County Clare, Bienville Parish, Phillipsburg, and Siberia

This blog is a relatively small blog in the blogger world. On average, I get about 2000 legitimate link clicks each month, most by the same set of readers. I love writing the blog and do not plan to stop. Writing the posts keeps me organized and has improved my research skills. It allows me to share my finds with those who are interested, collaborate with others, and, most importantly, find family. 

This year, I have written 78 posts. My most-read post, in 2020, was about my husband's great-aunt's store in New Quay, County Clare, Ireland. I learned much about New Quay while researching for Julia Moylan's Store on the Flaggy Shore.

The second of my top three posts, Friday's Photo: Charles William Giddens, told of my Great-Uncle Charlie and his service in World War I and World War II. Uncle Charlie lived in Phillipsburg, New Jersey when he first joined the Army in 1911 and he remained in New Jersey until World War II when he entered the United States Naval Reserve to be an instructor at the Naval Air Gunners School.

Three Bryan Cemetery Monuments Beautifully Restored in Bienville Parish was my third most-read post. The Bryan Cemetery is located in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

My all-time favorite posts this year were those regarding the photos of Almus and Lillie Beck in Siberia. Almus and Lillie were not my family and I was looking for a good home for the photos. As only four of many photos were labeled, I started with almost nothing and came upon an incredible story. The photos now have a good home at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Click here to read the story of Almus and Lillie. To see many of their photos from Siberia, visit Snapshots From Siberia 1918 -1919. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2020 

Sources 

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

"Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Friday's Photo: Almus E. Beck of North Carolina." https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/fridays-photo-almus-e-beck-of-north.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2020.

"Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Friday's Photo: Charles William Giddens." https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/fridays-photo-charles-william-giddens.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2020.

"Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Julia Moylan's Store on the Flaggy Shore." https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2020/02/julia-moylans-store-on-flaggy-shore.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2020.

"Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: Snapshots From Siberia 1918." 1919 https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/snapshots-from-siberia-1918-1919.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2020.

Snapshots From Siberia 1918 -1919

Yesterday, I wrote about Almus Beck and his wife Lillie. They met while Almus was stationed in Siberia and Lillie was a nurse. I have their snapshot album acquired at an antique auction in the 1980s. Almus and Lillie also lived in the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, and California; however, I believe most of these photos were taken in Siberia. Visit yesterday's post to read their story. 

The snapshots from Siberia were taken between 1918 and 1919 when Almus was stationed in Siberia during the Siberian Expedition. To learn about the Americans in Siberia at this time, begin by visiting History.net to read Red Dawn in Romanovka, Russia. Almus is mentioned on this page and Lillie's heroics are described. 

I'm not adding captions to the photos as I don't know enough about the people or places. There are photos depicting work and play - more play than work. Three photos show a pet bear. There are more photos in this collection. Not any of the photos from Siberia contained writing identifying the people or places. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2020 

Sources 

31st Infantry Regiment Association. The 31st Infantry Regiment: A History of "America's Foreign Legion" in Peace and WarMcFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, Jun 25, 2018.  https://books.google.com/books/about/The_31st_Infantry_Regiment.html?id=nPaOswEACAAJ

Willett, Robert L. "Red Dawn in Romanovka, Russia" History.net. Accessed 7 Oct 2020.   https://www.historynet.com/red-dawn-in-romanovka-russia.htm

Photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

Friday's Photo: Almus E. Beck of North Carolina

Almus E. Beck

This is not my family. Until last week, these photos sat nameless on a bookshelf in a small photo album. After four hours on Google, Ancestry.com, and FamilySearch, the album is a little more ragged and the important characters have names.  

I acquired this photo album at an antique auction in 1985 or 1986. There was an odd-looking blue and white quilt in a box with the album, some books, and a few other odds and ends. I wanted the quilt so had to take the entire box. 

I was not at all interested in family history or the old photos but for some reason saved the photo album, a larger photo of a woman, and a souvenir book with photos from the Philippines, China, and Japan. A year or so later, I learned that the odd-looking quilt was a Hawaiian quilt made in the early 1900s. 

I assumed the photos were from somewhere in the Pacific as well, but upon closer inspection, I found many photos with snow and clothing not attributed to warm sunny weather. The photos were firmly glued into the book. I pried up many, removed a few, and found only four photos with anything written on the back.

On the back: The one marke L is Lallah  N is Nina M is Minnie. The sisters were
found with their parents and siblings on the 1910 U.S. Census in Durham, NC. 

There were two photos of Lallah. On one she
wrote, Your loving niece, Lallah Boyd 
On the second photo she wrote, Carry this with
any where you go and think of your niece. 

Lallah, Nina, and Minnie were daughters of Eugene Henry Boyd and Frances Beck of Durham, North Carolina. 

Frances Beck's brother, Almus, is the best candidate to be the man in the uniform as he was in the U. S. Army and stationed in the Philippines in 1910. Almus is also the most likely recipient of the photos from his niece Lallah as all other aunts and uncles were living in or near Durham. 

Almus Emmett Beck (also seen as Almus Emett Beck) was born in Wake County on September 2, 1887.  Almus joined the Army in 1908. He served in the 31st Infantry Regiment when he was stationed in Siberia as part of the Siberian Expedition of 1918-1920. 

Almus' second wife Liudovika (Lillie) met Almus while working as a nurse in Siberia. There are pictures of her throughout the album.  In 1919, she completed a passport application giving her place of birth as Tarnopol (Russia), Poland. She was born on October 1, 1895 and became a naturalized United States citizen when she married Almus Beck on August 13, 1919 in Vladivostok, Siberia. 

