Roy Tanner: World War I Service

Roy Tanner, picture courtesy of stephanieelesewhatcott1,
FamilySearch Family Tree.

LeRoy Parkinson Tanner served in the 141st Infantry, 36th Division, part of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. He had been fighting under General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing on the Mexican border (think Pancho Villa) and his regiment became part of the 36th Division in Europe. (Many thanks to a kind reader for assistance with the military terminology in this paragraph!)

We don't know much about his service; he didn't leave much of a written record. His son Wallace left a biography of his father, and I assume he also left additional information in his long autobiography he recorded in the 1970s (but I don't have that immediately at hand), so here is the information from Wallace's biography.

In 1913 he enlisted in the militia and served with the troops on the Mexican Border in 1916. He was a member of the Citizens Military Training Camp stationed on the border when World War I broke out. 

When the U.S. declared war on Germany, Roy, as he was always known, was assigned to a combat division and served in France until the war’s end. He went through the entire conflict without receiving a wound, but almost died as a result of the influenza epidemic in 1918. 

He was called to the front in Russia the day that the armistice was signed. After that he served for a time with the occupying forces in Russia. What he heard and saw there prompted him to observe during World War II that the United States would be better off not helping Russia so much and possibly even helping Germany against the Russians, since he felt that Russia was a much greater threat to the United States than Germany would ever be. 

He returned to the U.S. in 1920 and was discharged honorably from the army. As did several of his brothers, Roy then went to work on road construction. He became a lane surveyor and construction superintendent.

(The editorializing about Russia may from Wallace Tanner due to the biography being written during the Cold War, or it may be Roy's own conclusion. Hard to tell based on how memory works and the lack of a record from Roy.)

Here is what the medical officer attached to the 141st said about the flu. It reads like he was an ignorant man and a bad diagnostician, but medical knowledge was in flux at the time, so perhaps he can be excused some of his comments, particularly since people tend to like to have pat explanations even in the face of inexplicable tragedy.

Annual Report of the Secretary of the War, 3332-3333.

Here's a post from nine years ago with some information from his discharge papers and a short history of his regiment. (LeRoy Parkinson Tanner Military Service.) It does not seem likely that Roy was in Russia, but the history of his regiment from the Texas Military Forces Museum notes that after the Armistice, "The regiment then moved to the 16th Training Area around Tonnerre [Yonne], France, where it underwent intensive training for six months."

Yonne, France, from Pixabay.

What were they doing for those six months? What does "intensive training" mean? Could they have been in Russia with the AEF?

This is a curious question that deserves an answer. If you have access to the Wall Street Journal, don't miss their recent article about the AEF in Russia: "The One Time American Troops Fought Russians Was at the End of World War I—and They Lost."

See also, Ben-Hur Chastaine, Story of the 36th; The Experiences of the 36th Division in the World War (Oklahoma City: Harlow Pub. Co, 1920).

So, more research is needed, and hopefully it will eventually happen.

Additional information:

Roy's American Legion Cards.

A Picture of General Pershing by Roy's Mother-in-Law.

Roy's Enlistment Document.

Roy's Biography.

LeRoy P. Tanner and Eva Overson Tanner, late 1920s?

LeRoy P. Tanner and Clara Peterson Tanner (Sudweeks)

After Eva died of diabetes, Roy remarried a cousin of hers, Clara Peterson (Tanner Sudweeks). Not too much is known about her early life, but since it is not noted elsewhere on the blog, she had Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) and was not a suitable guardian for her stepsons. The caption on this photo gives her name from her second personality, Beth, and her family had that name engraved on her gravestone. I met her one time when I was on BYU campus in 1984 with my grandparents, and my grandfather was so kind to her and I wondered why I'd never met her before. My grandmother and I were walking behind the two of them and she told me sad stories about the abuse my grandfather and his brother suffered at her hands. If you're not familiar with DID, it's usually connected to extreme, prolonged childhood abuse, so as I said, we don't know too much about Clara/Beth's tragic life.

LeRoy Tanner and Clara's brother George Peterson were working in New Mexico in 1944 and were killed by a train at Grants, New Mexico, as they headed home one evening.

Roy's military gravestone, St. Johns, Arizona, picture by James L. Tanner.

Veteran's Day

LeRoy Parkinson Tanner served on the Mexican border and then in Europe during the First World War. Sometime after the war he joined the American Legion, which is a veteran's organization founded in 1919. A collection of his membership cards starts in 1935, and the first card notes that he had been a member for ten years. Here are a few of the cards.

