Ray Morgan in Berlin 1962

     In June 1962 Dad left Kansas City for a three-week tour of Western Europe sponsored by the Defense Department. The following is the article he wrote about his visit to Berlin. The Russians had begun building the Berlin wall in August 1961.

     On a bookcase at home, there is a triangular piece of dirty, grey concrete.  It has special significance because it is a piece of the crumbling East Berlin wall which I pulled loose one bright, sunny Sunday afternoon and stuck in my pocket under watchful Communist eyes.     With a group of West Berlin police with carbines slung over their shoulders, I and some other correspondents walked up where the wall was built along the famed Potadammerplatz and peered over the wall from an elevated wooden platform.
      At 100 yards or so away, a group of East Berlin communist troops, with sub machine guns over their shoulders, watched us intently through binoculars.  They walked several yards towards us at one point but we stayed where we were despite the fact the wall is in Soviet zone here.
     I slipped the crumbling piece of mortar between the thin concrete blocks out of the wall and dropped it in my pocket.  We watched a short time later as the communist soldiers moved closer and then we departed in waiting cars.
      Later, about 10:30 that night, John Pinkerman, news editor of the San Diego Union. And I and some others were sitting in the Berlin Hilton.
      Pinkerman, who felt a strange fascination for the wall that grips so many West Berlin visitors, wanted to tour the wall in a taxicab as he had done several nights before that.  He and I went to the brightly lighted entrance to the hotel where shiny motorcars disgorged well-dressed visitors and German cabs were lined up just as in the United States.
      We found an English-speaking driver whom Pinkerman had used on his previous trip and off we went over to Edwardstrasse and down toward the famed Brandenburg gate.  We flashed our official identification and the West Berlin policemen waved us through the barbed wire.
       Along the brightly-lighted stretch of pavement the cab driver wheeled the cab.  He joked about driving through the gate but his laugh was somewhat nervous.  It was an eerie kind of scene in the darkness, an eeriness hard to define.
      On the left, a group of British soldiers stood in front of a barbed wire encircling the brightly-lighted war memorial. Two Soviet soldiers walking along the Soviet memorial plaza stopped and watched the cab moving slowly.
       Atop the Brandenburg gate we could see two East Berlin police in an observation post looking at us with ever-present binoculars.  We got out and chatted with the West Berlin Police a minute or two while they watched.
       We drove back out of the barbed wire area and sped along toward Checkpoint Charley, the barricade where Americans are permitted to enter East Berlin.  The cab had to be parked a half a block away from the Communist border.
       The street was brightly lighted as we walked down the white painted line which marks the division between freedom and totalitarianism.  Helmeted American military police stood talking with the West Berlin police and a burly East Berliner stood almost on the line with his submachine gun
       The cab driver walked along with us until we got a few feet from their line.  He wanted to know when the wall was going to be kicked down.  Pinkerman almost got in a fight when a British girl came up, giggling, with her escort and said the Allies would never defend Berlin.
       I mention these things only because they tend to point up the almost unreal quality in the late evening hours when the floodlights shatter the darkness of this strange world created by a sagging line of concrete blocks topped by barbed wire and broken glass.

Brandenburg Gate Postcard

Potadammerplatz 

     It is a situation Americans find difficult to comprehend.  It is when there is no fighting war is actually in progress between the adversaries and yet two sides, dedicated to two ways of life, stand on either side of a thin line with guns and watch each other.

These are a few of the postcards that he brought home with him and then lastly is a bit of the home movie he took in Berlin.

Grace and Edna Visit

Grace or Edna at the Pueblo Observatory.

     Photographs from Grace and Edna's trip in1908 to Pueblo to visit their aunt Ada and her husband, Morris Johnson. Grace and Edna were ages 22 and 20.

     The first one is of the Pueblo Observatory. It may be still in existence, but in my internet searches I can't tell for sure. But it may now be part of Colorado State University.

Union Station at Pueblo

     The next is of the Union Station at Pueblo. It is still there even though it was built in 1890. Pueblo Union Depot 
      (I added a photo of trains in case Steve looks at the blog).

