Clan William: Charles Fremont Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Charles Fremont Munson

We've covered all of the daughters of Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kerney, but I've finally had some time to look into the two boys in the family. I'll start with the baby, Charles Fremont Munson.

Charles was born on 02 Dec 1849 in Trumbull County, Ohio and came to Plattville, Wisconsin with his family about 1849/1850. The family moved to Tama County, Iowa in 1870 and to the town of Traer. This is the point at which his sisters, Caroline and Julia married into the Newcomb family. Charles went into the harness making trade with uncle U. C. Newcomb.

On 31 Dec 1874, he married Estella Root at Tama. They had four children; two infants died, son Charles Franklin "Frank" died in 1890 at age 11, and the surviving child was Clyde Amos Munson who was born 23 Sep 1881 in Hawkeye. In 1881, the family came to Hawkeye. Charles engaged in the harness trade with a barber shop in connection. That to me sounds really funny!

Stella died in 1907 and in 1908, Charles moved to Woonsocket, South Dakota and later to Wessington Springs, in Jerauld County, South Dakota, where he was manager of the Wessington Springs Hardware and Implement Co. He married Mrs Mary Shabell Hathaway in 1911.

While visiting his son in Hawkeye, he became ill and consulted with Dr Walsh, who recommended surgery in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic. Son Clyde and CF went to Rochester and on September 23, 1919, Munson had surgery. He had been making good progress after surgery and expected to recover, when he began to fail and died on 25 Sep 1919. Clyde had spent three weeks with his father while there.

He was a charter member of the IOOF lodge in Hawkeye and a member of AF&AM and Yeoman.

Mystery Muddle: Who is Rebecca Cronoble?

PETER SMULL m Mary Waggoner > PETER L SMULL m Rebecca Cronoble

Our brothers Smull, of Centre County, can be learned about here.

Peter Smull, one of the four brothers, had 12 children, including Peter L Smull was born in about 1833 in Centre County, Pennsylvania. He moved to Stephenson County, Illinois in the early 1850s. In 1861, he married Rebecca Cronoble.

Rebecca also hailed from Centre County. The mystery is in which Grenoble/Cronoble branch did she come? Here's a little summary of my findings, but this mystery has yet to be solved.

It's my belief that the originating immigrant is Johann Jacob Grenoble, born in 1702 in Germany and who came to Philadelphia in 1743 with his infant son, Lorentz and wife Agnetha. Daughter Anna Barbara did not survive to make the trip and died before age 2. Some reports say Agnetha died before the trip, but I cannot yet confirm that fact. Johann remarried (this is in itself another mystery for another day) to the widow of  Johannes Beverts.

Lorentz married Sabina Fruh. They had four children. The surviving male was Jacob, born in 1775 in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, who in turn married Katarina Willeman about 1794. They had 10 children.In that bunch, we start to see the reversion of the last name from Grenoble to Cronoble (the original German name) and Crownoble. While several of the children remained in Pennsylvania, one moved to Stephenson County, Illinois - George W Grenoble/Cronoble who married Sarah Runkle.

1850 Census - George Cronoble Family, Centre County

I've located eight children of this union, but no Rebecca in the bunch The Rebecca's among the other descendants are not possibly Rebecca Cronoble Smull.

Records I am currently able to locate leave me with this hypothesis: Rebecca is either Elizabeth or Margaret, born in 1833 and 1835 respectively. There is evidence that Jacob, and possibly John also made the trek West later, but based on timing, marriage year, etc., I believe Rebecca to be a child of George.

I would love, love, love if someone has some thoughts or their own theory or information to support this hypothesis.

Peter L Smull died 13 Sep 1900 in Stephenson County at the home of his sister, Mrs Matilda (Daniel) Meyer. We don't know when Rebecca died, or anything really, about how she lived either. I'd like to give her some identity beyond a name that may or may not be correct.

Yin/Yang: The Bandy's in a Minute

The Bandy family is a long and storied family in North Carolina, reportedly of Irish-Scottish descent. Our brush with them is really distant. One of Johannes "John" Holler's children from his first marriage married John Bandy, linking the families. I don't plan to spend a lot of time on this family, but I did run  across a couple of things of interest all within the same family.

Lincoln and Iredell Counties were the home of most of the Holler Clan
Lincoln was split up to create Catawba County in 1842

Christeaner Holler was born about 1784 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. She married John Bandy on 04 Nov 1817 in Lincoln County. They had at least six children, among them, twins James Marcus Bandy and John Wesley Bandy, born in 1824.

