Madison County Genealogical Society

Minutes of the Meeting – February 8, 2018

The February 2018 meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on Thursday, February 8, at 7:00 pm.

President, Robert Ridenour, called the meeting to order.

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have a family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.

The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $25.00
Patron Annual Membership $35.00
Life Membership $300.00

Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at [email protected], about a gift membership.

February Meeting

 

On February 8, 2018, Lola DeGroff presented a program titled Rechickenizing France.

 

Lola retired from the Department of Defense following more than 20 years of government service. She is the past regent of the Silver Creek DAR Chapter, past State Recording Secretary of the Illinois DAR, past State President of the Illinois Society US Daughters of 1812, treasurer Shawnee Chapter Colonial Dames of the XVII Century, and a member of several other lineage organizations.

 

Did all of you have dinner before you came tonight? We did too. But can you imagine if your food supply was reduced by 50%? That’s what happened to the People of France a hundred years ago. Their homeland was right in the middle of where World War I was being fought. World War I was called the war to end all wars.  World War I was a global conflict; there were 32 nations eventually involved in it. Twenty-eight of those were the Allied and Associated powers whose principal members were the British Empire, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and, eventually, The United States of America. They were opposed by the Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and The Ottoman Empire.

 

The war had been raging in Europe for several years before the United States actually entered it in April 1917. Once again, our country was not really prepared for the cost of war and that prompted the sale of Liberty War Bonds, which were sold in the denominations of $50 to $100,000. The proceeds raised from selling those bonds were used to feed, train, and equip our troops. There were a total of four Liberty Bond issues. The bonds were very successful in raising money because they appealed to people’s patriotism.

 

Did you know that there were 33,000 American women enlisted in World War I? We know that there were women involved in all wars, but that was a lot of them that actually enlisted. Most of those were nurses, which is probably pretty normal. More than 400 of those nurses actually died in the line of duty. Another thing I found was that hundreds of women either formed or joined organizations such as the American Red Cross. They did that to bring relief to the war-torn countries; and what I learned was the organizations that they were involved in were almost military-like in the way they were organized and run, and they had uniforms, the Red Cross had uniforms, and that seemed to appeal to the women in that day and age.

 

How do American women respond to needs during a war? In Colonial America, they managed the farms, they cooked and made things for the troops, and they served as nurses, soldiers, and spies. In the late 1910s, American women responded to the urgent needs in France created by World War I. Families were urged to practice economy. The Department of Agriculture offered a series of lessons in gardening, preserving, and canning food.

 

DAR members around the country purchased these Liberty Bonds. But, we went a little bit further than that — we volunteered with the Red Cross, we served as canteen workers, stenographers, and drivers. The need for warm clothing, especially socks, was desperate. The DAR knitting campaign produced socks, sweaters, hats, and gloves for our troops. Knitting was actually at that time around the country considered a patriotic duty. And it was not just the women who were knitting. When I was doing the research for this program, I found a picture of a Civil War soldier sitting with a group of other men knitting. So I thought that was pretty great. Just as they did during the Revolutionary War, women did whatever needed to be done. Just like we do today, right, ladies? They gave up anything that was considered to be frivolous.

 

Now because of the new military technology and the horrors of trench warfare and poison gas, there was an unparalleled level of carnage and destruction during World War I, much of it in France and Belgium. The food supplies were diminished, with famine threatening, in both of those countries. In other words, they were living in a war zone. A half million children in France were fatherless, because their fathers had gone off to war and many of them were killed.

 

Many villages were destroyed. The village of Tilloloy in the Picardy Region was one of them. The Picardy Region had been one of the most fertile parts of France, but in letter to the DAR  President General from the daughter of Tilloloy’s mayor she wrote, “Before the village had 400 inhabitants. Many of these are here now, mournfully trying to find a trace of where their homes once stood. There’s nothing left. It was once all so pretty, now it is so sad.” Tilloloy was one of the villages that was invaded by the Germans in November 1914 and again in March 1918.

