Soldier's Letter from WW2 found Sixty Years Later and Returned

Representation of WW2 letters

This is touching story about a woman who found a letter written by a soldier that was 60 years old. She tracked down descendants and sent the letter home.

The letter was found in a pile of paperbacks that Sandi Blood purchased and was dated November 1951 and sent from a G. LeBlanc. U.S. Army Pvt. Gilles LeBlanc wrote the three-page letter to his girlfriend, Carole Petch in Toronto, Ontario Canada. 

With the help of social media, Blood was able to find the now 83 year old soldier living in Detroit Michigan

Read the complete story at "Woman finds love letter 6 decades old and tracks down soldier who wrote it" on the Washington Post.

Long Lost Love Letters Found & Returned to Descendants

This is one of those feel-good stories we all love. And wouldn't we all love to find such a treasure? Joshua McKinney, of Casnovia, Michigan, was removing old insulation in his home's attic when he found a stack of old love letters from World War II.

The letters and certificates (birth and marriage) he found all concerned the Kissel family. It didn't take long for Joshua and his sister to track down descendants and soon the granddaughter of the man who wrote the love letters contacted Joshua and retrieved all the  letters and documents.

Continue reading at Stranger Discovers Long-Lost Love Letters in Attic, But Story Doesn't End There

WW1 CEF Soldier Letters Found Under Porch

CEF Attestation Paper
Leslie George Currell

24 year old CEF soldier Leslie George Currell wrote to his sister Gertrude just before Christmas 1917. He was a soldier on the front lines in France at the time. The letter was found under the front porch of the Currell home with other letters and a money order from Leslie during the same time period.

Larry McLean, owner of the home on 76 Bertmount Ave. where the family lived, wants to return the letters to descendants.  Read the full story including the letters at The Last Post: Leslieville Man Finds WW1 Letters Under Porch

I did some research online and found the burial of Leslie (1893-1954) on FindaGrave. The memorial to him includes a photo of him in his CEF Uniform and details about his son George and daughter Marguerite.

Marguerite was born in 1936 and died in 2004 while George was born in 1938. His grave is not found so it is possible he is still living. Leslie George is buried in Resthaven Cemetery in Scarborough.

Leslie George's brother William Lawrence Currell is also buried in Resthaven.

Leslie is found as George in the 1901, 1911 and 1921 census on Ancestry.com . In 1901 and 1911 the family is in Goderich which is where Leslie was born. 1921 records the family at 80 Bertmount Avenue in Toronto.

The family appears to consist of father George Leslie Currell born ca 1860 in Ontario, mother Margaret (nee McBride as per her marriage registration in 1884) and children Letitia Gertrude (Gertrude) born ca 1884, Elisabeth A. born ca 1889, George Leslie (our CEF soldier) born 1893, Mary M. born ca 1895, and William Lawrence born ca 1902.

The newspaper article mentions another letter to mother Margaret signed "Blanche" and sent from Saltford Ontario which was found under the porch. A search online revealed a Family Tree submitted to Ancestry.com with a photo of the Currell family in Saltfort, including mother Blanche Currell. I have no doubt this is the author of the letter.  Blanche was married to Edward Currell who was soldier Leslie Currell's uncle.

I am sure that contacting the submitters on Ancestry and on FindAGrave would yield descendants who would be interested in the letters.

First World War: love letters from the trenches

"A new book gathers together the most moving, intimate and fascinating correspondence to and from soldiers fighting in the First World War." [Mandy Kirkby on telegraph.co.uk]

"Love Letters of the Great War brings together some of the most romantic correspondence ever written. Many of the letters collected here are eloquent declarations of love and longing; others contain wrenching accounts of fear, jealousy and betrayal; and a number share sweet dreams of home. 

But in all the correspondence - whether from British, American, French, German, Russian, Australian and Canadian troops in the height of battle, or from the heartbroken wives and sweethearts left behind - there lies a truly human portrait of love and war. " [Amazon.com]

Go to telegraph.co.uk to see some of the letters and photos from this book “Love Letters of the Great War” (Macmillan), edited by Mandy Kirkby. Available on Amazon.com as Love Letters of the Great War 

If you love old letters, you might want to visit Past Voices which publishes letters from soldiers and civilians in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

 

 

 

 

Success! Grandson Found for Sam Gentile WW2 Letters

Readers may recall my previous post WW2 Soldier's Letters Found - Need Help Returning Them to Family about letters from Canadian soldier Sam Gentile to his family in 1945.