James Marcus' story ends relatively soon and sadly. He was a private in Company I, 12th US Infantry Regiment and was on his way by sea to Mexico to fight in the war, when he contracted the measles and died aboard ship on 15 Jul 1847.

His twin, John Wesley married Harriet Ramsey, born 08 Feb 1823 in North Carolina. They had three children: James Marcus "Mark" and Jane Elizabeth, also twins, and Luther Henderson Bandy. Harriet died in 1871 and John Wesley remarried to Mary Weaver in 1873.

Daughter Jane married Samuel Gregory 21 Apr 1866. Her husband died before 1880. She died 29 Oct 1920 of  breast cancer complicated by Bright's Disease.

The two sons of the Bandy/Ramsey union could not have been more different from one another.

Son, Luther, the baby, was born in November 1850 and according to one family chronicler, was living with the family of Elizabeth Matilda "Til" Probst in Catawba County in 1870. He and "Til," had two children who retained the Probst name, Cora and Ched. Ched probably died as an infant.

Whether he was in common law marriage with Til is not known, but he moved on some time later and found himself charged with "bastardy" after it became apparent Elmina Canipe was having an out of wedlock child. A bastardy bond was taken out by others who then went after Luther. Jane, the daughter, was born in 1876. Luther was sent to jail and reportedly used his inherited land to get himself out of jail. There are reports that they married and that they didn't marry, but I have yet to find a marriage record. Doesn't mean there isn't one.

Finally, Luther reportedly married Nancy Aiken on 07 Feb 1887 - there is a marriage record, it's just not 100% that it was this Luther. However, by the 1920 census, he is living in Gaston County and is without wife and is listed on his death certificate as widowed when he died 07 Nov 1930 in Lincoln County. He spent his life as a common laborer and didn't manage to do a lot other than making babies outside the bonds of legal matrimony.

Confederate Drummer Boy

In contrast, his older brother, James Marcus "Mark" Bandy, from an early age was driven. He reportedly fervently believed in the Rebel cause and became a drummer boy for his North Carolina infantry unit at age 13. He enlisted 21 May 1864 in the 72nd North Carolina Regiment, Company E. The battalion was made up primarily of boys in the 16-17 year old range in the "junior reserves." He worked his way up by war's end to Lieutenant of Co B, 8th Battalion Junior Reserves, Co E 72nd NC Regt. During the battle of Bentonville, one of the war's last battles, he was made a Captain at the age of 18 (young men were being recruited to lead as replacement healthy adult males were in short supply after years of attrition). He was with his unit when it surrendered to the North.

In 1865, he married Martha Jane Leonard of Lincoln County. They had 13 children, nine of whom survived at his death. Mark was cited in his obituary as "one of the most brilliant minds our State has ever known." He graduated from Rutherford College with a teaching certificate and taught at local high school academies and later at Shelby, NC and King's Mountain Military School. He took a bachelor of arts at Trinity College, part of Duke University located in Randolph County, and was offered the position as chair of the mathematics and engineering department at Trinity, where he remained for many years and further earned his master's degree. Bandy also organized the Scientific Society at Trinity in 1889 and became its president. He was co-author of a book on mathematics as well. Professor Bandy would move to Durham when Trinity College finally joined Duke at Durham for the 1892 school year.

The Dukes would employ Prof Bandy to build a road from Durham to Duke and he was also hired by the Page Brothers to build a railroad from Ashboro to Aberdeen. His civil engineering work led to him becoming the city engineer for Greensboro. He designed the city's water system that would remain in place until 1960. His wife would die in 1905. According to this family chronicler, he met his next wife in a most charming manner:

"Mark went to a girls school in Rock Hill, SC to make a speech. While at the Faculty dinner table, he asked for the bowl of sugar in Latin. Sallie M Joyner, a widow with two children was the only one who responded. Mark married Sallie whose maiden name was Murphy. She lived to be 96 and is buried adjacent to Mark in the Bandy Plot in Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro, NC."

Mark died of complications of a stroke at his home on State Street in Greensboro at the age of 64. He had a very large turnout at his funeral held at Market Street Methodist Church. 

The Confederate Hollers: Sidney & F Cicero Sipe

ZACHARIAH HOLLER > JOHANNES HOLLER m (1) Sally Shue > JOHN JR > LAVINIA m Joseph SIPE

North Anna River Crossing 1864

You can read about John Holler here. He was married twice. The children of his first marriage remained in his adopted North Carolina while his second wife and children of that marriage went on to pioneer in Washington County in Indiana. John's descendants fought on both sides of the war - those who remained in North Carolina, for the South.