     Speaking of Steve, he was instrumental in helping me identify the courthouse. I wanted to make it the capitol building in Denver, but Steve pointed out to me it was probably Pueblo.

Train waiting at the depot.

     The last two I believe are in Mineral Palace Park. Apparently Pueblo, to celebrate their prominence in Colorado and the world, built this large park, including a building to display minerals. Their fame was short-lived when a flood from the Arkansas River did major damage to the town. Apparently Pueblo never recovered from the 1921 disaster. The park still exists, although quite a bit was lost to Interstate 25. The town's palace, though was shabbily built and didn't last all that long. Pueblo History

Edna in front of the Pueblo County Courthouse

Edna and Grace relax in Mineral Palace Park .

Ada Catherine Sharpe and Morris Cornelius Johnson

  

     Betsy Sharpe and all of her family left England in 1870 or 1871 and came to Kansas. The Sharpe children ranged in age from the 19 or 20-year old William, Jr. down to the infant Herbert. Among the children was Ada, who at four, was the next to youngest daughter. The Sharpes settled in Morris County with their children. Betsy was the first to be married, but over the years, the other children married and established their own homes. In 1881, Rebekah Sharpe died - at that time Ada and Maude, the two youngest children, were in their early teens. The two of them continued to live with their father until marrying in the 1890s.

     In 1895 Ada married Morris or Maurice Johnson, who just happened to be from her hometown in England, Mareham le Fen. According to census records he emigrated in 1875, but I haven't discovered any records that indicate where he lived in the U.S. Other coincidences, his father's name was Richard Sharpe Johnson and he had a sister, Ada. I've assumed that somewhere in the past the families intersect, but so far I haven't found the connection.

Ada and Morris Johnson Pueblo CO 1912

     After their marriage in 1895 or so, Ada moved to Pueblo, CO, to join Morris. Pueblo was then the largest city in Colorado. Prior to his marriage, Morris ranched and operated a farm implement business.

      In 1908 Edna and Grace then 20 and 22, traveled to Pueblo, Colorado to visit their mother's sister, Ada Sharpe Johnson. The Johnsons had moved into their recently completed home at 1927 Greenwood.

Morris Johnson, Edna and Grace Walker, 1908

Below is a link to an application for the home to become a landmark.  (Erin and I looked at the listing for their first home in Pueblo and Erin didn't believe it was this one. Turns out Erin was right.) In the Google street view, it's obstructed by trees, etc.
Ada Sharpe Johnson home in Pueblo Co

I've never found a date of death for Ada, but she appears to have died sometime between 1917 and 1919. In the Pueblo city directory of 1919 another couple is living in the home. I could find neither Ada or Morris in the 1920 US census, but Morris appears again in the 1930 Pueblo US census. According to the application for landmark status, he died in Pueblo in 1952.

     Tomorrow I hope to post photographs from Edna and Grace's trip to visit the Johnsons.

The Ellingwoods

Jim Morgan on the left with his sister  Rose, her spouse and children in 1918.

    When we were growing up, our parents offered us advice, much of it unsolicited. An example: Don't tell people your dad works for the Star. They'll just complain about how their paper was thrown in the rose bush.  Another: If they're named Morgan they're not related to you.  I finally realized that was because my dad was an only child and his father's only brother died childless. We never discussed the Ellingwoods, but I don't think I've yet met anyone named Ellingwood.
    
     Starting with Emma Morgan nee Ellingwood, the Ellingwood name has continued through successive generations. Emma named her first son and third child, James Hiram, using the Hiram from her father. But she bestowed Ellingwood on her second son and fourth and last child, Ray Ellingwood. My father carried Ellingwood as his middle name and bestowed the Ellingwood on his second son, who bestowed it on his only son.

      But that doesn't mean the Ellingwoods don't have a long history in the U.S. Our ninth great grandfather, Ralph Elwood, immigrated from London in 1635 as a part of the Great Migration. I learned of this from the Winthrop Society web page.
  

