Ole's Blog

Some days ago, I posted a one-paragraph “digest” of Smith Larson’s career as a US Marine, as assembled by North Dakota Military Men, 1917-1918 . The same day that I found that information, I also found several dozen “muster rolls” containing Smith’s name. These rosters were apparently produced each month by each unit. Most months the report is quite routine, and contains little or no specific information about Smith. Occasionally, though, there is considerable detail, abbreviated in ways not always easy to decipher.

Smith first enlisted on March 27, 1906. Until December 1906, he was stationed at the Navy yard at Mare Island, California. From January 1907 until April 1909, he served aboard the cruiser USS Milwaukee. Except for a couple of cruises in 1907 and 1908, partially documented in Smith’s postcards to Mabel Johnson, the Milwaukee was harbored in reserve status at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. From June 1909 until March 1910, Smith’s station was shown as the Puget Sound shipyard itself. He was discharged March 26, 1910.

Of more interest is Smith’s second enlistment, beginning April 23, 1918. World War One had been ravaging Europe for four years. A bloody trench-war stalemate had dragged on for most of that time along the Western Front, especially in France. Most of the sixteen million total war dead (military and civilian) had already been killed.

The US was only now entering the war, after pursuing a policy of isolation since the beginning. Hundreds of thousands of US Army troops, and a smaller number of Marines, were pouring into France to join an enormous offensive against the Germans’ Hindenburg Line.

In the summer of 1918, Private Larson sailed to Europe as part of the 55th Company, 2nd Batallion, 5th Regiment, to join the American Expeditionary Force. The muster roll for September 1918 is the most detailed of all. It is the “Supplemental Roll, Company ‘G,’ 5th Regiment.”The Battle of Saint Mihiel was the first major operation of the war in which US forces took the lead. It lasted only four days, was partially successful, but the Americans suffered over 7,000 casualties (dead and wounded).  It appears that Private Larson was not wounded, but spent two days “sick in hospital” at the end of this battle, then transferred back to the “Replacement Battalion” (Repl Bn) on September 18.

According to the Ancestry.com index, Smith’s name does not appear on any rolls for the next three months. I think it is likely he returned to combat action in the Battle of the Argonne Forest, the last, longest, and bloodiest engagement for American forces in WW1. The battle lasted from September 26 until the armistice was signed on November 11. US forces lost 15,000 dead and 100,000 wounded. No doubt record-keeping was difficult or impossible in the midst of such chaos, hence the missing reports.

Another interesting and detailed roster is dated July 1919, the month Smith sailed for home. This roster is titled “Addenda Roll, AEF” (American Expeditionary Force).I’m guessing about a lot of these abbreviations, but it appears that the dates have to do with time Smith spent in hospital, and being transferred from one hospital to another. Note that from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24 1918, he had diagnoses of enteritis and bronchitis. Then on the 24th, “tr(ansfer?) to HT.” I don’t know what HT stands for, but let’s assume for a moment that it is at least out of hospital, and possibly back to a combat unit.

The next date, November 5, is near the end of the Argonne Forest offensive, and the diagnosis is “Exhaustion.” Another hint suggesting further combat after Smith’s first period in hospital.

Another roll from the same month (July 1919), shows Smith as part of Marine Guard Company #70. His rank is now Private First Class, and is shown “Trans(ferred?) to Camp Hosp(ital?) #85″ on July 17 (two days before sailing). No diagnosis or other information is given. He was discharged at Quantico, Virginia on August 21, 1919.

That’s all for now. Hopefully, the official military record, when it arrives, will fill in some of the blanks.

From my discoveries last week on the Smith Larson story, let us save his military career for later posts, and first examine his whereabouts at the US censuses of 1910 and 1920. You may recall from the previous post that Smith was discharged from his first (4-year) tour with the Marines in May of 1910. And from the post before that, that he wrote to Mabel Johnson in that year from somewhere in Washington state that he was “leaving for home” in 18 days. But where would that home be? Well, the census of 1910 finds him in Alden Township, Polk County, Wisconsin, at the home of his cousin Louis Nesseth and family! The second indication, this time of a stronger connection between the families of Ole Larson and Kari Nesseth.You will note that the very next household (probably on the same or adjacent farm) is that of Ole Johnson and Randine Nesseth Johnson, including their daughter Mabel, the addressee of all those postcards from Smith, and another cousin, Andrew Nordgaard. His exact relationship is unknown. I’m guessing he was a relative of Ole Johnson. And look who else is there: Kari (Larsdatter) Nesseth herself, age 79.

