, Denver County, Colorado" for Birth Location, with Exact Search turned off.  Big surprise, she finds Charles "Frye":  born November 1886 in Colorado, living in Denver, Arapahoe County, Colorado (first hit on the page, no less).

United States 1900 Federal Population Census, Precinct 7, Denver City, Arapahoe County, Colorado,
June 4, 1900, Enumeration District 70, page 3B, lines 73–82

After clicking through to see the image, Bowen comments on the spelling of the last name as "Frye."  Bloom responds that the census taker probably spelled the name phonetically.  (That's not the best explanation.  If that were the case, it more likely would have been spelled "Fry", not "Frye.")  Bowen then proceeds to read all the information on the form, which is nice to see.  The two women note that Charlie's father, Daniel, was born in New York and that Daniel's parents were born in Germany (but don't mention that Charlie's mother's parents were from Ireland, so it must not be relevant for the episode).  There's also a comment about Daniel being a plumber and Charlie's "humble beginnings", with nothing said about the fact that Daniel did own his home, nothing to sneeze at in 1900.  (Also not mentioned were the twins in the Frey family, the 11-year-old brothers Harvey and Harry, born in December 1888.  Maybe twins run in the family?)

So why did Charlie go to Chicago?  No hard facts or documentation is available, but Bloom says that if Charlie wanted to be an artist, his opportunities would have been limited in Denver.  The places to go would be Chicago or New York.  And Charlie was in Chicago by 1908, as evidenced by his appearance in the city directory (which is not online anywhere, unfortunately).  He is listed as Charles D. Frey, artist Post h Ill Athl Club.  Bloom explains that Post was his employer, i.e., the Chicago Post, and "h" means home, so he was living at the Illinois Athletic Club.

Suddenly the significance of meeting at the Art Institute of Chicago is made clear:  This very building used to be the Illinois Athletic Club.  The room in which Bowen and Bloom are sitting was the main dining room, and Bloom points out a stained glass window with "I A C" in the pattern.

Bloom explains that in the early 20th century, men's clubs were a big thing.  You could dine and exercise where you lived, and they were outstanding places for networking.  It was the perfect place to be if you were trying to make your mark.  It wasn't cheap, however.  In 1908 the membership fee was $100, about equivalent to $2,500 today.  At the same time, the average hourly wage in publishing was 42¢/hour.  Bowen says that the fact that Charlie made joining the club a priority (which is an assumption on her part) meant that he was an up and comer and was making his career a priority.

Charlie's obituary said that he started his ad agency in 1910, only two years after he was living in the club.  He was young but ambitious.

Bloom takes out a book, Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard.  The book has an entry for Charles Daniel Frey, which Bloom says was written about 1912:

Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard, Volume 10:  Hundred-Point Men,
New York:  Wm. H. Wise & Co., 1922, page 380

The piece about Charlie runs for four and a half pages.  It reads a lot like a puff piece in a county history or "mug book", but more sycophantic.  It would be interesting to see how the original writings from which these were selected were put together.

Bloom produces a print ad from Charlie's ad agency for Bowen to look at.  It's very art deco.  (This is the poster that was shown.)  They talk about how Charlie helped transform advertising from merely showing a product to suggesting a future lifestyle.  He was a poster boy for the American dream.

Bowen says that Charlie's obituary said that he had served in World War I.  Bloom points her to Ancestry again and says she should start with the draft registration.

Bowen reads everything on the card, as she did with the 1900 census, but nothing is said (at least not on air) about the birthdate Charlie supplied, which was October 1988, two years off of that on the census.  Charlie said that he had a wife and two children, and Bowen comments that one of them was her grandfather.  She then hits the line where Charlie claimed a draft exemption because he had dependent relatives and judicial service.  She wants to know what that service was.

In another blow against good dialogue, Bloom tells Bowen she should go to Newspapers.com (plug alert!  plug alert!  Ancestry.com product being featured!) and "see if [she] can figure out what's going on in 1917."  (I hope we can blame the show's writers; I'd hate to think that Bloom came up with that on her own.)  For her search terms Bowen uses Charlie's full name, Charles Daniel Frey, and restricts the search to Chicago in 1917.  When she clicks on the result the name of the paper is not stated, but it's the Chicago Tribune again, for August 25, 1917.  (They couldn't show Charlie's obituary on Newspapers.com, because the site has the Tribune only up to 1922, the end of the public domain period.  After that, you need to have access to the ProQuest database.)  The article header certainly catches Bowen's eye:  "200,000 U. S. Secret Agents Cover Nation."

"200,000 U. S. Secret Agents Cover Nation", Chicago Daily Tribune, August 25, 1917, page 1

The article is about the American Protective League.  Charlie's name does appear, as the head of the League's Chicago division.  Based on information in the article, he was claiming exemption from the draft based on his work with the Secret Service.  But what exactly was the American Protective League, and what were they doing?  Bloom defers answering that question herself and tells Bowen she should speak to a historian who specializes in that topic.

As she leaves, Bowen talks about the kinship she feels with Charlie.  He worked at the intersection of art and commerce.  Creative types such as Bowen and Charlie push the envelope and are outside the norm.  But Charlie wasn't a government man, so something is missing in the story she has learned so far.  She needs to find out what the American Protective League (APL) was.

Bowen's next visit is to the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, just one block from SAIC.  The historian who talks to her there is Christopher Capozzola, a World War I historian at MIT.  (We saw him in the Bryan Cranston episode.)  He tells her that APL was founded in Chicago at the beginning of World War I as a national voluntary organization.  Charlie was involved from the beginning.

When the United States entered the war in April 1917, it was a controversial move, and not everyone agreed with it.  There had been sabotage by Germans in the U.S.  APL investigated a lot of people, but it was particularly interested in Germans and people of German descent, who were treated as enemy aliens.  Aliens were also required to register with the government.

Bowen points out that Frey was of German ancestry.  He was the second generation born in the U.S., but all Germans could be considered suspicious.  She wonders if he might have had a vested interest in joining APL early, and Capozzola agrees that it would have helped him look even more all-American.