The following story about Almus and Lillie was found in two books with chapters about the Siberian Expedition. 

Very early, on June 25, 1919, resistance forces attacked squad tents occupied by sleeping soldiers in the village of Romanovka. Twenty soldiers were killed and more than 25 wounded. Lillie, described as Sergeant Beck's girlfriend and a Polish nurse formerly with the Russian Army, administered first aid and was fired upon while moving between the soldiers. She was recommended for an award, but it was not approved. At the end of that summer, Almus and Lillie were married and left by ship for the Philippine Islands. 

Almus and his wife were found at Fort William McKinley on the Philippine Islands in 1920. In 1930, Almus and Lillie were living at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii Territory.  Almus retired from the U.S. Army in 1934 and they moved to San Diego where he worked as a security officer on a Naval Base. Almus died in 1959 and Lillie in 1960. They are buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. 

There is more to this story and it confirms what I have written; however, it is not my story to tell. My purpose for writing this post is to share and find a good home for these photos. If you know anything about Almus Beck and his wife and family, please contact me. If you have suggestions as to a good home for these photos and many from Siberia, I would like to hear from you as well. You can message me on my Facebook page or send me an email from my "About Me" tab at the top of this page. 

My next post, Snapshots From Siberia 1918 - 1919, features more photos from this album. 

Was this taken in North Carolina? Siberia? On the back, only part of the writing can be
viewed - I am standing by the _____ I haven't any ______ alone ______. Signed with an "S."

This must be Lillie Beck. It was taken in California. 

This appears to be Lillie Beck about the time she was married. I enhanced the photo at 
My Heritage to get a better look at her face. 

Was this on the ship leaving Siberia in August 1919? It was going to Japan. Did the Becks visit
the United States before going to the Philippines? 

This photo was glued in the front of the album. Is it a very
young Lillie? a sister? I wonder if Lillie ever communicated
with her family after leaving Siberia?

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2020 

Sources 

31st Infantry Regiment Association. The 31st Infantry Regiment: A History of "America's Foreign Legion" in Peace and WarMcFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, Jun 25, 2018.  https://books.google.com/books/about/The_31st_Infantry_Regiment.html?id=nPaOswEACAAJ

Ancestry.com. "Public Member Trees." Web. Accessed 1 October 2020. 

Evans, Martin M., editor. American Voices of World War I: Primary Source Documents, 1917-1920. Chicago. 2001. Print. https://books.google.com/books?id=dWK2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=almus+e+beck+siberia&source=bl&ots=HS4zv2l8g4&sig=ACfU3U1-rKDnTaiu2hmppW2Xrr-Mt-nUUg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw6uXE0KjsAhUloXIEHdy3CEUQ6AEwAnoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=almus%20e%20beck%20siberia&f=false

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

"North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9KW-VHVG?cc=2568864&wc=Q6HB-4HT%3A1590122304%2C1590122418 : accessed 3 October 2020), citing The North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.

"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RN6-LPL?cc=1488411&wc=QZJT-YJX%3A1038434801%2C1038459501%2C1038459502%2C1038459503 : 14 September 2019), Military and Naval Forces > Philippine Islands > Overseas Military > Fort William McKinley > image 72 of 90; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99X3-3NWQ?cc=2185145&wc=3XZ4-ZNR%3A1056306501%2C1056594601 : 22 December 2014), (M1490) Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 > Roll 969, 1919 Oct, certificate no 133876-134249 > image 328 of 894; citing NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)

Year: 1910; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1108; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1375121. Accessed at Ancestry.com 30 Sept 2020.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii Territory; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0134; FHL microfilm: 2342369. Accessed at Ancestry.com 30 Sept 2020.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: James Bryan Cook And Ollie Reed Cook of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

James Bryan Cook and Ollie Mae Reed
This photo may have been taken on their wedding day Jan. 26, 1913.

James Bryan Cook

James Bryan Cook

James Bryan Cook plays a key role in my search for Bryan family documents. He was a great-grandson of my great-great-grandfather, Reddick Bryan of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. As seen in a 1938 letter written by his mother, James had possession of old family letters - some which were given to William Trott and later published in the Wimberly Family History. 

In 1950, he was in the possession of Reddick Bryan's family bible published in 1824. A transcript of this bible was found at the DAR library in Washington, D. C. and James Bryan Cook was listed as the owner at the time of the transcription. 

I have been looking for the old letters (said to be in a scrapbook) and Reddick Bryan's bible for years. It would be nice to see the original documents.  Please contact me if you know where I might find them. 

James Bryan Cook was the fifth child of Joseph W. Cook and Joseph "Josie" Sarah Catherine Bryan. He was born on August 4, 1885, in Bienville Parish. I assume he was named after his mother's adoptive father, James Bryan. 

He married Ollie Reed on January 26, 1913. Ollie, the daughter of Charles Eason Reed and Ella Norah Beck, was born on July 12, 1889.

James and Ollie were the parents of four children - James Bryan Jr, Karl Franklin, Nora Kathleen, and Lula Mae. 

I have seen James referred to as Jim and Jimmie and his occupation written as farmer, carpenter, and trucking. 

I have seen Ollie Reed Cook's name written as Orlean on trees at Ancestry.com.  In Joseph Bryan's family bible, her name is written as Ollye Mae Reed. Ollie's father was a Baptist minister and according to the Wimberly History, she remained a Baptist while James Cook remained a Methodist.

Obituaries for James and Ollie are below. They are buried in the Wimberly Cemetery in Bienville Parish. 

Found at Newspapers.com

Notice Mrs. O. R. Cook was "corrected"
to Mrs. J. B. Cook

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2017 

Sources 

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print.