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Military Monday – My Grandfather’s Photos of Gen. Pershing

August 1, 2011 By 4 Comments

While going through photos taken in France during WWI by my grandfather, Willie Benoit — a tiny (1-1/2″ by 2-1/2″) photo of a man with a mustache surrounded by children and adults caught my eye. I turned the photo over and was completely surprised to see the name General Pershing written in pencil on the back. The photo was on an album page with two other photos — one of Pershing addressing the troops and one of the car in which Pershing was riding. Seeing and photographing Pershing must have been an incredible moment for my grandfather. I wish I had known about the photos while he was alive. I would have asked him to tell me about them.

General Pershing in France

Photo of General Pershing taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI.

Photo of General Pershing taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI.

After departing New York under top secrecy in May 1917, Pershing arrived in France in June 1917. 1 I’m not sure when or where in France the photo was taken. My grandfather’s photo album is dated Sept. 1918 through Aug. 1919, so it probably was taken during that period of time. Even though he was stationed in Dijon, he has photos from other places in France, so it could have been taken in one of the places he visited.

Photo of Pershing’s Car

Photo of General Pershing taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI.

Photo of General Pershing's car taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI.

This photo is really interesting to me because of the women to the right of the car in the photo. Who were they? Were they with Pershing or were they there to see him? The four stars on the car are also fascinating to me.

Does anyone know what kind of car this was?

Photo of Pershing Addressing the Troops in France

Photo of General Pershing taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI.

Photo of General Pershing taken by my grandfather Willie Benoit in France during WWI. Pershing appears to be addressing the troops.

In the bottom right of the photos, you can see the tops of the heads of soldiers. Pershing is standing above, so he looks as if he is addressing the troops below.

My Grandfather’s WWI Photo Album

I wrote about my grandfather’s wonderful photo album a couple of weeks ago, and I go through it, I will continue to share the photos here .

General Pershing

About Military Monday

We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

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Sunday’s Obituary – Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Lyons

July 10, 2011 By 2 Comments

Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Amar Lyons and his sister Miss Pearl Lyons lived in the next block on the same street as my grandparents in Vinton, Louisiana. My mom tells a great story of how a teacher in town once tried to get this lifelong bachelor to take interest in her.

The Teacher Tries to Catch the Pitcher

Ted Lyons in dugout

Ted Lyons, White Sox, sitting in a dugout in a ballpark during spring training. SDN-067969, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum.

When my mother was young, my grandparents had several female  boarders living with them at one time or another. Many of them were teachers in Vinton.

One of the teachers had a friend, also a teacher, who decided that Ted Lyons was a “good catch.” Since Lyons lived with his older unmarried sister, the teacher decided that the best way to get to him was by becoming best friends with Miss Pearl. And that’s exactly what she did. The teacher would invite Miss Pearl to go to dinner with her every week, suggesting that she bring her brother Ted along. This went on for quite awhile, until one day Miss Pearl arrived alone. Ted Lyons never joined them again.

Discouraged, the teacher decided that she would not be able to “catch” Ted Lyons, so she quit going to dinner with Miss Pearl.

Obituary

VINTON — Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Ted Lyons, 85, died Friday after a lengthy illness.

Funeral services for the former manager of the Chicago White Sox of the American League will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27, in the Vinton First Baptist Church.

The Revs. Lee Perkins and James Rivers will officiate and burial will be in Big Woods Cemetery under direction of Hixson Funeral Home.

Visitation at the funeral home here will be from 5-9 p.m. today, July 26.

Lyons died at 12:35 p.m. in a Sulphur nursing home.

Obituary - Ted Lyons

Obituary - Ted Lyons

Elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Coopertown, N.Y. in 1955, Lyons was the first player to ever go straight from the college campus to the major leagues as he was signed by the White Sox in 1923 after receiving a B.A. degree from Baylor University.