I was able to track down various obituaries for the family of Sam and Mary Gentile who came from Italy to Canada in the early 1900s. 

From these records as well as census records online on Ancestry.com , and burial records on FindAGrave, we could put together a family group for the children of Sam and Mary.

• Winnifred Gentile d. pre 2003 married Andy Venier
• Sam Gentile Jr. 1913-1983 married Margaret
• Josephine Gentile d. pre 2003 married Sam Peckett
• Rose Gentile d. pre 2003 married Harold Lott
• Vince Gentile1930-1984
• John Joseph Dominic Gentile 1925-2009 married Dorothy O'Keefe 1925-1993
• Peter C. Gentile 1919-2003

Jared and I determined that it was almost certainly Sam Jr who wrote the letters in 1945. And the hunt was on. Canada 411 provided us with contact names and addresses of some of the grandchildren of Sam and Mary Gentile.

On Sunday I received an email from Kevin Gentile, a firefighter living in Kitchener Ontario. Kevin informed me that his grandfather Salvatore (Sam) Gentile was the writer of the letters! It seems Sam sent them to his parents during his time stationed in England in WW2. 

Kevin graciously provided me with a detailed family outline from Sam down and gave me permission to post an update here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog. But for privacy reasons I will not divulge names of Kevin's siblings. Kevin has 3 young children and is excited to connect with his grandfather's letters. 

I have put Jared and Kevin in touch and am waiting to hear the result of their phone conversation! Thanks again to readers who jumped in to help reunite these WW2 letters with a descendant.

WW2 Soldier's Letters Found - Need Help Returning Them to Family

Jared M. wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy after Lisa Haas put him in touch with me. It seems Jared found a box of old letters lying in an alley in Hamilton Ontario. 

The letters were written by soldier Sammi Gentile in England during WWW2. They were sent  to Mr. & Mrs. S. Gentile in Orillia Ontario. Jared hopes to find a descendant and send the letters home. 

Here is what we know from the letters: 

Mr. & Mrs. S. Gentile lived at 160 Main Street in Orillia in 1945. Sammi was a gunner in B Wing and stationed at a Repatriation Depot. He mentions the name Dan Rolland in one of the letters.

From my brief research last night I think I may have found the right family. 

VOTERS LISTS

The only Gentile family listed in the 1940s Voter's Lists on Ancestry.com consists of Sam Gentile, a merchant, his wife Mary as well as Sam Jr., Peter and Josephine all of age to vote. I suggest that Sam Jr. is our soldier and he is writing to his parents Sam and Mary. In the 1949 Voters' List only Sam and Mary remain left at home. 

CEMETERY

FindAGrave shows burials for some of the Gentile family in Orillia Ontario.  Samuel J. Gentile Jr. born 1913 died 1983 is there. I suggest this is Sammie the soldier. Also foundis Sam Sr (1881-1965) and wife Mary (1893-1958). 

CENSUS

The 1921 Census on Ancestry.com for Orillia which is in Simcoe County Ontario, show the Gentile family at 160 Mississauga Street. The family consists of

• Sam Sr. age 40, born Italy, immigrated 1893
• wife Mary 27, immigrated 1910
• daughters Winnifred (9) and Josephine (4)
• sons Sam Jr (7) and Peter (2)

There should be more census records and voters' lists for the family. No doubt birth, marriage and death records can be found as well. There are many other sources we can look for. 

I hope my readers will put on their genealogy sleuthing hats to help find a descendant of this family. Let's help Jared send these letters home to a family member who will treasure them.

You may post findings here as comments or send to me via email (olivetreegenealogyATgmailDOTcom) Please don't put information about living people in the comments section of this blog post. Such information should be sent to me privately. I will forward all findings to Jared. 

UPDATE!! Found WW2 Letter from American Soldier Looking for Home

Image captured from wifr.com video

A letter from a WW2 soldier was found in the street and the finder is looking for any family member so he can return the letter.

The letter was written in December 1944 by Sgt Neal K. Moore while he was in England and it is addressed to Miss Bessie Moore of Galena Park Texas. 

