Munson Tales: Capt Charles Butman Munson Family: U.S.S. Merrimac to Munson Island

Captain C B Munson

C.B. Munson (Clan Daniel), born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1852 on terra firma, would spend 47 years of his life on the water working his way to captain. He’d sailed clipper ships in Asian waters and steamships in the coastal waters of the United States. His story is one of adventure, but ultimately, his favorite spot was at home, with his family. Not terribly tall and thin as a rail, it’s hard to think of this man living a life of seafaring daring-do, but he did. 

Along the way, he found the love of his life, Fanny Gilbert Taylor. Fanny was born in Nassau, Bermuda in 1857. Her father brought her family to the United States, and started work as a crewman on a whaler. Once he had a few children, he worked on land as a carpenter. Fanny and Charles married in 1877 in Florida. The couple settled in Miami, Florida, during his oceangoing years and in later life settled in Jacksonville. They had one son, Charles Newton Munson, called Newt by those who knew him. Newt grew up at the shore as his father spent most of his days at sea. The family spent their time between New Haven, Connecticut, and Florida. 

Newt & Ruth Ellison

Captain Munson gained a reputation as an expert seaman who had served as shipping clerk, boatswain, quartermaster, lieutenant, second officer and first officer, until he ultimately became a captain who mastered every port between Shanghai and Virginia. He was also an expert of ports through Mexico and South America. His expertise was well-known, which is why he was urgently called by Admiral C. T. Sampson on the very day the Spanish-American war began in 1898 to pilot the Atlantic Fleet to Cuba. Battles ensued and Munson would be shifted from ship to ship. Finally, on 1 Jun he was ordered aboard the Merrimac to captain with instruction to let the Admiral rest until 2 am on 2 Jun. At 3:30 am, the crew, save a band of seven volunteers, were removed from the Merrimac and left in the charge of Lt Hobson, who had instructions to block the harbor entrance with a sunken Merrimac. The skeleton crew of seven improvised torpedoes which were placed strategically on the Merrimac. Then, the Spanish fleet damaged the Merrimac’s steering disallowing it to be put firmly in its blocking space at the harbor entrance. Then, only three of the ten torpedoes exploded, but a Spanish mine put a hole into the Merrimac and finally, the continued gunfired and torpedoes sunk the Merrimac in the wrong poistion. The ship was lost for naught, as the harbor was not blocked. Though the ship was lost, the Spanish were defeated in Cuba a month later. 

Captain Munson had many adventures over the course of his career. In old age, he retired to
Jacksonville, where he died in 1933. In 1923, Newt purchased four small islands in the Keys of Florida - Little Munson Island, Big Munson Island, Cook’s Island, and Carrier Island. He barged a building down from Jacksonville to start his winter get-away on Little Munson. He sold one island was sold to Capt. Percy Cook. He gave Big Munson Island to his secretary, Ruth Ellison. It’s not known who Carrier Island was sold to. 

On Newt’s death, just a year after the death of his father, Ada did not go back to the island. She never cared for it. When she died, Little Munson went to Ruth Ellison as well. Ruth sold off Little Munson Island to a Chicago manufacturer in 1936 and then to another owner during the Truman administration. Its greatest claim to fame was being the site for locations shooting for the movie, “PT-109,” which was based on former president John F. Kennedy’s WWII experiences in the Pacific. The island would go through many owners, including drug kingpins and Homer Formby (of refinishing fame) until being sold to a resort club. It is now known as Little Palm Island.

Munson Tales: Another Sherman Brother; Hoyt

Hoyt Sherman

Last issue, we talked about the tormented brilliance of General William T. Sherman. His father, Judge Charles Sherman, and his wife, Mary Hoyt, had several boys who would rise to the top of their spot in the world. Hoyt was the youngest son, born in 1827, just two years before Judge Sherman died of typhoid. Along with brothers John and Charles, he worked in a printing office of the Cincinnati Gazette under the tutelage of publisher Charles Hammond in Cincinnati and studied some law in Mansfield, Ohio, until his majority. 

