2Lt Clark Alonzo Teasdale Dies in Battle

700th Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group

JOHNATHON ALTON WOODINGTON > EMMA WOODINGTON m. Clark Alonzo Teasdale > ALONZO CLARK TEASDALE m Rose Vacha > 2LT CARK ALONZO TEASDALE

Young Clark Alonzo Teasdale was born 29 June 1920 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His mother, Rose Vacha, died at age 34 on 29 Aug 1927, and his father, Alonzo Clark Teasdale, died at age 36 on 20 Jun 1929 of heart disease, leaving young Clark an orphan. He was raised by his grandparents, Clark and Emma (Woodington) Teasdale. When he was 20, he joined the Army Air Corps 19 June 1940.

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Originally rejected for entry into the air corps due to its height requirements, he had worked for the CCC for six months before those requirements were abolished. He enlisted and attained the rank of technical sergeant before he was selected as a Cadet for officer pilot training. He attended a number of technical schools throughout the US, before being commissioned at Freeman Field in Seymour, Indiana.

He was assigned to the 700th Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. He flew a total of 15 missions as co-pilot and pilot, including the last flight he took. That day, he flew out of Tibenham, Norfolk, England as a co-pilot aboard a B-24H Liberator/Tail #42-7643, "Ballsafire." The aircraft's fourth and final mission was described as follows:

"While enroute to target city of Friedrichshafen, Germany, the bomber fell back, and turned around with an undefined mechanical problem. The plane would not make it back to the U.K., having crashed near Trouans, nineteen miles north-northeast of Troyes, France.

All aboard were killed, including:

1st Lt. Richard A Raroha, Pilot
2nd Lt. Clark A Teasdale, Co-Pilot
2nd Lt. James J Williams, Navigator
2nd Lt. Daniel F McCoy, Bombardier
TSgt. Andrew J Martin, Radio Operator
TSgt. Charles J Fermyn, Engineer-Top Turret Gunner
SSgt. Richard W Fertig, Waist Gunner
SSgt. James R Monnett, Waist Gunner
SSgt. Earl P Radtke, Tail Gunner
SSgt. Wilfred J Schaich, Ball Turret Gunner"

On 22 Apr 1944, the War Department declared the crew Missing in Action. Three of the crew were buried with the same stone at Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. Eight months later, he was declared death.

Grandfather Clark Teasdale (center)
receives Clark's air medal, 1944.

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/401
http://www.445bg.org/files/445thBG_Acft.pdf
http://wwii-army.mooseroots.com/l/1270973/Clark-A-Teasdale
US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
US National Cemetery Internment Control Forms, 1928-1962
1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]
1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]
Army Makes Him Religious, Madison State Journal; Oct 20, 1940
Aviation Medal Given Teasdale, La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin; Oct  30, 1944
Hold Flyer's Rites Sunday, La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin; May 3, 1945
Updated: 8/2/2017

Clan William: Poor Walter Woodington, Jailed Again

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Amos Munson > Henrietta Munson > Walter Amos Munson

My 2nd great grandmother, Mary Ann Munson's sister Henrietta and her husband Moses, had six
children I could find. The baby, Walter Amos Woodington, was born 21 Aug 1880 in Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin.

Elevated view of Eau Claire, WI

I found evidence that he did marry in Indiana on 02 Jan 1906 in Warren County to Minnie Kirkendall, who was born in Ohio. I know nothing about her beyond that. I believe she died prior to 1920, possibly in South Dakota. In 1910, the Woodington's were living in Firesteel, Aurora County, South Dakota. Many people had headed to South Dakota for the free land grants, but many returned quickly as the life was hard and rarely prosperous.

There is evidence to suggest that upon his return to Wisconsin, which occurred by at least 1915, that he had a serious alcohol problem. In June of 1915, he received a 30-day sentence for being a drunken vagrant and panhandling. His job in the article was listed as "farm hand."

In May 1916, he was caught up in a sweep by police of chronic panhandlers and drunkards, and received another 30 days.

The only positive thing I found in news articles was on July 18, 1920, he sold Lots 46, 47, and 48 in the Lincoln Park addition in Eau Claire to John Goulette for $150.

The 1920 census has him listed as age 42, widowed, working as a laborer in a rubber company, and living with his brother George in Eau Claire. The place he worked was most likely the new Gillette Safety Tire Company that had opened in 1916 in Eau Claire. I can't imagine he held the job for long.

