Thomas Munson & The Thomas Munson Foundation

My great-great grandmother Mary Jane Munson Smith was part of an absolutely gigantic family of

Munson's signature of the
founders of New Haven is
fifth down on the left

Munsons that started with Capt Thomas Munson, the first emigrant. Munson came originally from Rattlesden, England and became one of the founders of New Haven, Connecticut.

From the Thomas Munson Foundation website: 

"The first appearance of Thomas Munson (1612-1685) in America is recorded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1637 as a member of the militia unit engaged in the Pequot Indian War. He signed the Fundamental Agreement at New Haven Colony (dated 1639) prior to April 1640 and established his permanent home. His life and actions are well documented in The Munson Record, Volume I and the Connecticut colony records.

The evidence is persuasive that the Thomas Munson who was recorded as being baptized in St. Nicholas Church in Rattlesden, County Suffolk, England on September 13, 1612, was the same man who later distinguished himself in the public affairs of colonial New Haven. The principal tie is the age listed on his gravestone… aged 73 years, which links well with the baptismal record.

The Church records document that the Thomas Munson of Rattlesden was the son of John and Elizabeth Munson. John was baptized 14 October 1571 and was buried 26 November 1650. Elizabeth was buried 3 January 1634/5. John was the son of Richard and Margery (Barnes) Munson. Richard was buried at Rattlesden on 3 December 1590, while Margery was buried there 7 February 1622/3. (The Munson Family of County Suffolk, England, and New Haven, Connecticut, Milton Rubincam, The American Genealogist, January 1941.) Thomas Munson of Hartford and New Haven married Joanna. This marriage produced 3
children (generation 2): Elizabeth, Samuel, and Hannah. Generation 2 produced 19 generation 3 descendants (grandchildren of Thomas and Joanna); Generation 3 produced 66 great-grandchildren of Thomas and Joanna (generation 4).

From the beginning of TMF, a “Clan-based” structure was recognized. Originally, each TMF Clan was understood to consist of all identified linear descendants of Thomas and Joanna through male lines; as Clan Head was the great-grandson in that line; the Clan bore his Name. 17 such Clans were recognized. Obviously, many lines from Thomas and Joanna were overlooked in this structure: the descendants of Elizabeth (generation 2) and Hannah (generation 2) as well as all the female lines in later generations. In 2008, TMF broadened the definitions to recognize descendancy traced through all the great-grandchildren of Thomas and Joanna. Thus were identified as many as 43 potential new Clans. To date, descendants in 7 of these have been located and their new clans have been activated. Listed on this website is the current list of 24 Clans."

The early Munson's lived in New Haven. Here's a neat image of where the early Munson's lived in town:

I am from Clan William. I have purchased the first two volumes of The Thomas Munson Genealogy and though Clan William is completely left out of Vol II, enough information was available in Vol I to help keep my efforts going. Clan William seems to have a lot of people who moved West early on, which could account for the genealogy not being able to keep up with their movements while Vol II was being prepared. I'm awaiting Vols III-V to see where I've gotten it right/wrong/or where the genealogy document needs some help. 

There are well over a million living descendants of Thomas Munson living in the US today. Wow! 

Leland Barr and World War II

SMITH, Jacob > SMITH, William Custer > SMITH, Edwin > Smith, Vivan and Leland Barr

Leland Barr was the husband of my great aunt Vivian. I had warm feelings for her. She and Leland never had any kids, but Vivian was very fond of all of  us as well. He was born in 02 Nov 1906 in Shell Rock, Iowa. 

Vivian visit Leland before he left
for Europe

Uncle Leland was very quiet. Didn't see him smile a lot and can't recall anytime where he was laughing and joking, but he was a nice enough guy. He served in World War 2 and his service record isn't entirely clear, but this is from an earlier post:

Vivian met a young man from Shell Rock, Leland Barr, son of  William Barr and Marie Hufstader. In 1938, they married and she and Leland set up housekeeping in Plainfield. He made his living doing day labor. In April 1943, they moved to Waterloo where he had secured employment with Rath Packing Company, a major employer with good pay and benefits. Then, in August, Leland was drafted. He was and sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic and advanced training in October.

After a 10-day furlough, he was sent to England and spent the next two years attached to the 49th Combat Engineers serving in England, France, and Belgium. While overseas, he fell into a mine shaft and was seriously injured; his legs were never the same. After the war, he was discharged as a private in December, 1945, returning to Waterloo and started work at Hartman Locker. He was rehired by Rath in early 1947, and according to Evelyn’s daughter Cheryl, he had a job  operating the large swing doors in the plant which wouldn’t tax him too much due to his war injuries. He remained with Rath until retirement.

The other day, I spoke with my cousin Tony, who had found a box of Vivian's things that had been in the care of my Uncle Harold who recently passed away. Yesterday, I went through the box and found a minor treasure of things from Uncle Leland's service.

Good Conduct Medal, WWII

These are not all identified, but the one on the bar is the Victory Medal and the one on the right is a campaign medal (which I believe is not identical, but similar to the one on top with three clusters. The one on the bottom looks like the Bronze Star ribbon, but there is absolutely no indication Leland received such an award.

This photo includes his death certificate. He was hospitalized and died on one of my leaves and I attended his funeral in 1979. He is buried in Waterloo, Iowa. There is a certificate of service which he had framed, his death certificate, a letter from the War Department regarding his service, a copy of his basic training book from Ft Leonard Wood, MO (where I would attend basic training 35 years later), and finally, a Nazi Iron Cross - source unknown.

The Iron Cross was worn by Nazi soldiers during WWII
There is a swastika and "1939" raised on the cross.

I'm left with more questions. Why does he have a bronze star ribbon? How did he get the Iron Cross? What were his experiences in Europe? There is no one left to ask.