So did a bit of sleuthing and found the burial of Sgt. Moore in Oakwood Cemetery, Denison, Grayson County Texas. The inscription reads:

MOORE  NEAL  K                   FEB 26,1914     JAN 12,1945
  SERGEANT, US  ARMY, WW II.  KILLED  IN  BELGIUM, BATTLE  OF  THE  BULGE
[FN1]

Also found on FindAGrave with inscription Veteran of World War II. Sergeant - United States Army. Killed in action - Battle of the Bulge. Serial No. 38043828 Note that the serial number is identical to the serial number on the return address of his envelope [FN2]

In the 1940 census for Denison Texas Neal is found as a single man living with his sister, the widow Georgia Armstrong, at 609 East Munson Street. He works in a cheese factory.

An application in 1947 for a military stone for Neal's grave was submitted by Ernest Moore living in Galena Park Texas. [FN3] I have no doubt he is related, if not to Neal, to Bessie the person Neal wrote to.  

I plan to continue hunting for more details on Neal and on Bessie the woman he wrote to. My hope is that my wonderful readers will jump in and put on their genealogy sleuthing hats!

Oct. 30th : Exciting Update!!

This was posted on Olive Tree Genealogy Facebook page by Debbie DeVore: 

Thanks you guys! Thanks to folks from your group we found out about this last night. My mom is the closest living relative to Neal and Bessie and we are now in contact with the gentleman who found the letter and will be seeing it soon! My mom, Donna Moore DeVore, is 76 and this is the most exciting thing to happen for her in a long while. She had only recently posted info on Neal on her ancestry page. Too cool! 


[FN1] http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txgrayso/ceme-oakwood5.html 
[FN2] http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=moore&GSfn=neal&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=8622560&df=all&
[FN3] Ancestry.com

WW1 UK Soldiers' Wills Online Database

Thanks to Jean-Yves Baxter of GeneaNet for spotting this new database. 

Wills and personal messages written by tens of thousands of Britain’s First World War soldiers killed in action are being made public online for the first time through an innovative project set up by Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS).

All soldiers had to write their wills before heading to the front lines, and a copy had to be carried with them. Personal messages to loved ones were often added by the soldiers.
 
This new database has 278,000 scanned and digitzed wills and messages. Scanned copies of The First World War wills can be ordered online for a small fee.

You can also view one Soldier’s last letter to his mother in 1914 or the Will of a WW1 soldier

WW 2 American Soldier Letters - May Have Found Sons

From Olive Tree Genealogy blog readers we have some exciting finds re the Harvill brothers whose WW2 letters were found in an antique hatbox. This is a good time for other readers to jump in and lend a hand. I think we're close to sending the letters home!

For those not familiar with this case, please see two previous blog posts

Looking for Family for World War II American Soldiers' Letters Found in Hatbox

Update on WW2 American Soldiers Letters Found

Here is what readers have found:

Death Notice for Eural Dale Harvill

Anyone with access to this newspaper could help by looking up the full entry and sending it to olivetreegenealogyATgmail.com (change AT to @)

Death notice for the younger Harvill brother, Eural Dale Harvill, apparently was published in the 13 Aug 1980 issue of the Nashville (Tennessee) Tennessean newspaper. (Info from the Nashville Public Library Obituaries database

From US military records (VA records) for the older brother, Robert Donald Harvill, he passed away passed away at Wichita, Kansas, 5 Mar 1990. [From jdelauche]

From Donna Bailey

Name:	Robt D Harvill
Gender:	M (Male)
Residence Year:	1954
Street Address:	450 N Mkt
Residence Place:	Wichita, Kansas
Occupation:	Carp
Spouse:	Jean Harvill
Publication Title:	Wichita, Kansas, City Directory, 1954

And possibly brother Eural Dale and wife

Name:	Laura Harvill
Gender:	F (Female)
Residence Year:	1959
Street Address:	218 Stainback av
Residence Place:	Nashville, Tennessee
Spouse:	Dale E Harvill
Publication Title:	Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1959

Lorine's Note: Donna also found evidence that Eural and Laura had a son named Patrick Harvill and he was at one time living in Nashville Tennessee

From  Donna Bailey & Susan Yep the obit of Jean Harvill wife of Robert Duncan Harvill

This seems like a good lead if we can find the two sons mentioned below

Deceased Name: JEAN M. HARVILL

JEAN M. HARVILL , 75, of 1319 Seville, homemaker, died Wednesday, May 10, 1989. Service 1 p.m. Saturday, North Cemetery, Drumright , Okla. Survivors: husband, Robert; sons, David R. Layland, Robert J. Adame, both of Wichita; brothers, Peter Murphy of Pennsylvania, John Thornton, Sonny Thornton, both of New York City; sisters, Helen Long, Mary Thornton, Kate Thornton, all of New York City; six grandchildren. De Vorss Flanagan-Hunt Mortuary.