The back of the 1942 card.

Some years he paid his dues early and got an "Early Bird" stamp on the card. Sometime in late 1944 he paid his dues and signed his card for 1945. It was before November 5, because that is the day that he and his brother-in-law were finishing work for the day and were killed in an automobile-train collision outside of Grants, New Mexico.

In memory of Roy Tanner
and the many men and women
who have served in the armed forces
of the United States of America.

The cards are from my father's collection of thousands of scanned photos and other genealogical memorabilia. (Thanks, Dad!) This post is reposted from seven years ago.

Memorial Day: General John "Black Jack" Pershing

Great-grandpa Leroy "Roy" Tanner served under General John "Black Jack" Pershing at the Mexican border. The old St. Johns house had a stack of old records that we used to listen to at family reunions, including one about General Pershing. I think it was about Pershing on the Mexican border, but I can't find it online, so here's one about Pershing in World War I.

My father is continuing to go through the Overson photo collection, and he found this one of General Pershing at a 1920 event to commemorate the deceased World War I soldiers from the University of Arizona. Since this is from the Overson collection and is in the same style as the other pictures, it was probably taken by Margaret Jarvis Overson. Her only daughter Eva would marry Roy Tanner, a veteran of the Mexican Border conflict and World War I, three years later in 1923.

General Pershing at the University of Arizona, January 31, 1920. From the Overson photo collection. All rights reserved.

Read more about the commemorative event and the picture on the blog, Genealogy's Star. (Gems from the Overson Photographic Collection - General Pershing at the University of Arizona.)

Eva Overson Tanner: The First Glass Plate from the Overson Collection

This is the first glass plate from the Margaret Jarvis Overson Photography Collection. My father scanned it and adjusted the color. He's been posting some of the pictures on his blog, Genealogy's Star.

This is Eva Overson. She's wearing a ring; has she married Roy Tanner yet? She's sitting on a chair in the Overson living room in St. Johns, Arizona, hair bobbed and marcelled, wearing a hand-embroidered silk dress, textured hose and amazing 1920s shoes. Don't miss the Navajo rugs on the floor; those could be worth a fortune today.

First, the negative, then a blue version, then a black and white version:

 

LeRoy Tanner Pictures and Documents

Since the blog has had a military theme recently, here are some additional documents about LeRoy Parkinson Tanner, including some from his service in the First World War, and a picture.

This picture is called "Tanner Family with Leroy holding Wallace." Except for those two named (the man standing near the right of the photo with a small boy in his arms) I don't know the identities of any of the others. I suppose they're Roy's brothers or sisters and other relatives in Joseph City, Arizona.

This is an Enlistment Record with corrections. LeRoy's military service has been mentioned previously here (Veteran's Day; a collection of his American Legion cards) and here (LeRoy Parkinson Tanner Military Service).

Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer

My dad sent a link to a digitized copy of George S. Tanner's Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer. You can download it here:

Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer

Here's the first page:

And a random page with the end of one interesting story (found here), and two others in their entirety:

LeRoy Parkinson Tanner Military Service

LeRoy Parkinson Tanner served in the Army during the Mexican border wars and during World War I. Here is his discharge certificate from his service in the world war.

As noted in this and his Enlistment Record, which I have not included here, he enlisted on May 26, 1918 (although he served earlier on the Mexican Border). He belonged to the American Expeditionary Force. He was one of 360,000 men belonging to the AEF who fell gravely ill during the Spanish Flu Pandemic, but luckily not one of the 25,000 who died.

His discharge papers give him an "Excellent" character, with no AWOL, no absence under G.O. 45 W.D. 1914, and noted that he was entitled to travel pay to Holbrook, Arizona. He was paid $136.56 upon his discharge on June 19, 1919, in El Paso, Texas, which included a $60 bonus.

