sixty-fifth anniversary of a life change

This past Saturday (12 Sept. 2009) was the sixty-fifth anniversary of a pivotal day in my father’s life—the day he was wounded.

Private Gene Watts' regiment of the 29th US Infantry Division was attempting to retake Brest, France from German control. I believe that Dad was laying telephone wire when shrapnel shattered his right thigh. If I understand correctly the other soldiers who had accompanied him died that night, and he lied alone in the field all night.

Doc was twenty years old.

Dad rarely spoke of what happened that day, and I never heard him complain about what happened or blame anyone.

Silver Star

The below recommendation was kept by my father, Gene Watts. Dad and three or four other GIs were with Lt. Morehouse, as part of his patrol on the night documented. For security, the typed recommendation was redacted, but Dad’s handwriting filled in some of the blanks. This post is dedicated to Lt Carlton E. Morehouse, my father, and their companions.

For gallantry in action against the enemy in *****, *****. On 13 July 1944, Second Lieutenant Morehouse’s platoon was given the assignment of capturing two known enemy positions located on the road leading to ***** {St. Lo}. Such positions were to be used as a line of departure for the **** {3rd} Battalion, ***** {115th} Infantry supported by tanks in a contemplated offensive, the plans for which were predicated on a prompt acquisition of this sector. Largely through the aggressiveness and general leadership qualities of Second Lieutenant Morehouse, these enemy positions were captured. However, as the infantry and tanks were moving forward, they were subject to intense enemy mortar and artillery fire delaying their advance and inflicting casualties. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Second Lieutenant Morehouse, although in the face of decimating enemy fire, moved forward to a vantage point and located the enemy guns. From there, Second Lieutenant Morehouse immediately relayed fire data to his own artillery which effectively forced the enemy artillery to withdraw. While in the performance of this heroic act, Second Lieutenant Morehouse was mortally wounded by enemy fire. The aggressiveness, courage, and unselfish devotion to duty displayed by Second Lieutenant Morehouse reflect great credit upon himself and Military Service.

My father sent the above home to his own mother, and asked that she remember Lt. Morehouse in her prayers.

For the record, at the time of his death, Carlton Morehouse was twenty-three years, and two years earlier, in civilian life, had a been a musician. He rests in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 11 Site 819.

Let's all pray for him.

Watchman: a small genealogy mystery

Today, I may have solved a small genealogy mystery.

As mentioned, in past blog entries, one of my great-great-grandfathers was John B. WATTS. He was a carpenter—variously documented in census records and Buffalo City Directories as ‘joiner,’ ‘carpenter,’ and ‘ship carpenter.’

By the way, as also mentioned in an earlier blog entry, great-great-granddad was also a volunteer fireman.

The mystery, though, was an 1851 Buffalo City Directory listing for “Watts John, watchman h. 144 ellicott.” That was the family address. However, in the 1850 Directory, g-g-granddad’s occupation was listed as carpenter, and census identified him as ship carpenter. The ’52 Directory also said ship carpenter. So, where did the watchman occupation come from? Did John B. take a year off from carpentry? That seems unlikely. Was there another John Watts in the family? Possible, but I see no other evidence to support the existence of a namesake at that time.

Well…today I was reading Family Life in Early Buffalo. {Seriously, I was.} There was a reference to the Watch House, and went on to explain that:

At night, the watchmen, who doubled, as firefighters, would patrol the city streets in pairs, wearing leather fire hats with “City Watchman” painted on the forepiece....

Volunteer fireman, watchman,…ah, maybe that makes sense!

Yes, I am easily amused.

American Legion Francis O'Laughlin post No. 614 (Part 2)

My March 21st blog entry was about the possibility that an American Legion post was named in honor of my great-uncle, Frank O’Laughlin. At the time, all I had was a single 1919 Buffalo Express article, which indicated that a charter for a new Legion post had been presented. My immediate research plan was to contact Buffalo Fire Historical Society and the Legion's NY Historian. No response was received from the Buffalo Fire Historical Society. The Legion’s Historian did reply though.

In April, RJ Blevins—Historian, The American Legion, Department of New York—wrote. Unfortunately, Mr. Blevins informed me that Post No. 614 was in another part of New York, and bore a different name. Sadly, he wrote that he "cannot explain the newspaper article or the fact given of the charter being delivered.” Mr. Blevins was very nice, and polite, and provided me with names of current and past officials within the Erie County American Legion, who he felt, might be able to help me.

Despite Mr. Blevins’ kindly encouragement, I felt the Express article was a red herring, and most likely a dead-end.

Then…last week I received another letter from RJ Blevins! He had uncovered additional information. He discovered that, although post numbers are no longer reused, in the early years some numbers (such as this post’s) were reused. He wrote:

"The Francis A. O’Laughlin Post, No. 614 in Buffalo was chartered in 1919. The post was active about four or five years, then turned in their charter, around late 1923. The membership was low and the then officers, could not increase the said membership to keep the post active."

