Great War: Searching for living descendants of Milwaukee Normal School Alumni

Question

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Greetings. I am a brand-new member, and this is the first time I've ever done anything like this. So I'm hoping I'm following all relevant protocols.

I've joined WikiTree for a couple of reasons.

1] To build my own family tree

2] I am an MA (history) student and my thesis is on an obscure First World War memorial in a building that was once the Milwaukee Normal School. The memorial lists ten alumni of the school who lost their lives in the Great War.

I'm interested in both in the lives of the veterans, and the memorial itself (the latter of which is particularly shrouded in mystery).

I'd be interested to know of any living descendants of the ten guys. The asterisk denotes that they are also commemorated on the war memorial in the Memorial Union, University of Wisconsin - Madison. They are:

1. *Morgan MacDonald Anderson

2. *Charles Walker Baldwin (no relation - I don't think!). His father was mayor of West Allis.

3. *Carl Herman Berger (member of the Polar Bears, buried in Archangel, Russia)

4. Guy Jacob Drews (Manitowoc)

5. Alfred Israel (worked in journalism I believe)

6. Henry Kleinhesselink

7. Mark Charles Malone

8. *Kenneth LaValle McHugh

9. *John Gordon Mitchell

10. Preston Eddy Tupper, aviator, killed on the penultimate day of the war. Next of kin listed as Claude A. Tupper of Oak Park, Illinois, appears in the 1920 census. Tupper is also commemorated in the Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago.

If any of the above rings any bells with anyone, I'd love to hear from you!

Best regards

SteveB

Comments

Hi Stephen, here at Wikitree we do not discuss living people so we cannot help you there. If one is a Wikitree member they might contact you, otherwise it will be a case of looking for sources for the deceased.

Answer 1

Dear Stephen,

FamilySearch.org is a good source for World War I Draft Registration cards.  Register for a free account.

Because I do some Manitowoc County research, I looked up Guy Jacob Drews.  He was usually known as Jacob Guy Drews.  Find A Grave has posted three obituaries to his profile.  He was born 8 Nov 1894 and died 8 Jan 1918 at Camp Custer, Michigan.  He is buried on the Otto Drews lot at the Evergreen Cemetery in Manitowoc.

In the World War I Draft Registration cards at familysearch.org I found that when he registered he was single and a herdsman on the farm at the Manitowoc County Insane Asylum.

A family tree at FamilySearch.org has Otto Drews as his father and Mary Palasck as his mother.  No siblings were listed.

Comments

Hello Margaret!

Thanks so much for the reply. Yes - I have made progress with the "public" documents of my guys. I've also visited the Drews family burial plot. An American Legion post (88) was established in Manitowoc in his honor (closed in 2018).

Thanks for the tip of Jacob vs. Guy Drews. Jacob seems to be the way to go. I've recently taken out a very expensive subscription to newspapers.com - but it is yielding handsome dividends. There is a piece in the Sheboygan Press about Jacob having had the foresight to take out an insurance policy when he went off to war. Otto Drews found himself unexpectedly the $10,000 beneficiary (Jacob didn't tell his family about the insurance...)

Best regards

Steve

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I agree that Newspapers.com is the way to go.  Were I doing your research project I would pay for a subscription.  Newspapers are a key source for finding those who may still be living.

Others I looked up. You may already have these:

Morgan MacDonald Anderson b 22 Aug 1891 son of George Anderson and Mary J. Williams.  died 5 Oct  1918 in Very, France.  FamilySearch has siblings.

Charles Walker Baldwin b 5 Dec 1896 Waupaca, Wis. died 1 Aug 1918.

Alfred Israel b 27 Oct 1893, d 15 Mar 1918.  Associated with the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Henry Kleinhesselink b. 28 Jul 1886 d 3 Oct 1918; resided Oostburg, Wis.

Mark Charles Malone b 21 Aug 1893 d 28 Mar 1919 buried St. Joseph Cemetery, Waukesha.

Kenneth LaValle McHugh "of Baraboo" b 17 May 1896 d 5 Oct 1918

John Gordon Mitchell b 5 Aug 1895 d 4 Jan 1919 in Paris, France

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Hello Margaret:

Thank you for your collaborations!

One of my guys, Mark Charles Malone seems to be particularly elusive. He appears in the 1900 census along with 2 brothers. They are living with their parents in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee. Their father is Dr. Edward W. Malone, a physician. But in the 1910 census, the Dr. and his wife have moved house, they appear to have a lodger of some description, but all the kids have left home, and none appear [to the best of my knowledge] in the 1910 census. What should we deduce from this?

Curiouser and curiouser...
Rgds
Steve