Here is a description of the history of his regiment's participation in the Border Wars and France:

On May 10, 1916, the Second Texas Infantry was mobilized for Mexican Border service, when the entire National Guard was mobilized with stations on the southern border from Brownsville to El Paso. The regiment was federally recognized May 16, 1916, and sent to the Rio Grande Valley area of the border, where it trained until March 23, 1917, when the units were demobilized at their home stations. One week later, the regiment was called back into service because of the strained relations between the Central Powers and the United States. On April 5, 1917, war was declared on Germany. The regiment was again sent to the Mexican Border to release Regular Army troops. In September, 1917, the Second Texas Infantry and the First Texas Infantry were consolidated to form the 141st Infantry, which left the border and arrived at Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, Texas, September 23, 1917, where the entire 36th Division was mobilized and trained.
The regiment sailed from New York July 26, 1918, arrived at Brest, France, August 6, and was sent to the 13th Training Area at Bar sur Aube, where it remained until September 26, 1918, when it began its movement to the front lines, going into the Epernay-Chalons area as reserve of the French Group of Armies of the Center. On October 3, 1918, the 36th Division was attached to the Fourth French Army and on October 6 began the relief of the Second Division, U. S. A. The 71st Brigade (141st and 142nd Infantry) relieved the Ninth and 23rd United States Infantry.
On October 8, the regiment participated in the great offensive in the Champagne sector, writing a glorious page in the regiment's history. On October 28, after three weeks of front line service, the regiment was relieved by the French Army and marched back 150 miles to become part of the First Army Reserve, United States. The division and regiment were scheduled to be sent into the MeuseArgonne battle which was raging, but the signing of the Armistice prevented this. The regiment then moved to the 16th Training Area around Tonnerre, France, where it underwent intensive training for six months. On May 22, 1919, it returned to the United States, arriving in New York, June 3. Sent to Camp Travis, Texas, it was demobilized July 3, 1919. The regimental colors were decorated with the Croix de Guerre by the French at impressive ceremonies in France.
(http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/1940/141.htm)

A biographical sketch written by family members stated that he was going to be sent to the "Russian Front" when the war ended, but this record corrects the information, noting that the regiment was headed to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as The Battle of Argonne Forest, when the armistice was signed.

For a comprehensive history of the 36th Division in the First World War, you can read the following on Google Books:

Chastaine, Ben-Hur. Story of the 36th; The Experiences of the 36th Division in the World War. Oklahoma City: Harlow Pub. Co, 1920.

The picture of the World War I recruits leaving on the train is from www.flickr.com/photos/freeparking/504876693/. I love all those cowboy hats!

St. Johns Home

Now that I have all the Tanner files posted, I was looking online for some information to start the Morgan posts, and found that St. Johns (of all places) is on Google Street View. Many of you may recognize this home...


View Larger Map

Tanner 2: LeRoy Parkinson Tanner

It's a little too early for Halloween, but after running to the store this morning and seeing all the Halloween decorations going up and bags of candy lining the shelves, my thoughts turned (of course) to (what else but) genealogy....

In the Case of the Roy Tanner Family, it was not a skeleton in the closet; it was a mummy.

To be precise, it may have been under the closet rather than inside.

And to be technically correct, it may not even have been under the closet, although the closets in question are quite large.

Anyone familiar with the Eastern Arizona region quickly becomes aware of the existence of previous civilizations in the area. Poking around in certain irrigation ditches is always guaranteed to turn up a handful of potsherds, from the simple fragment to the patterned and ornate one.

Roy and Eva Tanner's home was built in stages in the 1920s-30s, starting with the living room-kitchen-dining room area and then expanding into the bedroom areas. When Roy excavated the foundation of the small bedroom right off the living room, he dug up an ancient Native American burial.

They drove the well-preserved mummy 150 miles and donated it to the university in Flagstaff.

(Sorry, no spine-tingling, blood-curdling stories here. This is a genealogy blog, not an Alfred Hitchcock collection.)

Thanks to Ryan for the photo from a couple years back which I lifted off the cousins' blog. It shows the house from the back in its expanded form, including the eventual attic rooms. Originally, the brick would not have been painted.

Tanner 2 & 3: Leroy and Eva Tanner

My dad just sent me a copy of this beautiful photo. (Thanks!) It is from Roy and Eva's wedding and is very 1920s. Since her grandpa Charles, the previous town photographer, died a few years before this, the picture was taken by his successor, Eva's mother, Margaret. They are in the Overson house in St. Johns with its beautiful fireplace.

Some of The Wit and Humor of Henry M. Tanner and Stories We Heard Around The Tanner Homes

My Top Twenty from “Some of The Wit and Humor of Henry M. Tanner and Stories We Heard Around The Tanner Homes”

Speaking of a rather egotistical young man, Henry said he would like to buy him for what he was worth and sell him for what he thought he was worth.

Of a child who takes more food on his plate than he will eat, “His eyes are bigger than his stomach.”

Two horsemen were riding their horses in thick brush and trees. The lead man caught hold of a limb of a tree and held on to it as long as he could, then let go. It knocked the other fellow off his horse and also wounded his pride. When he complained, the first man said, “Imagine what it would have done to you if I had not held on as long as I did.”

