When Being a Member of the Swastika Club Was a Good Thing

Image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

 Long before Adolph Hitler adopted the swastika as the symbol for his Nazi party, it was a symbol of spirituality in Eastern cultures and a symbol of good luck in the West.

American Farmer, by Solon L. Goode. 1907, page 101. 

Many different groups adopted the swastika as a symbol, including one here in Medina County.

Finding a mention of a Swastika Club meeting in an old newspaper was shocking and I had to find out more about the group.

Medina Gazette, 29 March 1935, page 1.

Most of the newspaper articles about the club were just announcements of meetings or events like luncheons and banquets. The club's purpose was elusive.

Articles like this one did little to expose the club's purpose.
Medina Gazette 5 March 1937, page 3.

Articles like the following one, from a 1917 issue of Ladies Home Journal seem to indicate that it was a woman's club:

Ladies Home Journal January 1917 page 52.

But that was a national organization. The Medina club could have a different purpose.

Finally, this article from 1935 sheds some light on the Medina group:

Medina Gazette 12 March 1935 page 1.

So the Medina Swastika Club was a "girls'" business club loosely affiliated with the YWCA.

The articles in the digitized edition of the Medina newspapers only span the 1930's with a peak of articles in 1935. No one article showed the beginnings of the group, but this one tells what happened to them:

Medina Gazette 3 March 1939 page 2.

Because of the chaos as World War II commenced in Europe and because the Nazi Party had adopted the symbol, the ladies changed the name of their group. Bravo, Ladies!

Eastern cultures sometimes still use the swastika as a spiritual symbol, which can cause confusion among Western cultures who view it as a symbol of the terrors and genocide of the Nazi regime.

SOURCES:

• American Farmer, by Solon L. Goode. 1907, page 101.
• "File:Four-Swastika collage(transparent).png; Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, 2017.
• Ladies Home Journal January 1917 page 52.
• Medina Gazette
• 12 March 1935 page 1.
• 29 March 1935, page 1
• 5 March 1937, page 3.
• 3 March 1939 page 2.
• "Swastika" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2018.

Today and every day...

Happy Thanksgiving 

to all my friends, 

and family,

and strangers, too!

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.

Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

Veteran's Day - regardless of how we celebrate it, Veteran's Day occurs every November 11 in the US. It originated as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of "The Great War" or World War I.

Combat was to cease on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month- 11 November 2018. In 1938, it became a national holiday to commemorate ALL U.S. veterans.

And in those closing minutes of the fighting, Medina County lost one of her own. Neil Conkling died right as the War was ending on that day in 1918.

When I first read about Neil's story in the latest edition of the Medina County Genealogical Society newsletter, I wondered how much of his short life we could document.

Starting on the Ancestry Library Edition database, I found him in the 1910 census with his widowed mother, Hattie,  and sister, Pearl. And I discovered that he was born in 1890, so he was 28 years old when he died. (I had estimated his birth year as around 1898.) He was listed as a laborer at "Bee Keeper's Supply Co." or as we know it, A.I. Root Company. Ancestry also had an entry for his Ohio Soldier Grave Registration that directed me to Fold3.

Neil Conklin with widowed mother Hattie, and sister Pearl. Pearl also worked at "Bee Keepers Supply Co."
1910 Census, Montville Township, Village of Medina, Medina County, Ohio.
From Ancestry Library Edition (LE).

Fold3's copy of the Graves Registration Card shows his military unit - 28th Infantry, company M and that he was a Private. It also has the image of his military draft registration. In June of 1918, he was working as a weaver at Medina Carpet & Rug Whrs (warehouse?). And it had something I have never seen before - the cable from "Pershing" (Possibly General Pershing?) listing Neil among the casualties.

Neil Conkling's grave registration card gives Garrettsville, Ohio as his birthplace. Garrettsville is in
Portage County, Ohio.  Eldora Fredcerick is listed as his next of kin.
Grave Registration Card from Fold3.

World War I Draft Registration Card from Fold3.