 

Citing their desire to pay for France’s help during the American Revolutionary War, the Daughters of the American Revolution pledged to rebuild the village of Tilloloy. An appeal went out to our membership to raise $50,000; that’s the equivalent of $864,000, today. Shortly after the armistice for the war was signed on November 11, 1918, the DAR President General met with French officials. And I don’t think that I knew this, but the country that did all the damage has to pay to have it repaired. So, in other words, Germany had to pay reparations to France for all the damage they had inflicted on that country. It was decided that the DAR instead would fund the construction of a water system for the village of Tilloloy.

 

After it was constructed, people came to Tilloloy from all the surrounding villages to get fresh water. The Daughters of the American Revolution also supported more than 4,000 of those French orphans. It cost $36.50 to support an orphan for one whole year. We, as an organization, raised $138,000 for that purpose.

 

Now I’m sure that a lot of you are sitting here thinking, “Yeah, but what does that have to do with rechickenizing France?” Well, one of the DAR’s less conventional relief efforts, both during and following World War I, was its campaign to rechickenize France in the wake of the country’s poultry shortage. DAR members collected dimes and quarters for the cause, and, in return for their contributions, were given buttons reading “I Have a Chicken in France.”

 

I put together this shadowbox — all of the pins on this side are 100 years old, this one is new. When I first joined DAR, about twenty years ago, a friend had one of those “I Have a Chicken in France” buttons. I thought that was so cool, I decided I had to have one of those buttons. I liked the story, I loved what it stood for, and it made me proud to be a DAR member. So from time to time I would go to eBay and try to win an auction. First of all, they don’t come up in auction too often. You can imagine there are not a whole lot of them left. Usually, I would be outbid, and being the frugal person that I am, I had a threshold and would not go any higher. The last one I saw on eBay went for almost $140. Well, I finally won one of the buttons, but mine didn’t cost nearly that much. I paid $33 for mine. When I got it, I was like, “I can’t believe, Lola, that you paid $33 for this little throwaway button.” But I did.

 

Anyway, to get those buttons, a member’s ten cents would put an egg in an incubator; twenty-five cents put a chicken on a French farm. Evidently, children in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls, and Sunday School classes were also interested in feeding our allies. In the War Relief Service Bulletin number 25, Mrs. Henry Wait of the War Relief Service Committee wrote, “Will you lend a hand to this work to feed the children of France and stimulate the spirit of patriotic sacrifice in the children of America?”

 

As I said, I heard about those buttons a long time ago and when I finally did get one, I was very, very pleased and everyone I showed it to was very jealous. Now I have an “I Have a Chicken in France” button and I have the other buttons that also tell the story of what was going on during World War I. The postcard is actually also from that era and it shows the damage to a castle in the village of Tilloloy.

 

Lola had a short video that went along with her presentation. The following is from that video.

 

During four years of battle, World War caused catastrophic destruction, extinguished millions of lives, and altered countless others. Evidence of need and suffering was everywhere. These dark times inspired unity of duty and sacrifice. DAR members equated the call to duty to that their forebears answered during the Revolutionary War. World War I offered an opportunity to create their own legacy of service. One century after the United States entered The Great War, the National Society looks back on the scale and breadth of members war relief work.

 

Initially, under President Woodrow Wilson’s neutrality policy, which he reinforced in his speech at the DAR 25^th Continental Congress, the United States was to avoid showing favor toward any nation. At that time, through President General Daisy Allen Story, the DAR supported Wilson’s plan, yet also realized the need for aid. To render assistance, while upholding neutrality, DAR members were encouraged to work with the American Red Cross. Many DAR members took on leadership roles in the local Red Cross. A number of chapters devoted one day per week to Red Cross work such as gathering material and sewing supplies. Members also held fundraisers and collected almost $30,000 to send 16 ambulances to Europe. Members assembled toiletries, shoelaces, sewing supplies, and stamped postcards into more than 58,000 Comfort Kits for soldiers. By June 1916, Daughters had also raised $148,000 for the Commission for Relief in Belgium.