Wichita Eagle, The (KS)
Date: May 11, 1989
Edition: CITY EDITION
Page: 9A
Record Number: 8901180596

Update on WW2 American Soldiers Letters Found

1944 Dale Harvill

 Thanks to reader Lee Simons we now have photos of Eural Dale Harvill from the Drumright Oklahoma High School Yearbooks of 1944 and 1945.

Still looking for a family member so his WW2 letters to his parents can go home. 

 This morning I found the obituary of the brother's mother Josephine

Tulsa World (OK) - Friday, September 26, 1997

Deceased Name: Drumright -- Josephine Thiry Harvill

1945 Drumright High School

Drumright -- Josephine Thiry Harvill, 96, homemaker, died Thursday. Graveside services 2 p.m. Saturday, Drumright North Cemetery. Michael's.

 I was hoping it would provide details on her sons and possible grandchildren but no luck. Perhaps there are obits for the brothers or their father. It does provide a maiden name for their mother so it is possible that cousins could be found for the boys
 
See the original blog post at

Looking for Family for World War II American Soldiers' Letters Found in Hatbox

If you can spare some time to have a hunt for descendants of Robert Duncan Harvill (1922-1990) or his brother Eural Dale Harvill (1927-1980), please leave a comment on this blog post with anything you find.

Looking for Family for World War II American Soldiers' Letters Found in Hatbox

Photo courtesy of TulsaWorld.com

An antique hatbox bought at an auction in Oklahoma turned out to be much more than just a simple hatbox. When Pamela Gilliland, the buyer, opened it, she found a treasure trove of letters written by Eural Harvill and Robert Harvill, brothers serving in the military during World War II.

Over 250 letters addressed to Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Harvill of Drumright Oklahamo (Eural and Robert's parents) had been carefully stored inside the box. Ms. Gilliland hopes to find a family member so she can send the letters home.

Those who read my blog know how passionate I am about military history and returning soldier's ephemera and memorabilia to family members. So of course I jumped on this after my friend Lisa Haas directed me to the story.

Lorine's Research:

I found a man in the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) on Ancestry.com who is probably Eural, the WW2 soldier.  He was born in 1927 in Oklahoma and died in 1980

Name:	Eural Harvill
Birth:	14 May 1927
Death:	Aug 1980
Civil:	Oklahoma
Other:	Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States of America

There is also this listing in U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 

Name:	Eural D Harvill
Birth Year:	1927
Race:	White, citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country:	Oklahoma
State of Residence:	Oklahoma
County or City:	Creek
Enlistment Date:	6 Feb 1946
Enlistment State:	California
Enlistment City:	Fort Ord

   
Best of all is the 1930 census record found on Ancestry.com for 2 year old Dale Harvill (note Eural's middle initial above) living in Drumwright, Creek Co. Oklahoma with parents Eural and Josephine Harvill.... and brother Robert D. age 7. 

The 1940 census for Drumwright Oklahoma shows Eural and Josephine (misindexed on Ancestry.com as HOWELL) living at 301 Maple St with their sons Dale(12) and Donald (17).  So we now know the full names of the brothers (Robert Donald Harvill and Eural Dale Harvill) and there do not appear to be any other siblings. 

Here is Robert's information from U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

Name:	Robert Harvill
Gender:	Male
Birth Date:	13 Nov 1922
Death Date:	5 Mar 1990
SSN:	441289789
Branch 1:	ARMY
Enlistment Date 1:	16 Sep 1940
Release Date 1:	6 Dec 1945

and here is his brother Eural's information from the same source 

Name:	Eural Harvill
Birth Date:	14 May 1927
Death Date:	11 Aug 1980
SSN:	440242847
Branch 1:	ARMY
Enlistment Date 1:	25 Jul 1945
Release Date 1:	5 Feb 1946

The question is - did either of the brothers marry? Did they have children? If anyone knows anything about this family or wants to join in the hunt for descendants or other family members please leave a comment on this blog post or write me privately at olivetreegenealogyATgmail.com (replace AT with @)

UPDATE: Please see Update on WW2 American Soldiers Letters Found

Read more about these WW2 letters at Yahoo News and Tulsa World

WW1 Soldier's Letters Found in Attic of Home

Yesterday I read a CBC news story about a treasure trove of letters and photos from WW1 found in an attic. A young couple opened the trap door in the ceiling of their home to look for storage space and discovered a box full of letters written by a soldier in the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) from the front lines.

