Ermil R. Trapp - A TwigTale

Ermil R. Trapp
Born: August 28, 1923
Died: September 15, 1944 France
Buried: Marion Cemetery, Jackson County, Indiana
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ACTIVITY DURING WWII
Ermil served in General Patton's 735th Tank Battalion in a light tank. He was killed in the Battle of Metz, France in September 1944.

Ermil Trapp Dies in Action September 15
Local Soldier Was Serving With Tank Group in France - Widow Gets Word

Technician Fifth Grade Ermil R. Trapp, age 21, was killed in action September 15, according to a telegram received late Sunday afternoon by his wife, Mrs. Joyce L. Trapp, 620 Euclid Avenue.

"The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret that your husband, Technician Fifth Grade Ermil R. Trapp, was killed in action on September 15th in France. Letter follows," read the telegram, signed by J.A. Ulio, adjutant general.

Sgt. Trapp entered the service on January 8, 1943, receiving his training at Fort Lewis, Wash., as a member of a tank battalion. He had served overseas since February 1 of this year. Mrs. Trapp's last letter from her husband was dated September 6.

Lived at Chestnut Ridge.

Born in Jennings county, T.5 Trapp was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Trapp, of Chestnut Ridge, six miles south of this city. He spent most of his life in the Chestnut Ridge community, attending school there. He was employed throughout the county on various farms and also worked at Camp Atterbury before entering the armed forces.

T.5 Trapp was widely known both in this city and throughout the county and a host of friends join with relatives in mourning his death.

Survivors include the widow, the former Miss Joyce Jaynes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Jaynes, with who she makes her home; a fourteen-months-old daughter, Judy Kay Trapp; the parents; five sisters, Mrs. Fern Russell, of Beanblossom, and Marjorie, Carol, Vivian and Phyllis Trapp, all of Chestnut Ridge; and three brothers, all of whom are in service. Ernest Trapp and Murrel Trapp, both serving overseas in England or France, and Donald Trapp, serving on a Navy destroyer in the South Seas.
~frontpage: Seymour Daily Tribune, Seymour, Indiana


Brick at the Veteran's Memorial - Seymour, Indiana

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Grave photo: owned and taken by Tina Brock Smith
Photo: in possession of Former Judy Kay Trapp
Obit: original in my possession
Brick Photo: owned and taken by Sheri Bush
for: Veteran's Day Post 2008

I have 2 step-nephews and 1 full nephew serving right now. One already had several tours in the US Navy and is stateside now. Two will soon be going.

Oh, Baby! Huh?

This is it?

I thought I'd add a photo of me. Showing my attitude toward life. Confused. I still have this expression most of the time.

Wish I still had that stroller! Notice the bumpers? Is that rubber baby buggy bumpers??

Submitted for:
Smile for the Camera
10 November, 2008

Henry Hovis - A TwigTale

Henry W. Hovis was born on July 1, 1840 in Noble County, Ohio and he died June 11, 1935 in Nashville, (Brown County) Indiana. He was the son of Henry Hovis and Sarah Hogg. On July 9, 1864 he married Elizabeth Ellen. Bohall in Brown County, Indiana.
Elizabeth, daughter of George David Bohall and Catherine E. Draper, was born June 17, 1844 in Jackson County, Indiana and died July 17, 1897.

This is an entry in *1886: History of Jackson County, Indiana. Brant and Fuller.
MARTIN GROVE CHURCH.

This church was organized March 15, 1878, three miles
northeast of Clear Spring. Members: Prudy Elkins, Sarah
Martin, Martha Scott, Hanna Scott, Nancy Cobb, Ollie Winein-
ger, W. A. Williams, Sarah Williams, Mary B. Smith, John C.
Bowman, Adaline Bowman, Martin Beavers, Mary A. Beavers,
Henry Hovis, Elizabeth Hovis and William Paris; ministers:
Elders R. J. Gorbet, David Sexton, J. R. McCoy, J. W. Maynard
and H. Hovis.

As you can see, Henry is also listed as a minister.

They had 4 children: Seth, Mary C., Margaret C. and Martha Jane. Margaret C. Hovis is my great-great-grandmother. My grandmother spoke of her often and said she was her favorite person. Seth was divorced by his wife for violent behavior and died in the County Farm in Independence, Missouri . I have not found Mary or Martha yet.

The church no longer stands.

