143 Years Ago Today…

On May 11, 1868, Sebastian Walby and Mary Regina Meyer were married at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio. 

While living in Riley Township on his parents’ farm, Sebastian met his wife, Mary Regina Meyer.  Also known as Jane, she was the daughter of Jacob Meyer and Mary Jane (Ziegler) Meyer, who were born in Alsace, Germany.  In 1896, the Meyer family is noted in a local collection of biographies  with the following:

Jacob Meyer came with his wife to American in 1838 and located in Seneca county, Ohio.  In 1849 with money he had saved during a period of ten years in this country, he bought a farm of 80 acres in Riley township. In 1889 they removed to Fremont, Sandusky country, and are now living there retired after a life of diligence and self-denying industry, both at seventy five years of age…[daughter] Jane married Sebastian Wallby, and they live in Millersville, Ohio.¹

As newlyweds, Sebastian Walby was age 26 and Mary Jane Meyer was a mere 17 years old. Nevertheless, Jane was Sebastian’s contemporary – being just nine years younger.   Children were quick to follow.  Their first child, Josephine Mary, was born almost exactly one year following the marriage on May 18, 1869 — a wedding anniversary and Mother’s Day gift all in one.  

Mary Jane continue to birth children from age 18 to age 46.  A total of sixteen children were born to this marriage, two of which died as unnamed infants.  The remaining fourteen reached adulthood and eventually, split off into three groups – becoming the Ohio, Michigan and Canadian Walbys.

The 1900 U.S. Census shows Sebastian as a “farmer” and landowner with wife (Mary J) and 11 children living at home.  Note that the farmhouse, as shown in the only surviving family photo above, very likely faced Greensburg Road in Section 9 of Jackson Township.  This would have placed the home just east of downtown Millersville and in walking distance to St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.

1    Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, – containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families; J. H. Beers; 1896, page768, 769 from http://www.archive.org/stream/commemorativebio00jhbeers#page/n5/mode/2up

Mother’s Day Tribute

President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official U.S. holiday in 1914.  An advertisement in The Washington Post dated May 10, 1914 offers advice for recognizing “the good woman in your life.”  A local florist suggested people wear “White Flowers for Mother’s Memory” and “Bright Flowers for Mother’s Living.” Soon after came the greeting cards, and the rest is history. 

Sebastian’s wife, Mary Jane Walby, birthed 16 children.  She very likely received loads of flowers and a mailbox full of cards on Mother’s Day.  At the very least, her extended family gathered at the farmstead for Sunday dinner after church in Millersville, Ohio.  (Sound familiar?)  So, as we all honor our mothers today.  Let’s also remember the woman who began the “Sebastian Walby Clan.” 

Here are some of her life details from the obituary run in the Fremont Messenger on December 7, 1935.

AGED RESIDENT OF RILEY TWP. DIED SATURDAY
Mrs. Mary Walby Was Born There 85 Years Ago; Rites Monday

Mrs. Mary Walby, 85, native of Riley township, and pioneer resident of Sandusky county, passed away Saturday morning at 1:30 o’clock at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Miller, of near Millersville.  Death was due to old age and complications.

The body was removed to the Ochs Brothers Funeral home and will be taken to the home of a son, G.P. Miller, two miles east of Helena on Federal Highway No. 6, Saturday afternoon.

Funeral services will be held Monday morning at 9:30 o’clock in St. Mary’s church, Millersville, with the pastor Rev. Father Francis Hermiller conducting the services.  Burial will be in St. Mary’s Catholic cemetery in Millersville.

Mary Regina Meyer Walby was born September 7, 1850, one of five children of Jacob and Regina Meyer in Riley township.  She was united in marriage to Sebastian Walby, on May 12, 1868 in the old St. Joseph’s church, by the Rev. Bauer, D.D. The couple made their residence for a time in Riley township, later moving to Millersville, where they were members of St. Mary’[s parish.  Her husband preceded Mrs. Walby in death on November 9, 1907.

Fourteen children were born to this union, only one of whom died before their mother, Miss Elizabeth Walby, died September 20, 1931.  Those surviving are Mrs. Hubert Miller, F. A. Walby, A. J. Walby, Mrs. G. P. Miller, and E. A. Walby all of Helena, Louis and Joseph Walby of Watson, Conn., and R. N. Walby, Mrs. B. F. Logsdon, Peter, George,  Aloys and Rudolph Walby, all of Detroit, Michigan.

She also leaves 65 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren.  One of five children, Mrs. Walby was the only remaining member of her family.

