A Polar Bear in North Russia

In a letter dated 25 and 27 September 1918 to her son, William Bryan ROBBINS, stationed overseas in North Russia near the end of World War One, his mother, Mary May KIMBALL (a.k.a. Lula WEAVER) wrote "granddad is back from the west, but have not seen him."

In all likelihood, this was Lula's father-in-law, Charles H. ROBBINS, a Civil War veteran who had lost his wife, Viola Gertrude PECK, that March. It was very likely that Charles had been visiting his brothers, Benson and Lee (sometimes spelled Lea), out West.

One of the first genealogical misconceptions I had--and later straighted out--was that Charles' brother, Joseph Uzza Benson ROBBINS, who also was a Civil War veteran, lived in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The basis behind this was that I had come across the family history which stated "Benson was also a Civil War veteran who lived in Washington and was buried in Arlington." For the life of me, I can't remember just how I realized my mistake...possibly when a descendant of Benson's step-daughter contacted me. Yes, he had lived in Washington and was buried in Arlington. But, to clarify, he had lived in Washington State and was buried in a cemetery in the city of Arlington, Washington! As a Washington resident, I'm so used to people mistaking my residence for D.C....it gets quite annoying. Yet I made the same error!

Benson wasn't the only one who lived out West. Brother Benjamin Leader ROBBINS--"Lee" or "Lea"--also lived out here. In fact, he lived not far from my own present home, up in Stevens County, where he died in 1929.

I'm still researching Lee's descendants, hoping to find some living ones. When we moved to the area, we noticed a "Robbins Resort" at one of the major lakes in the area, and joked that we were related. That's not so far-fetched, as that lake is located in the same county as Lee's final residence! Benson had step-children, so I haven't pursued those generations too far. It's kind of interesting thinking that my 3rd-great-grandfather Charles probably came through Spokane on a train headed to visit his brothers, although I don't have their definite residences in 1918. Benson was living in Edgecombe Township, Snohomish County in 1910, and was in the Veterans Home in Retsil, Kitsap County in 1920. Lee was in Arlington, Snohomish County in 1910, and near Stengar Mountain in Stevens County in 1920. Either way, the main train routes for the state come through Spokane.

Among the scanned treasures that I received from my aunt was a photograph of Charles and Viola, either an original or a very good print made from the original. What I had before was 2nd- and 3rd-hand photocopies, which can be seen on Charles' AnceStories page on my website here. Compare the quality to the photo below:

While Bryan was suffering from influenza and getting ready to be sent to the Railroad Front, his mother was home, worried, having not heard for quite some time from either of her sons stationed overseas.

This letter displayed below was sent to Bryan from his mother, Mary May KIMBALL, also known as Lula WEAVER, on 25 September 1918. The handwriting is difficult to read, and I have made little attempts to correct the grammar and spelling except when absolutely necessary to clarify the meaning, because I feel it lends better to the character and the colloquialism of the writer. It is a typical mother's letter...full of news, neighborhood gossip, and anxieties:

Home
Muskegon Hts.
Sept. 25, 1918

Dear Bryan,

I have been looking everday for a letter from you boy's, but will write you a few lines this after noon[.] the sun shines so bright and the air looks so clean and the leaves are changing color it makes any one think that fall has sure come and then will soon be winter. it was a cold rainy week last week was[.] it was the fair week at the Rapids, and over at Hart [The bottom line of the letter is folded under, hiding the end of this sentence and the beginning of the next.]



[...] heard from home. I write ever week and some times twice a week, so I have a letter crossing the old Pond ever week. it has been two weeks ago to day since I saw Sarah. she don't come up very often any more. and I have not been out to Lakeside for some time but will go some of these day's. I see by the Papers that the married men without children in class 1 will go to Camp next Oct. I have not seen Curley in a long time[.] I wonder if he has left the Hts[.] I do wish your dad would hunt him up. The other night



our Phone bell rung, and I went to the [?], and a woman ask for Earnest Taylor and I said no he was not here any more, and she said oh I made a mistake I was use to calling 6780, and she wanted the Williams block. and I know it was Ethel. I think Ethel had better let them alone[.] what I have seen of curley['s] wife I belive she makes things hot if she get mad.

Mr. Dominee is working at Camp Custer. they are building 300 more barracks. Well Bryan, it made me feel pretty lonesome yesterday (Tuesday) when your car was sold[.] I could not keep the tears back but I do get so lonesome at times but I do try to keep up[.]