John's son, John Jr. was born in 1783 in Catawba County, North Carolina. He was the eldest of the four known children of Johnannes (John Sr) and first wife Sally Shue. John Jr. married Sarah "Sally" Sigsmon about 1805 in North Carolina. They had at least 12 children. Among those was Lavinia.

Lavinia was born 27 May 1814 in Lincoln County. She married Joseph Sipe, Jr. on 29 Jan 1833 in North Carolina. They also had a large family, of which eight have thus far been identified. Among those were two boys, Franklin Cicero "Cicero" Sipe, born 15 Oct 1835 and Sidney Sipe, born about 1844. By the time of the War of the Rebellion, Cicero was already married to Ann Carpenter and had their first child.

The Sipe boys joined the Confederate Army 04 Jul 1862. They were assigned to Company E, 57th North Carolina Infantry.The unit saw quite a bit of action and the one most impactful to this family came during May of 1864, when Gen Grant's Army met Gen Lee's in Virginia. Rather than meet the Army head-on, Grant engaged in a series of skirmishes, willing to fight a war of attrition. The overland campaign culminated in a battle at North Anna in Central Virginia from May 23-26, 1864.

During this time, Sidney Sipe was taken prisoner, he would be sent to Camp Lookout, the largest

Point Lookout POW Camp, Maryland

northern POW camp. There were no buildings at the camp, so the prisoners slept in tents and had no clean water or steady rations. Communicable disease was the biggest killer. Here, he would die on 30 May 1865.

"Point Lookout, Maryland, located in Saint Mary's County, Maryland on the southern tip of the peninsula was deemed the largest and worst Northern POW camp. Point Lookout was constructed of fourteen foot high wooden walls. These walls surrounded an area of about 40 acres. A walkway surrounded the top of the walls where negro guards walked day and night. It is reported the guards were brutal in their treatment of prisoners. Prisoner, John R. King said; "Two days out of every three we were guarded by a gang of ignorant and cruelsome negroes. Please do not think that I dislike the negroes as a race. Many of them are my friends, but the negroes authority over the white people and the defenceless prisoners suffered at their hands. Numbers of scars were left on the frame work of the closets made by negroes firing at the prisoners. The negro guard was very insolent and delighted in tantalizing the prisoners, for some trifle affair, we were often accused of disobedience and they would say, "Look out, white man, the bottom rail is on top now, so you had better be careful for my gun has been wanting to smoke at you all day!" 

F. Cicero & Ann Carpenter Sipe

"Estimates report that over 14,000 prisoners died while imprisoned at Point Lookout but the cemetery is known to hold 3,384 soldiers in a mass grave with no evidence to back up this massive figure. According to history data received from Point Lookout State Park, " Of the 50,000 men held at the Point between 1863 and 1865, nearly 4,000 died. Ironically, however, this death rate of 8 percent was less than half the death rate among soldiers who were in the field with their own armies." As you can see, there seems to be some controversy over the number of deaths at this prison. The Confederate soldiers' bodies have been moved twice and have found their final resting place in Point Lookout Cemetery."

http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_ptlookout.html 

Sidney's brother, Private Cicero Sipe, survived the war and returned to North Carolina, where he became a stellar citizen, active in community affairs and being well-like by his peers. He lived to the ripe age of 81, in 1917, leaving behind a large family and wife of nearly 60 years. He was also a founding member of the Cherryville Lutheran Church.

How My Dog Got Her Name

SMITH, JACOB > SMITH, WILLIAM CUSTER > SMITH, WALTER m Isabelle Monteith > SMITH, FRANKIE m (1) Lloyd Baltzer (2) Tom Tamen

Frankie & Lloyd Baltzer

I learned so much about the Walter Smith family on my recent visit to his youngest daughter's home this year. And, I was at last able to see the person who provided the name for my dog.

Frankie Smith was the last of Walter Smith and Isabelle Monteith's biological daughters. Betty, their adopted daughter and biological great granddaughter would join the family when the rest of kids were in middle age. Frankie was born in March of 1890. According to Betty Smith, Frankie most likely got her name because Walter tired of waiting for a boy child. Though, he was proud as could be of all of his daughters.