The Eau Claire Leader published on 18 Aug 1921 that Woodington was again arrested. This time for 90 days in County jail after just coming off a stint of 10 days in jail.

The judge said, "Well, you're not much of a stranger, are you," as Woodington greeted him upon entering the court room. Woodington was by then drinking wood alcohol.

I don't have any proof of death, but the articles end around this time and I would guess he did not live much longer. I'd be interested in any proof of what happened to Walter after that time.

Stalag 17-B: Staff Sergeant Azzan C. McKagan

HENRY SMULL > ABIGAIL SMULL BROWNLEE > SARAH JANE BROWNLEE MCKAGAN > BENJAMIN MCKAGAN > AZZAN WILBER MCKAGAN > SSGT AZZAN C. MCKAGAN

B-17G (McKagan flew on the B-17F)
with view of village outside of
RAF Alconbury, Summer 1943

Henry Smull was one of the original four Brothers Smull of Brush Valley in Centre County, Pennsylvania. He remained in Centre County for his lifetime, unlike his brothers Jesse (Chester County) and Peter (Illinois). Generations later, a descendant of Henry, would be tested sorely during World War II.

Azzan C. "Mac" McKagen was born 25 Jul 1920 in Proctor, St Louis County, Minnesota to Azzan W. McKagan and Josephine Moe. In 1940, he lived in Granville, Milwaukee, Wisconsin where his father was a welder in a factory. He attended Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. Azzan joined the Army from Madison County, Florida on 06 Sep 1941 and was a high school graduate.

He served as a ball turret gunner on a Boeing B-17F, tail #42-29884 and was a staff sergeant assigned to the 326th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group (Heavy) stationed out of RAF Alconbury on that day. Most of the 92 BG had moved to RAF Bovingdon in May of that year. On his "22nd-and-one-half mission," his crew flew out of Alconbury with their group and began the assault on targets along the Ruhr.

According to McKagan, they had dumped their load and were on the return, when German fighters assaulted the American aircraft. You can read his account here:

"Wing Flaps Jammed
In the last fatal flight, the wing flaps on the plane were jammed down, slowing up the bomber over Cologne. The pilot put the heavy bomber into a 378--mile-per-hour dive straight down to force the flaps back up, and then leveled out at 3,000 feet for the run home. The crippled plane, with one engine shooting flaming oil, was picked on by a horde of lightning-fast German fighters. McKagan was knocked to the floor of the ship five times by gunfire and once when a German 88-millimeter shell exploded a few feet behind him inside the ship and riddled him with shrapnel. In the desperate duel with the German fighters, McKagan was hit in the right shoulder by a machine gun bullet which throw the socket out of joint and made the arm useless.

McKagan parachuted from the plane and landed 20 feet in front of the world famous cathedral of Cologne, where he beaten into insensibility by German civilians. He was rescued by two German privates who took him to a camp and threw him into a dungeon for four days, during which his wounded arm festered.

Finally, he was transferred to a German hospital run by Catholic Dominican sisters who prevailed upon a doctor to operate on the arm. The doctor said he would have to amputate, but McKagan refused. Through the pleas of the German sisters, the doctor agreed to try to save it, which he finally did. Four operations without anesthesia were necessary, however, and McKagan said the paid was beyond endurance  and he fainted a number of times. It was necessary for the doctor to extract shell projectiles from the bone and surrounding flesh and then put the arm back into the socket. Today the arm is good, but motion with it is limited.

Was Sentenced to Death

McKagan said he was sentenced as a saboteur by the Germans because he did not have his dog tag along and could not identify himself to the gestapo. They ruled he was to be shot, but at 3 am, Christmas Day, he was loaded into a train and taken to another shack and two days later transferred to a camp at Krems, Austria, in a box car loaded with 88 Allied prisoners..."

Waukesha Daily Freeman January 16, 1946

326 BS, 92 BG Patch

According to the Dutch record of the capture, the plane emergency landed in The Netherlands, in the province of Limburg in the village of Sevenum, not in Germany. There was also a church in the town square, lost due to bombing in the latter part of the war. All ten of the crew survived the rough landing or bailouts; nine of them were immediately captured and made POWs. The tenth, pilot Capt H. C. Johnson, evaded capture, but was later captured in Den Hague, Netherlands. The 303rd BG Hell's Angels record said they were shot down over Haltern, Germany which is about 70 miles from Cologne.