At this point the narrator steps in to explain that Germans were the enemy in our midst.  They were told where they could live and work.  The American Protective League worked with police to keep tabs on Germans.  During Frey's tenure, APL rounded up more than 10,000 Germans and interned them in detention camps.  Many internees were not released until after the war was over.  The graphics playing during this segment included a man listed as "Henkel Arnold" in what looked like a mug shot.

Capozzola explains that a lot of things APL did are now not constitutional:  tapping phones, getting information from banks.  APL was a citizen surveillance army, and the largest chapter was in Chicago.  The League created a soapbox for Frey's patriotism, who could use his advertising skills to sell domestic fear.  To Bowen, this sounds like mob mentality, and it frightens her.

Capozzola concedes the organization is a dark chapter of U.S. history, but he has found a few documents relating to Charlie.  The first thing he shows Bowen is a photograph of the American Protective League National Headquarters, with Charlie standing in front of the building.  He is wearing a military-type uniform.  Bowen thinks he looks like a jerk, but she admits her grandfather looks just like him.  She wonders about the military-style garb, and Capozzola says he has another document to show her.

This document is a two-page letter on APL letterhead, dated March 22, 1918 (the one-year anniversary of the founding of APL).  I was able to transcribe most of it; I've put in dashes where I couldn't read the text or sections were not shown on screen.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

March 22nd, 1918

Captain Chas. Daniel Frey,
1537 "I" Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C.

Dear Captain:

One year ago today [——]
[—] the formation of the American [Protective League ——]
[three lines I could not read]
build this [——]

As an American [——]
you built the first efficient company in the [—]
of your success as a Company Commander you were made [—]
the Chicago Division, and in that office you built the most efficient American Protective League division in the League and made of it a model on which we are still building all other divisions.

Because of your success as Chief of the Chicago division, you were made a National Director and I congratulate you on the excellent work you are now doing in helping to bring all other divisions of the League up to the standard of the Chicago division, as well as the other and even more important work you are now so efficiently handling as National Director.

At great personal sacrifice you have given your all to your country in your unselfish and untiring work for the Leagueand [sic] in the name of the League and its 250,000 members I extend to you their thanks and appreciation.

Yours very truly,

A. M. Briggs [signature]
Chairman, National Directors

Charles Daniel Frey, A. M. Briggs, and
Victor Elting (left to right), National Directors,
American Protective League

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Charlie is addressed as "Captain" in the letter, which Capozzola only addresses in passing, but this page says that was commissioned as an Army captain.  Bowen reads parts of the letter, particularly focusing on the "other and even more important work" Charlie was credited as doing.  Capozzola points out that Charlie had moved to Washington, D.C. and was one of the most important people on the home front in the U.S. at this time.  He thought he was doing good work.  But what exactly was he doing?  As stated in the letter, APL had about 250,000 members in 1918, and everyone reported up the chain, so he was monitoring the efforts of the entire organization.

Bowen wonders why we don't hear about the American Protective League nowadays.  Capozzola says that it became a lightning rod of controversy.  Ordinary people were interrogated over the slightest things.  There was a backlash, and some people started pushing back, asking the APL members who they were to question things and just what kind of country the U.S. was becoming.  In late 1918 Congress debated the situation.  It eventually shut down APL but increased funding for the Bureau of Investigation, the precursor organization to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  APL became a forgotten chapter in American history.

Bowen then goes off about how someone is villainized in every war and people act unconstitutionally.  Currently the anti-Muslim sentiment in the country follows the same pattern.  She finds it more than a little disturbing that her ancestor was involved in this, but she would rather know it than not.  She hopes it helps start a conversation about the situation.

Leaving Pritzker, Bowen says that it's ok that families have dark corners.  Learning about Charlie doesn't determine who she is.  People need to look at history, but it's scary that mistakes are forgotten so quickly.  If people don't look, they are doomed to repeat the errors.  As a society, we need to remember that this happened and learn from it.

Now that she's learned about an interesting ancestor on her mother's side of the family, it's time to turn to her father's side.  She had asked her father if he had anything to share.  Bowen reads (most of) his response aloud from her mobile phone.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Jack Luetkemeyer

"My side of the family"

Dear Julie

I hear from Mom and others that you are getting enlightened on our ancestors on the Frey side of the family, so I thought I would throw in a few words on my side of the family.  The first name that comes to mind is the Lemoyne's [sic].  My grandmother, Granny Lemoyne, whose real name was Romaine LeMoyne, before marrying my grandfather, Austin McLanahan, was the real matriarch when I was growing up.  Her father's name was John Valcoulon LeMoyne, and his father was Francis Julius LeMoyne.  They were from Washington, Pennsylvania so you may want to start there.

I miss you XO

Dad

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Bowen remembers having heard the LeMoyne names before.  The family lore is that Francis LeMoyne was some kind of doctor and that he had been involved with the Underground Railroad.  She hadn't wanted to check on it previously in case it turned out not to be true.  It's been nice to believe the story.  She doesn't know anything else about the story and decides (i.e., was told) she should go to Washington, Pennsylvania to find out more.

In Washington Bowen goes to the Washington County Historical Society.  Over a door inside the building is a sign:  "LEARN FROM HISTORY Or Be CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT."  With that as a reminder of the theme for this episode, Bowen sits down to talk with Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar of the University of Delaware.  Dunbar starts out by saying that the "Washington Historical Society" has a lot of documents about the LeMoyne family because the building is the family's former home.  The two women are sitting in the former apothecary.  Francis LeMoyne was indeed a physician/surgeon, and he ran his practice out of his home.

Then Dunbar tells Bowen that some of the documents are fragile, so Bowen will have to wear gloves.  (No!!  If the documents are really that fragile, using gloves means you lose most of your tactile sensitivity, which is worse for the documents.  Oh, bother.)  Dunbar then brings out a large certificate.  At the top is printed "American Anti-Slavery Society Commission."

