My Trails into the Past

Jack C. Sullivan was a soldier of the 4th Engineers during World War I. His military file was among many that burned in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel and Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. More than 75% of the Army and Air Force records were destroyed. The NPRC sent me only the last pay voucher, a three-page listing of soldiers’ final pay. At least I have his signature. Because of that, I have had to build his service information using other documents. I have found departure and arrival passenger lists, muster rolls, rosters, and morning reports for the unit he served; all created during his service. Other records were created after his service, such as the Veterans Administration Master Index (VAMI) cards and the Montana Military Cards. [1] With this information, I have been able to construct a timeline of his activities. Still, he was mentioned only once in the morning reports, and his Montana card said he was gassed on August 5. Besides that, I do not know much about...

My great-uncle, Jack C. Sullivan (born John Cyril Sullivan), enlisted in the Army on 4 June 1917 into an engineering corps at Vancouver, Washington. [1] The 4th Engineers trained there and then at Camp Green in Charlotte, North Carolina. [2] They were assigned to the 4th Division in 1918. The regiment saw battle at Aisne-Marne (summer 1918), Battle of Saint-Mihiel (September 1918), Meuse-Argonne Offensive (Fall 1918), and in Alsace-Lorraine (November 1918). [3] Jack served in Company E, and according to a discharge record, Jack was gassed on August 5. [4] I have been collecting information about his service. His service record was one of many that burned in the fire at the National Archives in St. Louis in 1973, so I have to find substitute records to fill out his story. A book was written by members of the 4th Engineers and printed in Germany at war’s end. It is Columbia to the Rhine: Being a Brief History of the Fourth Engineers, and their trip from the Columbia River, in the St...

On 12 July 1973, a fire broke out at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, destroying 80 percent of Army personnel files and 75 percent of Air Force files. [1] I submitted an order for my great-uncle, Jack C. Sullivan’s file in 2017, and received the dreaded letter that there was no record for him. I have, since that time, worked at discovering substitute records to tell the story of his military service during World War I. [2] What You Can Get from the NPRC Although there was no personnel file for Jack, I did receive the final pay voucher for ten men who were discharged at Fort D. A. Russell in Wyoming on 6 August 1919, and he was included. He was listed as: Jack C. Sullivan, Sergeant, 568973, enlisted 4 June 1917, from Anaconda, Montana. He was part of Detachment 4th Engineers. He received $153.41. The net pay was $112.76 plus a $7.00 insurance premium allotment, plus $40.65 for travel pay. It included his signature. [3] Later, I visited the NPRC and viewe...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her?  Tell us your selected ancestor's name, their birth and death years/locations, and their spouse's name and marriage date/location.  List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor. Here's mine: The ancestor I’ll ask questions of is my great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson , born 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada, [1] and died 3 January 1912 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana. [2] She married John H. Sullivan sometime in 1882, likely at Mitchell, Davison Co, Dakota Territory. [3] I wished I had asked my grandmother questions about her childhood and her parents. But she died before I became interested in genealogy. Questions to ask: ...

In 2004, John Quigley retired as a judge for Napa County, California, and his six living cousins attended his retirement party. He was the son of Ethel Sullivan and Vir Quigley. Pictured from left to right: William “Bill” Hork, son of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; Margaret Patterson, daughter of Loretto Sullivan and James Patterson; John Quigley; son of Ethel Sullivan and Vir Quigley; Mary Brehaut, daughter of Loretto Sullivan and James Patterson; Lorene Waldron, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; Virginia Gertridge, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; and June Stewart, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork. Loretta, Anne, and Ethel were the daughters of John H. Sullivan and Anna M. Gleeson. Their two other children were Helena “Nellie” Goe and John Cyril Sullivan. Only Nellie had children and they were deceased by 2004. #52Ancestors-Week 29: Cousins This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (...

In August 1908 at the age of 27, Harold H. Goe applied to work for the Anaconda Copper Company, better known as the ACM. He had attended the Colorado School of Mines and previously worked in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, before coming to Anaconda, Montana.[1]  His first job at the company was with the surface department at the Reduction Works. Six months later he transferred to the testing department and worked there until 1912.[2] In the same year, he married my great-aunt, Helena Marie Sullivan, who was known as Nellie, in Portland, Oregon, where she was living with her grandparents, John and Margaret Gleeson.[3]   He next worked at the laboratory from 1912 to 1915 and then the Brick Department as the superintendent. He claimed he was a metallurgical Engineer.[4]   Several articles were found at the Internet Archive and HathiTrust that mentioned a patent awarded to Harold for a brick machine that makes taper bricks using a combination of an upper die with an i...

The ship list for the arrival of the Jerry and Mary (Sheehan) Sullivan family has been elusive. The common name is not helpful. They had nine children. One would think with that many children, the ship list could be found, but all the names of the children are common as well, so searching for them makes it difficult, too. One of the strategies I use when trying to solve a tough problem is to review previous research with a distinct focus. My research question is “When did the Jerry & Mary Sullivan family arrive in the U.S.?” Review Census Records The first census that Jerry and Mary were enumerated in was in 1870 in Franklin Township, Houghton County, Michigan. Four children lived with them: Jeremiah, 12; Daniel, 11; Peter, 10; and Michael, 9 months. All are born in Ireland except Michael. This suggests they came to the U.S. between 1861 and 1869. [1] The 1880 census in Moran Township, Todd County, Minnesota, has three of the above children living with them: Daniel, 20, Peter, 18, ...

Mary Sheehan, the wife of Jeremiah Sullivan and mother of my great-grandfather, John H. Sullivan, was born in County Cork in Ireland. Her place of birth was consistently written as Ireland and her tombstone in Motley Cemetery in Todd County, Minnesota states County Cork. Like many Irish-born illiterate immigrants, the date of birth is fuzzy. Records of her birth in records recorded in the United States range from 1822 to 1832. She was 38 in 1870, living with her 40-year-old mining husband, Jeremiah, in Franklin township in Houghton County, Michigan.[ 1 ]  This suggests an 1832 birth. In 1880, the family lived on a farm they homesteaded in Todd County, Minnesota and she was 53 years old.[ 2 ]  This suggests an 1827 birth. Her husband was 61, causing him to age 20 years.  Five years later, she was 60 years old.  She now has an 1825 birth. Now “Jerry” was 70, certainly more than five years older.[ 3 ] Her tombstone's death date of 24 Feb 1892 and age of 70 years calcula...

Jeremiah Sullivan, born in Ireland about 1811, brought his family to the United States sometime in the 1860s. [1] The first place Jeremiah, his wife, Mary, and four of their sons, including the youngest born in Michigan the year before, is found is in Franklin Township in Houghton County, Michigan in 1870. He was a miner who could not read or write. [2] Michigan produced most of the nation’s copper and the copper mining drew miners from all over the world. [3] In 1870, 57 percent of the residents in Houghton County were foreign-born and over two thousand in Franklin Township came from Ireland. [4] It is likely Jeremiah mined copper in both Ireland and Michigan. On 27 March 1873, he applied for a homestead in Todd County, Minnesota at the land office in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The total acreage was 80 acres. He signed his name with a mark, a small, dark, x. [5] What brought him to Minnesota, a distance of 375 miles from his home in Michigan? How did a man who could not read and w...