She was an active member of St. Mary’s church, and of the Altar Society of the parish.  She was widely known among a wide circle of relatives and friends in Millersville, and the neighboring communities.

Civil War Disability Exemptions

During the late summer of 1862, Sandusky County, Ohio physician James W. Wilson was appointed examining surgeon of Sandusky County’s enrolled militia. Between August 15th and September 22nd, Wilson examined over 1,100 Sandusky County residents for exemption from military duty in the Civil War.

Excluded from examination were aliens, mail carriers, ministers, males over the age of forty-five and under the age of eighteen, and those already recruited by volunteer regiments. All others were examined by Wilson for physical disabilities that prevented active military duty.

Early in the process, Wilson reported to the governor that he anticipated forty per cent would receive exemptions due to physical disabilities. All told, Wilson granted disability certificates to just over fifty per cent of those examined.

The state of Ohio paid Dr. Wilson $84.00 for his services. During October, Wilson examined an additional forty-eight men who agreed to serve as substitutes for drafted Sandusky Countians.

Here are some of the exemptions in Sebastian Walby’s family tree:

GROFF, BENEDICT
DISABILITY CLAIM: ALIEN DISABILITY
CERTIFICATE: GRANTED
TOWNSHIP: BALLVILLE
REMARKS: AFFIDAVIT
RELATIONSHIP: Philip Joseph Walby’s maternal great-grandfather

WILHELM, JOSEPH
DISABILITY CLAIM: IDIOTIC DISABILITY
CERTIFICATE: GRANTED
TOWNSHIP: JACKSON
REMARKS: FERGUSON & STILWELL
RELATIONSHIP: Philip Joseph Walby’s great grand uncle

MILLER, PETER
DISABILITY CLAIM: SHORT-WINDED
DISABILITY CERTIFICATE: NOT GRANTED
TOWNSHIP: JACKSON
REMARKS: NONE
LINE: Josephine Mary Walby Miller’s father-in-law

BABIONE, SAMUEL
DISABILITY CLAIM: FRACTURED PATELLA
DISABILITY CERTIFICATE: GRANTED
TOWNSHIP: BALLVILLE
REMARKS: NONE
LINE: Josephine Mary Walby Miller’s distant in-law

To view the entire list, visit http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/civilwar/display.asp?id=313&subj=civilwar.

Civil War Service – Sebastian & Joseph Walby

The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 — 150 years ago today. 

The war lasted from 1861 to 1865 – with the demand for Union soldiers at a peak during 1863.  Sebastian Walby was 21 years of age in 1863 and could have enlisted voluntarily, but he did not do so.  Neither did his brother, Joseph Walbe, then in his early thirties.  (There is no record of a Wallpe, Walby or Walbe enlisted in the infantry from Sandusky County.)  So, how did the two remaining Walby brothers avoid military service?

The Civil War began with volunteers and the use of state militias.  But, very quickly, more troops were needed than those that enlisted.  In the North, where the supply of men was greater, the draft was delayed a little longer [than the South], but by March 1863, it was necessary to institute the “Draft.” The Northern conscription system was as bad as that of the South.  The law said a man who was drafted could stay out of the army by doing one of two things. He could pay the government three hundred dollars. Or he could pay another man to serve in his place. If a drafted man could not do either thing, then he must join the army or be shot as a deserter. The ages of conscriptees was set at 20 to 45.

By 1863, America’s northern states and southern states had been fighting a bitter civil war for two years.  Both sides felt the pressure of the costly struggle.  The South was beginning to suffer from a lack of supplies and men for its armies. The North was beginning to suffer from a lack of fighting spirit.

Many Americans in northern states did not support the war policies of Union President Abraham Lincoln. Some said openly that they did not care who won the war. They just wanted to be left alone.  Coal miners in Pennsylvania protested against a law drafting men into the Union army. They rioted and attacked officials who tried to take them. Soldiers were sent to Pennsylvania to put down the riots.  Farmers in Ohio also protested. They refused to be drafted. They attacked soldiers who were sent to arrest them.¹⁰

We’ll never know whether the Walby brothers agreed with the politics of war, or sympathized with the protesters.  Regardless, these two young men had to register with the Draft.  It could have ended there; Sebastian and Joseph might have avoided conscription by “luck-of-the-draw.”  But their father Anton Wallpe refused to take the risk.  When the Provost Marshal, J. J. Steiner identified eligible conscripts in Washington Township, both Joseph and Sebastian were present on July 19, 1863 and their names do appear in the Draft Registration.  In the far right column next to each name appears the notation:  “Discharged from Draft, cash [paid in] full.”  For $300 each – likely paid by Anton — both brothers were exempted.  