Well, maybe it is not a dead-end. So, I guess I will contact the individuals Mr. Blevins suggested at the Erie County Legion.







Note: Photograph courtesy of Lynn Dziak

A veteran’s birthday

Today would have been my father’s eighty-fifth birthday.

All my earlier blog entries have been about historical facts, or speculations, that I discovered through family research. Today is a bit different. I feel like writing about my father; and I cannot think of any facts that my family history research has revealed about “Doc.”

Dad’s name was Eugene Watts. He signed his name as “Eugene J. Watts,” but Joseph was not a middle name given at birth. It was his Catholic Confirmation name, which he bore with the pride that I am sure would have please the Bishop. When he was alive I did not know this, but Dad was not the first “Eugene” in the family. He had a granduncle with the same name; but I do not know if Doc knew that, or if Dad was named in honor of that gentleman. (So, I guess my family history research did give me some new fact about Doc—or at least his name.)

My father was a relatively quiet man, who very effectively and efficiently lived his life based on a few core principles. He was not loud or gregarious. He possessed a knack for economy of words, which is a trait that he did not pass along to his offspring. Although he did, surprisingly, leave us one poem, I have never seen a letter, diary, or story written by him. Never more than a crisp, factual, two or three sentence note. However, one day he felt compelled to leave a summary of his Army experience. This being Doc’s birthday, and with Veteran’s day having just past, I thought that I would share Dad’s characteristically concise chronology of his war experience.

Like many men of his age, and slightly older, Dad served in World War II. Moreover, like many of that number, his life was irreversibly changed by that service. In Doc’s case, there was a physical change, which the Veteran’s Administration categorized as a 40% disability—and a scar on this leg that was still pretty darn impressive three decades later. Although I have no real evidence as to how the experience changed him emotionally and spiritually, I have no doubt that it did—and that it therefore shapes me.


Anyway, the below words are my father’s. Hats off to him, and those he mentions, including my uncle Ralph “Juni” Watts, and Dad’s buddy Don Corrigan. We miss ya all.

--------------------------

Eugene Watts
USA #32929808
March 1943 – October 1945

Inducted March 30th, 1943
Fort Niagara—April 1st, 1943
Sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training (75th Division)
First furlough—October 1943
Home of 5 day pass Christmas 1943
Maneuvers in Louisiana, January 1943
Start of journey “overseas”—to Camp Polk, La.
Then to Camp Mead, Md.
Next to Camp Shanks, NY
Left Port of New York 3:30AM March 23rd, on a “liberty ship.”
Landed Belfast, Ireland, April 4th
Based in Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Shipped to Bristol, England May 1944 (Westminster)
Left from South Hampton, England, and landed on Omaha Beach June 13th.
Assigned Company L—115th regiment, 29th Division.
In battles at St. Lo, Percy, St. Germain, Vire, and Brest, France.
Wounded at Brest, Sept. 12th, 1944, right leg broken by shrapnel.
(Sometime between St. Lo and Brest, had a visit from Ralph, whom I had not seen in almost two years.)
Sent to evacuation hospital in France, placed in a “body cast.”
Returned to England via L.S.T (Navy landing craft)
Move to Army hospital at Southampton, England.
Shrapnel removed from right thigh after infection developed.
Left Southampton Sept. 21st, 1944 and moved to 74the General Hospital at Bristol, England.
Traction applied.
While there had a visit from Don who was stationed in England with the Air Force.
Taken out of traction and again placed in body cast for shipment home.
Moved to 110th General Hospital for P.O.E. (point of embarkation)
(met Miss O’Mara here, she was an Army nurse from Buffalo—Mariemont St.)
Left the 110th on Dec. 6th 1944 Army hospital ship.
Hospital ship landed Charleston, S.C. Dec. 25th AM (Christmas)
Sent to Stark General Hospital. Called home from there Christmas morning.
Then sent to Battey General Hospital at Rome, Georgia.
Leg brace applied Feb. 1st, 1945
Home on furlough shortly after leg brace applied (Feb.)
Sent to Camp Edwards, Mass. For rehabilitation.
Home on furlough again in August.
Discharged from Army Oct. 30th 1945.
Again met Ralph, both coming home, discharged. His train from N.Y. made connections with mine from Mass., at Albany, N.Y.
(A strange coincidence to end this short story.)

John Potts — Cooper, Commissioner, Democrat...

Trolling through old Buffalo, New York, newspapers (on line), I see many references to John Potts as Water Commissioner.

Most likely, this is my mother’s father’s maternal grandfather. Unfortunately, I have not found any references to his home address, or any other fact that could confirm that this is my great-great-grandfather. However, one of my cousins assures me that there were no other known Potts families in the Black Rock section of Buffalo, so I am reasonably confident that this is my guy.

By trade, this second great-grandfather was a cooper—a maker of casks, barrels, and the like. He owned a business on Tonawanda Street, in Buffalo, NY. Apparently, he was very active in neighborhood politics.

First, a bit of history of the Water Works….