WHEREAS, the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company and their elected Governor, John Winthrop, emigrated to New England in 1630 to found a “City on a Hill,” the Winthrop Society: Descendants of the Great Migration is dedicated to honoring and preserving their memory, philosophy and tradition, and transmitting their example of courage, faith, civic duty and integrity."

— excerpt from the Winthrop Society Charter

Their motivation was religious, political, and economic. The British church and government was becoming insufferably hierarchical, tyrannical, and tax-hungry. Common resentment among the English people led soon to the English Revolution beginning in 1642, and eventually to the beheading of King Charles for treason in 1649, after agents intercepted his secret invitations to foreign kings and armies, that they invade England, crush Parliament and the English Constitution, massacre his English opponents, and restore Charles to his pretended Dei gratia royal privileges. Charles Stuart continued incorrigibly to hold his dynastic interest separate and above those of Parliament and the British people, and ultimately Parliament had no alternative but to end his conspiracies with an axe.

Winthrop Society

          As an aside - if you can prove you're related to someone who was part of this migration, you are welcome to become a member of the Winthop Society.  After they approve you for membership, you're eligible to buy a $30 gold certificate proclaiming that fact to all the world. Knowing Ray's joy of certificates it's hard to imagine he would pass this up.

     This is a link to a bit more information about Ralph Ellwood or Ellenwood or Ellingwood. He's buried in the Abbott Street Burial Ground in Beverly, MA.  Ralph the Saxon Ellenwood, I

Left to right: Ray, Emma, Jim, Ethel and Rose in 1918.

Hiram Ellingwood

Emma Ellingwood Morgan & Donald Weaver - 1918

     Ray Morgan, Sr., never met his maternal grandfather, Hiram Ellingwood, but on the other hand, his mother Emma hardly met her father. In August 1862, when Emma was 15 months old, he joined the Union Army, becoming a member of Company K of the 79th Indiana Regiment.

     Hiram served in the 79th Indiana until his death in Chattanooga in September 1864, leaving behind a 38-year old widow, three daughters and a son. Three of the children were less than 3 years old. The following is from the Find-a-Grave website, but there is no citation so I don't know the accuracy of the information came from.

Wounded on September 2, 1864 in the leg, he underwent surgical amputation of his leg on the 4th of September and died 24th September 1864, most probably of infection. This outcome was very common due to the poor state of medical care at the time, the germ theory and antibiotics being far in the future. The 2 day wait to be seen by a surgeon may also have allowed the development of infection prior to his surgery. Hiram Ellingwood's Grave Marker

    The history of the regiment, compiled decades after the war, is substantially based on the diary of a private in Company I. I haven't read the entire book, but they were involved in numerous battles and were with Sherman on the march toAtlanta. The skirmish Ellingwood died in occurred not long after the taking of Atlanta.   History of the 79th Regiment

Page from the History of the 79th Regiment

         And that brings me to our family vacation in 1960. Our first camping trip was in 1959 and to prove that we could actually do it a second time, we went on another one. This time Ray's parents, Ray and Vala Morgan accompanied us. The trip took us from our home in Kansas City all the way east to the Shenandoah National Park and back through Indiana and Missouri. I guess I was struck by the closeness in time of our trip to the Civil War and my Great-Great Grandfather's death in this same section of the country. Although at the time, his existence, at least for me, was unremarked. I've included here a short clip from that vacation. For some reason this ferry crossing stayed with me and then the last part of the clip is us reenacting the Union chasing the Rebels back into the Virginia countryside. I think this is life, though, the next generations try to comprehend what the previous ones lived through, but it's nearly impossible to do. Our parade, in a way, is a  commemoration that Hiram Ellingwood served and died so that life could go on. That his grandson could bring his own grandchildren to see the history of the country.

Walker Children

Walker children - Topeka circa 1890.

Walker Family - Thanksgiving

To continue on the theme of last week, here are the two photographs I have of the Walker children as children. The earliest one appears to have been taken around 1890 by George Downing. Downing had served in the Ohio 1st Light Battery and opened his own photography business in Topeka in 1874. Downing bio On the back of the photograph is handwritten, To Mother. The date of the photo suggests that it was taken not long after the death of Edna's twin. From left to right are Percy (1879), Edna (1888), Lilly (1873) and Fred (1874). The two girls in front are left to right Eula (1884) and Grace (1886).
    