Frankie married Nashuan Lloyd Lendo Baltzer on 04 May 1914 in Mitchell, Iowa. Lloyd was the son of Arthur E and Viola Baltzer and was born 27 Mar 1888 in Nashua. Lloyd was originally a harness maker, but then took up employment with the telephone company that served Rudd, Rockford, Lakota, Hampton, and Mason City (area towns). Frankie and Lloyd lived in Rudd and then Lakota for many years. Eventually, the couple divorced and Baltzer married Mabel Orr in December 1932.

Smith Sisters

Thomas "Tom" Tamen was born 27 May 1889 in Parkersburg, Butler County, Iowa. He had married Clara Augusta Beyer on 15 Mar 1914 in Winnebago, Iowa. They had two children: Clara Beverly "Beverly" Tamen and Frederick Thomas Tamen. The Tamen's resided in Lakota when Mrs Tamen, a long time Buffalo Center resident, hanged herself in the attic of their home, being found when daughter Beverly, then 13 years old, returned from school. Mrs Tamen was 40 years old and had been "troubled with nervousness for some years"and may have been troubled by illness.

Tom was formerly an implement dealer in Lakota, but his shop burned down in 1930 and since that time, he had been selling real estate. He was out of town on business when his wife was discovered. It was 20 Apr 1932 when Tom and Frankie went to Galena, Illinois, and married.

Tom got a job as an instructor at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois, and the family resided there until Tom's retirement, when they moved to Nashua. Tom's son Fred married and had a number of children and resided in Carbondale, Ill. Tom's daughter Beverly Van Rossum died in 1966, preceding her father in death.

In the final years of Tom's life, Frankie and Tom loved to winter in Florida. Tom died 11 Nov 1969 in Iowa (there are conflicting reports whether it was in an Independence, Iowa hospital or at Iowa City Medical Center in Johnson County).

Frankie continued on for many years after Tom's death, wintering in Florida and summering in her beloved Iowa. She survived until just past her 100th birthday, dying 06 Jul 1990. All of her sisters reached their 90s, but Frankie was the final surviving biological daughter of Walter and Isabelle.

We sat in the car on the way to pick up our new Iowa Collie and tossed around various "old-fashioned" names for the puppy. Some included Mabel, Ruth, and finally, I said, "Frankie" as I had just been discovering her story in my work. Here is the little face that ended up with Frankie's name.

Frankie

Mystery Murder Muddle: Truth, Legend, or Something In Between?

JAMES BEAMS m NANCY LAY > JANE BEAMS m Henry Wilson Hand

The stuff family legends are made of - the possibility that my 3rd Great Grandmother Elizabeth Beams Cooper's sister Jane was a murderess.

All of what I've learned is anecdotal, but rather than ignore it, I'm going to discuss the three pieces of information that are posted on Ancestry.

Elizabeth (my 3GG), Jane, and two married sisters came to Crawford County, Illinois from Whitley County, Kentucky together and resided near one another. Elizabeth married William Lloyd Cooper in 1831 and Jane married Henry Wilson Hand in 1830. The Hands lived about seven miles from the town of West York in a cabin just north of the Crawford-Clark County line.

1.  According to Rmillis on Ancestry, Jane discovered that Wilson was having an affair with a woman from West York and began to poison him with arsenic. Wilson died 11 Sep 1850. This source states that "She knew she had cancer so apparently didn't worry about any consequences from her actions."

2. According to Crates99, the following tale is told: "James Hoskinson's Uncle Otis became curious about the early demise of both his maternal grandparents and decided to try to find out what had caused their deaths. He was concerned that some hereditary factor might be present that his children should be aware of. To that end, he contacted the doctor who had attended both Wilson and his wife, Jane, who died soon after him. The doctor was very reluctant to discuss the matter which merely made my uncle more curious until finally the doctor told him that he need not worry that they had any passed on any health conditions and that he could expect to live a long and healthy life. Upon further pressing, the doctor gave his opinion that very likely arsenic figured in Wilson's death but that no examination had been made to prove it. In response to Otis' "Why wasn't justice done?", The doctor explained that Jane was also dying (cancer, which does have some hereditary features) and that it was better to let well enough alone and spare the children the embarrassment. The children were raised by their uncle and the property was sold to settle the estate. The property was acquired by Mae Spraker's family (the Coxes) and was passed on to her and Jesse."

Typical cabin, Crawford County
photo by Warren Jennings, 1999

3. Finally, according to dmdough7, "According to a letter dated, July 27, 1937, Mrs. Margaret
Lucretia [Shepherd] Mitchell - a cousin of Arthur Hand, "My Mother's younger brother Wilson, lived east of your Grandfather. He and his wife both died of Milk Sickness, which was prevalent in that district at that time, they left 3 children, Martha, Isaac, and Bet-Ann. Uncle Jimmie took them home and raised them. Martha married Elias Hoskinson, lived one fourth mile west . . . " Hand Family Scrapbook, page 93.  Will we ever know what really happened?  Could this have been an attempt to maintain a family secret or she just did not know?"