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

American Anti-Slavery Society

Commission

to Dr. Francis J. Lemoyne

Dear Sir:

You have been appointed and are hereby commissioned, by the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, instituted at Philadelphia in 1833, as their Agent for the space of Twelve months commencing with 20 day of December 1837.

The purpose of this Commission is to authorize you to deliver, in the name of the American Anti-Slavery Society, public lectures and addresses in support of the principles and measures set forth in its Constitution and Declaration of Sentiments.

Given at the Secretary's office No. 143 Rassan[?] Street, New York, this 12 day of December in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty seven.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

p
partial image of LeMoyne's commission paper

Bowen is very excited — her ancestor was an abolitionist!  She has never heard of the society before.  Dunbar explains it was the first national society calling for the end of slavery.  LeMoyne signed up in the society's early days.

As an agent and lecturer, LeMoyne would have helped share the society's stand that not only should slavery end, there should be no compensation for slave owners and people should boycott Southern goods, such as cotton and sugar.  His goal would have been to educate people through his lectures, in the north and the south.  Bowen is surprised that he would have traveled to the south and asks if it would have been dangerous.  Dunbar confirms that it was:  Abolition was still considered a radical idea, and when this commission was given, the country was still 27 years away from outlawing slavery. Bowen asks what inspired LeMoyne to become an abolitionist.  Dunbar doesn't have an answer for LeMoyne specifically but says that she believes that for most people it came from within themselves.

Bowen wants to know more about how LeMoyne would have traveled for his lectures.  Would he just get on a horse and go?  Dunbar says he wouldn't have gone alone, because there were great risks to antislavery speakers.  They could be tarred and feathered, and some were killed for speaking.

The historical society has several oral histories that detail what the townspeople said about LeMoyne.  Dunbar brings out two very yellowed typed pages and says it's a copy.  Bowen reads most of the second paragraph transcribed below.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Starting in 1841 the abolitionist party in Washington county had a complete ticket every year for county offices and for governor.  In 1841 Dr LeMoyne was the candidate for governor, polling 85 votes in the county.  In 1843 he was a candidate for Congress receiving 410 votes.    Erichsen

For a long time the abolitionists did not dare to hold their meetings in any public places.  One of the most popular places to hold them was the side yard of the LeMoyne place.  This was the most natural place for them as the lecturers were entertained by Dr. and Mrs. LeMoyne.  On one occasion a large crowd gathered in a threatening manner in front of the house.  The Abolitionist[s] were gathered in the garden.  Dr. LeMoyne took his son John up to the little balcony which used to be reached from the attic on the front of the house.  Here Dr. John Julius LeMoyne kept his bee=hives under the front eaves, and here on pleasant evenings the old Doctor was to be found playing his flute and admiring his bees.  On the evening Dr. LeMoyne told his son, young John:  "If those people try to break up the meeting just throw one of these bee-hives into their midst."  The young man had the advantage and angry though they were the crowd was forced to disperse.

On another occasion the meeting was in progress in another place but was threatened so violently that the speaker was forced to seek refuge at the LeMoyne home where he was staying.  Mrs. Le Moyne herself was his guide through back yards and over fences.  The route was so devious that it took about a half hour to arrive.  It was on this occasion, perhaps, that Mrs. LeMoyne's white bonnet was spotted with the egg missiles.

For the last thirty years of the Doctor's life he was unable to rest in his bed at night, but sat upright in a large easy chair which he kept in his office.

LeMoyne Institute was founded about 1871.    Erichsen

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Bowen pauses when she reads the name of Dr. John LeMoyne and says that she named her son John after this part of the family.  Dunbar points out that this Dr. LeMoyne was the father of Francis Julius LeMoyne, and Bowen realizes John LeMoyne was her 4x-great-grandfather.

After Bowen finishes reading the paragraph, the women discuss just what was happening.  Dr. John LeMoyne had told his son to throw a beehive into the angry crowd to protect the people who were at the meeting, so he must have been an abolitionist also.  Dunbar says that John the son did throw the beehive, but I'm not sure that's clear from the text.

Bowen is stunned that this happened in Pennsylvania, which she thought no longer had slavery by that time.  Dunbar explains that slavery in Pennsylvania was almost but not quite gone.  (The account is undated, but Pennsylvania did not fully free all slaves until 1847.)  Even though it was almost gone, there was obviously still great animosity about the matter.

It occurs to Bowen that freed slaves would have been part of society.  Dunbar confirms this and adds that fugitives would have been there also.  Many people were concerned that these fugitives were in competition for their jobs.  This sets off Bowen, who talks about people who feel threatened by "others" who are different from them.  It sounds old and new at the same time, and she sees parallels in today's society.  Dunbar says that Francis LeMoyne fought against that type of thinking and said he "will not agree to the moral bankruptcy of slavery."

The discussion of fugitives brings Dunbar to show another document; she says that this letter and the other documents are all copies.  (But if that's the case, why bother with the conservator gloves?)

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

Altho, unacquainted with you personally, I feel it my duty to acquaint you (confidentially) of a circumstance which transpired here this morning, trusting my information may save a brother man from slavery.

Mr. McClean, former editor of the Argus, of Wheeling, Va., was in my office this — Wednesday — morning, & in conversation enquired who was U. S. Commissioner in Washington, Pa.  I did not know — He said "I suppose if you did you wouldn't tell me, as one of our citizens wants to seize a slave of his there "?"  He wouldn't tell me who the master was, but I feel it my duty to warn you that if there is no US Com. there the "master" will soon be there himself, in search ——

Please put your colored folks on their guard, especially fugitives from the neighborhood of Wheeling, Va.  The bloodhounds are on the scent. . .

Yours in haste,
(Yrs)
J. Heron Foster

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An interesting thing about this letter is that I found a published transcription of it, but it differs from what was shown on the program.  I was able to read and transcribe the entire letter as shown on screen, so I'm confused about the differences.  In addition to differences in punctuation, the published version has an extra sentence between the end of the program's version of the letter and the closing.  I wonder if the original of this letter even still exists, whereby someone could verify what it truly said.