Ultimately, when the Civil War ended in April 1865, Sebastian was 23 years old and very involved on the Riley farm, and Joseph was already married with two young daughters on his own homestead.  Both brothers had legally watched the Civil War from the sidelines.

Mystery: Where did Michael Walby Go?

By the 1860 U.S. census, almost exactly eight years after arrival, Anton Wallpe owned a sizable tract in Washington Township, Sandusky County.   The value of his real estate was recorded as $12,000 – significantly greater than the average homesteader.   Living with Anton and Anna Maria in 1860 are three children:   Joseph, a mason (age 28); Sebastian, a farmhand (age 18); and, Apollonia, at school (age 15).

Conspicuously absent on the 1860 U.S. Census is their son John Michael Wallpe (aka Michael Walby).  So, where did he go?  The 1857 Minnesota State Census finds Michael working as a mason in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Two years later on July 22, 1859, Michael Walby enlists in the Regular Union Army at Fort Ripley.  The Enlistment registry describes him as 24-year-old mason born in Urspringen, Germany with blue eyes, light brown hair, fair skin and 5 foot 11 1/2 inches tall.   

He is assigned to the U.S. Cavalry, 2^nd Regiment, Company K which would have defended Midwest forts from Sioux raids and skirmishes.  His commitment was five years.  After serving just over two months as a private, the official records state Michael “deserts on October 2, 1859.”  The circumstances of the desertion are unknown.

As a deserter, Michael would have hidden his identity to avoid imprisonment or even worse, execution.  Michael was not alone with this plight. According to Historian Christopher Hamner:  “While it is impossible to know with certainty how many soldiers deserted over the course of the conflict, Northern generals reckoned during the war that at least one soldier in five was absent from his regiment; at war’s end, the Union Provost Marshal General estimated that nearly a quarter of a million (250,000) men had been absent from their units sometime during the war.”

In Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800, Hammer goes on to say:  “Officially, desertion constituted a capital offense and was punishable by death. But because of the numbers of soldiers involved, it proved practically as well as politically impossible to execute every deserter who was captured…Abraham Lincoln himself noted, people would not stand to see Americans shot by the dozens and twenties. Both armies employed other punishments (branding captured soldiers with a “D” on the hip, was common, for example) rather than execute every deserter they recovered.”

Michael Walby was actually given several chances to rejoin the Union Army and participate in the Civil War. According to Allan L. Damon in his article titled Amnesty:  “There were two conditional general pardons for deserters. The first, proclaimed on March 11, 1865, granted full pardon to all deserters who returned to their units within sixty days and served a period equal to the original term of enlistment. Johnson offered a conditional pardon on July 3, 1866 to deserters who returned to their units by August 15, 1866. Such men would escape punishment but would have to forfeit their pay.”  But, there is no evidence of additional service by Michael. 

Even after the war ended, there was no universal amnesty.  In time, the majority of Union military deserters and draft evaders secured a pardon through individual petition to the President.  Those who did not seek a pardon tended to “live quietly” in the Western and Plains territories under assumed names and/or with little contact with family members “back East.”

There is no bonafide historical record of Michael Walby after the date of his desertion.  On the other hand, Michael is presumably still alive in 1867 when Anton Wallpe includes him in his last will and testament.  Similarly, Michael is also named as a living beneficiary in his mother Anna Maira Riedmann Wallpe’s will during 1881.  The only other clue indicating survival is 200 acres labeled “M Walby” on a 1914 County Land Ownership Map.  This territorial document implies Michael Walby — Sebastian’s brother — lived to at least age 79 in Faxon Township, Sibley County, Minnesota.  Unfortunately, there is no secondary source to confirm this landowner is “our” Michael Walby.

If you are descended from Michael Walby, or know more information about this stonemason / landowner born in Germany during 1835, please comment here or contact marywalby@yahoo.com.  We would love to know more of Sebastian’s brother.

German Xmas Ornaments

Every year, up goes the Christmas tree and out comes the box of ornaments.  My son, Michael Walby, has seen the same decorations throughout his 20 years of life – white miniature lights, gold ribbon and glittery pinecones along with red, green and gold balls on a Fraser Fir.  Mom’s “designer tree” has stayed pretty much the same from 1990 to 2010.

But, things were much different for Sebastian Walby in the early 1800s.  As a child growing up in Bavaria, Germany, the traditional Christmas tree was decorated with “fruit (particularly apples) and nuts. These, along with the evergreen trees themselves, represented the certainty that life would return in the spring.” Sometimes these decorations were eaten by the children of the family; sometimes they were saved to be shared with birds and squirrels after the celebration was over.

By the 1820s, other fruits began to be added along with “paper streamers and bits of shiny metal foil.” (Candlelit Christmas trees were thought to be an integral part of the Protestant celebration of Christmas and thus were considerably less popular in Catholic homes and churches.) Another concept, too, began to take hold with the German families in whose homes the first “popular” trees resided.  Food, often gingerbread or other hard cookies, would be baked in the shape of fruits, stars, hearts, angels and bells.”

Up to the mid 1800s, trees had been decorated with “the creative efforts of the loving hands of family and friends. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, tradesmen in Lauscha, Germany produced “molded glass ornaments. Initially replicating fruits, nuts and other food items, they soon branched out and began to manufacture hearts, stars and other shapes that had been created out of cookies. Soon the glass blowers of Lauscha were creating molds of children, saints, famous people and animals.”

As their fellow craftsmen were blowing glass, artisans in Dresden, Germany were making ornaments out of pressed and embossed paper. Often highlighted with bright, even garish, colors, these ornaments were not just Christmas-themed but included fish, birds and other animals that were also suitable for other occasions such as birthday parties.

Other ornaments from the turn of the century were made of pressed tin with brightly colored lithographed surfaces. This was the time, too, when the thin foil strips we know as “icicles” or tinsel made their appearance. To their German creators they were known as “angels’ hair” that had been caught in its branches.

In the United States, immigrants from Germany introduced the idea of the Christmas tree as an integral part of their holiday festivities.  Adoption in this country was extensive.  The first Christmas tree to appear in the White House was erected in 1856 by President Franklin Pierce.

One of the first American mass merchandisers, F.W.Woolworth, began importing German glass ornaments into this country in the 1880s and by 1890, according to one source, he was selling $25 million worth of them.  As a wealthy Ohio farmer, there’s little doubt that Sebastian Walby purchased some number of these glass ornaments to awe his 14 children.

Major source:  http://www.ornamentshop.com/history_story/part2.asp

St Nick’s Day in Bavaria

Sebastian Walby spent the first 11 years of his life on a farm outside the town of Urspringen in Bavaria.  His childhood Christmas memories were uniquely German and included celebration of St. Nick’s Day.  Like many other children, Sebastian would have put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of 5 December. The tradition holds “St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful [during] the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (Rute) in their boots instead.”¹

For “bad” children, Nikolaus elicited fear, as he was accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht (Servant Rupert), also known as Krampus in Bavaria. This disciplinarian would threaten to beat the children for misbehavior. In Switzerland, where he is called Schmutzli, he threatens to put badly behaved children in a sack and take them away to the dark Swabian forest. In other accounts he throws the sack into the river, drowning the naughty children. German parents used this dark-side of the myth to ‘bring up cheek children’ and improve behavior. In truth, any kind of punishment didn’t really occur, and the story simply became a holiday legend.

Today, St Nick’s Day is still celebrated throughout Europe. We can get a peek at Sebastian’s childhood by visiting the snowy hills of southern Germany. Braving fog and snow to visit Bavarian farms in December 2010, a man in St. Nicholas garb leads devilish companions: revelers dressed as Krampus—the mythical Alpine mischief-maker—toting gift baskets and birch switches. The amazing National Geographic photographer Carsten Peters had the good fortune to encounter Nikolaus (as he is known in German) and Krampus in Bavaria, which resulted in this wonderful image.² Click to enlarge. 

1 Saint Nicholas at www.wikipedia.com

2 Saint Nikolaus and Krampus at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions-of-earth/visions-earth-2010

Thanksgiving of 1880s

It’s the 1621 Plymouth Thanksgiving dinner that’s linked to the birth of our modern holiday.  But, much of what we consider traditional Thanksgiving fare was unknown at the first Thanksgiving at “Plimoth Rock.”  White potatoes and sweet potatoes hadn’t yet become staples of the English diet, for example.  And, cranberry sauce requires sugar—an expensive delicacy in the 1600s.  Likewise, pumpkin pie went missing due to a lack of crust ingredients. 

We do know that the Wampanoag Indians killed five deer for the feast, and that the colonists shot wild fowl—which may have been geese, ducks, or turkey.  The feasters likely supplemented their venison and birds with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, and wheat flour, as well as vegetables such as pumpkin, squash, carrots, and peas.  This variety continued to grace tables in the late 1800s – and, except for the seafood, was certainly part of Sebastian Walby’s tradition.