 In 1848, brothers Hoyt, John, and Charles headed west for Fort Des Moines. At this time, Fort Des Moines was still frontier. Settlers met with Sioux raids and harsh conditions. Des Moines, the city, wasn’t founded until 1850. Hoyt Sherman was there as the area blossomed. Brothers James and Lampson would join him. 

Hoyt began his career selling school land grants out of the office of School Commissioner Thomas McMullen. In 1849 he became assistant postmaster to what was then called “Raccoon River.” When the postmaster left, he was named postmaster. The post office had been in an old building on Fort Des Moines, but Hoyt had a new post office built and then a second location. He held that job until 1852. In 1849, he was admitted to the bar and became a top attorney in the area. 

By 1850, he had turned his attention to the buying and selling of real estate. There was a particular piece of property he wanted to build his home on that was going on auction. He had $100. Unfortunately, others wanted that 5-acre plot as well, and bidding kept hedging up, with him out of money. Then he decided to use his day’s wages, all of $5, to make the winning bid of $105. That plot would eventually hold the Hoyt Place, a large home that would later serve many purposes for the citizens of Des Moines. 

Things kept moving along for Hoyt in Des Moines. In 1852 he was named Clerk of Courts and in 1853 he built the Sherman Block which included a bank and amusement hall as well as executive offices. In 1854, he decided to build a safer, bigger facility to process money from the huge number of land sales. 

He opened his first bank, Hoyt Sherman & Co. Its careful management and the integrity of the firm allowed its immediate success. Feeling pretty good, Sherman went east to Ohio and married Miss Sarah Moultin on Christmas Day of 1855 in Mansfield. He whisked her home and they lived together in Des Moines. In 1856, Sherman was responsible for building the new statehouse on Grimmell Hill after a skirmish of words between those near the “Fort” and those on the east side of Des Moines. That edifice still stands today on Grimmell Hill. 

The original Hoyt Sherman Place

In 1858, the State of Iowa had its new consitution which allowed for the formation of the State Bank of Iowa. Sherman was named the first cashier of the Des Moines branch and he merged his Sherman & Co. bank into the new bank. While his brother William was deeply involved with the Civil War (1861-1865), Hoyt did his part, too. He had been granted the rank of Major and named paymaster of the army, dispensing millions of dollars in funds over the course of the war. And, of course, the post-war audit found not one penny missing. 

In January 1867, the Equitable Life Insurance Co. was becoming quite the firm out West. Sherman was named its actuary. Over the next several years, he moved through the ranks and eventually became president. He made his mark outside of business as well. He was president of the Old Settlers Association and helped start the Des Moines Water Company. In 1866 he served a year as an Iowa state legislator. That lead him to the Pioneer Law Makers of Iowa, where he served as president in 1898 for a term. Things didn’t always go his way, though. 

In 1871, a fire broke out on the west side, wiping out several blocks. One of the buildings completely lost was the Hoyt Sherman place at 6th and Locust. He would go on to build a brick home at the land purchased for $105 at 15th and Woodland In 1887, Hoyt lost his wife, who was mother to his five children. Sarah Moultin had been ill for over a year, but expected to recover. She took a turn for the worse in late February and died in early March. He never remarried. 

 Hoyt’s brothers who had also made Iowa home, John and Lampson, did well too. John became a U.S. Senator and Lampson was founder of Des Moines’ second newspaper, the Des Moines Gazette, and served as Des Moines’ third mayor and as City Treasurer. 

