USAHEC Visit – Day 1

We entered USAHEC, and asked the Information Desk to direct us to the Archives. We reported to the Reference Desk. We were issued a key for a locker, and our Research Cards were created.

 

The Specialist had to take my list and translate it into the locations of the material. Then we took the list to the Circulation Desk.

The materials were brought out to us after a very short wait.

 

 

This box held SGT Mansfield’s diary. I scanned it for the events and dates that were included, and to see if Joseph McMahon was mentioned by name. (He was not.) The events described in the diary had been outlined in the 51st Pioneer Infantry history that was found at NARA.

 

 

This was the folder.

 

 

The staff was incredibly helpful with helping us set up to photograph items in the folder. They have camera stands and lights available. We got to work photographing the diary for future research.

 

 

Diary in the WWI Veterans Survey Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center

Transcribing that diary will be on my to-do list.

 

 

Using the document setting on my digital camera, and hand holding the camera, I photographed the 51st Pioneer newspaper, published during the occupation of Germany, in Cochem. These newspapers will eventually be digitized.

 

Newspaper in the Periodical Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center

 

There were few columns about Company B, but none of them mentioned Joseph F. McMahon.

 

Newspaper in the Periodical Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center

 

The Moses Thisted Collection had only one folder for 51st Pioneer Infantry.

 

 

 

In it was only one picture.

 

Photo in the Moses Thisted Photograph Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center

 

Photo in the Moses Thisted Photograph Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center

 

When you are done for the day, you will clear out the locker, return the key, and sign out. If you are done with the materials, you wheel your cart back to the Circulation Desk for refiling. If you are coming back, the Specialists will ask you to fill in a hold slip that includes the date that you are returning. Your materials can be kept for you for a maximum of ten calendar days.

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USAHEC Visit – Homework

The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) holds a tremendous amount of information that may assist you in your research about U.S. Army ancestors. They may not have an image of your ancestor, or papers with you ancestor’s name, but there may be material from contemporaries that will shed light on your ancestor’s experience. The Staff is extremely knowledgeable and is available to help you.

There are books about military history, and Army publications. There are extensive collection of unit histories and photo archives. There are veterans’ surveys from the Spanish-America War to the Cold War. There are oral histories. There are collections of personal papers, diaries, and letters. U.S. Army doctrinal, training, and administrative publications. Most post-WWII U.S. Army Chiefs of Staff have donated their personal papers to USAHEC. This is a brief description.

 

Homework:

Before your visit, locate it of items or collections of interest using USAHEC’s online catalog. Tutorials to help find material are available here.

When you have located material of interest, contact USAHEC by e-mail or phone to verify that the materials are available. Also ask what other material they might recommend for the topic you are researching.

The list of documents I wanted to view were:

1. The 51st pioneers [weekly]
2. The Moses Thisted photograph collection
3. The WWI Veterans Survey Pioneer Infantry documents for SGT John Mansfield
4. The SGT John Mansfield photographs (Photographs from the survey had been transferred to the Photo Archives.

I had e-mailed a Technical Information Specialist to check if these materials would be available on the dates of my visit. As it turned out, Item #4 did need to be cleared and would be before I came.

 

NARA II, College Park Visit – Day 3

We returned to NARA several days later to view the boxes in RG120 that held records from the 51st Pioneer Infantry.

In this part of the record set, the documents were arranged by company.

 

 

There were twelve boxes in all. (Company B was on the desk.)

 

 

One of the interesting things was the correspondence books. Before computer indexing, people had to know how to locate items in their records. I have used index books for land and probate records. (See the tutorials.)

 

 

There was my Grandfather’s name as his records were transferred from the IV Corp vocational school in Mayen Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

There was an earlier letter acknowledging the transfer of their records. Joseph McMahon was detached to the IV Corps Vocational school at Mayen Germany, on 31 Mar 1919.

 

 

Fourteen Jewish soldiers from Company B requested leave to attend the Jewish Festival in Coblenz on 14 Apr 1919. The 51st Pioneer Infantry Entertainment Officer asked the YMCA to furnish a concert model guitar to Company B; they were planning to have a show ready by the first of April, possibly after the recovery of a cast member from an accident.

Much of the 51st Pioneer Infantry Headquarters’ correspondence dealt with promotions, demotions (some voluntary), transfers, requests for leave and cancellations of Liberty Bonds. The correspondence included stations before Camp Wadsworth, including Camp Meade and Lemoyne, PA (as the 10th NY Infantry).

The Summary Sheets for the Courts Martial of the 51st Pioneer Infantry were also in this record group. There was an index by last name to help locate the sheets to learn the details of the charges and the findings. Punishment might be fines, forfeiture of pay, or hard labor.

At some time in the future, I will head back to digitize all the folders in RG165 for the 51st Pioneer Infantry, and to read more about the 51st Pioneer Infantry in RG120.

