The One Where I Feel Incredibly Honored

Last week I received some exciting news from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE). ISFHWE encourages “excellence in writing and editorial standards in genealogical publishing,” and to promote that goal they host an annual Excellence-in-Writing Competition. I submitted entries in the “Columns” and “Published Articles” categories for this year’s contest. After I sent them in, I tried to put the whole thing out of my mind for awhile. That is, until this message from Tina Sansone, the competition coordinator, showed up in my inbox:

Dear Shelley,

Congratulations! You have won the following in the ISFHWE “Excellence in Writing” competition:

1st Place Columns: Shelley K. Bishop, “The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard”

2nd Place Articles: Shelley K. Bishop, “Turning Forests into Farms: The George Clark Family of Licking and Delaware Counties, Ohio”

Woohoo! I’m thrilled, to say the least, and so honored to have won awards in two categories. A hearty congratulations to all the other award winners. As I look over the names on the ISFHWE announcement, I’m humbled to be in such great company.

Like many genealogists, I write primarily to share and preserve what I’ve learned from researching my ancestors. At the same time, I try to find universal themes within my family’s story that might strike a chord with a wider audience. But it’s hard to know if I’ve succeeded in doing that or not until something like this happens. When it does, it’s oh-so-rewarding.

"The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard” first appeared here, as a post on A Sense of Family, on February 6, 2013. It grew out of my desire to share some of my grandmother’s stories about her mother, coupled with fascinating information I found in an old dairy company newsletter. Telling the stories of our female ancestors, who generally show up in fewer official records than men, can present special challenges. Digging into home sources such as letters, baby books, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and keepsakes—some of which may be held by other relatives—can lead to neat discoveries about their lives.

“Turning Forests into Farms: The George Clark Family of Licking and Delaware Counties, Ohio” was originally published in the Winter 2013 issue of the Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly (Vol. 53, No. 4). It traces one branch of my family tree through four generations, beginning with their 1811 arrival in the Ohio frontier. Weaving information from early land office registers, deeds, vital records, agricultural censuses, newspapers, cemeteries, and other records together with social history sources like county histories, published memoirs, and maps, I show how the family’s growth echoed—and was tragically affected by—the times they lived in.

ISFHWE will be publishing all the articles they awarded prizes to in future issues of Columns, their quarterly newsletter. You can become a member and read them all for just $20. I know I’m looking forward to some excellent reading in the coming months.

Thank you to ISFHWE and its judges for this recognition. Thanks also to the Ohio Genealogical Society for publishing my work, and to all my blog readers. It’s a pleasure to be writing for you. Now, what story should I work on next?...

--Shelley

Related Posts:

Five Lessons Learned While Writing

The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard

George Clark, Ohio Pioneer: 52 Ancestors

Roy D. Eberhard, World War I Soldier: 52 Ancestors

For most of Roy Eberhard’s young life, there wasn’t time to consider much beyond the farm and schoolhouse. Born March 9, 1894, the second oldest of Llewellyn and Mary Eberhard’s passel of kids, he naturally shouldered responsibility for chores around his father’s dairy farm. There was always milking to be done, not to mention making deliveries, hauling water, chopping wood, and helping with the animals and feed crops.

But as Roy passed his 20th birthday, the world started to intrude. More and more news filtered into the local papers, news of hostilities and battles taking place on a distant continent. By the time he turned 23, it became all too clear that even a poor farm boy from central Ohio couldn’t avoid facing the storm in Europe.

On June 3, 1917, Roy made his way to the Orange Township draft board office in Delaware County. He registered his birth date and place, age, address, occupation, employer, and marital status, as the law required. His stature, build, and color of his eyes and hair were duly noted.¹

The U.S. Army called Roy into service four months later, on October 5, 1917. My grandmother—his little sister, Nora—recalled everyone was proud of him, but her mother was worried the whole time he was gone.

Roy Eberhard, Delaware County, Ohio, 1917

Private First Class Roy Eberhard served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France for nearly a year, from June 1918 to May 1919. He was assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 324th Field Artillery, under the command of Colonel T. Q. Ashburn.² The 324th was a horse-drawn, heavy artillery regiment. The troops endured difficult marches in which they transported large cannons over frequently muddy roads, without motorized assistance. Once they arrived at a battle site, they moved the cannons into position and awaited orders to fire.

