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.

Monday's News: WWI and Family Letters

This poster and the two at the bottom of this post are recruiting posters found at the North Carolina Digital Collections and provided courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

A few months ago, I researched the Baylor County Banner, a newspaper in Baylor County Texas, for news of WWI casualties for their local museum. I learned much about The Great War, known today as World War I. 

The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917; joining the Allies (Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan) who were at war with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey).   United States troops in the war were only in actual combat for just over seven months and there were over 50,000 causalities. Half of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, died as a result of the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. 

The information that I found about the WWI casualties is being posted for Memorial Day on the Facebook Group, Baylor County Museum. You may need to join the group to see it. 

Oscar Edward Noah and Mamie Lou Allen Noah Family
Joseph "Joe" Noah is standing on the far left. 

Below are two family letters that were written in Europe during WWI and found in the Baylor County Banner. The letters were sent to Millard Ray Latta from Joseph O. Noah. Both Millard Ray and Joseph were born in Erath County and just prior to the war, they were living in Baylor County where both were teachers.  Millard Ray was my grandfather's niece; the daughter of Hollen Bryan and Alzono "Lon" Latta.  Joseph "Joe" Noah was the son of Oscar Edward Noah, first cousin to my grandmother, Myrtie Hairston Bryan. 

Dear Millard Ray,

          Though I have had no word from you as yet I will write again.  We are now in France and I must say the place is worth seeing.  All is different from the United States. In parts of the country it is very rough and hilly.  Here we see little stone houses surrounded by patches of garden sticking in all positions about the hills.  All the patches are set off by stone walls and are so well kept that the country resembles a big lawn or garden as one might see in a park or home. 

          In other parts of the country was level and great vineyards and orchards are found – though here the patches are small, but close together.

          At present we are billeted in a barn loft above a flock of sheep.  We can look down the stairs and see the sheep gazing up at us.  Our quarters are reached by means of a ladder leading to a window.  Just across a narrow street is a big stone church, and all about us are the homes and shops of the people living in the villages.  All the buildings look alike – shops and residences are under the same roof.  All are of stone or tile and all are covered with some hundred years growth of moss.  In fact moss seems to be part of the French house just as much as paint is in Texas.  One can easily see that the houses are built to last for many generations and become permanent features of the land scape just like the hills.

          French forests are very beautiful the trees being very straight and tall and of types new to me.  Many large bodies of trees are planted in rows as regular as an orchard and the trees are hundred of years old.  Everywhere we see narrow, but finely built gravel roads running through the trees.

          Yesterday was Sunday and I visited an old French Chateau which was built in the 13th century.  There were pictures of nearly all the kings of Europe all hand painted.  There was a wood carving of the beheading of John the Baptist so old that it was worm eaten.  There was an old chapel built in the 13th century but torn down now. 

Inclosed {sic}some leaves from trees in the park about the chateau.  The place is now the home of a French nobleman. 

          We hear now that the war is over about and I hope it is.  I now hope to get back by spring, but can’t be sure.

          I am feeling fine and in good spirits and am getting all I need to eat, but I would be glad to come home at anytime.

          I must close for this time.

                   As ever yours,

                      Joe Noah

P. S. I am at last assigned to a company so you ought to try to get a letter to me. 

                                             Baylor County Banner - November 21, 1918

Millard Ray Latta

                                         

My Dear Friend

          I have not been in the same place long enough to get a letter from anyone since I left the States but I will keep up my end of the line anyway.

          You will note where we are by the character of the paper, etc, about though we are not allowed to state the city where we are stationed.  We traveled all night last night in the smallest R.R. carriage I ever expect to ride in.  We are now in a rest camp, but may move anytime and we will be at our destination, France next.

          Our last month has surely seen some movement. We were at College Station a month ago.  It hardly seems possible that we are so far from home.

          I was very glad to leave the boat.  There is too much of  that ocean to suit me.  The hard soil is a fine substance to walk on and it is where I belong.  I can afford to scratch some of it out of my eyes, as in Baylor, so long as it don’t roll around like the ocean waves.  Also I am now acquainted with  a new scent, a “boaty scent,” I can’t describe it for you, but it is somewhat like spoiled tar.  It makes one happy by it’s absence.

          In spite of a bit of seasickness the last day in the water, I feel fine now, and have no complaint to offer.  We are as well treated as anyone could ask.  However, I find nothing to compare with the U. S.  One food is good and substantial and I like it, but when I get back to old Texas, I will soon forget it, you can bet. 

          War talk here is almost too favorable to take at face value, but I am sure it won’t be long until the thing will clear up.  Maybe I will see you again before you are 23 years old and maybe a lot sooner.  I think it will be no longer at least, - if I am fortunate to get back at all, and I feel sure I will be.

          The country here is very pretty though we can’t see much of it. The houses are all red brick peaks and are all square corners and peaks.   Stores and houses of the best class are right over the sidewalk.  Curious carts, one horse wagons, and bycicles {sic} roll by.  Nothing looks like America. Even the trees seem to be heavy with age and a different kind to ours. 

          We have some time off and I must stir around and wash a lot, also see what I can find. 

          Let me hear from you at earliest possible time, with all news. 

                             As ever yours,

                          Pr’vt. Joseph O. Noah

                             63 Radio Causals

          American Expeditionary Forces

P. S. Find inclosed {sic} sample of English Candy. I paid for two small pieces with two copper coins that were bigger than the candy.  You will understand when you taste as to why I gave it nearly all to an English sailor.  The cigarette wrapper will perhaps help the flavor.       

                                               Baylor County Banner -November 28, 1918 

           Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

               Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn

A Photo: George Amunds

George Amunds - about 1918

On Friday, I posted pictures of my Great-Uncle Charlie who was in the army during WWI and the Navy during WWII.  My brother sent me a link to the Roster of the Rainbow Division and Charlie was listed as being in the 149th Machine Gun Battalion (4th Pa. Infantry) in Company L. Charles W. Giddens was listed on page 62. Many of the men in Uncle Charlie's company were from his hometown of Phillipsburg, New Jersey or nearby Easton, Pennsylvania. 

Well, while looking at the names of men in his company, I noticed a George Amunds on page 61 listed as private from Brooklyn, New York. There is a photo of George Amunds in my grandmother's photo album. It was with the army pictures of Uncle Charlie, but George was not in uniform so I did not make the connection. George was not family, but must have been Uncle Charlie's friend. 

Now that George is posted on my blog, maybe one of his descendants will happily find his picture.  

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn