On this Labor Day, it is fitting to mention one of the most important labors in our country- that of protecting our country via service in the military. Whether it was in the local militia to protect a town, the National Guard protecting our cities and states, or our national Army/Navy/Air Force/Marines, the men and women who serve protect our valuable freedoms 24/7/365. We do not have the words in our language- or any language!- to thank them enough for their sacrifice.
Charles Francis Underwood was one of those who left home to fight in World War I. He was the son of Joseph Abner Underwood (1847-1930) and Elizabeth Adeline (Rickman) Underwood (1855-1936), and probably born in Crooked Creek, Bollinger, Missouri. We told a bit about the Charles and the family in an earlier post, “Sibling Saturday: The Underwood Family in 1904.”
Charles registered for the draft, as required, at age 29 on 5 June 1917.
5 June 1917 draft registration of Charles F.M. Underwood, front of card. (Click to enlarge.)
(Love that he used “Charley” instead of “Charles” as part of his very long name.)
5 June 1917 draft registration of Charles F.M. Underwood, reverse of card. (Click to enlarge.)
Charley was 6’1″ tall, medium build, and had gray eyes and dark hair. Despite him working as a farmer, which he probably also did as a child, and a “gigman” in a lead mine- both dangerous occupations- he listed no disabilities. He was unmarried.
Charley went back to work on his farm after registering for the draft, but he and his family likely paid close attention to the news of how World War I was proceeding. Just a week or so after Charley’s 30th birthday, his life changed forever.
Charley was not in the first groups of men drafted, as he was a bit older, but he did receive the following notice dated 20 May 1918.
1918- Order of Induction – Charles Francis Underwood. (Click to enlarge.)
Charley was to report just one week later, at 3pm on 27 May 1918, to the Marble Hill Missouri Draft Board for induction into the United States Army. He was going off to fight in “the present emergency,” or World War I.
We have been unable to determine if Charley ever made it overseas. He may not have, as he contracted the terrible Spanish influenza which killed more of our soldiers and young people around the world than the war itself. Boot camps and training areas would allow fast spread of the very contagious disease. If Charley had contracted it overseas, he would likely have died there, it seems, rather than be transported to Sault Sainte Marie, Chippewa, Michigan, where he died of the flu on 22 October 1918. (More research needed here.)
So thank you, Charley, and all the other family members who have served our country and protected our freedoms, and especially those who lost their lives in its defense. (Thank you to those who are not family members, too!) On this Labor Day we honor your work and your sacrifice, as we should every other day that we are privileged to live in this great country.
A true description of a “gigman” in a mine has been challenging to find, but they often were at the ‘pithead’ or near the main mining section, and apparently had some authority and responsibility for safety as well as probably making sure the work was proceeding properly.
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The family of Joseph Abner Underwood (AKA Joab Underwood) and Elizabeth Adline Rickman Underwood posed in 1904 for a family portrait. The young family had worked hard on a farm in Madison County, Missouri, for many years, and their children grew and provided grandchildren for them to enjoy in their later years. They do look proud to have such a fine family!
In the photo:
Standing in back-
Zach Leander Underwood, William Franklin Underwood, Nellie Bethel Goodson Underwood holding Ethel Underwood, Charles Francis Underwood, John Henry Underwood.
Sitting in front:
Joseph Abner (Joab) Underwood, Elizabeth Adeline Rickman Underwood, James Emroe Underwood holding his son John Dallas Franklin, and his wife Lola Ann Dameron Underwood holding their daughter Lovia Marie Underwood.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait- Joab and Elizabeth Underwood-cropped from original.
Joseph Abner Underwood was born in Missouri on 23 November 1847 to Abner and Joanna Underwood. We don’t know much about his early years, but he was too young to have served in the Confederate Army- just 14 in 1861, though boys did go fight at that age. The first we can find of him in records is in 1870, when he was working for a farmer in Lorance, Bollinger County, Missouri, at age 23, along with a number of other farm workers.
Joab, as he was called, married Elizabeth Adline Rickman on 13 February 1876 in Madison County, Missouri. They had seven children:
1904 Underwood Family Portrait-James Emroe Underwood holding their son Dallas Franklin Underwood and his wife Lola Ann Dameron Underwood holding their daughter Lovia Marie Underwood-cropped from original.