According to an 1860 Gazetteer of the State of New York, published by R.P. Smith:
“Lower Black Rock is supplied by the Jubilee Water Works with water obtained from the Jubilee Springs. It is conducted through wooden pipes, of which there are more than two miles laid…. The Jubilee Water Works Company was organized in 1827, with a capital of $20,000. At one time the company had 16 ml. of wooden pipe laid, fully supplying Black Rock and a part of Buffalo: but, while the increase of population created a greater demand for water, the supply from the springs diminished, and in 1845 the citizens of Lower Black Rock purchased the works and confined the supply to their own village.”

The above water district geography is consistent with John Potts’ Tonawanda Street home.

A bit more info was available from "A New Look at an Old Neighborhood: Historic Homes of Buffalo’s Linwood Avenue Preservation District 1820-1982” (excerpted on the Internet at http://www.buffaloah.com/h/buffalo/pollack.html)

“The Jubilee Water Works was the first Company to successfully supply water to the Village and later, the City….
Pump logs were laid from the spring to Black Rock, and later, along Main Street to the Canal basin….
Water was supplied to the families of Black Rock at the rate of seven dollars annually. Stores and offices were charged five dollars….
Another water supply supplemented the Cold Springs and the Jubilee Logs in the 1840's and 1850's….
Sentiment did not deter city officials from covering the springs when road paving was planned. The Cold Springs were thought destroyed in 1890, during construction of the Bird Avenue sewer. But recent excavations for the rapid transit system have revealed that a large quantity of cool, clear water is still running beneath the surface of Main and Ferry Streets. And the mouth of the Jubilee Springs is still visible in Forest Lawn Cemetery, marked with a plaque near the Main Street entrance….
At the turn of the twentieth century, Buffalonians were still drinking water from a branch of the original Jubilee Springs, which emptied into Jubilee Lake in Forest Lawn Cemetery.”

Probably more that anyone wanted to know about the history of Buffalo’s water supply. Surprisingly, there is more detail available on the internet! Anyway….

Searching newspapers, from April 1865 though January 1867, I found reference to John Pott(s) as Water Commissioner of the Jubilee Water Works. The name was usually spelled “Potts,” but occasionally “Pott.” All the Water Commissioner references were within Buffalo’s Common Council proceedings. A January 1866 item was the Annual Report of the Jubilee Water Fund, from Jubilee Water Commissioner John Pott to the Common Council of Buffalo. Several news articles reported John’s $50.00 quarterly salary.

So, apparently John Potts was politically active.

Along more partisan political lines, I found articles—from September 1866 and October 1867—mentioning John Potts as an officer of the Twelfth Ward Democratic Club. That is the ward where my Potts ancestors lived in the 1860’s. John Potts was also listed as being appointed to the 1863 Democratic “Vigilance Committee,” to watch the polls. I guess this branch of the family tree was not filled with Abraham Lincoln supporters. {Oh well, at least we kept the two party system alive.}

Moving away from politics, to business, I did find one other interesting lead. On 10 Sep 1885, the Buffalo Courier reported “The articles of Incorporation of the North Buffalo Permanent Savings and Loan association were files for record yesterday. The officers are: President, J. M. Simon; vice-president, Adam Thiel; treasurer, John Potts; secretary, Gottlieb Bealer; attorney, Henry Guenther.” I could not find any other references to the North Buffalo Permanent Savings and Loan association, but it may prove to be another interesting clue to our family history. Maybe.

The Case of the Missing Plumber

Here is an intriguing family history item…

I saw an interesting article about Frank Potts, a distant uncle from my mother’s side of the family. He was brother to my great-grandmother, Mary Ann Potts. Expressing it the long way, Frank was my mother’s father’s mother’s brother.


I do not know much about Frank. He was apparently my great-grandmother’s only brother (in a family of eight children). Professionally, he was plumber. He married Louisa Forness, who was from a prominent Black Rock (Buffalo) family. In 1879, they had a child. Unfortunately, Louisa died only two years later, at age 24.

Anyway, this article stunned me. On Sunday, May 17, 1896, the Illustrated Buffalo Express reported the following:

FRANK POTTS MISSING.

HE DISAPPEARED AFTER EATING HIS DINNER ON APRIL 30TH AND HAS NOT BEEN HEARD FROM SINCE.

Frank Potts, a master plumber, who has a shop on Niagara Street, near Hamilton Street, has disappeared. He has been missing from his home. No. 327 Amherst Street, since April 30th. At noon on that day be came home to dinner, took a short nap, then went away. He has not been seen or heard of since by his relatives. Potts Is 48 years old. He is a widower and has a daughter 16 years old. He lived with his mother, while his daughter lived with another relative. The police have been notified, and suggestions of foul play have been made. His home life is said to have been happy, his business good, his circumstances comfortable.

I do not know what happened, but I know that Frank was alive several years later. Therefore, apparently, the story has a relatively happy ending. Still, I would love to a subsequent newspaper article (or perhaps a police report).

Interesting, eh?