This domicile raises another interesting question: Upon his discharge, why did Smith not go to the North Dakota homestead he had claimed the year before, along with his brothers Axel, Isaac, and Oscar? At least I *think* it was 1909 – maybe it was 1910 instead??

Enough about 1910 for now. Fast-forward to 1920, after Smith’s second tour, which included combat at the “Battle of Saint Mihiel,” in the late months of World War One. (Much more coming on this after more research). This time, the census *does* find Smith in North Dakota, at the home of Axel and “Minnie” Larson.On the same page, we find many other familiar names, including Isaac-Anna and family, several Samuelson relatives, the Mann’s, the Amundson’s, and Atley Peterson.

So, maybe someone in Axel’s branch (cousin Carrol, are you reading this?, or Mary Ann, Lowell, Ron or Gary Whited, who don’t read me that I know of) might possibly remember some anecdotes about Smith. Cousin Helen Winchell just wrote that she heard of Smith being gassed in “the war.” Nothing further, yet, on the gangrene/lost leg story. Thanks to all of you who have already contributed info. It is beginning to come together. Stay tuned.

I was down at the local Mormon Family History Center this morning (actually, I volunteer there weekly), browsed Ancestry.com for Smith Larson, and got some big payoffs. I don’t subscribe to Ancestry.com myself, it is *way* too pricey, and it’s a big “marketplace” out there now – well, I’ll save that for another post.

Anyway, the LDS has a subscription, so I can use it there. I found Smith Larson in the 1910 and 1920 US censuses, both times in rather surprising circumstances. Wish I’d have thought of those censuses earlier.  I also found a fragmentary outline of his military career in over 50 monthly “muster rosters” of the US Marine Corps. There are some extensive details on combat action, medical issues, etc. in these rosters, but they are severely abbreviated, and need more study. There are also some crucial missing months.

Finally, but  far from least, I found a concise “digest” of his Marine service, in a surprising place:

North Dakota Military Men, 1917-1918

Roster of the Men and Women who served in the Army or Naval Service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States or its Allies from the State of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918 Volume 3 Larkee to Rice

Name: Smith Larson
Army #: 154,280
Registrant: no, over age
Birth Place: Ontario, Wis.
Birth Date: 22 Apr 1877
Parent’s Origin: of Norwegian parents
Occupation: farmer
Comment: enlisted in the Marine Corps at St. Paul, Minn., on April 23, 1918; sent to Parris Island, S. C.; served in Company A, 3rd Casual Battalion, to June 30, 1918; arrived in France, July 8, 1918; served in Replacement Battalion, to July 21, 1919; returned to Quantico, Va., Aug. 1, 1919, and served there to discharge. Grade: Private 1st Class, April 1, 1919. Engagements: Marbache Sector; St. Mihiel Offensive. Discharged at Quantico, Va., on Aug. 21, 1919, as a Private 1st Class. Previous military record: U. S. Marine Corps from March 27, 1906, to March 26, 1910. Died at LaCrosse, Wis., on Jan. 21, 1922; burial, Ontario, Wis.

I say “surprising,” because even though Smith was one of the 4 Larson homesteaders in ND c. 1909, I have not firmly connected him with the long-term homesteading of his brothers Axel, Isaac, and Oscar. You will also note that there is no mention of North Dakota in the above article. However, there is a tantalizing clue in the 1920 census (next post).

I hope I didn’t waste my $60 for those government records. Well, there are plenty more questions they *could* answer, when they come.

Thank you, cousins, for all the encouraging compliments. There are 2-3 more posts worth of facts here, but the next will be in a few days.