 

Relief work intensified after the United States entered the war in April 1917. That same month, at the 26^th Continental Congress, Sarah Mitchell Guernsey was elected President General. Immediately, Mrs. Guernsey established the War Relief Service Committee. Honorary President General Julia Green Scott served as chairman. Michigan State Regent Clara Hadley Wait was the Director of Publicity. Mrs. Wait oversaw a massive data collection and messaging campaign. The committee distributed registration blanks to the entire membership to assess their ability to serve the nation at war. Mrs. Wait also issued bulletins on topics such as food conservation, Liberty Bonds, meeting instructions, and jelly making. The committee’s messaging was so effective that it would be published in numerous newspapers and be distributed by several national organizations. DAR members responded with an overwhelming expression of patriotism. They contributed nearly 94,000 jars of jelly, almost 300,000 gifts to orphans, more than 20,000 scrapbooks for troops, and purchased more than $36,000,000 in Liberty Bonds.

 

Daughters also offered support to troops undergoing training and awaiting orders at bases across the country. Members entertained soldiers in their homes and at dances and dinners held in their honor. Available land and facilities were pressed into service. The National Society offered the empty lot behind Memorial Continental Hall to the government to use free of charge. Temporary quarters for the National Council of Defense were soon erected at the site, while the Hall’s interior became a hub of Red Cross activity.

 

With men called into military service, women helped to fill the void in the workplace. The medical and clerical fields were popular employment options for women. DAR supported members and non-members by sponsoring training at national service boards. Led by DAR member Jane Delano, founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, the National Society also helped train nurses. Sadly, Miss Delano, as well as a number of DAR members who were nurses gave their lives while serving the cause. For the first time ever, American women, including 262 DAR members, traveled abroad to serve. Most members were stationed in France, but several served in England, Turkey, Russia, Belgium, Greece, Serbia, and Italy. As Daughters did all they could to support American fighting forces, they also offered aid to France, the nation’s Revolutionary War ally. Members sponsored more than 4,000 children who lost their fathers in the war. The children continued to live in France but sent photos and letters to the chapters who sponsored them.

 

The National Society worked to restore the French food supply through a campaign to “Rechickenize France.” Donations funded the purchase of eggs, chicks, and incubators and a year’s salary for a wounded soldier hired to over see the poultry farm. 

 

The war relief effort continued on, even after the armistice. Daughters met the challenge of the readjustment and reconstruction, not only at home, but also abroad. One of the organizations most ambitious war relief efforts involved the reconstruction of the devastated French village of Tilloloy. A plan grew out of correspondence between War Relief Committee Chairman Mrs. Scott and the wife of the French Ambassador to the United States. The DAR agreed to the French government’s suggestion that a new water system for the village would make an appropriate lasting gift. On August 23, 1921, President General Anne Rogers Minor, Mrs. Guernsey, and others represented DAR at a ceremony in Tilloloy celebrating the newly completed water works. In the United States, focus returned to providing knitted garments and other supplies now to the sick men returning to convalescent hospitals. Chapters across the country welcomed returning troops home at parades, celebrations, and events held at a day of appreciation and support. Soldiers who did not return home were honored by memorials erected in communities nationwide.

 

The Great War tested Daughters strength, courage, devotion, and patriotism. But it also gave DAR members a gift — undeniable proof of the National Society’s capacity to render meaningful public service to the nation their ancestors fought to create. DAR members’ crucial World War I relief work laid the foundation upon which the National Society’s long proud tradition of volunteer service is based. Let us salute the World War I era DAR members who followed the example of their Revolutionary patriots and established a new standard of service for their time.

 

I have a question to ask you and I have a feeling the people here are going to know the answer— Why do we have poppies on Memorial Day? In Western Europe poppies grow naturally across areas that have had some form of disturbance or change with the earth. After the end of World War I, the flower was one of the few things that grew on the wasteland of the battlefields. Because of this, the poppy has become a symbol and memorial for those fallen soldiers in World War I and in successive wars.

 

This presentation was very well received and provoked many questions and comments.

 

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