Pvt. Eberhard participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of Argonne Forest, in fall 1918. The offensive involved over a million American and French troops under the command of General Pershing. The 324th Field Artillery was attached to the 32nd Division. According to Col. Ashburn, the 324th moved “across the Meuse at Dun, thence to Velosnes, thence into position at Bois d’Ecurey November 10th, 1918. It again attacked on the morning of November 11th, and fired retaliation fire after the armistice was announced, up to 10:25 A.M., being the last shots delivered by the 32nd Division in the war.”

The men had to wait for 600 fresh horses before starting the long trek through France and into Germany in December. They spent the winter of 1919 near the Rhine River. On April 22nd, they finally began returning home.³ Pvt. Eberhard received his honorary discharge in June.

Roy settled back into civilian life, married, and had two sons. He began a career with the railroads. With his military service and youth behind him, Roy David Eberhard probably thought the U.S. Army was done with him. Even when the news from Europe turned grim again, and young men geared up to say goodbye to their loved ones like he had two decades earlier, he could rest on the assurance that he had already done his part.

Imagine the sense of déjà vu, then, when he found himself back in front of the draft board at the age of 48.⁴

--Shelley

Sources:

1. “U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 25 Jan 2014), Roy D. Eberhard (Delaware County, Ohio); U.S. Selective Service System, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1818, NARA microfilm publication M1509, roll 1832192.

2. Ohio Adjutant General’s Department, Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917-18 (F.J. Heer Printing Co., 1926), p. 4628, Roy D. Eberhard; database and digital images, “Ohio Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918,” Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 25 Jan 2014).

3. T. Q. Ashburn, History of the 324^th Field Artillery, United States Army (New York: George H. Doran Co., 1919), p. 24-25; digital copy, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyof324thfi00ashb : accessed 25 Jan 2014). Images used here appear on page 10 and page 80.

4. “U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov 2013), Roy David Eberhard (Franklin County, Ohio); U.S. Selective Service System, Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration; FHL microfilm 2,372,762.

© Shelley Ballenger Bishop 2014

This is the fourth in a series of family history stories written for the blogging prompt “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow, CG, author of No Story Too Small.

Related Posts:

Veterans in My Family Tree

52 Ancestors #2: Love WinsOut for Nora Eberhard

52 Ancestors #3: Marilyn Ballenger, the Aunt I Never Knew

In my last two posts, I wrote about how my grandfather, Lloyd Ballenger, began his 50-year tenure at Reeb’s Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in 1933. I also shared how my grandmother, Nora Belle Eberhard, met and fell in love with him, leading to their elopement on March 30, 1935. I’ll continue their story this week, although it’s a much harder chapter to tell.

In 1936, the young couple lived in an apartment at 535 Oakwood Ave. on the near east side of Columbus, within easy walking distance of Reeb’s. Nora was thrilled when she found out she was pregnant early in the year. She endured a long, hot summer in the apartment, chatting with her neighbors in the morning and walking down to the restaurant in the afternoon, when the lunchtime rush was over. All of the employees and many regular customers knew she was expecting.

On August 9, 1936, Nora gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Marilyn Sue Ballenger. Lloyd received hearty congratulations, cigars, and free drinks from his many well-wishers at Reeb’s. Nora delighted in visits from her sisters and friends. Even though it was her first child, Nora had a lot of experience with babies from helping her mother tend her five younger siblings. She knew what to do when Marilyn fussed.

As the humid days of August gave way to blue September skies, Nora started taking Marilyn down to Reeb’s on her afternoon walks, happily pushing the baby carriage in front of her. Her daughter would nap in the carriage while she talked and laughed with the waitresses. It was a golden month.

But in mid-October, something went terribly wrong. Marilyn caught a cold, or so it seemed; she rasped, wheezed, and cried, and nothing Nora did seemed to settle her down. After a long day and night with the inconsolable baby, Nora took her to the doctor. Decades later, she would remember the shock of that Tuesday afternoon as clearly as if it just happened.

The doctor told Nora that he was sorry, but something was wrong with little Marilyn’s heart. He couldn’t do anything for her. There was no medicine, no surgery, nothing that would fix it. She had the pneumonia now, but even if she got over that, it wouldn’t cure what was wrong with her heart. The best thing Nora could do was take her home and love her for the time she had left. He was so sorry.

By Saturday morning, October 17, 1936, Marilyn's struggles were over. She was nine weeks old.

I can’t imagine how incredibly hard those four days must have been for my grandparents. When she told me the story, more than fifty years after it happened, Nora couldn’t hold back the tears. The pain in her own heart was still fresh.