He pitched for Chicago from 1923 to 1946, except for three years during World War II when he served as a Marine Corps major.

About one month into the 1946 season, Lyons ended his active pitching career as he was named to succeed Jimmy Dykes as Chicago’s manager. He served as manager through 1948. He served as a coach of the Detroit Tigers from 1949 to 1953.

Lyons was named to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1960. After leaving baseball, Lyons returned to his Vinton home and spent much of his time in his favorite hobbies, golfing and hunting.

The Baseball Writers of America elected him to the hall of fame in 1955. He compiled a pitching record of 260 wins against 230 losses while toiling for a club that was in the second division most of his carer. He pitched a no-hit game against the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 21, 1926. He was the winningest pitcher in the American League in 1925 with 21 victories and in 1927 with 22.

He also won 22 games in 1930. In 1929, Lyons pitched a 21-inning game against the Detroit Tigers. In his last full year as a pitcher in 1942 at the age of 39, Lyons compiled the best earned run average among American League pitchers and completed all f his 20 starting assignments.

A better than average hitter for a pitcher, Lyons tied a major league record by hitting two doubles in one inning in a July 28, 1935, game.

Lyons was a member of the American Legion Post 208 in Vinton, and an active member of the First Baptist Church.

He is survived by nieces and nephews.

Lake Charles American Press, Saturday, July 26, 1986.

Headstone - Ted Amar Lyons

Headstone - Ted Amar Lyons

Ted Lyons’ House in 2010

Ted Lyons house in 2010

Ted Lyons house in 2010

Sadly, the home of Ted and Miss Pearl Lyons today sits empty and abandoned. The roof is covered with the blue tarps left over from Hurricane Rita in 2005. The furniture and household items were sold in a 1993 estate sale.

Garage Sale at Ted Lyons house

Estate Sale at Ted Lyons house, 1993

More Information about Ted Lyons

Sunday’s Obituary

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily blogging theme used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites. Find out more about daily themes at Geneabloggers.com (opens in new window).

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Sunday’s Obituary – Samuel R. Lyons (1852-1938), Vinton, LA

July 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The two story “old Lyons house” at 1335 Horridge Street in Vinton—built in 1900 by Luvicy Jane and Samuel Richard Lyons—was the first home in Calcasieu Parish to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lyons, a member of one of the oldest pioneer families in the parish, was a retired cattleman and prominent Vinton citizen.

About the “Old Lyons House”

The Old Lyons House, 2011

The Old Lyons House, 2011

The house is painted blue today, but was originally painted white, with all trim and gingerbread painted “old Rose.”

The house has four upstairs bedrooms and three closets—an exception to the buildings of that era. Two fireplaces downstairs and one in the upstairs master bedroom share a central chimney. Downstairs, the Lyons built a lady’s parlor, gentleman’s parlor, dining room, kitchen, ariel bay window and a large foyer with an elaborate Eastlake staircase. Two bathrooms were added in the early 1940s.

The home was used as as bed and breakfast in the 1980s and is currently privately owned.

Sam Lyons and Electricity

About the year 1916, Sam Lyons and Dr. Ford together bought a Fairbanks-Morse generator, and installed a small electricity plant in the alley behind the house to produce electricity for Lyons, Dr. Ford and a couple of businesses in town. When they turned on the electricity, Lyons left his lights on for the first 24-36 hours so that people in the surrounding areas would have a chance to come into town and see for themselves what electric lights were like.

Obituary – Sam R. Lyons, Aged Citizen of Calcasieu, Dies

Sam R Lyons

Sam R Lyons

Vinton, La. Aug 26, 1934. Sam R. Lyons , 82, member of one of the oldest pioneer families of Calcasieu parish, died at his home here Saturday night after a six month illness. Both his father and grandfather were residents of Calcasieu Parish. His father, the late David H. Lyons was sheriff of Imperial Calcasieu for 18 years.