James Emroe Underwood, born 13 Feb 1877 in Madison County, Missouri, grew up farming with his father. James married Lola Ann Damero on 28 Oct 1900 in Bollinger, Missouri. He was working as a farmer in 1910, and his two brothers, Zach Underwood and Charles Underwood, lived with James’ family as well. James was tall, medium build, with gray eyes and light hair per his WWI Draft Registration. He listed “Labor, Lead Mill” as his occupation and he worked for the Federal Land Company in 1917, and later through his life into the 1930s. (Madison and Bollinger Counties in Missouri are in what is known as “The Lead Belt”- an area rich in lead mines.) By 1940, he was again working as a farmer. In the family portrait above, James was holding their second child, John Dallas Underwood, and his wife Lola Ann was holding their first child, Lovie Marie Underwood. There were four more children born to James and Lola: Grace Nancy Adeline Underwood in 1905, a son in 1907 who died that same year, son Dale Underwood born 1909, and Myra Iona Underwood, born 1916. James died on 20 November 1954 in Madison County, Missouri, and Lola died 09 Jul 1967.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait-William Franklin Underwood and Nellie Bethel Goodson Underwood with their daughter Ethel Emily Adline Underwood-cropped from original.
Missouri was the birthplace of William Franklin Underwood, likely in Madison County, on 19 Dec 1879. He likely grew up farming with his father as well, and in 1880 was boarding with his maternal uncle, John H. Rickman’s family. Age 21, he was working as a farm laborer. Three years later, he married Nellie Bethel Goodson on 01 Mar 1903 in Bollinger, Missouri. Little Ethel Emily Adline Underwood, the first of six children, was born to them exactly one year later, on 01 Mar 1904. William Franklin was a farmer, and we will have more on this family in upcoming posts.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait-John Henry Underwood-cropped from original.
John Henry Underwood was born 08 Jun 1881 in Missouri. He was in Crooked Creek, Bollinger, Missouri in 1900, and married Ethel Whitener 23 Aug 1908 in Bollinger. He was a farmer and living with his wife and year-old baby, Arnold Othel Underwood, in 1910. By his 12 Sep 1918 WWI Draft Registration, he had moved to Montrose, Colorado and worked as a farm laborer; by 1920 he was listed as a laborer on a stock (cattle) truck. The family moved back east before the 1930 US Federal Census on 15 Apr 1930- possibly to help his father on the farm if he was ill, or to take over the farm after Joab Underwood’s death on 21 Jan 1930. John Henry’s mother was enumerated on the line before John Henry in the 1930 census, so they likely lived close to each other. John Henry died 08 Jun 1953, and Ethel died 04 Nov 1983 at age 93.
Little Cornelius Underwood was not available for this family portrait- born in September 1884, he sadly died within the month.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait-Zach Leander Underwood-cropped from original.
Zach Leander Underwood was born 14 Apr 1886 in Missouri, the fifth child of Joab and Elizabeth Underwood. He was living in Crooked Creek, Bollinger, Missouri in 1900 at age 14; 10 years later he was working as a fireman in a lead mine. He married Nellie Jane McLeod in St. Francois, Missouri on 27 Jun 1915. They had four children: Lester Underwood (1916-1922), Lloyd Dale Underwood (1919-1999), Wilma Kathleen Underwood (1923-2011), and a fourth child who may still be living so we will not list his name or birthdate. Zach died 10 December 1960 in Missouri, and Nellie survived him, with her death occurring on 17 May 1983, also in Missouri.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait-Charles Francis Marion Underwood-cropped from original.
Charles Francis Marion Underwood was probably named in honor of his mother’s brother, Francis Marion Rickman (1853-1929), who would have been named for Francis Marion, AKA “The Swamp Fox,” a Revolutionary War hero who was one of the first to use guerrilla tactics against the British in South Carolina. (Marion was very successful at fighting the British, even after the Patriots moved out of SC and he had no additional support troops.) Charles was born on 19 May 1888 in Missouri. In 1910, Charley was living with his brother James’ family and his brother Zach; all three brothers worked in the lead mill, with Charley being a “Gigman.”
Charles Frances Marion Underwood, circa 1917?
Charley was working as a farmer on his own account when he registered for the WWI draft on 05 Jun 1917. He apparently enlisted, as he died in the Spanish Influenza Epidemic as a young soldier on 22 Oct 1918, but we have been unable to find more information about his service. He was in Sault Sainte Marie, Chippewa, Michigan when he died, probably in a military hospital.
The last child of Joab and Elizabeth Underwood was also not able to be in the portrait. Artey M. Underwood, born 24 Sep 1892, died at just 16 months on 10 Jan 1894.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Ethel Underwood Whitener Family Treasure Chest of Photos.
2) Way too many censuses, memorials on Find A Grave, etc. were used in this research to list here. Let us know if you need any specific sources.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
Elizabeth Adline Rickman was the eighth of nine children born to James Emery Rickman (1824-1885) and Elizabeth Whitner (1824-1899). She was born on 10 Sep 1855 in Madison County, Missouri.