For #3, the idea that the couple both died of milk sickness, yet died nearly two years apart (Jane died 15 Sep 1852), seems implausible. Did Jane murder her husband? We'll never know. It's a mystery for the ages and will remain in the family lore of the Hand and Beams families in perpetuity.

Some of the children were nearly grown at the time of their parents' deaths. The "Uncle Jimmie" referred to is James Fleming Hand, who not only took in one of Wilson's kids, but two of his youngest brother Lorenzo Dow Hand's two boys, Jasper and Clinton D. Hand, who had also been orphaned. 

William Joseph "Bill" Wagner, Professional Baseball Player

JOHN WAGGONER > WILLIAM WAGNER (Mary Smull's brother) > JOSEPH WAGNER >

WILLIAM JOSEPH WAGNER m Mary Veronica Doyle

The Cooper side of the family had this guy, from the Miracle Braves of 1914, but the Wagner side (Mary Waggoner married one of the Brothers Smull of Brush Valley - Peter) had William Joseph "Bill" Wagner.

John Waggoner's son William lived in Centre County, Pennsylvania and in the 1850s, removed, along with many others from the area, to Stephenson County, Illinois, where Williams' family settled in Oneco Township. William and his wife Julie Rider had at least five children, among them Joseph Wagner, who married Mary Hershey about 1855. Joseph was born 04 May 1831 in Miles Township, Centre County. Mary was born in Canada on 06 Jun 1837. The Joseph Wagner's also went to Stephenson County, but decamped from that area to Buchanan County, Iowa. He died in 1904 and his wife in 1907, after raising three children and were buried in Old Barclay Cemetery in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Their son William Joseph Wagner married Lizzie Cronemiller. William was born in 1863 in

Stephenson County, Illinois and his wife was born in 1864 in Illinois. They had five children, including William Joseph "Bill" Wagner, who was born 02 Jan 1894 in Jesup, Buchanan County, Iowa. By 1910, he was 16 years old and was apprenticed at the Illinois Central railroad boilermaker shop in Waterloo, Iowa. Just a couple years later, his turned his sandlot skill in the still young sport of baseball into something more.

BILL WAGNER ONCE HIT FOR HONUS WAGNER
NOW ILL HERE, MAJOR LEAGUER RECALLS BASEBALL THRILLS
by John Neagle, Courier Sports Writer
The umpire turned to the crowd and roared "B Wagner hitting for H Wagner!"
The occasion was a June day in Pittsburgh in 1916.

Today, almost 35 years later, this memory and other of bygone baseball days are the main comfort of a lonely, old time ex-big leaguer. He's Bill Wagner of Waterloo, bedridden most of the time at the home of his son, Al Wagner, of 35 Rainbow Dr.

On that June day in 1916, Bill, a rookie up with the Pirates from Sumner, Ia, town team, received "the greatest thrill of my career because, you see, H Wagner was the great Honus Wagner."

Despite his illness, Bill beamed and went on to say, "It was a close game and Honus hadn't been hitting that day, so the manager sent me up to the plate and I got a single to tie the ball game. Bill Hinchman, our right fielder, followed me and poled out a home to ice the ball game."

Wagner, now 57 years old, played sandlot ball as a kid and when he was "about 17 or 18" went directly to the Waterloo team of the Class D Central association as a catcher in either 1913 or 1914. In those days the ball park was by Deere's plant. Doc Andrews was manager of the team.

Honus Wagner

After playing about half the season with Waterloo, Bill joined the Sumner ball club. It was there that Chick Frazier, Pittsburgh scout, spotted him and signed him on with the Pirates.

Frazier immediately took his rookie to St Louis, where the Pirates were playing. The trip to the Mound city was the first time Wagner hd ever been stone's throw from Waterloo."
He said, "I was a pretty excited kid. We immediately went up to Manager Cap Clark's room in the hotel upon arriving in St Louis, and there I met Honus Wagner for the first time. After introductions and a brief visit, Honus took me out and bough me my first pair of big league baseball shoes. Boy, did I feel good! That Honus was one great guy."
Bill went on: "That season I caught batting practice and worked out with the team but didn't get into any games."

