The "War to End All Wars"

"If You Want to Fight! Join the Marines" poster from Ohio
 History Connection was on the front cover of the November-
December issue of  Echoes magazine. The accompanying
article brought today's  subject to my attention.

Maybelle Leland Musser Hall 

Of course, we now know that World War I did not "end all wars", but that was the optimistic hope at the time. 

And because the casualties were so high, (in the United States alone, there were more than 53,000 combat deaths), the United State Marines took a highly unusual, and controversial step. In order to free up men handling the clerical duties that accompany wars and military service, in August of 1918, the Marines opened up enlistment to women. And over 300 women across the country responded. Among the women from Ohio was 28 year-old Mabelle Leland Musser of Hinckley, Ohio.

Mabelle Leland Musser was born on the 22nd of June 1889 to Victor R. and Lillian (Seelye) Musser. The couple only had one other child, a son, Maxwell, born in 1895. Mabelle spent her early years on the family farm near Hinckley. Fifty years later, she wrote a letter to the Gazette about her thrilling sleigh ride down the "Big Hill" near their home, wondering how she escaped without "broken legs and arms."

Shortly after 1900, the family moved to Medina, where Mabelle graduated from the 8th grade in 1903. 

A picture of the 8th grade graduates from 1903, printed in the Medina Gazette 18 Nov 1938 p. 1 sec 2.
The arrow points to Mabelle

In the spring of 1904, Mabelle took the Boxwell Examinations, and by passing, was entitled to attend any high school in the county "free of charge". 

While Mabelle undoubtedly graduated from high school, she is not listed among the alumni at Medina High School. And this may be the reason why...

In 1907, Mabelle's father sold his property in Medina. An August 30 article in the Medina Sentinel says that two of her friends gave her a "farewell reception" and by November, the family is listed as living in Oberlin. In Oberlin her father operated a grocery under the name Musser & Son at 155 North Pleasant.

Neither Mabelle nor Max are listed with the Oberlin High School graduates.

In 1910...

Medina Sentinel  29 July 1910, page 1.

Mabelle clearly wasn't content to sit at home or to just work as a clerk in her father's store. She had trained as a typist and stenographer.

For the next couple of years, Mabelle shows up in the social columns of the local newspapers, attending various events and going to dinners with her parents and friends. Then two things happened that changed her life forever.

The first event was not that unusual for the time.

Elyria Evening Telegram 18 June 1917 page 6.

The United States entered into World War I in April of 1917. A few short months later, Mabelle's only sibling, Max, enlisted in the United States Marines. Max went to Port Roval South Carolina for his basic boot camp and then was transferred to New York. in August, he entered Officer Training at Quantico, Virginia.He graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in July of 1918 and in October, was sent to France as part of a machine gun unit with the 11th Marine Regiment.

Then in August of 1918, the Marines, wanting to free up men for the battle front, opened up enlistments to women. In October, Mabelle stepped up to the challenge, enlisting as a private. She worked at Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C.

MUSSER - WWI Ohio Soldiers Sailors and Marines World War 1917-1918 p 487.

In April of 1919, Mabelle came home on leave and was visiting in Medina and was listed as a Corporal.

 Medina Sentinel April 4 1919 p. 7

Mabelle was discharged in October 1922. Max was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in August of 1919.

Upon their returns, Mabelle went to work in Cleveland and was very involved in the local American Legion, arranging for dances and entertainments and selling tickets, moving up to the Assistant Adjutant of the Woodrow Wilson Chapter. Max married a New Jersey woman and went to work at Goodrich and then moved to Warren, Ohio.

In April of 1920, their father, V.R., perhaps realizing that Max was not content with being the "& Son" of the grocery store in Oberlin, sold his business and moved back to Medina. His wife, Lillian, died in July of the same year.

Sometime after 1924, Mabelle met Alfred William Hall.  William, as he was known, came to Medina to his uncle, William Greenup, along with his friend Alfred Abrams. Mabelle and he were the attendants at Alfred's Cleveland wedding together in 1926.

On 17 September 1927, Mabelle and William Hall were married in Cleveland. Her occupation was "stenographer" and his was "pattern maker." She was 38 years old and he was 30.

By the 1930 Census, the couple is living on 153 Highland Road in Brecksville, Ohio. William is still listed as a pattern maker and Mabelle is a stenographer in a law office. Under "Veteran status" William is listed as a "No", even though he spent 4 years in the War for Britain. Mabelle's entry is blank. Perhaps she didn't consider herself a veteran because she didn't serve on the front lines? This is an attitude that I know for a fact persisted among women veterans right up until the 1990's.

By 1940, the couple had moved to Denver Colorado and has Mabelle's aunt, Etta Bigelow, living with them.

V.R. Musser died in 1941 in Medina. "Alfred"' William Hall registered for the draft for World War II. He died in Denver around 1969.

Mabelle lived on, staying active with veterans' groups and telling her story. She passed away in 1995 at a nursing home. Newspaper articles at the time listed her as the oldest living female veteran" and the "oldest-living member of the U.S. Marine Corps".

At 106, she deserves both of those accolades and scores of others for the contributions and sacrifices she made.

Contributed to Findagrave.com by Cheryl Hall
Fort Logan National Cemetery
Denver, Colorado

Sources:

Cleveland Plain Dealer
     25 September 1927
Denver Post
     27 October 1995, page D-8
Elyria Chronicle Telegram
     V.R. Musser Resigns Oberlin Position, Will Go to Medina, 1 April 1920, page 1
     Mrs. V.R. Musser Dies at Medina 19 July 1920, page 7
     Was Oldest Female Veteran, 28 October 1995, page D-2
Elyria Evening Telegram
     3 April 1919, page 11.
Lady Hell Cats Women Marines of World War I by Kenna Howat
The Legal Genealogists Veterans Day November 11, 2018
Medina County Gazette
     18 November 1938, page 1 section 2.
     28 October 1955, page 2.
Medina County Sentinel
     12 Septembe 1913, page 5.
     4 April 1919,page 7
     18 September 1924, page 7
     4 February 1926, page 1.
Women Marines in World War I

Also, various records were found on Ancestry Library Edition and Fold3, both available from within the Medina County District Library system.