F. J. LeMoyne et al., "Anti-Slavery Letters of Dr. F. J. LeMoyne, of Washington, Pennsylvania",
The Journal of Negro History 18:4 (October 1933), pages 466–467.

This letter confirms that LeMoyne was part of a community engaged in helped enslaved people find freedom.  The "colored folks" referred to in the letter would be both escaped slaves (fugitives) and free persons of color.  Even someone who had never been a slave could be taken and then enslaved.  Dunbar says that this letter (which is also undated) was written after 1850 and passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, which gave slave owners permission to cross state lines to recover their escaped slaves.

The narrator gives a more detailed explanation of the so-called "Bloodhound Law", given that name because slave owners literally used bloodhounds to try to track down runaways.  The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required that escaped slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in free states.  The U.S. Commissioners determined who was a former slave, but they did so without benefit of trials or defense.  The blacks who were caught were not permitted to speak on their own behalf.  Citizens were pressured to turn in not only fugitives, but also anyone suspected of helping fugitives.

Dunbar says that because it was a federal law, even assisting someone was a crime.  You could be sent to jail and fined.  Being caught could ruin you.  Bowen gets herself in high dudgeon again, realizing that neighbors were encouraged to rat out neighbors, as at other times in history.

For someone like LeMoyne, who was well placed in society, to help and to put himself and his family at risk was a strong statement.  Considering the commission from the American Anti-Slavery Society, the abolitionist meetings held at his house, and how he was a known contact to help fugutives, Dunbar concedes that it is safe to say LeMoyne was part of the Underground Railroad.  Bowen is thrilled and squeals, "So great!"  She is proud to have him in the family.

Bowen wonders if the LeMoyne home is comparable to Anne Frank's situation.  Dunbar says that fugitives were harbored in the home.  LeMoyne helped people gain employment and shuttled others further north.  His son appeared to have been in the middle of it.  Bowen says she likes to think she would have done the same thing in the same situation but admits she doesn't really know if she could.

Bowen asks again why LeMoyne would do what he did.  Dunbar can't help but think that maybe he was modeling the behavior and bravery of the fugitive slaves who escaped and made it north.  Bowen sees the same fight going on; LeMoyne chose a side and stood up against the federal government in the face of adversity.  She cries as she says it's good to have heroes.

She then asks Dunbar when LeMoyne died, which was in 1879.  He lived long enough to see Emancipation and the abolition of slavery.  (He also lived long enough to see the failure and dismantling of Reconstruction, but that wasn't brought up.)

In the wrap-up, Bowen describes how she was shocked to see the documentation about LeMoyne, even though she had heard the stories from family members.  She compares LeMoyne's world to modern society, where moral questions are being asked.  She's proud of her 3x-great-grandfather, who had the courage of his convictions.  (I presume she's also proud of her 4x-great-grandfather, who was also involved in the abolitionist movement, based on what we saw.)

Bowen is glad she looked at both sides of her family.  On the one side she found an abolitionist who stood up for people who had no rights.  On the other side was Charlie and his participation in the American Protective League.  He apparently felt the need to do what felt right to him, which was to protect citizens by violating others' constitutional rights (which smacks mightily of rationalization to me).  She plans to share the information she has learned about LeMoyne, who made hard choices.  She wants to forgive Charlie and his misguided actions as much as she wants to congratulate LeMoyne.  But both are family, and you have to love family.  You learn from them and try to do better.

Now that we've learned more about Big Charlie, the profile written by Elbert Hubbard becomes particularly interesting.  Hubbard was the founder of Roycroft, an arts and crafts community.  Check out the "Religious and political beliefs" section on his Wikipedia page.  Considering the kind of man Hubbard was, I suspect that he profiled people he actually respected and that the pieces were not pay to play or designed to curry favor.  He might not have written such a complimentary piece about Charlie if he had known the activities Charlie was going to be engaged in.  He died in 1915, so he never saw what Charlie became.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" - Katey Sagal

I'm still running behind on posting my comments! for Who Do You Think You Are?  Right now it seems no matter what I do, I can't catch up, especially with two episodes coming this Sunday.  But I'm still trying!

The teaser for the Katey Sagal episode says that she will make an unexpected discovery about her mother and then take a deep dive into that side of her family tree.  She will find brave relatives who stood by their beliefs even when their own lives were threatened.

The intro then tells us that Katey Sagal is a charismatic actress who began her performance career as a back-up singer.  It was not long before she was launched into the spotlight due to her role in 1987 as Peg Bundy on Married with Children (which I watched, but oh, those characters were mean).  Since then she has had nonstop success with appearances in more than 30 television shows.  Her most recent series, and where most people watching WDYTYA probably recognize her from nowadays, is the FX program Sons of Anarchy, for which she won a Golden Globe award.  She lives with her husband, writer/director Kurt Sutter, and three children.

Katey tells us that she was born in Hollywood.  Her parents were part of the leftie Hollywood community, against the Vietnam War and that type of thing.  Her father, Boris Sagal, was a TV director.  Her mother was born in Lombard, Illinois but lived most of her life in the South.  Her mother was a singer who started performing at the age of 11 on a radio program.  Her birth name was Sara Zwilling, but she used the stage name Sara Macon.  She was known as the Singing Sweetheart of Cherokee County (South Carolina, to be specific).  (And she appears in the Internet Broadway Database!)

Sara moved to New York for her career.  During World War II she sang in USO shows.  After she married, she gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother.  She put her creative life on the shelf, and Sagal thinks it's one of the reasons Sara was so supportive of Sagal's own desire to be a singer.  Sara really advocated for her.

Sara died when Sagal was only 19 years old.  Sagal's father, Boris, lost his life five years later.  Sagal has questions about her family but no parents left to ask.  She doesn't want that to happen to her own children; she wants them to know where they came from.  She wants to learn about her mother's singing career and about her years in the USO, but she has no living relatives.  She hopes this journey will change that.  She's decided to start in New York, where her mother lived when she joined the USO (or, more accurately, she was told by the producers that's where she would be starting).