I often wish your dad would get in something else, so he would be at home more, and Angie is gone so much of the time, just Donald and myself here alone so much of the time and it get pretty lonesome at times. your dad went over to Grand Haven this morning[.] he has a very bad cold.

Friday Afternoon. Sep. 27
Bryan I did not get your letter finished the other day. and yesterday afternoon I went with Mrs. Dominee she took little Lloyd over to Oak Grove school to Baby Clinic, quite a baby show. so many little ones, and I been


washing to day, but will not write much more this time. I will write a few lines to Lloyd. have not had a letter from either one of you Boy's in a long time. Do hope will get one tomorrow. have you written to Lloyd yet, granddad is back from the west, but have not seen him [them?]. Sarah has not call me up since a week ago last Tuesday. The girl's Mildred and Dorothy, say's to tell you hello, they are going to school. Angie has a air gun now. he and another boy goes hunting nearly ever night after school. Bryan write as often as you can[.] all ways anxious to get your letters. all real well only colds. hoping this will find you well[.] I suppose you are drilling pretty hard[.] do your very best in all things and it will be brighter days to come. write son [soon?] may the Lord watch over you all.[...]
over.
[continued upside down in the top margin of the fourth page]
[...] Is the Pray[er] of your Mother.
with best of good cheer and Love
from Mother
in America
Mrs. A. M. Robbins


P.S. Donald marches around the yard with Angie['s] air gun singing the Yank[s] are coming. We have a lot of new records, war songs. Mr. Cobb told me he was going to learn his wife to drive the car, and he would have her come and take me for a ride, he is handy with it[.] made me think of you with the car.

From little Donald [scribbles]

It was no wonder Lula was worried, anxious, and lonesome. Of the seven children she had given birth to, two had died, one was institutionalized, and two were in harm's way fighting in the Great War. Her husband was a traveling salesman, her teenaged son was busy with school and hunting, and she was all alone at home most times with a four-and-a-half-year-old! And isn't it incredible that anyone would let that little boy march around with an air gun! Angie (Angelo, Jr.) and/or Lula must have kept it unloaded when they let little Donald play with it, for Don grew up safely to adulthood, serving in World War II in the Navy instead of joining the Army like his older brothers. He also served with the Muskegon Fire Department, and became the Chief of Police for Muskegon Township.
--------------------------------------------------
I had fun attempting to figure out who the non-family members were that were mentioned in this letter (see "2. The Family of Angelo and Lula Robbins" for descriptions of individuals of this family group).

Earnest ("Curley"?) Taylor: It's inferred that Curley may have been living with the Robbins family at one point, but had moved away, was married, and that perhaps Ethel was an old bothersome flame of his (this does sound rather spicy, doesn't it?). Running a search in Ancestry.com's World War I Draft Registration database turned up two E(a)rnest Taylors: one was Earnest James Taylor from the City of Muskegon, unmarried; and the other was Ernest Henry Taylor of Muskegon Heights who was married to Ora (? draft card has a poor image). Searches on Curl* (Curley, Curly, Curlie, etc.) gave me eight hits; none in or near Muskegon County. Sifting through the 44 Ethels that appear in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census in Muskegon Heights would not likely be effective...and I'm not sure that this is even the community Ethel lived in at either the time the letter was written, or two years later when the census was taken.

Sarah: This woman sounds like a relative or close friend, but searching through my database of relatives on both Angelo and Lula's sides of the family tree did not yield a Sarah. I tried both Lula's biological and adoptive families, as well as future daughter-in-law Marie Lewis' family, and still came up empty. It appears that she lived a ways away. Making an attempt to find a Sarah in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census would not be very effective. In connection with Sarah, Lula mentions going "out to Lakeside." There is no community by that name currently in the county or in any of the neighboring counties. Muskegon Heights, however, is only three miles inland from Lake Michigan. Perhaps this was a general location meaning near that lake. There is also a Lakeside Cemetery southwest of the City of Muskegon. I do not have a burial location for Floyd Arthur ROBBINS; could he be buried in this cemetery (his name does not appear in the cemetery's published records)? Was Lula planning to visit his grave there?