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*Title: History of Jackson County
Publisher: Chicago: Brant & Fuller 1886
Page: 424
Jackson County Public Library/History Resources Online
http://www.jacksoncountyhistory.org/books/index.asp?book=brantfuller&page=424

The GraveYard Rabbit

I'm proud to say I am now a member of The Association of Graveyard Rabbits. The new blog is The GraveYard Rabbit of Jackson County, Indiana.

BOO!

Have a delightfully ghoulish Halloween

Was It Fact or Fiction?

Well, it was evenly split, 3 fact and 3 fiction. That's not leaning one way or the other. So, I guess it's time to tell you the truth.


This is George Thomas Jaynes, better known as 'Old Tom'. He was my maternal great-grandfather. Writing the story was not hard to do. It flowed. Funny, I could hear my grandmother's voice as I wrote. You see, the story is true. I interviewed many in the early days. They all told pretty much the same story, only their own eye-witness accounts were a little different. Everything I wrote was fact. There was more that I did not write because I knew that you would not believe it all.

My curiosity about this man has not waned at all. I am stuck on his grandfather, David Jaynes of Metcalf County, KY. So I know little more about his background than I did when I began.


So, are you surprised or disappointed?

I've Been Tagged

I was tagged by Taylorstales-Genealogy. So here goes.

Ten Years Ago, I Was:
1. Babysitting my first grand-daughter a lot!
2. Recovering.
3. Worked with my Dad for a while.
4. Sewing, sewing, sewing.
5. Caring for my daughter.


Five Places I Have Lived:
1. RR #2
2. Ninth Street
3. Laurel Street
4. Brownstown, Indiana
5. South Ave.


I've not gone far from here for sure!

Five Jobs I Have Had:
1. Burger Chef (long gone)
2. Van's Music Store (long gone)
3. Local Hospital
4. Electronics Factory
5. Nursing Home


Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Mike-Sells Zesty Barbecue Chips
2. graham crackers
3. Koshier Dills
4. Cheese
5. Cheerios (plain, few calories and good for you!)


Five Things on Today's To-Do List:
1. Finish template for census
2. laundry
3. take care of at least 10 sources
4. do at least 2 pages 1920 census
5. do some pre-publishing

I can't find anyone who hasn't been tagged. . . so if you are reading this.......YOU'RE IT!!!!

Tomorrow I will reveal whether Old Tom was fact or fiction!

The Eyes of Old Tom.

When I first started researching my family, I was really looking for an answer to an old question. It was just curiosity. I only wanted to know where he was from and why. Why was everyone afraid of him? And why did they call him 'Old Tom' long before he was old? My own mother said she never looked into his eyes. "They were strange eyes" she often said. "A funny milky blue that looked through you."
Now my grandma lived with Old Tom and his wife Cora when she and grandpa first married. Grandma loved Cora. She said she was the warmest woman she'd ever met. She also laughed about Cora's famous temper. Seems she never had a full set of china because it became her weapon of choice when she was mad.
But it wasn't Cora I wanted to know about. It was Old Tom. When they spoke about him, they spoke in whispers, as though he might be listening. Perhaps he was. He died the month after I was born, so I never knew him, though Mother said he did hold me once. I have to admit that I had never heard them whispering about him until I was a teenager. It wasn't a thing to speak of in front of children.
Seems Old Tom was called a witch, mostly because they didn't know what else to call him. He always seemed to know what was coming. But there were other things too. The rapping. Not music, you understand. Knocking on the walls, from some other world unseen to us. But the thing that scared people most was the power he seemed to have over objects. He would lay a hand on a table and it would 'walk'. Kept the neighbors scared, I hear. He often did these things when people he didn't care for came to visit. He didn't have many of those kinds of visitors, I can tell you. People were scared of Old Tom. They thought him a witch or a devil.
One clear, beautiful day he was making a table walk when suddenly the window was blown apart by a bolt of hot, white light and the table was struck and burned. Old Tom was scared that time. Scared enough to rethink some things. Misuse of power? Waste of talent? I only know what my grandma told me about that. Old Tom thought he had wasted his power. He said he was wrong to scare folks. He understood some things better, but he'd not tell her about them. She was better not to know. He never again tried to scare people. He never again walked a table.
But, right up to his death he talked about how he wished the spirits would leave him be. The rapping never went away. The spirits were always trying to get his attention. My grandma felt sorry for him. Many people I talked to thought he was evil. I just wish I could have met him. I want to find all of his family. Where did he get his abilities? Was it a family trait?
Funny though. My curiosity about him led me to this place today. My habit, genealogy. I'd have never started my research had it not been for him.

Is it Fact or Fiction?

Written for Carnival of Genealogy - 58th Edition