When one of the neighbors complimented his friend about how fat his horses were, the friend replied, “Yes, they sure are, and I can’t understand it. All I ever feed them is straw and that ain’t half threshed.”

There was a farmer who declared that a cedar post would last 100 years in the ground. Said his father had tried it many a time.

And there was the woman who said she had some stockings which had lasted her twenty years. Every other year she put new feet in them and the opposite years new legs.

One boy is a boy; two boys are half a boy; and three boys are no boy at all.

Tanner 3: Eva Margaret Overson Tanner

3 EVA MARGARET OVERSON TANNER

b. 14 August 1897 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona
m. 26 August 1923 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona
d. 30 December 1932 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona
b. 1 January 1933 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona
Husband: LeRoy Parkinson Tanner
Father: Henry Christian Overson; Mother: Margaret Godfrey Jarvis

Eva Margaret Overson, first child of Henry Christian and Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson, was born August 14th, 1897, at St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona. She was married to LeRoy Parkinson Tanner, son of Henry Martin Tanner and Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner, August 26th, 1923, at St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona, and left the next day by automobile to go to Salt Lake City, Utah, to have their marriage solemnized in the Temple. President of the St. Johns Stake, President Levi S. Udall, performed the ceremony at the Henry C. Overson Home, in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends of both families, and with the good wishes of all.

LeRoy P. Tanner was the ninth child of his parents, and was born at Joseph City, Navajo County, Arizona, January 12th, 1895.

Eva was the only daughter in a family of nine children. As a child she attended the public schools until graduated, then the St. Johns Stake Academy, from which she graduated at the age of sixteen years, the youngest of the class.

She spent one summer at the Flagstaff College, and then entered into the business world.

She was assistant Postmaster to her Grandfather Charles Jarvis, assistant in the Recorders Office, and then began Clerking in the Cash Store, where she soon was given the Bookkeeping, and much of the ordering and general business to attend to.

After her marriage, and because her husband’s work took him away from home a great deal of the time, she continued to work in the store part time for several years. Her insight into the business and her splendid memory of each detail and each personal account, made her place hard to fill.

During all her life up until the time of her death, she had been active in all Church work. Commencing with the Primary and Sunday School, she was a dependable Secretary and teacher. In the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association she was Secretary in the Ward for seven years, and only missed one meeting, and then was out of town. Was also Stake Secretary of Y.L.M.I.A. and later Relief Society Secretary for a number of years. Was a member of the Old Folks Committee. A leader in Bee Hive work, and also was in charge of the Flower Club of the University of Arizona Extension work. One summer while directing the Club she had a flower garden of her own raising, numbering seventy different kinds of flowering plants. She would go out in her garden and pick armfuls of flowers and put them in her car and drive around taking a bouquet to the old, the sick, or shutins, and her many friends, and thus spread beauty and happiness to many. There were also flowers of her bringing at church on Sundays, at weddings, at funerals, or on any special occasion. She dearly loved people, and was happiest when doing a good turn.

She did beautiful sewing, embroidering, crochet work, tatting, beading work, etc., as well as being a good cook and housekeeper. A dutiful and loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and neighbor—one wonders how a life so short, only thirty-five years, could accomplish so much of good. Her many activities gave her such a large circle of acquaintances, business, social, family, Church—but the saying was certainly true in her case, “None knew her, but to love her, or named her, but to praise.”

She had suffered from diabetes for about seven years, but never gave up if it was possible for her to be up. When she was not able to do anything else, she would do her beautiful fancy work.

She passed away suddenly, after two day’s serious illness, the evening of Friday, December 30th, 1932, and was laid to rest on New Year’s Day, 1933, in the Westside Cemetery, St. Johns, Arizona.

Margaret Jarvis Overson. George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez Genealogy. Mesa, Arizona: Privately printed, 1957. Tatting image from Project Gutenberg, copyright expired from Beeton's Book of Needlework. My picture of roses at St. Johns, 1994.

Tanner 2: Leroy Parkinson Tanner

2 LEROY PARKINSON TANNER

b. 12 January 1895 St. Joseph (Joseph City), Navajo, Arizona

m. 26 August 1923 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona

d. 5 November 1944 Grants, New Mexico

b. 9 November 1944 St. Johns, Apache, Arizona

Wives: (1) Eva Margaret Overson, (2) Clara Peterson

Father: Henry Martin Tanner; Mother: Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner

LeRoy Parkinson Tanner, son of Henry Martin and Eliza Parkinson Tanner, was born January 12, 1895, at Joseph City, Arizona. He attended school in Joseph City and at the Snowflake Stake Academy at Snowflake, and worked on the family farm with his father and brothers.