In her grief, Nora realized she had no photograph, nothing to remember Marilyn by. They didn’t own a camera. Lloyd found a neighbor with a camera, and his wife helped Nora dress the baby. The neighbor kindly took a picture of Lloyd and Nora with their first-born daughter, now laying peacefully in Nora’s lap. It was hard to do at the time, but the picture brought Nora some comfort in the years that followed.

Marilyn was buried in Otterbein Cemetery in Westerville, Ohio. She rests today next to Lloyd's brother, Dwight “Smokey” Ballenger, and his wife. Even though her parents are not there, little Marilyn has plenty of family at Otterbein Cemetery. Her paternal grandparents Charles and Irene Ballenger, great-grandparents James and Anna Ballenger, and great-great-grandparents Charles and Rebecca Jane Ballenger are all there. Her maternal grandparents, Llewellyn and Mary Eberhard, are in a different section of the historic cemetery.

In writing this, I hope to preserve Marilyn’s story, and honor my grandparents’ memories. Marilyn’s life was short, but she was never forgotten. Perhaps this will help ensure she never will be.

--Shelley

Certificate citation: “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” digital image, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 5 April 2011), death certificate no. 62724 (1936), Marilyn Sue Ballenger; citing original records, Ohio Department of Health, held at Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.

© Shelley Bishop 2014

This is the third in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: Lloyd Ballenger and Reeb’s Restaurant

52 Ancestors #2: Love WinsOut for Nora Eberhard

52 Ancestors #2: Love Wins Out for Nora Eberhard

As one of 18 children born to Llewellyn and Mary (Comfort) Eberhard, Nora Eberhard’s childhood days were filled with household chores, hand-me-down clothes, and long walks to a one-room schoolhouse from the family’s dairy farm. By the time she reached her 20s, the Great Depression had set in. Nora moved to nearby Westerville, Ohio, where she boarded with a local couple while working at the Kilgore Manufacturing Company. Her job was to insert rivets into Kilgore’s toy cap pistols. It gave her great satisfaction to see the finished toy pistols and know she had a part in making them.

Nora also enjoyed getting to know her co-workers. One of the girls on the Kilgore riveting line with her was Florence Ballenger. When Nora needed a new place to stay, Florence invited her to board with her family. Florence’s parents, Charles and Irene Ballenger, agreed to the plan.

Lloyd Ballenger, Florence’s brother, quickly took notice of his sister’s friend. Lloyd was working at a diner in downtown Westerville when they met, but started a new job at Reeb’s Restaurant on the east side of Columbus in 1933. His long hours at the restaurant left little time for meeting girls. He began courting Nora, taking her to house parties and going for drives in friends’ cars. Even though Westerville, “The Dry Capital of the World,” was the national headquarters of the Anti-Saloon League, the young couple still found ways to have fun.¹

By early 1935, Nora and Lloyd decided to get married. There was only one problem. Nora’s mother, Mary, had gotten very upset by events at the wedding of one of her other daughters, swearing she never wanted to attend another wedding. There wasn’t enough money for a wedding, anyway. They quietly hatched a plan, telling only Florence and her boyfriend, Gordon Meeks.

Two weeks after her 25th birthday, on March 30, 1935, Nora did her dark hair up in tight curls and put on a new white dress. Lloyd donned his best suit and shiny black shoes. In the early morning hours, Gordon drove the foursome down the 3-C Highway in his Model A Ford to the state border at Cincinnati. They crossed over the Ohio River and into Boone County, Kentucky. At the parsonage of a Baptist church in Walton, Nora and Lloyd found a minister willing to marry them. With Florence and Gordon standing by, they said their vows. All their hard work melted away as they stood on the steps of the parsonage, beaming, for their first picture as husband and wife.

 

They registered their marriage at the courthouse later the same day:²

When they returned home, the newlyweds announced their marriage to their families and settled into an apartment that Lloyd had moved into earlier. A short notice appeared in the Westerville Public Opinion:

          LLOYD R. BALLENGER AND

            MISS EBERHARD MARRY

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ballenger of Westerville announce the marriage of their son, Lloyd, to Miss Nora Eberhard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Eberhard of Center Village. The marriage took place Saturday, March 30, at Walton, Ky. Miss Florence Ballenger, sister of the groom, and Mr. Gordon Meeks of Columbus were the attendants. The couple are residing at 1186 E. Main St., Columbus.³

Fifty years later, in March 1985, Nora and Lloyd celebrated their golden anniversary surrounded by friends and family. In a way, it was the wedding they never had.