All of his ten siblings died before Hoyt’s death in 1904. Hoyt and Sarah’s five children included: Frank (1856-1902), an attorney who died at age 45 of a stroke. He got his law degree from Columbia University. He practiced privately and served three years as county attorney. Additonally, he organized the first street railway company in Des Moines. He was married with a daughter. Adeline (1859-1917) married ink baron Frank Wiborg and lived her married life in the Hamptons and NYC. She died in NYC in 1917 and had three daughters. Charles (1861-1911) married Bertha Bartlett, daughter of General Joseph Barlett of Baltimore. Charles practiced law in Chicago and New York. He died of a stroke. Arthur (1869-1945) worked in insurance and real estate and retired with his wife to Beverly Hills, California. He was married and had five children. Helen (1873-1961) married W.O. Griffith and lived primarily in Philadelphia. She was a best-selling children and youth author. She had two boys and two girls. 

Hoyt Sherman Place spent time as the Women’s Club and is popular today as a music and arts center and theatre.

Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, Iowa

Munson Tales: Why Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Moved to Late Night

Ruth Elizabeth Wood

Ruth Wood Pflager (1917-2008) (Clan Obadiah) lived in several locations throughout the U.S. as her
husband Miller “Dan” Pflager built his career. Dan and Ruth married in 1940. They had four children that Ruth was charged with raising: Sandy, Charlene, Bill, and Jessica. She took her charge seriously. Television was just becoming common during those early parenting days. She believed that not all shows should be seen by children as they were incredibly violent or had inappropriate content. She started the Radio-Television Council of Greater Cleveland and served as its president. She spent time working with parents and children and broadcasters to educate all parties in responsible viewing. Parents were encouraged to watch TV with their child, monitor viewing, and limit viewing time. They were also encouraged to write to broadcasters with a critique of shows via a postcard program. 

The organization’s most well-known success was having the 1970s controversial TV show “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” moved from the 7:30 timeslot to the 10:30 timeslot. Mrs. Pflager was, however, against censorship. “Broadcasters say they give people what they want, so, if you disagree, turn off the set, tell them you have, and why. Citizens have a right and the responsiblity in the law. Many don’t realize it,” Mrs. Pflager said. 

She was a member of Christ United Methodist Church, Waynesboro, where she served as Chair of the Church and Society Committee. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women, Parent Teachers Associations, Church Women United, Daughters of the American Revolution, Radio/TV Council of Greater Cleveland, United Methodist Women, National Telemedia Council, Cultural Environment Movement, Lamda Delta MU, and she was founder and chairperson of the “TV Tune-In, USA.” Mrs. Pflager received numerous awards from Radio/TV Council, and Church Women United. In 1991, she received the Public Education Partners and Promoters Award from WAEA.

Munson Tales: Humphrey Bogart

WWI 1918

Thomas Munson>Samuel Munson>Samuel Munson>Mamre Munson> Mary Ives>Mary Bradley >Asahel Dewey>Sarah Dewey>Frances Churchill>Maude Humphrey>Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born in 1899 in Manhattan to Belmont D. Bogart, MD and Maude Humphreys, 7th great granddaughter of Thomas Munson. He was raised at homes on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and at their lake home Canandaigua Lake in Upstate New York. It was there he and his friends put on plays. Never interested in academics, he attended two prestigious prep schools, but dropped out and with no other options, he joined the Navy, where he excelled. 

His post-Navy life led him to the New York stage, where his career was launched. There, he met and divorced his first twife and married his second. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 sent many actors to Hollywood, Bogart included. Starting at $750 per week at Fox Studios, Spencer Tracy become one of his best friends. He went back and forth from Broadway to Hollywood much of the early 1930s, but by the mid-1930s, he was in Hollywood permanently, playing mostly gangster roles at Warner Brothers for $550 per week. 

His wife Mary and he divorced in 1937. Bogart met his third wife, Mayo Methot. This 1938 union was tumultuous, including Mayo setting the house on fire, stabbing Bogart, and throwing crockery. Insanely jealous and a hard drinker, Methot would ultimately die of acute alcoholism, but not before she and Bogartdivorced in 1945. Bogart’s career was on high by the 1940s with outstanding leading man roles such as Maltese Falcon,Casablanca, and To Have and Have Not. 