Sagal goes to the New York Public Library, where she meets Kara Dixon Vuic, an Associate Professor of History at Texas Christian University.  (Now there's an uncommon name.  Where does the name Vuic hail from?  Slavic?  Has it been modified from something else?)  Vuic barely opens her mouth before there's a cut to the narrator (this editor actually has an active union card and gets paid for this?).

The narrator tells us a little about the USO (United Service Organizations, Inc.).  It was started by six civilian nonprofit organizations in 1941 and was created to help boost the morale of military servicemen serving during World War II.  As many as 7,000 performers appeared in live shows at home and abroad during the war.

When we return to the talking head . . . ahem, expert whom the producers took the time to hire for the program, she suggests to Sagal that they look for information about Sara in the Billy Rose Theatre Division at the library.  A lot of USO archival material is housed at the library.  Vuic tells Sagal to start with newspapers.  The Palm Springs Desert Sun of November 3, 1944 (available free online at the California Digital Newspaper Collection) appears to have had a section dedicated to the USO.  Across the top of the page is "With the Boys in the Service."  At the bottom of the page, an article titled "USO Camp Show" mentions Sara Macon, Sagal's mother.

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Desert Sun
November 3, 1944,
page 9

"Smooth Sailing", a new USO Camp Show's production bursting with mirth, melody and novelty treats came breezing along to Torney General Hospital yesterday, strictly for GI enjoyment.  The show was given at the Post Theatre at 12:30 p. m.

The cast included Sid Marlo, phonograph pantomimist, Hart and Bynes [sic], comedy jugglers, Mary Beth, vocalist, The Swingtette, four young lovely singers of jivy tunes, Rudy Miller and Nikki Chandler, magic act, Sara Macon, singer, Wayne Sander, pianist and Pat Lane, comedian who M. C.'d the show.

Hart and Dynes, juggling comedians, have been at it ten years now playing New England clubs and theaters over and over.  A super-song salesman, Mary Beth, has numerous nightclub audiences applauding for more of her sweet and smooth tunes.  During the past five years, she has appeared at Club Ball, Philadelphia; Club Charles, Baltimore; Latin Quarter, Hit Hat and 5100 Clubs, all in Chicago, and the El Morocco, Montreal.

Servicemen at the Stage Door Canteen found nothing dull about Sid Marlo's act, whether he was acting as M. C., comedian or pantomimist.  Pantomime with records is his most popular feature.

In her not yet 18 years pretty Sara Macon has crowded more excitement and accomplishment than most women have in a lifetime.  At the age of 12 she was singing on her own radio program in Spartenburtg [sic], giving the entire 14-minute entertainment, three times a week.  She stayed there two years.  Then she came to New York and NBC hired her after her first audition for two of their prorams [sic].

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After reading the article, Vuic shows Sagal a handbook with instructions that the USO performers had to follow.  Sagal reads parts of a section titled "Data for Artists (Cont'd)."

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1 - Do not mention anything about their wounds, sickness, or condition, nor notice that they have lost a limb.  Talk to them as you would to a friend or a healthy stranger.  If they mention their sickness, listen attentively, and gradually try and get into another subject.

2 - Try to avoid controversial subjects, such as strikes, unions, how much money is being made by civilians from this war, and r—

3 - Try and get into neutral subjects such as:

[Sections a, b, c, and d were not shown on screen at all.]

     e.  The marvelous education programs the U.S. Armed Forces Institute (USAIF) at Madison, Wisconsin, offers them through correspondence, available to all servicemen.

— attempting to arrive at a subject of interest to both of you.

4 - Do not sympathize with him as he does not want sympathy, and his morale is high.

5 - Do not ask about his COMBAT experiences or how he got wounded, because they usually want to forget.

6 - Do not tell him he will get well quickly for he does not like to be kidded.

7 - Do not ask to see the sickest boys, for they are all sick.

In conclusion, you are wanted and needed.  Appreciation will run high.

-- >< -- >< -- >< -- >< --

If you want to see the complete information, the two pages are online here and here.

It obviously was an intense experience, and Sara would have grown up fast.  Vuic then reveals that she (really, the producers) found an 87-year-old former USO performer who will be able to talk to Sagal about her mother's experiences.  As Sagal leaves the library and goes to meet the performer, she says she hopes that the person knew her mother.

At P. J. Clarke's (I believe it's the one at Lincoln Square), Hilda "Tinker" Rautenberg is waiting for Sagal.  She has a photo album from her time performing with the USO.  As Sagal pages through it, she comes across a photo with five girls and recognizes her mother as one of them.  She starts crying, because she has never known anyone who knew her mother.  Rautenberg tells her she and the other girls were four green college kids.  Sagal asks if all the girls hung out together, and Rautenberg says they even helped push pianos around in hospital wings.  They were doing their duty for the country during the war.

Rautenberg explains that Sara was already a professional and that the other four girls looked up to her.  She taught them a lot and helped them grow, and they had a good time together.  To be initiated into the club, you had to smoke a cigar, which makes Sagal laugh.  Then Rautenberg says that Sara was half actress and that she used to do one song (which happens to be from Oklahoma!):

I'm just a girl who cain't say no

I'm in a terrible fix

I always say, "Come on, let's go!"

Just when I oughta say nix

Sagal says that her mother taught her to play the guitar and sing, and now Sagal has taught her children; her children all play music.  Sagal sounds concerned when she asks Rautenberg whether Sara was happy.  Rautenberg responds immediately with an emphatic "yes!"  As Sagal gets up to leave, the two women hug and Rautenberg is glad that she brought "a little joy to fulfill your dream a little bit."  Sagal has a new friend, and I suspect that after the filming was done she has stayed in touch with Rautenberg.  (Rautenberg was one of the Swingtettes mentioned in the Desert Sun article.)