Asked if any of the old timers gave him any tips on catching during that time, Bill replied, "No, not a bit. At that time you were supported to be good enough to be up there or you wouldn't have been there. They were a rough and tough bunch in those days. It seemed to me they made it especially tough for a rookie to see if he could take it. If you couldn't take it, you were all done."

The next year Pittsburgh farmed him out to Youngstown, Ohio in the old Central League and the following season he was sent to Terre Haute, being recalled to Pittsburgh in the fall. The next year, 1916, he played the entire season with the Pirates.

Bill said, "I played in about 50 ball games that year, catching mostly for a pitcher by the name of Wilbur Cooper and sometmes taking over first base, I hit 260, which I felt wasn't too bad for a player not playing regularly.

The Waterloo man was only thumbed out of one ball game during his major league carreer. At Philadelphia the umpire put the tag on him for a catcher's balk and in the resulting ------ Bill was given the heave ho!

"Never did hear of that catcher's balk before or since," Bill reminisced, "I don't recall who was up to bat, but he made like he was going to bunt and I came forward and the guy changed his mind and started to take a full cut. The bat hit my glove and the ump waved him down to first. I raised so much of a fus about it I got waved to the dugout."
The next year found Will with Columbus Ohio, in the American Association after a trade deal involving Earl Hapulton, a southpaw pitcher.

The American Association closed the season a month early because of World War I and BIll finished the year out with the Boston Braves.

George Stallings, known as the "miracle men" was manager of the Braves at that time. Bill caught about half of the remaining games for Boston and recalls having batted against the great Walter Johnson. Asked if he got a hit, Bill laughed and replied, "No, no, I wasn't trying to get a hit. All I was doing, was trying to get a foul ball I didn't even touch the ball, but I went down swinging. When the Big Train let fly that ball looked like a pea coming across the plate. His curve ball was just as fast as his fast ball, too."

After finishing the season with the Braves, Wagner went back to Columbus in the American Association but after a short while jumped his contract and went to Steelton in Pennsylvania in an outlaw league that paid more money. He got $750 a month. That, said Bill, 'was the biggest mistake of my career."

Joe Tinker, manager of Columbus, blacklisted Bill for five years and fined him $500 but Wagner didn't have to pay the fine because he never returned to organized baseball.
Leaving Steelton, Bill played ball with various teams, including Oelwein, a team "that beat everything around this part of the country." 

It was while with Oelwein Bill hit the longest ball ever hit in the old Dubuque ball park. Syl McCauley, a lefthander, formerly with the White Sox, was on the mound for Dubuque when Bill got hold of a curve ball and sent it soaring out over the fence to land on the Chicago Great Western tracks beyond the ball park. Throughout most of his career Bill batted in the cleanup position because of his ability to hit a long ball.

The oldtimer wound up his playing days with Nash Motorsof Kenosha, Wis in the North

Bill and dog Tiz just prior to his death

 

Shore League. The team was made up of all ex-big leaguers.

Wagner was the only player from Waterloo to make the big leagues until 1949 when Jack Brumer went up with the White Sox. Actually Bill was born four and a half miles northwest of Jesup, Iwa, but when he went to the majors, drowned out the more feeble voice of Jesup, claiming him as a native son.

Like most oldtimers, Bill takes a dim view of the present day ballplayers. "They aren't as rough and don't hustle like they did in those days. We really battled every ball bame. I sure would like to see Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb and some of the boys tie into the modern live ball too," he chuckled.

 The ex-railroad boilermaker said the top pay of his career was $750 a month with Steelton and I guess my best batting average was 312 with Columbus. I'm not sure about my lifetime average but would say it was around .285." 

Several years ago Wagner was selected on an all time Waterloo baseball team by a group of old timers.

The ex-major leaguer's advice to young ball players? It is "Take care of your legs; when your legs go bad, you go bad all over."

Wagner's present illness hit him about two months ago, forcing him to give up his job on the Illinois Central. As he waved the reporter out of his sick room, Bill added a parting remark, "You know memories are fine but I am very lonely and sure would appreciate a letter or two from some of my old friends."
Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa
Monday, January 8, 1951 

Bill and Mary had two sons, John Allen Wagner (Waterloo) and Robert Joseph Wagner (Ft Madison). Bill spent the rest of his working life as a boilermaker for the Illinois Central. His wife Mary died on 17 Jan 1950 in Iowa City of a serious illness. Bill passed away three days after the article above was published, on 11 Jan 1951. He did have an opportunity to read the article and it made him happy.