Officers and enlisted men were often sent to different camps. Mac ended up in an enlisted location. He was shipped to Stalag Luft XVII-B outside Krems, Austria.  Four of his crew would end up with him there: SSgt Harold D Broyles, SSgt Rudolph J Antala, SSgt Herbert W. Jackson, and TSgt Paul A Dicksinson. SSgt John Treon (tailgunner) ended up in Stalag Luft 4 in Pomerania. Capt Hans C Johnson and co-pilot 2Lt Donald Weir were placed in Stalag Luft 3 in Bavaria along with RW gunner Carlos  T, Gutierrez. The three of them would later be moved to Nuremburg-Langwasser). Navigator 2Lt Robert Doolan was put in Stalag 7-A in another Bavarian location.

A previous crew assigned to the 359BS. Azzan fourth from left back row.

At its peak in later 1944, over 138,000 prisoners were held in Wehrkreis XVII facilities, of many nationalities. To learn about the camp, its history, photos, a great journal, and its treatment of prisoners, visit this story.  

 James D. Pearson, Charles D. Edwards,
Junior Townsend and Azzan McKagan
Taken while in technical school before he
headed for Europe

He flew a TWA flight to New York on 18 Sep 1944. His son reports he was repatriated in a prisoner swap. He was then selected to go on a bond drive tour and then a Red Cross ex-POW tour and talked to families and others about his experiences. "The trip covered 22 states," and the highlight for him was his trip to Hollywood, where he and his fellow former POWs were invited to a party at "Pickfair," the legendary home of actress Mary Pickford (which she built while married to Doublas Fairbanks). He met several movie stars while there. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (the 3rd highest award), the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart with 3 oak leaf clusters.

According to his son, during this time, he made friends with Gen Hap Arnold.

Now returned to "the world," he tried to start a "Barbed Wire Club," for former POWs in the Milwaukee area as some others had done in other cities to provide a place for the men to talk about experiences they couldn't really talk to others about. I don't know how successful that effort was. But he did also go to school and attended Carroll University for a year, studying insurance. He married Rose Mae Baker, who, according to their son, worked at the Pentagon, on 11 Apr 1945 in Alexandria, Virginia. His son said that Gen. Arnold loaned them his staff car for their honeymoon.

SSgt McKagan was allowed to join the regular army under a program where partially disabled combat veterans could reenlist. He first was assigned as a trainer at Aberdeen Proving Grounds before being shipped to Germany, where he died in a jeep accident in 18 July 1947. 

Stalag XVII-B, Krems, Austria

'Barbed Wire' Clubs Planned, Amarillo Daily News June 17, 1946Carroll Student Missed Death as Nazi Prisoner, Waukesha Daily Freeman January 16, 1946
Two Wounded in War Join the Regular Army, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Wed, Mar 5, 1947
Azzan McKagan, Obituary, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Sat, Sep 20, 1947
Sgt McKagan Death is Told, Hurt in Accident, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Thu, July 24, 1947
Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945 (SGLO):  http://www.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/12-08-1943-sglo-t2788a-boeing-b-17f-42-29884-jw-j/
8th Air Force Operations History: http://www.8thafhs.com/index.phpAmerican Air Museum in Britain: http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/854WW2POW Info: http://www.ww2pow.info/index.php?page=directory&rec=93048
NationalArchives.gov: File unit: World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 
Verliesregister 1939-1945 SGLO page 81
303rd Bomb Group Hell's Angels page: http://www.303rdbg.com/359johnson.html

The Man Next to Whom I Will Spend Eternity.

My future neighbor at the cemetery,
Johannes Georg Hansen (1894-1939)

Catchy title, huh? For something completely different, a little bit about my maternal family tree.

In talking with a family fellow-genealogist, I discovered that my 2nd great grandmother on my maternal side, Lars Peder (later Peter Lars or "Pete") Hansen's wife, Ida Marie "Mary" Olson Hansen, bought six plots in Greenwood Cemetery, a beautiful city cemetery here in Cedar Falls, Iowa, after the death of her husband in a railroad construction accident in 1918. According to city records, she paid $25 for Lot 16, Plots 1-6, Block 4, 2nd addition.