Only a little progress so far on this project. I sent a request by mail (email not accepted) for the archived military record of Smith Larson. I got a phone call from the archive, saying they found a Smith Larson that is *possibly* the one. No guarantee, as the info I gave them is a little vague, but I am reasonably confident. They mailed me an invoice; I returned it today with $60 (uff da!), they will send the record. I have high hopes for that, but I don’t really know how much is in it.

A “bolt from the blue” came from cousin Carmen Stifstad. She has about a dozen picture postcards from Smith Larson to her mother, Mabel Johnson. Mabel was in turn the granddaughter of Kari Larsdatter Nesseth (who was sister to Ole Larson, but whom Aline and the rest of us had not known about until the 1980′s).

This is hugely interesting. It is the first I have heard of any contact between Ole Larson’s family and that of Kari Larsdatter. Also the first I knew about Smith writing to anyone. Smith and Mabel were first cousins, once removed (Mabel’s mother, Randine Nesseth Johnson, was his first cousin). The cards were sent between 1906 and 1910, when Smith was 30-34 years old. Here is what Carmen said about them:

She would have been a young girl of 10-12 years of age and must
have been thrilled to get mail from such far away places.  They don’t
reveal much, but do give us an idea of where he was from 1906 to 1908.

March, 1906   Nevada
July 1906 – Mare Island, CA
March, 1907   Mare Island and Riverside, CA;
April, 1907     Santa Barbara    May, 1907 will be leaving Santa
Barbara soon
August 1907    Punta Arenal (not sure of spelling on that one)
April, May 1908  Bremerton, WA
July 1908      Honolulu  – leaving for Panama
Sept 1908     due to arrive in ‘Frisco’ (card mailed there)
1910 ( not sure of location in Washington)  18 days before leaving
for home
There isn’t much room for personal notes, so he doesn’t give a lot
of info about what he’s doing, etc.
Thought you might find this interesting.
Carmen Skifstad

The locations he sent the cards from certainly suggest he was in the US Marines at this time, not the Merchant Marine, as Mare Island, Santa Barbara, Bremerton,  etc. were important military, rather than merchant, ports at that time. And Panama: a quick pass-through for commercial vessels, a destination for only military personnel. Punta Arenas is a little port on the tip of Baja California (Mexico), possibly a resupply or refueling stop between California and Panama.

I have asked Carmen for copies of the cards for the archives. Meanwhile, since Smith wrote to Mabel, maybe he wrote to someone else? Chime in if any of this rings a bell, and stay tuned.

The inscription on Smith Larson’s gravestone at Brush Creek Cemetery reads: “Pvt. Smith Larson, 18th Co. 5th Reg., U.S.M.C. 1877-1922. The only artwork on the stone is a copper relief of the U.S. Marine Corps insignia, the same as seen on Smith’s uniform cap. At the base of the stone is a metal recepticle that holds a small U.S. flag on a wooden pole (about which more in a moment).

So far, I have uncovered no details of Smith’s military service, and precious little else about his life. He was about 21 years old (prime military age) at the beginning of the Spanish-American war, making it seem likely that he served in that conflict, in which the Marines played key roles.

However, I learned that the 5th division was only first formed in 1917, as the US prepared to enter World War I. In fact, the “Fighting 5th,” as they were nicknamed, earned great fame and many awards on the battlefields of France. The interesting thing about that is, Smith Larson was over 40 years old by then. Indeed, there is an error on his gravestone; he was born not in 1877, but 14 April 1876. Could it be that he was eager to enlist (or re-enlist), but there was an age limit of 40, making it necessary to fib?

After comparing Smith’s uniform in the previous post with other pictures on the Internet, I am sure it is from WWI, not earlier. The one and only other detail of Smith’s life that I have heard so far is, that he lost a leg with gangrene (or “blood poisoning”) at some point before his death. I am extremely curious whether that had something to do with the “Great War.”

The rest of his story may be lost forever, but I haven’t given up yet. I have several letters and other inquiries out, but I don’t expect any responses for a while.The cloth flag and wooden pole at Smith’s grave doesn’t look like it has weathered even one Wisconsin winter, so someone must be tending it. If anyone reading this has any clues, or even wild ideas, please chime in!