Sagal loves hearing that her mother was happy.  She remembers her mother singing the song from Oklahoma!.  Sara had ended up as the rebellious one in her somewhat conservative Southern family.  Now Sagal wants to know more about her mother's family; currently she knows almost nothing beyond the fact that her father's name was Daniel Zwilling.

Still in New York, Sagal next goes to the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, where she meets professional genealogist Vonnie Zullo (whom we have seen previously with Kelly Clarkson, Chris O'Donnell, and Cynthia Nixon  Zullo explains that there has been an explosion of research online and that Ancestry has made it easy to do (um, what about FamilySearch, Find My Past, and MyHeritage?  better yet, how does Zullo feel about being a shill?).  She suggests that a good place to start is looking in birth, marriage, and death (BMD) records.  (Well, I would probably start with the census.)  She has Sagal go to the BMD page on Ancestry and enter Daniel Zwilling in Illinois, where he lived.  The record they latch onto is Zwilling's entry on FindAGrave (second-hand information, anyone?).  It seems to be the right person, because the transcribed obituary on the page includes Sara Sagal as a surviving child.  The page lists Zwilling's parents as Daniel Zwilling and Alda Miller.  Zullo points out that knowing the mother's maiden name is key to opening research on that side of the family.

Sagal decides, "Now I'm curious.  I want to find more about her."  (So much for the Zwilling side of the family.)  Zullo says they should find her on the census to learn more about her.  Zwilling's page says that she was born in 1866, so now Zullo has Sagal use the Ancestry census search page for Alda B. Miller born in 1866.  No need to look for Daniel as a child with his family, of course, just trust what's online.  And searching with a middle initial is not recommended, because it appears very inconsistently on censuses, but the results are already known, so go ahead and throw it in!  And yes, results come up for the 1870 and 1880 censuses in State Center, Iowa.  They look at both censuses and find Alda with parents Abraham and Elizabeth Miller, and Abraham's parents Jacob and Rebecca Miller, all of them born in Pennsylvania.  Now that she knows their names, Sagal wants to dig deeper and find out who her ancestors were, and whether she might have inherited any of their traits.

United States 1870 Census, State Center, Marshall County, Iowa, July 20, 1870, page 2, lines 9–15

United States 1880 Census, State Centre Township, Marshall County, Iowa, June 1, 1880,
page 11 (written)/206C (printed), lines 35–44

With just this tiny amount of information (who needs a complete census survey?), Zullo now says that as a professional researcher, she looks for anyone who might have been in the military (which is her actual specialization), because military records can have great info.  The 1870 census was the first one after the Civil War; does anyone in the family look to be the right age to have served?  Of course someone is, and that is Alda's father, Abraham Miller.

Sagal searches for Abraham H. Miller born 1842 in Pennsylvania and lived in Ohio in draft records (here we go with the middle initial again).   They know he lived in Ohio at some point because that's where Alda was born.  And Abraham H. Miller shows up in the U.S. Civil War draft registrations in Chester Township, Wayne County, Ohio.  The page shows that he was 21 years old, born in Pennsylvania, and "furnished [a] substitute."  (In the image below, his is the last name on the list.)  Sagal misinterprets this, thinking that Miller took the place of another man, but Zullo explains the notation means that Miller paid someone else to take his place.  This was a legal alternative to serving in the military.  The obvious question, of course, is why would Miller do that?

At this point the program cut to a commercial.  When it returned, the narrator said that Sagal had just learned the "shocking revelation" that her ancestor had paid for a substitute to fight in the Civil War.  I thought that was a little out of line.  It was perfectly legal to do so.  The attempt to make it a huge, dramatic item was overblown, unnecessary, and tasteless.

In a classic WDYTYA non sequitur, Zullo then suggests that to help find the answer to that question Sagal should look on Newspapers.com, where they "might" be able to find an obituary for Miller.  That means, of course, an obituary is available, and indeed the search finds it.

State Center (Iowa) Enterprise, December 4, 1903, page 4

The first item to be jumped on in the obituary is that Miller was buried in the Dunkard cemetery.  Not surprisingly, Sagal has never heard of the Dunkards, and Zullo explains that they were also called the German Baptist Brethren and were an early pacifist church, similar to the Amish and Quakers.  (I know about the Dunkards!  The Sellerses are descendants of Alexander Mack, founder of the religion.)  Sagal says, "I like that.  I'm a peacemonger myself."

Based on this, Zullo tells Sagal that to learn more about her family she should see Zullo's colleague in Pennsylvania, where Miller was born.  All the obituary has is that Miller was born in Somerset County.  Doesn't sound like much to go on, does it?

As she leaves the building, Sagal says it would be awesome if Miller was a peace activist.  She is, and her mother was also.  Maybe it's something in their genes.

The next leg of Sagal's journey takes her to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Archives.  Philip Otterness, a professor of 18th-century migration at Warren Wilson College, tells Sagal that by using early censuses, wills, land deeds, and family records he was able to construct a family tree for her.  The one he produces is on an oversize piece of paper, but not the fancy calligraphed scroll we're used to seeing.  Not all of it was shown on screen long enough to see what was written, so I filled in the few gaps with data from other sources.