The first “real” Thanksgiving happened more than two centuries after Plymouth.  It has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.  This event inspired New England artist George H Durrie to paint “Home to Thanksgiving.” This scene was popularized when the firm Currier & Ives published a lithograph.  The work depicts a young man, having returned home by sled, being greeted by his family on the front porch of their home. It has become one of Durrie’s most iconic images.

Lithographs of this and other farm scenes sold for a dollar and a half to three dollars.  “Home to Thanksgiving” was one of the biggest sellers.  Sebastian Walby, like so many other immigrants who had started life on a farm, could see in one of Durie’s paintings the reflection of his own boyhood in the “mellow light of memory.”  Chances are, Sebastian and his wife Mary Jane purchased this print for their parlor.  Notice how the farmhouse porch resembles the Walby family photo.  The barn and equipment in the shed are reminiscent of Sebastian’s inventory, too. 

Olivia Walby: Child Star

Olivia Walby has truly been bitten by the acting bug. She loved every one of her 15 days of filming during the making of the independent film, “Annabelle & Bear”, all at the age of two. It is a heart-wrenching, tender and dramatic feature film that continues to make quite a splash on the film festival circuit. Olivia, now age four, thoroughly enjoys appearing at the film festivals to promote “Annabelle & Bear” on stage and in the crowds, as well as participating in her other acting projects. It’s been said that Olivia’s first performance may be the youngest debut of its kind for an actor in the history of film! Audiences are wowed and bewildered that a two year old is actually acting on screen…distressed, sleeping, joyful, sick, curious and loving… and she displayed a most natural chemistry between herself and her gruff, bearded, co-star, actor Curt Massof.

Copy and paste this web address in your browser to view the full trailer:
http://www.moviestrailer.org/annabelle-bear-movie-trailer.html

Currently, she is nominated for “Best Actress” in The Best of Chicago’s Midwest Independent Film Festival to be determined December 2010. In October of this year, Olivia was selected from 27 different films to receive a “Best Actress” award from the Blue Water Film Festival and she also received the “Special Recognition Award for Her Outstanding Performance” from the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival in Chicago in July 2010.

Most recently, Olivia completed a very different type of part in the role of “Baby Goody” in Amy Heckerling’s romantic comedy “Vamps” starring Sigourney Weaver, Krysten Ritter, & Alicia Silverstone. The film, produced by Ben Stiller’s production company, Red Hour, and in association of Lucky Monkey Pictures is due out in 2011.

In a near miss, Olivia had to pass on an opportunity to work on the compelling ABC network police drama, “Detroit 187”. Although she was offered the role to play a mysterious two year old found at a crime scene, a film scheduling conflict prevented her from fulfilling her first television role. Olivia is looking forward to “doing another scene” and bringing to her next project her agreeable temperament, stamina and natural production sensibility.

Olivia is the daughter of Karl and Patty (Larin) Walby from the metro-Detroit area.  She is a “Michigan Walby” related to Sebastian with the following lineage:  Olivia Walby, Karl Walby (father), Donald Walby (grandfather), Aloysius Walby (great grandfather), Sebastian Walby (great2 grandfather).

Clem Walby’s Traffic Accident

In June 2010, Mary Walby and Terry Dudley were connected by www.ancestry.com .  Both had been independently working on family genealogy — only to find each other were distant cousins through the Niesets.  Terry related the following story about Clemens Walby:

“Oddly, many years ago, I believe that it was in the spring of 1958, I was an 8th grader at St. Ann’s Catholic School in Fremont, Ohio.  We went on a class outing to Findlay, Ohio just before we graduated.  On the way home we had a terrible accident on the bypass at the intersection of State Route 12, near the airport. 

The driver of the other vehicle was Clem Walby.  I remember trying to pull him from his pickup truck which was smoking and on fire.  I remember telling my father and grandfather about this, and they said that he was a distant relative.  I believe that he sustained quite a few injuries but I never saw or heard of him again.  Most of us in the car were banged up with some broken bones.  Did you know about this story?  Anyways, whenever I hear of the Walby name I always think of this unfortunate accident.”

It appears “Clem” is Clemens G. Walby (1914-2004).  He is the youngest son of Andrew Jacob Walby and Catherine Nieset — Sebastian Walby’s grandson.  That would certainly make him cousin to Terry Dudley, too.  Clem would have been approximately age 44 when this accident occurred.  Since Clem lived to age 90, apparently he recovered fairly well from the 1958 traffic accident. 

Many thanks to Terry Dudley for this interesting story.  If you, too, have a family story to share, send me an email at marywalby@yahoo.com.