The only clues given in the news story were that the soldier's name was N. E. Waring and the person he was writing to was Hilda McLeod. A short video with the story clearly shows Hilda's address as 126 Hampton Ave, Toronto Ontario. The couple want to return the letters and photos to a descendant and are asking for help.

CEF DATABASE

How I wish I could see those letters and photos to pick out more clues and details but I decided to look for the author of the letters with the clues provided. A search of the online CEF database on Ancestry.com and on Collections Canada brought up the most likely candidate for the letter writer -  Norman Edmund Waring of Carleton St. in Toronto. He gave his next of kin as Mrs. James Waring, same address as his, when he enlisted in December 1915.

The video shows parts of the letters and you can see the beautiful clear handwriting. Norman's signature on his Attestation papers in 1915 matches the signature on a postcard shown on the video.

Norman gives his birth date as February 1886 and that allowed me to find his birth registration on Ancestry. His parents are listed as James Waring and Bessie Waring and his place of birth, Ingersoll, agreed with the Attestation Papers.

CENSUS RECORDS

No marriage record for Norman was found on Ancestry.com so I began a hunt for possible siblings of Norman. The 1891 census for Ingersoll reveals the family of

James Waring, 42 born Ireland
Bessie, 35 born Ireland
Henry, 12 born Ireland
Willie, 10 born Ontario
Albert, 8 born Ontario
Norman, 5 born Ontario
and Frederick 2 born Ontario

A later census record for  1911 shows one more son, Samuel, age 19 in 1911. The family is living at 279  Carleton Street in 1911. Henry, Norman and Fred are still at home with their parents and still single.

1940 Voter's List

It doesn't appear that Norman ever married, as he is later found as a single man on a 1940 Voter's List, living at 279 Carleton Street with his widowed mother Bessie and his brother William (also single)

So I decided to trace Norman's brothers to find out if they married and left descendants


NORMAN'S BROTHERS

A search for Norman's brothers revealed the following:


Henry Waring was found on Ancestry.com on a Border Crossing Record in 1915 crossing at Buffalo New York. His birth place is given as Belfast Ireland. I could fairly easily trace the family backwards and in fact, discovered their names on a passenger list for the ship The Montreal arriving Quebec from Ireland in June 1880. But the couple who found the letters and photos want to give them to a descendant so I had to stay focused and trace down from James and Bessie, not back. Henry died in August 1933, never having married. He lived with his brother Norman at the Carleton Street address and in fact died in the house.

Willie (William Alexander) Waring went to Detroit Michigan in 1911 [Source: Border Crossing Records] He married Edith Boyd and had one known son, Roy Waring born Dec. 1900 in Sacremento California (Source: US Passport Application 1920). His son Roy's passport application dated 1920 states his father William is deceased. Roy died in 1969 in Los Angeles California but I've not yet found if he had children.

Albert (James Albert) Waring enlisted during WW1 in Nevada, USA. In January 1917 he is found on a list of individuals crossing from British Columbia to Marcus Washington. I have not yet hunted for Albert after 1917 so perhaps my readers will take on that task.

Frederick (John Frederick) Waring married Violet May Cridland in 1914 according to the online marriage registrations on Ancestry. I have not yet searched for further details on Frederick.

Samuel (Samuel Holt) Waring is found in the CEF database as enlisting in January 1918. He was single and living with his mother at the Carleton Street address. A marriage registration on Ancestry.com shows him marrying Jane Elizabeth Gardner in 1924. The last record I found for Samuel was a 1963 Voter's List for Eglinton Ontario. His wife "Jane" is with him. I found two children, both stillborn. I do not know if he and Jane had more children.

HILDA

Searching for Hilda McLeod proved a little more challenging. I found a possible candidate living for Hilda, born in 1893 and living in Toronto in 1911 with her parents Dougald and Mary Ann, and marrying in Toronto in 1921. But not to Norman Waring. I do not know if this is Hilda of the letters.

Whatever the relationship between Norman and Hilda, they did not marry and so far I have not found a living relative of Norman E. Waring. Perhaps my readers can use their genealogy sleuthing skills to help bring these letters and photos home.