NARA II, College Park Visit – Day 2

Day 2

I went directly to the Research Consultation room, and got help to order the RG120 boxes to find the ones for the 51st Pioneer Infantry.

Since there are limits on the number of boxes, from a number of areas, I went back to the RG120 boxes to copy the interesting documents. This required a stop at the copying desk for them to approve the copies. Those documents required declassification markings when copying and photographing.

The records will be held for three days, unless you sign to return them. I returned those five boxes.

 

 

Then I asked for help ordering the next box in the RG165 series. Hopefully, that box would contain folders with information about the 51st Pioneer Infantry.

It was time for lunch while waiting for the document pull.

The first box we checked was the RG165 box.

 

 

There were twenty folders about 51st Pioneer Infantry. One of them was the history of the 51st Pioneer Infantry. That was a great document. I copied it and photographed it with my digital camera. One page highlighted the activities of Company B.

Another interesting folder contained the Station Lists for Headquarters, Supply and each Company of the 51st Pioneer Infantry.

There’s still more records in RG120 to view!

3 Reasons to use WorldCat (and a Tutorial)

Have you been using WorldCat? If not, you need to be.

1. WorldCat is the world’s largest library catalog. It spans many libraries, including those at the Family History Library, the Allen County Public Library, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
2. WorldCat lets you search for publications of interest. It lets you save lists of the publications. You can also save your searches to run them again at a future time.
3. Last, but not least, WorldCat helps you find where the materials are located. You can enter your zip code and find out if there is a copy near you. If none is nearby, you can also investigate an inter-library loan.

Give the new WorldCat Tutorial a try. In it, WorldCat is searched for publications about the 51st Pioneer Infantry.

 

Anchor’s Aweigh: Getting the 51st Pioneer Infantry to France and Back

Anchor’s Aweigh: Getting the 51st Pioneer Infantry to France and Back

The history of the 51st Pioneer Infantry included information about the ships that brought Joseph McMahon to France and back home again. Gathering images and more information about these ships fleshes out the details of his WWI service.

 

From U.S. to Brest, France

On 29 July 1918 the 51st Pioneer Infantry left Camp Merritt, NJ, and marched to Alpine Landing. From there they were placed on ferries to Hoboken, NJ. Then they boarded the steamer USS Kroonland. On 8 Aug 1918 the U.S.S. Kroonland arrived in Brest, France in the rain.

The U.S.S. Kroonland brought troops to France six times. She also made postwar trips, then was returned to International Mercantile Marine Company.

The journal of Gordon Van Kleeck, a private in Company F of the U.S. 51st Pioneer Infantry, includes the story of the crossing. The soldiers wore overalls rather than uniforms, and sat in the lifeboats during the early morning until sunrise in case there was a submarine attack. You can read Pvt. Van Kleeck’s journal at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~treebz65/momside/vankleeck/gordonvk/gvkjournal/gvkjournalindex.html

Brest was the location of the American Naval Headquarters in France. More than 30 destroyers and multiple yachts escorted troop and supply convoys were based at Brest.

While the Kroonland sailed past St. Mathieu lighthouse through LeGoulet Channel into Bay of Brest, French and British airplanes flew low looking for submarines. Several lighter-than-air blimp ships flew low in front of the convoy.

The image below shows the U.S.S. Kroonland at the New York Navy Yard, on 24 July 1918, just before its trip to bring the 51st to France. It is painted in “dazzle” camouflage.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy,  photo NH 52093, Source: Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC).

Below, an airship escorts a convoy into Brest Harbor in 1918.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy photo NH 121616. Source: Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC)

This picture shows a landing at Brest, France, 8 August 1919.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy photo NH 965. Source: Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC)

 

From St. Nazaire, France to the United States

On 23 June 1919 the 51st Pioneer Infantry sailed from St. Nazaire on the U.S.S. Wilhelmina. On 3 July 1919 they arrived in New York harbor After the Armistice she made 7 round trips returning the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) troops from France. She was decommissioned on or after 6 Aug 1919 and on 16 Aug 1919 she was returned to the Matson Navigation Company. She was originally bought to carry passengers and cargo between the west coast of the US and Hawaii. She purchased by a British shipping company was sunk by a U-boat in 1940 while in a convoy between Nova Scotia and Liverpool.

The USS Wilhelmina is shown in front of a coaling facility at the New York Navy Yard on 1 May 1918, painted in dazzle camouflage.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy photo NH 47885. Source: Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC).

 

Dazzle ships

The dazzle camoflauge patterns were painted on the ships in grey, black and blue. They were effective at distorting a ship’s silhouette and making it harder for the enemy to estimate a ship’s type, size, speed, and heading. You can read more about the dazzle ships at The Vintage News.

To learn more about ships in your ancestor’s history I recommend visiting the websites for the Naval History and Heritage Command Photography Collection,  Nav Source Naval History  and Wikipedia.