The tree begins at the bottom with Catherine "Katey" Sagal with no birthday.  Her parents were Boris Sagal, born October 18, 1923 in Ekaterinoslav, Ukrainian SSR, died May 22, 1981 in Portland, Oregon; and Sara Elizabeth Zwilling, born December 15, 1927 in Geneva, Illinois, died September 1, 1975 in Los Angeles, California.  Sara's parents were Daniel F. Zwilling, Jr., born March 27, 1895 in State Center, Iowa, died October 5, 1968 in Lombard, Illinois; and Virginia Lee Thompson, September 7, 1895 in Citronelle, Alabama, died May 10, 1987 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  Zwilling's parents were Daniel F. Zwilling, Sr., born October 18, 1844 in Ohio, died June 19, 1918 in Citronelle, Alabama; and Alda B. Miller, born December 23, 1866 in Pittsburg Junction, Ohio, died June 11, 1895 in State Center, Iowa.  Alda's parents were Abraham H. Miller, born April 17, 1842 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died December 18, 1903 in Melbourne, Iowa; and Elizabeth Fleming, born December 21, 1841 in Pennsylvania, died May 11, 1891 in State Center, Iowa.  Abraham's parents were Jacob A. Miller, born October 4, 1812 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died January 23, 1890 in Melbourne, Iowa; and Rebecca Horner, born March 20, 1815 in Pennsylvania, died April 16, 1891 in State Center, Iowa.  Jacob's parents were Abraham Miller, born June 15, 1780 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, died September 4, 1849 in Somerset County; and Maria Sayler, born December 12, 1780 in Pennsylvania, died November 15, 1846 in Somerset County.  This Abraham's parents were Peter Miller, born 1756 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, died November 1, 1818 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania; and Mary Stutzman, born 1756 in Berks County, died March 13, 1838 in Somerset County.  Mary's parents were Christian Stutzman, born about 1732 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, died before November 17, 1770 in Berks County; and Barbara Hochstetler, born about 1732, died before 1787 in Berks County.  The final generation shown is Barbara's parents, Jacob Hochstetler, born about 1712, died before 1776 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and an unnamed mother.

Sagal starts near the bottom and works her way up.  When she hits Jacob Miller, Otterness points out that he and his father were born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (so was Abraham H. Miller, by the way), a center of Amish settlements.  From the family records he has seen, the family appears to have been Amish.  Sagal is amused and says, "I'm gonna get a buggy."  Then she admits she doesn't know anything about the Amish and asks Otterness to tell her about them.  He says they are similar to the German Baptist Brethren.

The narrator steps in to say that the Amish religion was founded in Switzerland in 1693.  Three primary tenets were adult baptism, pacifism, and strict separation of church and state.  These ideas were considered radical at the time, and the Amish refusal to join the military challenged the established authorities in Europe.  The Amish were persecuted because they wouldn't fight.

Returning to the family tree, Otterness points out that the name Stutzman, as in Sagal's 5x-great-grandmother, is definitely an Amish name, as is Hochstetler, the name of Sagal's 7x-great-grandfather, Jacob Hochstetler.  Otterness then says that at the archives there is a relevant record.  Sagal reads the top of the page:  "List of Men's Names Imported in the Charming Nancy November 9, 1738."  She asks what a "Charming Nancy" is and is told it was the name of a ship.  She looks down the list of names and finds Jacob Hostedler but apparently has no trouble recognizing that spelling as an alternative for Hochstetler (after an appropriate cue, I'm sure).  Otterness explains that Hochstetler was her first ancestor to immigrate to America.  This particular ship went to Philadelphia and was during the first couple of years that the Amish came to North America.

Sagal wonders why they came to Pennsylvania.  Otterness says that European records show that there was lots of propaganda about Pennsylvania and that is was promoted a land of milk and honey.  It gave the Amith an opportunity to live in an environment where they could practice their religion openly, without persecution.

Sagal says she wants to learn more about her Hochstetler ancestor, including how to pronounce his name correctly, as she stumbles over it a couple of times.  Otterness tells her she should go to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where Tim Shannon will be happy to tell her more.

Leaving the archives, Sagal is still amused about learning she might be Amish, which she never thought about previously.  She says she'll buy a buggy and a bonnet.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is in Philadelphia.  Inside, Tim Shannon, a professor of history at Gettysburg College, is ready for Sagal.  He starts out by telling Sagal that people who study Pennsylvania history know the name Hochstetler well; he is not an obscure person.  He then brings out a bound volume of the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser newspaper.  He has Sagal page through the Thursday, October 6, 1757 issue (I can find only 1757 one issue of the newspaper online, that from May) and then instructs her to read a small item in the left column of one page:

From Reading we have Advice, that last Wednesday the Enemy burnt the House of one Hochsteller, and killed Hochstelle's Wife and a Young Man, and Himself, and three of his Children are missing.

Sagal pronounces the name as Hochsteller both times, even though the name is spelled two different ways.  She seems to have no problem understanding that it's referring to Hochstetler.  In addition to being horrified at what the story says, she asks Shannon who the enemy was and is surprised to learn it was Indians.

The narrator elaborates that Jacob and his fellow Amish were considered British subjects after settling in the North American colonies.  There had been relative peace with the Indians until 1754, when tensions between Great Britain and France erupted into the Seven Years War, or French and Indian War.  Many Indian tribes sided with the French because they hoped to recover land that had been taken by the British.  Indians began making attacks against settlements on the British frontier, which included where the Hochstetler family was living.

Focusing on the fact that Hochstetler and three of his children were missing, Sagal asks if they escaped.  Shannon says it was possible, or they might have been taken captive.  The good news is that the British Army in the 1750's keep good records, and he has a military document for Sagal to look at.  The document is "Intelligence given by John Hochstetler."  Sagal asks if that's still Jacob, and Shannon says that John could be an English translation of Jacob.  (No, not really.  They're two different names.  But I have found references online that indicate Hochstetler's name was Johann Jakob Hochstetler, and they might have been using the English-language equivalent of Johann.)  Sagal does not read the entire deposition on screen; you can read a massaged transcription here.

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Intelligence given by John Hochstetler [a Swiss by] Nation wich was settled in Bergs County [Berner] Town Ship, near Kauffmans Cr was taken by the Enemy Indians the 12th October 1757 and arriving at Shamokin 5th May 1758.

Question:  By What and how many Indians was you taken?

Answer:  By the Delaware and Shawanese, 15 in the whole

Question:  What became of you affter that?

Answer:  [After 3 days travel Est south Est,] I was brought to Buxotons Creek where it emptys in the Ohio [the Allegheny River] and we came to an Indian castle [which lys] upon the corner of it, there I was kept Prisoner all that time.

Question:  How do you escapd from there[, how long and in what maner do you was coming, and where did you arrive?]