Cablegrams Exchanged Between General Headquarters American
Expeditionary Forces and the War Department from Fold3.
This is the document that reported Neil among the casualties.

Heading back to Ancestry, Neil was listed with his father, Austin, mother and sister in Windham Township, Portage County, Ohio in 1900. He is just 9 years old.

Neil is listed with his father, Austin, who was a farmer, mother Hattie and sister Pearl.
1900 Census Windham Township, Portage County, Ohio from Ancestry LE.

Neil's Tombstone at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.

The database also had 2 listings for Neil on Findagrave.com. One shows that he was buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Lorraine, France and the second shows that he was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, here in Medina. (The Findagrave listing in Medina does not include a photo of the tombstone.)

Ancestry LE also included a scan from the Ohio Adjutant General's WWII listing of sailors and soldiers:

This entry from Ohio Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918, provides a synopsis of Neil's short military career.

These resources led me to wonder what newspaper articles I might be able to find on Neil and his family. From the census, we know that Neil's father, Austin, died between 1900 and 1910. What happened to his mother, Hattie, and sister, Pearl? They are not listed as next of kin on the Graves Registration card.

For easier access I went to the Newspaper Archives database from the Akron and Summit County Public Library and found several articles.

Medina Sentinel  16 Nov. 1917, page 10. News of Neil's draft into the war.

Medina Sentinel  25 April 1919, page 1

This article is the first news the people of Medina had of Neil's death five months after the fact. It also mentions that both his mother and sister had died before he went into the army.




The Medina Gazette is not yet digitized for this time period, so next  I checked the Medina Library's Obituary Index to find listings for his family members. From there I used the microfilm to view the articles.











The  April 25, 1919 Gazette had this to say about Neil's death:

Neil's father died in 1905:

Medina Gazette  22 Sep 1905, page 8.

Pearl Conkling died in 1913:

Medina Gazette 15 Aug 1913, p.8

And Neil's last remaining family member, his mother, Hattie, died in 1916:

Medina Gazette 21 July 1916, p.5

A deeper search in Ancestry Library Edition turned up two other documents:

The Farmers' Directory of Medina County 1916-1921,  page 20.

The exact date of Neil's residence on East Liberty is uncertain since the directory covers multiple years.

And something else I have never seen before:

U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939

The passenger list for a troop ship!


I also checked the Medina High School yearbooks, double checking in the 1918 and 1919 yearbooks for the names of Medinians who perished in WWI. While the yearbooks did have such lists, Neil's name was not on them, leading me to conclude that he never graduated high school. Most likely he had to leave school early to help support his widowed mother and ill sister.

A timeline of what we have learned of Neil's life looks like this:

• 1890 - Born July 14 in Garrettsville, Portage County to Austin and Hattie (Robinson) Conkling.
• 1900 - Listed in the census with his parents and sister Pearl in Windham Township, Portage County, Ohio.
• 1905 - His father, Austin died in Grangerburg, Medina County, Ohio.
• 1910 - Listed in the census with his widowed mother and older sister on South Court Street, Montville Township, Village of Medina, Medina County, Ohio.
• 1913 - Sister Pearl died 17 July in Medina, Ohio
• 1916 - His mother, Hattie, died in July at Mrs. Eldora Frederick's home on South Huntington St. Medina Ohio.
• 1916-1918 - Neil was listed in the Farmers' Directory of Medina County as living at 502 East Liberty St., Medina, Ohio
• 1917 - Neil received his draft number, 1533, in November.
• 1918 - April 1, Neil traveled to Camp Sherman for training.
• 1918 - June 28, Neil sailed on the military transport ship, The Saxon, to France.
• 1918 - November 11 - Neil died in combat during the last hours of World War I.

R.I.P. Pvt. Neil Conkling

Sources:
Thanks to Tom Hilberg's article in the latest Medina County Genealogical Society newsletter for bringing my attention to Neil Conkling's story.
Meuse-Argonne Cemetery