--Shelley

1. “Westerville, Ohio,” Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerville,_Ohio: accessed 13 January 2014).

2. Boone County, Kentucky, marriage certificate no. 218 (1935), Lloyd R. Ballenger and Nora Belle Eberhard; Kenton County Clerk’s Office, Covington, Kentucky.

3. “Lloyd R. Ballenger and Miss Eberhard Marry,” Public Opinion (Westerville, Ohio), 4 April 1935, p. 2, col. 4.

 © Copyright 2014 Shelley Bishop

This is the second in a new series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

You might also like:

52 Ancestors #1: Lloyd Ballenger and Reeb’s Restaurant

There’s One in Every Family: The Life of the Party

Hunt School Souvenir

Grandma's Sugar Cream Pie: A Thanksgiving Tradition

Every family has its own Thanksgiving traditions, stories, and favorite dishes. It’s a rare Thanksgiving table, though, that doesn’t include some sort of pie. Thanksgiving and pie go together like, well, turkey and gravy. I always make pumpkin pie, spiced up with extra cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Other families roll out the apple, cherry, pecan, sweet potato, or lemon meringue pies. But my childhood Thanksgivings always featured my Grandma Ballenger’s specialty: sugar cream pie.

Nora (Eberhard) Ballenger’s parents came from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and when asked about her ancestry, all she could tell me was that her family was Pennsylvania Dutch. Sugar cream pie was one of her Thanksgiving staples, so naturally it became one of my favorites, too. She told me her mother, Mary (Comfort) Eberhard, used to make it when her jars of home-canned apples and other fruit ran out in the winter.

Grandma didn’t use a recipe when she cooked, and was at a bit of a loss when, as a young bride, I asked her to write it down for me. She said you just take a little flour, some sugar, and some milk and mix them together. Well, let’s just say my first efforts proved it’s not quite that simple. Over the years I’ve tweaked the recipe to get it just the way I like it, creamy on the bottom with a milky layer on top and lots of nutmeg. It usually sets up just fine, but I still cross my fingers when I take it out of the oven.

Here, then, is the recipe I use for Grandma’s 

“Pennsylvania Dutch” Sugar Cream Pie:

Place a refrigerated pie crust in a deep dish glass pie plate and crimp edges (I use Pillsbury’s Pie Crusts). Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together:  ½ cup flour

                                             1 cup sugar

Stir in until smooth:                1 cup whole or 2% milk

Pour mixture into unbaked pie crust. Gradually pour in another ½ cup or so of milk to fill and pull a fork through to gently mix (don’t stir with a spoon).

Cut into thin slivers:                ½-1 Tbsp. butter

Drop the slivers of butter onto the pie.

Sprinkle with:                          dashes of ground nutmeg

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 325 degrees, and bake another 40 minutes. Transfer carefully from oven. Pie may seem a little runny but will firm up as it cools. Refrigerate after cooling.

What pies are part of your Thanksgiving tradition? Whatever they are, I wish you a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, and hope you, like me, have much to be thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

--Shelley

You might also like:

Thanksgiving at the Kids’ Table

A Day for Thanks

The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard

Veterans in My Family Tree

For this Veteran’s Day, I’ve challenged myself to compile a master list of my ancestors who served in the military. I want to pull this information together both as a tribute and as a reference to the veterans I’m researching, organized by the war they fought in. When I read about a new military records database that’s just become available online, or discover a resource for researching a particular war, I’ll have a ready reminder of the names I want to search for. A side benefit is that compiling any list of this sort tends to expose gaps in my research, and reminds me of things I want to check into.

The veterans I’m researching in my family tree are:

Revolutionary War

Philip Roush (6th great-grandfather)

Born: 18 March 1841 in either Pennsylvania or Virginia

Died: 1 March 1820 in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio

Served in: Dunmore County (Virginia) Militia under Capt. Jacob Holeman

Enlisted: 29 May 1775

Rank: Private

Spouse: Catharine Kelchner

DAR Ancestor Number: A098986

Pension Record: none known

Buried: Roush Cemetery, Cheshire, Ohio

Notes: Dunmore County is now Shenandoah County.

Jacob Roush (6th great-grandfather)

Born: 1746 in either Pennsylvania or Virginia

Died: March 1830 in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio

Served in: Dunmore County (Virginia) Militia under Capt. Jacob Holeman

Enlisted: 29 May 1775

Rank: Private

Spouse: Catharine Fox or Fuchs

DAR Ancestor Number: A098978

Pension Record: none known

Buried: Roush Cemetery, Cheshire, Ohio

Notes: Jacob also fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant in Lord Dunmore’s War, before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, under Capt. John Tipton.

