Friday, September 19, 2014

Clay W. Kildow.

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Clay W. Kildow.

Birth: Jun. 28, 1900, Sheffield, Bureau County, Illinois.
Death: Jun. 8, 1919, Rock Island, Rock Island County, Illinois.

Parents: George Kildow (1858 - 1939), Lucinda Marple Kildow (1864 - 1926).

Siblings: Lucian Kildow (____ - 1920), Logan Kildow (1886 - 1938), Joseph Andrew Kildow (1889 - 1943), Clay W. Kildow (1900 - 1919).

Burial: Sheffield Cemetery, Sheffield, Bureau County, Illinois.

World War I.

KILDOW, CLAY W. 

Seaman. 2nd Class, V. S. Navy. Born June 28, 1899.  Son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Kildow. Entered service May14, 1918, at Great Lakes. 111. Discharged Nov. 1, 191S. Killed by street car at Rock Island, Ill., June 8, 1919. Home address, Slieffield, Illinois..

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Colonel Elias Peissner.

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Elias Peissner.

Birth: Sep. 5, 1825, Vilseck, Bavaria (Bayern), Germany
Death: May 2, 1863, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

Wife: Margaret Lewis Peissner (1836 - 1904).

Children: Barbara Kotzbauer Peissner Hollis (1858 - 1892), Keziah Lewis Peissner (1858 - 1860), Tayler Lewis Peissner (1860 - 1895).

Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Fort Miller, Washington County, New York.

119th., New York infantry.
New York, State Records.

Elias Peissner, Age 35.  Enrolled at New York City, for 3 years, and mustered in as Lieutenant Colonel, August 9, 1862;, as Colonel, September 1, 1862; Killed in action, May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville Virginia.  Not commissioned Lieutenany Colonel; commissioned Colonel, September, with rank from same date original.

Union College, Schenectady, New York.
 
Elias Peissner, who was Captain, was born March 27, 1826, at Vilseck, Bavaria. His father, Jacob Peissner, held an office under Louis, the old King of Bavaria. He attended the Amberg Gymnasium for eight years, graduating when 17 years of age. He then entered Munich University and studied philosophy two years and law three years, being regularly authorized to practice law in 1849. He then spent part of a year at the University of Giessen. He was suspected of favoring the German
revolution and obtained with difficulty a passport to visit foreign universities.
 
He arrived in New York July 3, 1849. While on a trip to Niagara F'alls on foot, he stopped at Schenectady and began teaching German, fencing and broadsword to professors and students. This led to his teaching Latin and political economy and in 1855 Union College founded for him the Professorship of the German Language and Literature and added the lectureship on political economy. He published the same year an English-German gTammar and in 1858, ''Romance Languages 
 
He married Margaret, daughter of Prof. Tayler Lewis, in April, 1856, and they had three children, one of whom died in 1860. The daughter became the wife of Prof. Ira N. Hollis, and has been dead many years.The son, Tayler Lewis Peissner, then an infant, was made ''child of the company," by the Zouaves. Mrs. Peissner became Registrar of the College, and was known to a great many of the Alumni and students. A Grand Army Post in Rochester, N. Y., is named after Colonel Peissner. 
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In the Fall of 1862, just before the college reopened, Prof. Peissner took command of the One Hundred and Nineteenth New York Volunteers. At last he was fully enlisted in the cause which was the dearest on earth to him, and the full significance of which he understood most thoroughly; first by the quick sympathy of a heart warm with the love of liberty and justice, and then by the profound study which he had made of our political life, and the clear conviction which he had of the value of the Republic to human progress everywhere and always.

His record as a soldier is brief, but it is very characteristic. He was as faithful to his men as he had been to his students, and he mastered every detail of his new profession with the rapid intelligence and the intense application which he had shown in his old one. When his regiment lay in camp facing the enemy one of his superior officers remarked, "We can lie down in safety tonight, for Peissner has command of the pickets." The words were, in little, the description of his admirable character. Whoever came in contact with him instinctively felt this unreserved confidence that whatever a generous sense of duty could demand he would be sure to give.

I need not say that he was brave. His was the courage at once of a strong nature and of a lofty ideal. What were the dangers of the field to a soul which saw in its immediate surroundings scope for the noblest activity, and which saw, beyond, the infinite worth of the cause which it was serving? When he crossed the Rappahannock, the first man of that gallant and ill-fated Army of the Potomac, he knew that whether he lived or died his acts were linking the efforts of all the past to the possibilities of freedom and progress in the continual future.

When, on that terrible morning of the 2d of May, he rode calmly down the lines, holding his men firm against the fierce onset that was scattering those on either side, he knew that those who fell in that fight fell as the seed falls, making the great harvest possible. And yet, when this heroic soldier of universal freedom, this patriot whose patriotism was deeper than love of country, lay mortally wounded, his last words, which a stricken comrade gathered from his lips, were a prayer that touches the deepest spring in our heart, "God protect my wife and children!" Let us bow in silence before this cry of human anguish which so reveals to us the costliness of the sacrifice that had been laid on the altar of our country and its sacred cause.
 