On set of the latter movie, he met 19-year-old actress Lauren Bacall and started an affair. They married as soon as his divorce was final in 1945. The couple had two children. The marriage was a committed one if not always faithful. Bogart developed cancer in late 1954 and died in 1957. Bogart had a complex and interesting life and legend.

Recommended reading: 

Tough Guy Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart 

First published in The Munson Founcation Newsletter, Volume XXV, Issue 3, Dec 2023, by Lori Hahn

Death of a Dad

My father passed away on Jan 7, 2024 about 3 in the morning. I wasn't there. I had intended to spend his final moments with him, but death played a trick on us. We had been sliding with rapidity towards the end, but it all came sooner than predicted. I immediately got out of bed and drove to see him and be there for the funeral home. There was a sense of surrealness about his passing. I had been with him the previous day for some time - but I knew something was horribly wrong. He was trying to eat his oatmeal and he was struggling. I fed him a few bites and he fell asleep mid-bite. Once I made sure he had no food in his mouth, I tucked him in and went out to report his condition to the nurse. He couldn't speak. 

I've talked before about the complex relationship we shared. Though terribly sad for both he and my half-brother, his wife died five years previously. Soon after, my sister and I saw that he could not stay in his house and needed to move. We talked him into moving to our town (where he grew up) and into an independent living facility. After grousing for some little time, he began to love it there. He was the "Homecoming King," participated in a lot of activities, and flirted with all the women. Just the way he liked it. He always thought he was a charmer, and to those not too deeply in the know, he was. He loved to make people laugh. Yet, there was a darkness in him. A bitterness that never left him. An inability to see that the challenges in his life were most often of his own making. Just like it is for all of us.

It was tragic when he transitioned from his independent facility to the skilled nursing care.  He couldn't do what he wanted when he wanted. He hated the food. He went to all his rehab appointments down the hall and then did none of his part of the rehab job between appointments. He wanted out so badly, but he was the one who controlled his outcome and he just didn't do it. Finally, he became one with watching TV 18 hours a day. That was his sole activity. He had no strength left to stand or walk or bathe himself. He started to like the same, vile food. Slowly, whatever shred of dignity and self-determination he had went. And, he no longer cared.

There was one shining light in this horrible, awful outcome for my dad. He got right with all of his children. That was no mean feat. We all felt we were given the time with him we needed to ask the right questions, strip the armour from our hearts, gain the insight we needed to forgive, accept, and at last understand the core of who he was and how his own emotional pain drove so much of his life. 

So much of the past few years of my life were wrapped in dad things, I was at a loss for a while in what to do. Thankfully, I had estate things to manage that took some time. Then, there was nothing left to do. 

I think of him more often than I thought I would.

Genealogy Trail: Brush Valley - Home of the Brothers Smull

Last week I made the long-awaited trip to Brush Valley in Pennsylvania. This includes towns like Centre Hall, Rebersburg, Aaronsburg, Smullton, and other villages within Centre County at its east end. I had the immense pleasure of having a tour guide, Evonne Henninger, who is the greatest historian of the area for whom I could wish. We spent the morning traveling around the valley and spent a bit more time in Rebersburg, the place my family had settled. I learned more in two days there than in years of studying from afar.

As a refresher, Johann Peter Schmoll and Julianna Sarah Mueller lived in Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania. They had ten children. Four of these went to Centre County to help build the Union Church in Rebersburg. Jacob, the oldest of the four, Peter, Henry, and the much younger Jesse. Jesse later returned to Montgomery County, but the others did not. The church was used from 1823-1876  by the Lutheran and Reformed denominations. According to Evonne, the bricks for the church were made along Elk Creek in Smullton (formerly Kreamersville) in the area of the Raymond Bair farm. Evonne drove me past this location. They razed this church after a Lutheran and a Reformed Church were built next to each other in 1876. The Amish recently purchased one of these, but neither is being used as a church at this time.