War of 1812

No ancestor currently known

Civil War

Newel King (3rd great-grandfather)

Born: 17 January 1838 in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio

Died: 17 September 1896 in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio

Served in: Company B, 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Enlisted: 6 August 1862

Rank: Private

Spouse: Electa Roush

Pension Record: Invalid certificate #186,803; Widow’s certificate #436,094

Buried: Gravel Hill Cemetery, Cheshire, Ohio

Notes: Newel contracted measles during the war, resulting in hospitalization in the U.S. General Hospital in Gallipolis and a lifelong struggle with epilepsy.

John Steele (3rd great-grandfather)

Born: June 1826 in Wythe County, Virginia

Died: 28 April 1873 in West Columbia, Mason County, West Virginia

Served in: Company K, 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Enlisted: 16 October 1861

Rank: Private

Spouse: Mary Russell

Pension Record: Widow’s certificate #373,222

Buried: unknown

Notes: John was hospitalized due to illness in Huntsville, Alabama, and for the last year of his enlistment served as company cook. He suffered from weakness and disabilities after the war.

Ludwig Scheibel (2nd great-grandfather)

Born: 29 September 1839 in Germany

Died: 25 December 1910 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio

Served in: Company G, 6th Missouri Volunteer Infantry

Enlisted: 23 May 1861

Rank: Private

Spouse: Paulina Trebtan or Treptau

Pension Record: Invalid certificate #27,522

Buried: Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio

Notes: Ludwig also went by the American name “Louis.” He received a gunshot wound in battle at Chickasaw Bayou in late December 1862, and was given a disability discharge in April 1863.

World War I

Roy David Eberhard (great-uncle)

Born: 9 March 1894 in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Died: 6 September 1977 in Westerville, Ohio

Served in: 324th Field Artillery, U.S. Army

Enlisted: 5 October 1917

Rank: Private First Class

Spouse: Ethel Jewett

Pension Record: unknown

Buried: Union Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio

Notes: Roy served in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (Battle of Argonne Forest) on the Western front.

World War II

Dwight Charles Ballenger (great-uncle)

Born: 27 April 1916 in Westerville, Ohio

Died: 20 January 1990 in Westerville, Ohio

Enlisted: 22 December 1942

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Spouse: Betty Rosensteele

Pension Record: unknown

Buried: Otterbein Cemetery, Westerville, Ohio

Have you found a good way to keep track of the veterans in your family tree? If so, I’d like to hear how you do it. And if not, why not make a list like this for yourself? If you post it online, feel free to share a link in the comments section below.

Wishing every veteran a good Veteran’s Day, with heartfelt thanks—

Shelley

Related Posts:

Newel King, 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Thank You to a Special WWII Veteran

Honoring Civil War Veterans at The Ridges

The National Mall at Night

Getting a Haircut: Wordless Wednesday

This photo, from the collection of my grandmother, Nora (Eberhard) Ballenger, is one of those rare candid shots we all wish we had more of. When she looked through pictures with me many years ago, Nora identified the people in this photo as her parents, Mary (Comfort) Eberhard and John Llewellyn Eberhard. Mary is giving her husband a haircut outside on a bright, sunny day. It appears to be spring or summer.

In dating this picture, I had to ask myself, “Who would have been the photographer?” Most pictures I have of the family show them posed and wearing their best clothes. Here, Mary and Llewellyn seem unaware that their picture is even being taken. They are in their everyday attire for a day’s work on the farm. Since it’s highly unlikely that a roving photographer just popped by the farm one day to snap some pictures, the person who took this shot was probably one of their older children. I do have a few other similarly-sized candids from this time period, such as Harold Eberhard in a “sports car,” Harold with a milk wagon, and Harold holding his youngest sister. Harold, the second oldest of eighteen children, was born in 1896. He seems to have liked the camera. If he took this picture when he was in his mid-teens to early twenties, it dates the photo to about 1910-1920.

During this time period, the Eberhards lived on a farm near Galena in Harlem Township, Delaware County, Ohio. So by using a bit of deductive reasoning, I have a place and approximate date range for my photograph.

Isn’t it fun to get a glimpse of an unguarded moment in the everyday life of our ancestors?

--Shelley

Related Posts:

Harold Eberhard, Sports Car Driver

The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard

Eberhards at Otterbein Cemetery