Military Monday : Tobias Otterbein Chew, World War II Draft Registration, 1942

Working my way through the hints in the Ancestry database for World War II Draft Registrations, 1942 and located this registration in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania for Tobias Otterbein Chew, my paternal first cousin three times removed.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data : United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration., Philadelphia, Pennsvylvania.

Before locating this record, I didn't have much in my database on Tobias.  I knew from the 1910 census that he was a public school teacher, at that time in Lenawee County, Michigan.  This record shows that he was employed at the Indiana State Teachers College in Indiana, Pennsylvania, possibly as a professor.  This opens up another avenue of research.

Tobias was the son of Nathaniel Durbin Chew and Margaret H. Heistand.  Tobias' draft registration indicates that his exact date of birth as May 28, 1885 in Montpelier, Ohio.  Montpelier is a village in Williams County, Ohio.

Tobias was 54 years old at the time of registration and listed his nearest relative as Muriel Brown Chew, presumably his wife, of Indiana, Pennsylvania.  He listed his address as 401 South 13th St., Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Tobias was described as having a dark brown complexion, negro male, brown eyes, and black hair.  Why was he listed as negro?  He definitely was listed as white in the census records.  Was this a mistake or something else?  He was 5' 5 1/2" tall, weighing 145 lbs.

This draft registration gave me some areas to search, and a quick Google search indicates that Tobias O. Chew wrote a book, Practical High School Speller , when he was the Superintendent of Public Schools in Washburn, Wisconsin.

Military Monday – We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

Census Sunday : Ord Wehrly LeMaster household, 1940, Jay County, Indiana

My paternal grandfather, Ord Wehrly LeMaster, was enumerated in the 1940 US census in Jay County, Indiana in Portland, Indiana.  His street address was 507 E. Walnut Street, Apartment 2, which matches his residence from the 1941 Portland city directory.

1940 U.S. census, Jay County, Indiana, population schedule, Ward 1, Portland, enumeration district (ED) 38-18, SD 5, sheet 13B, household 322, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 January 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

The family consisted of my grandfather Ord, aged 33, grandmother Ruth, aged 29, and three children : Paul, Idola and Juanita.  My grandmother, Ruth, was the source of the information given to the enumerator, indicated by the "x" next to her name on the census.  The children were listed out of birth order in the census.  Paul was listed as 8 years old and Idola as 6 years old.

According to the census, the family was living in the same place in 1935, and all were born in Indiana.  Ord was working as a laborer for the Sheller Manufacturing Company and Ruth was a housewife.  Paul had completed the third grade and Idola had completed the first grade.

The age of Juanita is a bit hard to read, it appears as if they are saying she is 11 months old, but she should have only been around 6 months old at the time of the census.

Another anomaly to my research is that grandpa Ord's highest education listed is only stated as the 8th grade, when he did graduate from Madison Township High School in Salamonia in 1928.

The family was living next door to Mary Beal in Apartment 1. Mary was a 61 year old widow.

Census Sunday is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

State & Federal census sheets are filled with information for genealogists. Both the population & non-population schedules give us insights into the lives of our ancestors. What have you found that is Surprising? Reassuring? Bewildering? Census Sunday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Colleen Pasquale of Leaves and Branches.

Surname Saturday : Boye

The BOYE surname is in my paternal line.  The origins of the surname are French, although I know very little at this point about the family.

Ahnentafel # 2763 : Catherine Boye (c1635-aft1680). Catherine was born circa 1635 in Otterberg, Bayern.  She married Pierre Viellard (c1630-1680) about 1663 in Otterberg, Bayern.  Pierre was born circa 1630 in Sedan, Ardennes, Frances.  They were the parents of at least one child.  Pierre September 9, 1680 in Otterberg, Bayern.  Catherine died after 1680.

Ahnentafel # 5526 : Giles Boye Nothing further known.

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.