Elizabeth grew up on the family farm, likely helping with the cooking and cleaning, laundry and sewing. She would have had the typical daily chores of a young woman on a farm: feeding chickens, perhaps milking as she got older, slopping the hogs with the leftovers from meals, etc. She would have worked in the vegetable garden and gathered fruit from the family’s apple, peach, cherry, and other trees. (Most probably- we don’t know exactly which trees they might have had, but most farms had at least these three for pies- yumm.) Wild blackberries and raspberries, strawberries and other fruits would have grown nearby if they hadn’t been planted near the home, and she would have gathered these delicate fruits and helped baked them into pies and cobblers for the hungry farm workers. The 1850 US Federal Census (taken before she was born) indicated that her father owned $500 in real estate. That is a middle-of-the-road value for farms listed on the same census page, so they were not poor, but it was occasionally a tough existence to make ends meet with the vagaries of farming- good one year, rough the next. Elizabeth’s father was good at his trade though- by the 1860 census, when Elizabeth was just 5, her father had amassed $2,000 in real estate and $1,000 in personal value, so he was growing the farm and their income so that they could live comfortably.
The Civil War touched southeast Missouri significantly- most residents sympathized with the South but skirmishes and battles were fought on their lands. As the troops of either side passed through, food, livestock, supplies, and even family heirlooms were taken from the locals. Aged 6 at the start of the war, Elizabeth would not have had the freedom to play as she had before- she probably needed to stay close to home to be safe. Her father enlisted in the Confederate 1st Regiment, Missouri Cavalry State Guard (1st Division), Company C to help keep family and neighbors safe. We have been unable to find details of his service, although he may have also served in the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. Her brothers were a bit young to fight, though the older siblings may have participated, and likely were charged with protecting the family while their father was away on business or at war. Food shortages would have often been a problem, so the family worked hard but may not have been able to enjoy the fruits of their labors during the hard years of the Civil War.
Elizabeth was 6 when her younger sister Susannah Ellen Underwood was born in 1861, so she likely took care of her throughout the day so their mother could accomplish all her home and farm tasks.
1904 Underwood Family Portrait- Joab Underwood-cropped from the original family portrait. (Click to enlarge.)
At age 20, on 13 Feb 1876, Elizabeth married Joseph Abner Underwood (1847-1930). Joab, as he was called, was a farmer like Elizabeth’s father, so she moved from her father’s farm to her own in Crooked Creek, Bollinger, Missouri. Elizabeth birthed 7 children-all sons- beginning in 1877 (tomorrow’s post will have details) but two died as infants. Infant Cornelius Underwood lived less than a month in September of 1884. Their last child, little Artey M. Underwood, born when Elizabeth was 37, lived less than 16 months, dying 10 January 1894. How terrible to lose a child! And to have to lay him to rest in the cold hard ground of a Missouri winter…
1904 Underwood Family Portrait- Elizabeth Underwood-cropped from the original family portrait. (Click to enlarge.)
Elizabeth and Joab still had three sons living with them in the 1900 US Federal Census, but by 1910, it was just the two of them living on the farm again. They were together there in 1920, too.
Charles Frances Marion Underwood, circa 1917?
Another war took another toll on the family. Son Charles Francis Marion Underwood was living on his own in June of 1917, farming for himself, when he registered for the draft for World War I. He apparently enlisted and went off to training and possibly Europe- we have not found his service record. He sadly was one of the victims of the Spanish Influenza Epidemic that decimated the population of young people around the world in their prime. Charley died 22 Oct 1918 in Sault Sainte Marie, Chippewa, Michigan, likely in a military hospital. He was brought home to be buried in Trace Creek Cemetery.
Joab’s death began the year of 1930 (he died 21 Jan 1930), thus Elizabeth was enumerated in the 1930 census as a widow. Her son John Henry Underwood and his family had returned to the area after living in Colorado, so perhaps he had come back to help on the farm- his family was enumerated right after Elizabeth.
Grandma Underwood- Elizabeth Adeline Rickman Underwood, August, 1935. (Click to enlarge.)
Elizabeth survived her husband by almost 6 years, dying 02 Jan 1936 in Crooked Creek, Bollinger, Missouri.
Elizabeth Adline Rickman Underwood- Headstone in Trace Creek Cemetery, Glenallen, Bollinger, Missouri- closeup.
She is buried in Old Trace Creek Cemetery, Glenallen, Bollinger, Missouri, alongside her husband of almost 54 years. All their sons are buried there as well.
Elizabeth Adline Rickman and Joseph Abner Underwood- Headstone in Trace Creek Cemetery, Glenallen, Bollinger, Missouri.
“Those Places Thursday: The Farm of James E. Rickman in Madison County, Missouri” at http://heritageramblings.net/2015/05/28/those-places-thursday-the-farm-of-james-e-rickman-in-madison-county-missouri/
4) Way too many censuses, memorials on Find A Grave, etc. were used in this research to list here. Let us know if you need any specific sources.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