Peter and his wife would both be buried there, as would Edna Hansen Morcum, their daughter, in 1947 and another daughter, Sophia Hansen Miner in 1936. That left two plots. When one of the Hansen cousins, John George died in 1939, (the last man to die while working on the Boulder Dam from 1924-1939), he was provided with the fifth plot by family head and oldest Hansen son, Andy Hansen, leaving one. No one had used the final plot in all these years.

I pondered where I wanted to spend my eternity as ashes and decided I could think of no better place than to be buried beside "my people." I found out all I needed to do was contact EVERY surviving person from the oldest generation and get them to sign a letter saying the ownership transfer was okay.

Fortunately, I was provided with the names of the surviving grandchildren by my genealogist relative, and thankfully, there were only three, including my 94 year old grandfather. What ensued was an opportunity to meet a relative I'd never met and reconnected with one I knew quite well when growing up, but hadn't seen since I left Iowa in 1979. All three of them signed the letter and last week, the ownership of the last plot was signed, sealed, and sent to the city for transfer.

I get the corner lot

I thought you might like to learn about those with whom I will be spending eternity. These profiles are beautifully researched and written and I could do no better, so I'm sharing them here:

1. Johannes Georg Hansen

2. Lars Peder Hansen

3. Ida Marie "Mary" Olson Hansen

4. Edna Marie Hansen Morcum

5. Sophia Marion Hansen Miner

Clan William: Mystery Muddle: Who Is Alice Simmons?

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson >
Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Henrietta Munson > Sara Jane Vaughn > Alice Simmons m William Custer Smith 

and...

...Freeman Munson > Amos Musnon > Mary Ann Munson m William Custer Smith 

Sometimes, if you work the brain too hard, it just shuts down. I've been working on trying to figure out who the mysterious Alice Simmons, second wife to William Custer Smith, was and where she came from. Yesterday, I accidentally ran across the solution to this mystery muddle in my very own family tree. Time, and perhaps a couple more county courthouse trips may bear me out.

Read about WC Smith's land here. Read about Amos Munson here (Mary Ann's father). And read about John Lorin Vaughn and Henrietta Munson (sister of Amos) here.

So, nutshelling my solution, it goes down like this: WC Smith's wife, Mary Ann Munson, daughter of Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kearney died in 1888 at the young age of 51. WC married again, but not until 1893 (still seeking marriage license) and he died in 1895. He married Alice Simmons.

Click image to enlarge

 I was unsuccessful in locating any Alice Simmons in Bremer or Butler counties during this time. I'm thinking widow woman with kids based on WC Smith granddaughter Alyce Smith Rasmussen's note. Maybe not so much old widow woman, but young spinster with no other options in front of her.

Amos Munson's sister, Henrietta Munson Vaughn, had a pile of kids and her daughter Sarah Jane married a fellow named Joel Simmons. Joel and Jane married in Grant County, Wisconsin, then Joel up and died at age 37, leaving her with at least five kids. Among those children was Alice A Simmons. They all lived in rural Chickasaw County around that time, near Dresden. Chickasaw, Butler, and Bremer counties all abut one another.

Alice was getting pretty long in the tooth and was single at age 31, which would have been her age at the time of marriage if indeed she was the bride. WC Smith, at that time, would have been 62. Not unheard of - old maid marries older gent.  They were cousins-in-law. And, after WC's death, she sold the farm to his kids and walked away with a nice settlement of $2,040. 

In 1898, THIS Alice Simmons, who is the daughter of Joel and Sarah Jane, is listed in the marriage record of Chickasaw County as Alice Smith. She married Arthur J. Sinderson, an Englishman. They lived in New Hampton for the remainder of their lives and had no children. Score, case solved.

1898 Marriage to Arthur Sinderson; has Alice Simmons Smith listed as name of bride

UPDATE: Written proof of the marriage of Miss Alice Simmons and Mr. William Smith was finally located in this brief item in the Waverly newspaper (a like item was also published in the Waverly Democrat the same day):

Clan William: The Family Farm of William Custer Smith & Mary Ann Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Mary Ann Munson m William Custer Smith

and...