This is the man whose memory the Class of '63 desire to honor in the bust which we present to you. It is a tardy testimony of our love and reverence for him, but its very tardiness is proof that after near a score of years his place is warm in our hearts. We hope that as the students of Union come and go, looking daily on these features, they may feel, even if remotely, some added impulse toward the pure and noble ideal of character and conduct which Col. Peissner so faithfully cherished, and that, in their young and generous souls, his beautiful life may be perpetuated. 
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A history of the Class of 1863 would not be complete that failed to tell of the affection and admiration which prompted its gift of the beautiful bronze bust of Elias Peissner to Union College, at commencement in 1880. As the presentation address of Classmate Edward Cary gives appropriate expression to these feelings, it is given here in full. The inscription on the pedestal is as follows :

In honor of Elias Peissner, Professor in Union College,

Colonel of the 119th New York  Volunteers

Killed at the head of his Regiment at Chancellorsville, Va.,

May 2nd, 1863.
 
Accomplished Scholar.
Beloved Friend.
Heroic Soldier.
 
Offered by the Class of 1863.

 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Richard H. Dickson.

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Richard H Dickson.

Birth: Jan. 7, 1891.
Death: Sep. 29, 1918, France.

Son of Melvin H. and Mamie D. Dickson. Killed in action near Bellicourt, France.

Burial: Lebanon-In-The-Fork Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee.

World War I.
 
Dickson, Richard H. Enlisted in the Second Tennessee Infantry in August 1917. Transferred later to Cmpany C, 120th Infantry, 30th Divsion, stationed at Camp Sevier, S. C,Sailed for overseas duty in May 1918, and as a member of the A. E. F.took part in all engagements of his command until September 29, 1918 on which date he was killed. Held the rank of corporal.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

John Fanz Staub.

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John Fanz Staub.

Birth: Sep. 12, 1892, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee.
Death: Apr. 13, 1981, Houston, Harris County, Texas.

Parents: Fritz Staub (1861 - 1934), Anna Fanz Staub (1868 - 1937).

Wife: Madeleine Delabarre Staub (1894 - 1981).

Siblings: Maurisse Staub (1888 - 1888), Infant Staub (1889 - 1889), Amy Staub Galyon (1890 - 1979), John Fanz Staub (1892 - 1981).

Burial: Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Harris County, Texas.

World War I

STAUB, JOHN FANZ Enlisted in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps on July 27, 1917, and was commissioned ensign January 24, 1918. Went overseas March 29. 1918, and stationed at Killingholme, England, from which he did submarine search, convoy escort and reconnaissance patrols over the North Sea. Promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, October 1. 1918. and commended by British Admiralty for successful attack on enemy submarine on July 9. 1918. Junior aide to commanding officer. Discharged January 20, 1919. at Nashville. Tenn 

U. S. S.. Edwin A. Howard, ( DE - 346 ).


U.S.S. EDWIN A. HOWARD (DE-346)


The U.S.S. EDWIN A. HOWARD commemorates the Naval career of Corporal Edwin Alfred Howard, U.S.M.C., who was born in Phoenix Arizona, 6 July 1922, and who died as a result of wounds received in action 3 November 1942, at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.

Corporal Howard enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, at Los Angeles, California, on 23 September, 1941. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for service set forth in the following citation:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while in charge of a Communication Wire Team attempting to establish vital lines to the rear in an area under enemy Japanese sniper and artillery fire on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 3 November 1942. When an enemy shell exploded in his immediate vicinity, wounding one of his men, Corporal Howard, having cried for help, quickly ran to the assistance of the injured man. While bravely attempting to remove his comrade to a place of comparative safety, Corporal Howard was struck by fragments of a Japanese shell and was instantly killed. He gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country."

Burial: Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California

Monday, September 15, 2014

'Toby" The Ratter.

WAR DOGS of the WORLD WAR.

"TOBY" THE RATTER.

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OF the many annoyances and discomforts of camp and trench life, the rat is the most unwelcome. This species of the rodent family infests these places and not only becomes a pest, but a menace to the health of the soldier. Many a brave man has lost his life from  the poisonous bite of these pesky and annoying creatures. Every effort is made to rid the camp of their presence. Of all breeds of dogs, the fox terrier has been found the most effective in the destruction of rats, and many of these dogs have earned wonderful reputations as "ratters."

In the Refuge in Neuilly there is a dog named Toby, who has passed into the professional rat-killer class.

During his three years' service at the front, four thousand or more "dead ones" have been marked up to his credit, and all previous records have been smashed.

That the rat was not the only enemy that Toby encountered during his service for his country, is evidenced by his gimp. A stray bullet snipped one of his front feet off just below the knee, and now Toby is listed as "wounded but not inactive." He is the most agile three-footed tyke I ever saw, and sets the pace for all the other dogs in their gambols about the grounds.

The soldiers taught Toby many tricks, and on command he says his prayers, rolls over, plays dead, speaks (barks), sings and performs other "stunts" that are truly wonderful