Services will be held at the home Monday afternoon at 2:30, with the Rev. L.W. Rogers of the Baptist church and the Rev. A.D. George pf the Methodist church officiating. Burial will be in the family cemetery at Big Woods, with Burke and Trotti in charge.

Pallbearers wil be Arthur Simmons, D. J. Moreau, John Welsh, Foster Ford, E. J. Fairchild, J.E. Johnson, Joe Romero, and J.H. Wetheril.

Former Cattleman. Mr. Lyons was Born 2 April 1852 in Edgerly and had lived in Vinton the last 43 years. He owned an extensive amount of real estate in this parish and retired from the cattle business 15 years ago. He was a member of the W.O.W. and the Baptist church and was quite active in political life, but never ran for an office. He was one of the first school board members of this ward.

On Sept 29, 1870, he married Miss Tabitha E. Lyons, who died January 30, 1896. There were four children, all living except one. They are Mrs. Ona Ecker, of Vinton. Mrs. Jane Hampton of Carthage, Texas, and Dave C. Lyons of Lake Charles, and Mrs. Daisy Puckett, deceased.

On July 14, 1896 he married Miss Luvicy Jane Lyons, (who died in 1909), sister of his first wife. There were no children. He then married on July 8, 1910, Emma Garret, who survives.

He was a brother of the late Dr. Gus Lyons of Lake Charles and has one living sister, Mrs. Ella M. Carruthers, formerly of Lake Charles, now of Beaumont. Besides his wife and three children he is survived by 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Photos of the Lyons House

Lyons House

Lyons House

The Old Lyons House, 2005

The Old Lyons House, 2005

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Military Monday: Willie Benoit’s WWI Photo Album

June 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

My grandfather, Willie Benoit (1894-1985), was stationed at a POW camp in Dijon, France during WWI. He never talked about the war itself, but often spoke fondly of the French people and the towns he visited. As a Cajun from Louisiana, he spoke French and was able to communicate with the people he met. When he came home from the war, he brought with him a photograph album, chronicling what he saw and the places he visited, including Paris, Monte Carlo and Le Mans. The album is interesting in that it appears to have been something that was officially issued.

The Photo Album Cover

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

The cover of the album is embossed as follows:

Photographs
R.U. 309 M.T.C.
On Foreign Service
With A.E.F. France (A.E.F. means American Expeditionary Forces)
Sept. 1918.
Aug. 1919.

R.U. could stand for release unit or rescue unit. I have searched but cannot find what M.T.C. means. Please leave a comment if you know.

Inside the Album

For each set of pages, the left page has a photo with a printed caption, and the right page has photos that were taken by my grandfather.

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

My grandfather captioned many of the photos in his album, leaving a wealth of information about his service in France.

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

My grandfather made notes on some of the official photos, as he did on this one captioned “A village in Chatau Chierry that was wrecked by the Germans in their big drive towards Paris in July 1918.”  He wrote, “As it looked when I saw it!”

About Military Monday

We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

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Talented Tuesday: The Very Talented Lucy Courrege Benoit (1899-1990)

June 8, 2011 By 2 Comments

My grandmother was a talented seamstress and artist. As long as I can remember, she was always sewing, knitting, painting or crocheting. And the finished project was always something beautiful. I’m very lucky to have some of the things she made, including a 1910 piano that she decoupaged green in the 1960s.

Lucy Courrege Benoit

My grandmother, Lucy Courrege Benoit. The sofa was a wedding present when she married my grandfather in 1923.

Samples of Lucy Benoit’s Talent

Baby blanket

My grandmother made this baby blanket in 1926.

Throw

This beautiful and intricate throw was made in the 1980s.

Embroidered picture

My grandmother made this embroidered picture to hang in her living room.

About Talented Tuesday

Talented Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt. Got ancestors who had a special talent? Be it musical, comical, or any manner of skill, post at your genealogy blog through words and pictures. This series has been suggested by Terri at Southwest Arkie.

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