Jacob Smull's 1825
Georgian Style Home

After the building of the church, Jacob, Peter and Henry (1799) stayed on and became a big part of the community. Jacob ended up a building a German-influenced Georgian style house on E Main St in 1825 which still stands. He ended up dying in 1830. The two daughters of his marriage who survived to adulthood moved on to Lock Haven in adult life.

Peter, who is extensively written about here on the blog, left in 1847 for Stephenson County, Illinois. His entire family eventually joined him in that area.

That left Henry. Henry farmed and did whatever else he could to make a living. His first wife, daughter of one of the town's earliest residents, Elizabeth Royer, had seven kids. She died in 1834. Henry married immediately the former Catherine Kreamer, who was the widow of George Hosterman, who also died in 1834.  They combined their families and continued with life in Rebersburg. The couple had an additional five children.

One of the cool things he did was operate a toll house on Rockville Rd near Hwy 192. Toll houses existed on many roads in Pennsylvania. The tolls paid for maintenance and operation of the road since the government was not then involved. Henry Smull, in addition to his farm, had a toll house in Rebersburg. The toll house is on the right. Operators of such toll houses could earn a chunk of change each month as well. Tolls at one toll house were:

Henry Smull's Toll House on Right

Toll Gate Charges –

A score of sheep – 4¢ (score = 20)

A score of hogs – 6¢

A horse with his rider – 3¢

A score of cattle – 12¢

A sulkey with 1 horse and 2 wheels – 6¢

2 wheels & 2 horses – 9¢

4 wheels & 2 horses – 12¢

4 wheels & 4 horses – 20¢

Henry also had an opportunity to go to other parts of Pennsylvania and picked up ideas along the way. He

remodeled his toll house with unique diagonal design. During his time in Rebersburg, he also farmed. We went to the farm he ran between what was originally Kreamerville and Rebersburg. Today, the farm is in the hands of the Amish and a new homestead has been built.

Here is Henry's toll house with its unique design:

And here is the Henry Smull barn (later the C H Smull barn and now an Amish barn). This is an example of a L-shaped Pennsylvania barn.

There was so much more to learn about Henry and his kids on this trip. What I loved most is that I could feel the place and see the mountains and see how the villages connected to the mountains. It allowed me to gain perspective that no book or Internet record could provide. And, having a tour guide like Evonne was priceless. More to come.

B&W photos courtesy of Evonne Henninger of Penn's Valley, Past & Present

Pre-Clan Munson: Tuttle Madness and Mayhem

Reenactment of settler colony

CAPT THOMAS MUNSON > HANNAH MUNSON m. Joseph Tuttle

This tale is of one of the two daughters of Capt Thomas Munson, Hannah Munson. She married into the storied Tuttle family of Massachusetts.

Hannah was the youngest child of Capt Thomas Munson, one of the earliest citizens of the New Haven Colony and a signator of the Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony signed in 1639 and 1640. Hannah's future father-in-law, immigrant William Tuttle was also a signator. 

On 02 May 1667, Joseph Tuttle married Hannah in New Haven. His parents, William and Elizabeth, had come from England in 1635 on the ship Planter. I'm not quite sure Hannah knew what she was getting into marrying into this family, but she had at least nine children by Joseph. Joseph came from a large family, including sisters Mercy, Elizabeth, and brother Benjamin. 

Hannah's brother-in-law Benjamin got into a huge argument with his older sister Sarah, wife of John Slauson, on 17 Nov 1676. Benjamin shouted at her about her behavior from years before when Sarah and a young man were fined for kissing by the local magistrate. The story was somewhat longer, but it was scandalous to touch each other and oh, my goodness, kiss in those Puritan days. Was it a temper tantrum or madness that caused Benjamin to grab an ax and strike his sister until she was dead. Sarah left a baby girl and a bereft husband. Benjamin was tried and executed on 16 Jun 1677.

Sister Elizabeth married Richard Edwards in 1667. It is reported that the couple was fined because their first child arrived before the requisite nine months. The couple had many more children but after 20 years of marriage, Richard began to plan on a divorce.  He apparently discovered the first child was not his. He filed divorce and it was granted. Elizabeth was said to have gone mad and disappeared from the area, whereabouts and disposition unknown.