In 1913 he enlisted in the militia and served with the troops on the Mexican Border in 1916. He was a member of the Citizens Military Training Camp stationed on the border when World War I broke out.

When the U.S. declared war on Germany, Roy, as he was always known, was assigned to a combat division and served in France until the war’s end. He went through the entire conflict without receiving a wound, but almost died as a result of the influenza epidemic in 1918.

He was called to the front in Russia the day that the armistice was signed. After that he served for a time with the occupying forces in Russia. [8.4.09. He was not called to the Russian front. It is questionable if he was ever in Russia. For more on his military service see this post.] [8.25.11 It is indeed possible that he was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. I will continue to try and find information about his military service.] What he heard and saw there prompted him to observe during World War II that the United States would be better off not helping Russia so much and possibly even helping Germany against the Russians, since he felt that Russia was a much greater threat to the United States than Germany would ever be.

He returned to the U.S. in 1920 and was discharged honorably from the army. As did several of his brothers, Roy then went to work on road construction. He became a lane surveyor and construction superintendent.

From 1920 to 1940 he engaged in highway construction work throughout Arizona. Sometimes Roy would have a few days or a week off while his bosses were lining up a new job or moving from one location to another. At such times one of his favorite pursuits was hauling wood. He usually had a large pile on hand, sometimes as much as fifty loads, which was ready to be delivered when a cold spell struck town and he could get a good price per cord for immediate delivery. He would often load up some and take it to a home where there was sickness, or to widows, without cost.

In 1922 while surveying a new highway between St. Johns and Springerville, he met Eva Margaret Overson, the eldest child of Henry Christian and Margaret Jarvis Overson.

They were married in St. Johns on August 26, 1923, and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple shortly thereafter.

Two sons were born to Roy and Eva: Wallace Ove born August 12, 1924, and Lee Henry, born April 13, 1929. A daughter died at birth.

Eva was loved by everyone who knew her, and her home was a mass of flowers from early spring to late fall. She was not strong, however, having been stricken with diabetes while still a young woman. Eva died December 30, 1932, after an extended illness.

After Eva died their two boys went to live with their grandmother Margaret Overson until he married again and decided to take them with him.

 

On October 14, 1934, Roy married Clara Peterson, daughter of Brigham and Stella Jarvis Peterson. Clara was born April 25, 1909, in St. Johns. She was Eva’s first cousin.

Clara did not like Roy to be away from home, so in 1940 he purchased a large farm and ranch near St. Johns. He bought machinery and livestock and was working on paying off his mortgage.

Roy was active in civic affairs. He was a member of the Greer-Dewitt Post of the American Legion and served several terms as commander of the post.

He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many capacities. From 1941 he was a member of the High Council of the St. Johns Stake.

In November 1944 Roy Tanner and his brother-in-law George Peterson went to earn some extra money for cash expenses by taking a bailer and bailing hay in Bluewater and Grants, New Mexico. They were almost through with the job and were going to camp for the night (November 5, 1944), when they started to cross the railroad track and in some unknown way were caught by the evening passenger train, and killed instantly.

The double funeral took place in St. Johns on November 9, 1944. This was a hard blow for the entire family. To add to the sorrow, one of the Peterson sisters had just three days previously received word of her husband's death in World War II Germany. Roy's widow Clara disappeared for a year without letting anyone know where she was.

After Roy’s death, Clara worked for a while as a counselor in the Ogden school system. She subsequently married Joseph Sudweeks, a professor at Brigham Young University.

Wallace Ove Tanner, a graduate of Harvard Law School, had a long career in the legal field. Wallace married Jessie Maxine Morgan, daughter of Harold and Jessie Christensen Morgan. They had six children.

Lee Henry Tanner worked on heavy construction in Arizona until his death in April 1976. He was married and divorced several times. He had four daughters.

From a sketch of the life of Leroy Parkinson Tanner by Wallace Tanner and others with additional information from Margaret Jarvis Overson, George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez Genealogy (Mesa, Arizona, 1957). (Photo of 1938 and 1939 Ford trucks used by permission.) Leroy P. Tanner stone photo courtesy of JLT.