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith m Mary Ann Munson

Butler County, Iowa Fremont Township Plat Map, 1895
Click image to increase size

William Custer Smith, my 2nd great grandfather, hailed from Harrison County, Ohio. He was born 04 Oct 1831, the middle child of seven born to Jacob Smith and wife Mary Catherine Randolph. His family moved to Grant County, Wisconsin in 1846. William and his bride, Mary Ann Munson, whom he married 20 Jun 1853 in Grant County, moved to Iowa in fall of 1865. Mary Ann died in 1888 and WC married Mary Ann's cousin, Alice Simmons in about 1893, two years prior to his death. WC died in Plainfield, but the death was registered in Butler County.

WC Smith Obituary November 1895

Family lore reminds us he had a farm and that his family's social life revolved around Plainfield, Bremer County.  But, his land (120 acres) was actually in Butler County, right at the edge of the Bremer County border. The Plainfield post office served the farm. The farm reportedly had a horse race track because WC, his son Harland, and grandson William Lowell Smith were all avid horse racers.

It's such a thrill to make document discoveries after some serious sleuthing. One of my questions involved, "What became of the land?" In a note of remembrances authored by WC Smith granddaughter, Alyce Smith Rasmussen (daughter of WC Smith's son Harland), she had claimed that the widow Alice took the land, bounced Harland out, took all the personal effects, leaving the children with nothing. You can read about that claim here.

According to county deed documents, this was all patently untrue. WC Smith's widow sold the land of William C. Smith to the children of WC Smith after his death: Walter Smith, Dora Lichty, Harland Smith, Eva Bryce, Ella Cunningham, Edwin Smith, Parker Smith, and Mirt Smith for $2, 040 for the property described as: The East half of the Southeast quarter and the Southeast quarter of the Northeast quarter of Section 24, Township 93, N. Range 15 West. This deal was closed 22 Nov 1895, just days after WC's death.

WC Smith Widow Alice's sale to WC Smith Children, 1895
Click image to increase size

But, wait, there's more.On 08 Mar 1897, WC Smith daughter Eva Bryce sold her share to her siblings for $600.

Finally, on 08 Dec 1898, the remaining siblings sold the property to Diedrich Deike for the sum of $5,040. Parker Smith had been managing the farm during the time from his father's death to the time of the sale. Diedrich and Minnie had seven kids and the family still owns this property.

Final Sale of Property to Diedrich Dieke

My thanks to the staff of the Butler County Recorder's office, particularly Roxann, for assisting me in my quest to solve the mystery.

You can read more on the Smith-Munson Family Farm here.

The Lampman Family Tragedy

WILLIAM MILLER > MILO VOLNEY MILLER > ADELIA MILLER m Theodore D Lampman

Click image to increase size

Milo Volney Miller was the son of William Miller and Lorain Fountaine He was an early settler in Linn County, Iowa. His eldest daughter from his second wife, Cynthia Sprague, was Adelia L. "Delia" Miller. She was born 22 Jan 1851 in Indiana as the Millers progressed west to Iowa over the course of many years. She married Theodore D. Lampman 06 Nov 1873 in Linn County, Iowa.

Lampman was born 05 Mar 1849 in Wayne County, New York. In the late part of 1853, his father Henry and mother Catherine (Wolcott) Lampman, moved from New York to Branch County, Michigan. Then, they moved on to Bureau County, Illinois, then to Stark County. Back to Michigan they went, then back to Marshall County, Illinois. Then, they came to Iowa. Not satisfied again, they moved back to Marshall County, Illinois, where Catherine died. Old Henry spent his final years living with a daughter in Linn County.

In August 1870, when Theodore came to Linn County, Iowa, he purchased a team and broke prairie for nearly 3 years. He purchased 80 acres in Grant Township which he sold after it was broken and then farmed a rental property. In 1890, he purchased farm on Section 10, Washington Township after having rented it for a year. He improved the property and buildings. Theodore would be involved in local politics, serve two terms as road supervisor, and was a member of the school board for three years. Theodore died in 1919 and his wife, Adelia, died 14 Mar 1928.

The couple had seven children. Two would die in a tragic accident along with the husband of another. On 09 Oct 1958, Alpha Lampman, James Lampman, and brother-in-law Maurice Serverson were killed in an auto-truck accident outside of Dyersville. Maurice was the husband of Cynthia Lampman, who had died in 1956 in Rice, Minnesota.