Mercy had married Samuel Brown of Wallingford in 1667 and they had children, included Samuel Brown, Jr. On 23 Jun 1691, Mercy inexplicably took an ax and struck her son three times in the head. He lingered some six days before succumbing to his injuries. At trial, the husband denied there was any sign of mental illness in Mercy, but neighbors and even Brown's son Joseph had seen odd behavior and language for some time before the murder. She was, however, found guilty and not insane at trial in Oct 1691 and was sentenced to death. Fortunately for Mercy, a strange confluence of events occurred, and she was saved from the executioner. She survived until at least 1695, most likely in a madhouse.

Watsonville Business District

Generations would pass and the Tuttles would survive and thrive. If there were further incidents, they were not saved for posterity. Some Tuttles moved to Morris, New Jersey and then on to Washington County, Pennsylvania, and then to Richland County, Ohio. 

Daniel Tuttle and his wife, Phebe Case, were married 21 Nov 1786 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. They had at least seven children, including son Hiram. Hiram and his family went west Iowa, settling in Van Horn County. 

Several of the Hiram Tuttle children went on to California and practiced in their various occupations. 

Morris Burns Tuttle hit the Pajaro Valley and purchased 300 acres and began raising fruit trees and farming hops for beer with one of his brothers. The Pacific Ocean has only the Santa Cruz Mountains between our Tuttles and the surf.

Morris Tuttle Mansion

Brother Iowa Tuttle also joined this endeavor. He was married with children. According to his brother Morris, he had talked about suicide before, so when Iowa did commit suicide in one of the outbuildings on the Morris Tuttle Mansion grounds in 1913, it was reportedly no surprise to Morris. Iowa loved his wife and children and many did not think his financial woes rose to the level of suicide. The thing was, Iowa had been shot twice in the head. The police talked to Morris quite seriously because  it was mighty odd that Iowa was able to fire two bullets into his head before dying, making it all quite suspicious. In the end, Iowa's death was declared a suicide by the coroner. Whether that had anything to do with Morris' affluence, we will never know.

Finally, cousin William Tuttle came down to Santa Cruz County from Rocklin, California in 1911 to stay in Morris' carriage house while he worked out his marital difficulties with his wife Hazel. Hazel was his first cousin and the couple had been wildly in love - at least until their marriage. It was downhill from there, despite the fact they were new parents of daughter Alice. William, a former employee of Southern Pacific railroad, had been unemployed for months. As the New Year of 1912 loomed, he returned home from Santa Cruz County, bought the baby some belated Christmas presents, talked to his wife in the kitchen, and after following her to the bedroom, shot her dead with two shots to the heart. He then shot himself. The baby was found unharmed.

Morris built a beautiful mansion in in south Santa Cruz County in 1899 that still exists today as a private residence. There are those who say the mansion is filled with the ghosts of Iowa and all the Morris Tuttle descendants who would die tragically young. 

Sources:

1. Babe Smiles at Tragedy, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, 31 Dec 1911, p 6
2. Trainman Kills Wife and Self, Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 30 Dec 1911, p 1
3. Divorce, Murder, and Madness: The Puritan Tuttles of New Haven Colony, New England Historical Society, 2017
4. Tuttle Mansion: a haunted piece of history, The Pajoronian, by Johanna Miller, 30 Oct 2017
5. Haunted Santa Cruz, by Marianne Porter, History Press, 2016
6. Biography of William Tuttle, Access Genealogy
7. Had Threatened Suicide Before Saturday's Act, Santa Cruz Evening News, 30 Jun 1913, Mon, p 2
8. Widow of Late Iowa Tuttle is Left the Estate, Santa Cruz Evening News, 23 Jul 1913, Wed, p 1
9. A Brutal Murder, Ava Chamberlain, NYU Press, 2012