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Start Over You searched for: Places Texas--Description and travel. Remove constraint Places: Texas--Description and travel. Subjects World War, 1914-1918--United States. Remove constraint Subjects: World War, 1914-1918--United States.
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Collection

Chivis H. Stone letters, 1917-1918

3 items

This collection is made up of letters that Chivis H. Stone wrote to Rose Kohler of Bay City, Michigan, while working in Texas during World War I. Stone discussed his work repairing military telephone equipment, his travels along the Rio Grande River, his leisure activities, and his love for Rose.

This collection is made up of 3 letters that Chivis H. Stone wrote to Rose Kohler of Bay City, Michigan, while working in and around Eagle Pass, Texas, in October 1917 and February 1918. Stone discussed his life in Texas and his work on military telephones, phone lines, and related equipment; he sometimes drove to other areas in Texas, such as Marfa and Del Rio, and often complained about his truck. He occasionally mentioned local residents, including a Mexican washerwoman who had become infected with smallpox while working with soldiers' laundry. In his second letter, he shared the story of two deserters who had stolen horses, guns, and ammunition before being caught in Mexico. Stone expressed his gratitude for Bay City residents' charitable efforts for U.S. soldiers and reported his own purchase of two Liberty bonds; he believed that the bonds showed united support for President Wilson and, by extension, the American war effort. Stone's leisure activities included attending events at the local YMCA, reading and writing letters, and watching movies. His letters include many statements of his love for Rose, whom he had married before writing his final letter.

Collection

Esther A. Bates collection, 1917-1919

0.25 linear feet

This collection is made up of 65 letters that Esther A. Bates of Omro, Wisconsin, received during World War I. Fred W. Moldenhauer, her future husband, wrote the vast majority of the letters while serving with the 331st Field Artillery Regiment at army camps from September 1917-September 1918, and after his return to the United States in February 1919.

This collection is made up of 65 letters that Esther A. Bates of Omro, Wisconsin, received during World War I. Fred W. Moldenhauer, her future husband, wrote the majority of the letters while serving with the 331st Field Artillery Regiment at army camps from September 1917-September 1918, and after his return to the United States in February 1919.

Private Fred W. Moldenhauer wrote over 50 letters to Esther A. Bates between September 1917 and September 1918. He was primarily stationed at Camp Grant, Illinois, and Camp Robinson, Wisconsin, where he reported on many aspects of camp life and on mutual acquaintances, including those who were transferred to other camps. Moldenhauer often expressed his love for Bates, and he occasionally wrote loving messages in Morse code in his later letters. In one letter, he recounted his visit to a group of African Americans who lived near Camp Grant (November 13, 1917). Moldenhauer wrote 4 letters from Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and 2 letters from Camp Grant, Illinois, in February 1919, following his return from France. Among other subjects, he discussed his return voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Many of Moldenhauer's letters are directed to Bates, care of West Hall at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Three other soldiers wrote letters to Esther A. Bates during the war. Ervin W. Steinert, a member of the 341st Infantry Regiment, Company K, and the 311th Field Signal Battalion, wrote about life at Camp Grant, Illinois. Among his correspondence is a printed Christmas card with the logo of the 311th Field Signal Battalion ([December 22, 1917]). Other writers were L. W. Lurd of the 128th Machine Gun Company, who described the country around Camp MacArthur, Texas, and a man named "Ernest," who anticipated his transfer from Camp Grant, Illinois.