     The second photograph was taken in 1896, 1897 or 1898, depending on which copy you happen to be looking at. The one consistent fact is that it was Thanksgiving. That was clearly remembered because Edward had closed the drugstore that day for the holiday. I tend to go with the later date because Ada was born in May of 1893 and she looks closer to five than three in this photograph. But to identify everyone, we start with Lilly, Percy, Edward, Eula, Betsy, Fred and Grace. Then in front are Ada on the left and Edna on the right. This photograph is one of the latest ones I have found of Edward. There's a formal photograph, but I haven't figured out how to scan it yet.

Walker Christmas 1920

     The third photograph is one of the latest ones I have of most of the Walkers. It's taken at Christmas 1920 at Percy and Jenny's home in Topeka. Back row: Eula Walker Faust, Frank Faust, Grace Walker Bale, George Bale, Edna Walker Burkhardt, Ada Walker Smith, Lilly Walker Leib and Jenny Thayer Walker. Middle row: Dorothy Leib (1909) Bud Walker (1911) Fred Leib (1906) Dorothy Leib (1912). Front row: Bernice Bale (1920), Betsy Sharpe Walker, Marguerite Faust (1914), Mildred Faust (1916), Ethel Burkhardt (1917) Helen Burkhardt (1920) EA Burkhardt, Bill Smith, Walker Smith (1920), Allan Burkhardt, (1914) and Marcie Walker (1913). Six  more grandchildren were born and Betsy met all of them but Sharp Smith who was born in 1929 to Ada and Bill . Mary Grace was born to Edna and EA in 1923. George and Grace's second child, George, was born in 1924. Don was born to Ada and Bill in 1925. Also born in 1925 was Betty Jean and her twin to Frank and Eula.

Edward Walker's Citizenship Papers

Edward Walker Citizenship Papers

     Months ago Lee and I spent a couple of hours at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka searching for information about various relatives. I looked through the Morris County citizenship records because information I had was that Edward and Betsy had lived there. But no luck. Then in February of this year Cindy handed me a new collection of family documents and there was Edward's Declaration of Intention to become a citizen. I hadn't found it in Morris County because he had filed it in Davis County. After a quick search I learned that Davis County, named for Jefferson Davis, became Geary County in 1889. Davis County was one of the original counties of territorial Kansas and named for then Secretary of War Davis in Franklin Pierce's administration. (I don't think I've quite recovered from Kansas having a county named for the president of the confederacy. John W. Geary on the other hand was briefly Kansas territorial governor appointed by Pierce and then served as a general in the Union Army.) The papers are dated June 25, 1870.

Percy Walker circa 1899, age 20.

     Edward and Betsy were married on May 31, 1871 in Morris County or at least that's the assumption. But I haven't found any records of their marriage, so maybe I should look in Davis/Geary County instead of Morris County.  There are no pictures of the two of them until 1898 so I've used pictures of their children to give us some idea how they might have looked at the ages of 17 for Betsy and 24 for Edward.

Edna - age 20

Ada - age 15

This photograph of Edna is not one that shows her at her best, but one that depicts her with a great sense of fun. It doesn't seem to be a long jump to assume that Betsy could have looked like this, with the same air of fun about her. The photographs I have seen of Edward give him a dignified air, making this one of Percy an easy stand-in. Edna remembered him walking her to school, doffing his top hat and tossing his cane in the air.  Edward first saw Betsy when he was out for a spin with his friends, probably second or third sons from English families, just as he was. It's not hard to imagine the dignified Edward noticing the jumble of jollity that was Betsy.
      They both came from England, but the contrasts were great, he of King's School in his native Chester, and she of probably very little formal schooling. He traveled alone across the Atlantic in probably at least second class. She, on the other hand, made her way across the sea as a member of a large family in steerage. But one can assume they forged a bond that lasted through a nearly 40-year marriage. Through the deaths of two infants, through the winters and the summers on the plains of Kansas.

Edward & Betsy Walker Family 1898