Answer:  I got the liberty for hunting, one morning Wery soon I took my Gun finding  Bark Canoe on the River wherein I Crossd it, traveling Est for 6 Days from there I arrivd at the source of the west Branch, there I march for 4 Days further till I was sure of it there I took several blok's tying them together till I got a flott, there I flotted myself Down the River for five Days where I did arrive at Shamokin, living all the time upon Grass, I passd in the Whole for 15 Days.

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So Jacob was abducted October 12, 1757 and arrived at Shamokin, a British fort, on May 5, 1758, a total of seven months.  His deposition was taken by Colonel Henry Bouquet.  Jacob's children are not mentioned at all.

The narrator tells us that more than 1,600 white captives were taken by the Indians during the war.  The French did not require them to be turned over.  Captives were often given to Indian families which had lost family members themselves.  The family had the choice of killing a captive or adopting him.  Young captives were often adopted because they could assimilate more easily to Indian culture.

Jacob's children would have been valuable captives.  Going by the deposition, he probably didn't know whether they were dead or alive.

Sagal says she really wants to find out more about her ancestors.  Shannon says she needs to go to Berks County and talk to people who might have more information from oral tradition (i.e., there are no actual documents).

As she leaves the archives, Sagal is impressed by the amazing story of Amish resilience.

Driving through Reading, Pennsylvania, in Berks County, Sagal says she is going to learn more about the Hochstetlers in the place where they settled.  At the Reading Public Library she meets Dr. Ervin Stutzman, the Executive Director of the Mennonite Church USA.  Sagal remembers the name Stutzman from the family tree she saw and tells him, "I think we're related."  He confirms this and says, "We're seventh cousins."  Sagal is amazed because she doesn't know many relatives and gets a little teary.

Stutzman has some passages marked in a book that he brings out for Sagal to read.  It is Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler by the Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D. (originally published in 1912, but apparently it's had some revisions and updates since then).  The passages read come from pages 29, 30, 34, 36, and 37 in the scanned book to which I've linked.  Sagal reads parts here and there.

Sagal starts by reading from "The Massacre" (pages 29–30).

Dr. Stutzman emphasizes how important nonviolence is in the Amish faith.    You can give your life, but it is never permissible to take another's, even to save your own.  He adds that it was unusual for Indians to attack settlers, but this was during the war.

The next paragraph Sagal reads from is "The House Set Afire" and "Murder" (page 30).  She does not read the list of people who were in the house, which includes Barbara Stutzman, who is likely Sagal's 6x-great-grandmother.

Jacob Junior and an unnamed daughter (none of the women seem to be named in this) were killed and scalped.  Jacob Senior's (unnamed) wife was stabbed with a butcher knife and scalped.  Joseph, Christian, and another (unnamed) daughter were thre three children mentioned in the newspaper article who were taken by the Indians.  Joseph was adopted by the Indians (page 34):

Christian wad adopted by an older Indian and treated as a son (page 36):

Stutzman and Sagal don't discuss the fact that the Indian who adopted Christian died soon afterward.  Stutzman does talk about how it was common for many of the captives to develop loving relationships with their captors.

The war ended in February 1763.  The two boys had been with the Indians all that time.  (And along with not remembering names for the daughters, we apparently lost track of the one who was taken captive.  I haven't read through the complete Hochstetler descendants book, so I don't know if she's mentioned in there.)  In the fall of 1764, Colonel Bouquet signed a treaty with the Indians that required the release of all British subjects, about 200 people by that point.  Joseph and Christian were probably in that group.  They had no choice but to return to their prior home.  Sagal reads from the section about Christian's return (page 37).

Christian and many more of the former captives were reluctant to go back.  Some had to be handcuffed and forced to stay with their white families.  Sagal does not read from "His Conversion", but I included it here because it mentions that Christian converted to the Tunker Church.  Tunker is a variation of Dunkard; Christian converted to the German Baptist Brethren.  It's possible other members of the family did also, which might explain why Abraham H. Miller was buried in the Dunkard cemetery.

Stutzman tells Sagal to imagine Jacob's situation — he's a father who had lost his son; the son returns but wants to go back.  What would she way in that situation?  Sagal says that as a mother, you don't have control after a certain point.  She wonders, however, whether Jacob remarried and had more children.  She is happy to hear that he did, as she wanted him to be happy.  In fact, Stutzman says that Jacob has hundreds of thousands of descendants alive today.  Sagal looks overwhelmed to think that she has so many relatives.

Stutzman says that the Amish particularly value stories of people who were nonviolent in difficult situations.  Jacob's old homestead is an important site now.  The original buildings are gone, but a memorial plaque has been placed there.  It isn't far, and Sagal says she would like to go.

The belief in nonviolence is what strikes Sagal the most.  Jacob absolutely would not kill another person.  She can understand his faith, but it's far easier said than done.  She doesn't know if she wouldn't defend her children to the death.

The plaque is on a brick structure.  At first I thought it might have been a chimney that survived from the house, but after reading more of the book than was done in the program, I'm inclined toward the bake oven mentioned in "The Massacre."  The plaque reads, "ERECTED BY THE HOCHSTETLER DESCENDANTS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOREFATHERS WHO PERISHED HERE BY INDIAN MASSACRE SEPT. 19, 1757."

Sagal is very emotional at the end and is obviously holding back tears.  She is glad she comes from a family with strong convictions.  Learning all of this has made her miss her mother, who has been gone a long time.  Being a mother has been her most amazing experience, and she understands her own mother better now.  Her mother grew up quickly but gave her power to stand up for what she wanted.

Sagal ends by saying that she comes from resilient people, from survivors, and from people who stood up for what they believed in.  She feels that describes her also.

Of all things, I had a couple of fashion questions with this episode.  I could not figure out why Sagal was wearing a glove on only her left hand for about the first half of the show.  And I noticed that when she visited Dr. Stutzman she was wearing a plain black dress.  I wonder if that was in deference to his faith.