The Dominie Family: At first, I could not decipher the Dominie's last name written in Lula's handwriting, so once again I turned to the WWI Draft Registration, using Dom* as my search term. Fred Frank Dominie, with dependent Mrs. Fred F. Dominie, was living at 1701 Mystic, confirming my theory that they were the Robbins' neighbors. Taking a second look at Lloyd Robbins' WWI Draft Registration Card, I realized that Fred Dominie was the name of his employer that I had struggled to decipher earlier. Lloyd had worked for Fred; coincidentally or not, Fred and his wife Ella had a son named Lloyd (born in the summer, 1918), too, as well as children Dorothy (b. c. 1903), Mildred (b. c. 1905), Mabel (b. c. 1911), Ralph (b. c. 1913), and Frank (b. c. August 1915). This information I garnered from the 1920 U.S. Census, but the family had moved from Muskegon County by this time, to the East Central area of Michigan, in Mt. Morris, Genesee County. During World War I, Fred apparently used his carpentry skills to build barracks at Camp Custer.

Mr. and Mrs. Cobb: Mr. Cobb apparently bought Bryan's car; searching the WWI Draft Registration turned up seven Cobbs in Muskegon County, two of which lived in Muskegon Heights and were married: This is assuming the the Cobbs lived in Muskegon Heights and that Mr. Cobb was of the correct age to have registered for the draft. In a subsequent letter from Angelo, Bryan's father, we learn that the sale of the car enabled the family to buy coal for the coming winter.

I also discovered, with the help of the Muskegon County Genealogical Society, and a recently-discovered cousin on my LEWIS side that Mystic Avenue's name was changed to Jefferson Street, apparently before the 1920 U.S. Census was taken (believe me, I looked and looked through all 83 pages of Muskegon Heights on that census trying to find Mystic Avenue!). My cousin, Bob Stefanich, asked his son who works as a sergeant in the Muskegon Heights Police Department to check old maps, and they went driving around to try to find Number 1612 - or what may once have been that address. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. Sanborn maps and city directories might be helpful in this search.

Some of the locations mentioned are the Rapids (probably Grand Rapids, Kent County, southwest of Muskegon Heights); Hart (county seat of Oceana County, north); Grand Haven (county seat of Ottawa County, south) and Oak Grove (a school in Muskegon Heights).

From this letter we can also ascertain that the Robbins had a telephone and a Victrola. They (or at least Bryan) had had an automobile, until it was sold to purchase coal for the coming winter. Money certainly seemed tight, as it often has during wartime, but it is apparent to me that before the war, the Robbins family had lived fairly comfortably as a middle class family. I love how this letter--and deeper analysis--has given me a such a rich description of the home life of my ancestors!

On Sunday, August 25th, 1918 , the troops of the American North Russian Expeditionary Forces entrained at Brookwood, Surrey, in the south of England for Newcastle-on-Tyne to embark on ships headed for Russia. Brookwood is approximately six miles northeast, as the crow flies, of Camp Aldershot, Hampshire, and is the home of a major railway station in that area. The men probably arrived there via a train taken from the North Camp railway station.

In the three weeks that the 339th Infantry had been in England, they had had every military item in their possession replaced and anglicized by the British Expeditionary Command. Everything the American soldiers were issued, whether it was food, uniforms, weapons, or medical supplies, was inferior, inadequate, and of the lowest possible quality. Imagine if your life depended on a rifle that had inaccurate aim, jammed or broke frequently, and had to have a bayonet carried on it at all times, since it was manufactured without a scabbard...especially if your military training had been completed with a different, superior weapon. Imagine eating rations consisting of canned foreign corned beef, seven-year-old frozen Australian rabbit, "M & V" ("meat"--a glob of fat--and vegetables), powdered peas that needed two or three days of soaking in warm water, hard tack (which you couldn't break it with your fist), tea, jam (a concoction of ginger and rhubarb), and unsweetened lime juice. Suppose your medical supplies consisted of iodine, quinine, and laxatives, and your medical corpsmen had been trained mainly in rolling bandages and condoms. Suppose your clothing, while keeping out the cold, having been designed by arctic explorer Ernest Shakleton, was bulky, uncomfortable, and allowed for as much freedom of movement (while under fire) as the Michelin man's outfit. Imagine running on snow and ice in ill-fitting boots with slick soles and heels.

Most of these problems were yet to be discovered by the Americans until after they arrived in Russia. Meanwhile, the troops took the 270-mile train ride north to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the northeast corner of England, south of the Scottish border, arriving in the late afternoon of the 26th. Here they embarked on three transport ships, the Tydeus, Nagoya, and Somoli, and were accompanied by the Czar carrying Italian and French troops headed for Murmansk. Sometime after midnight on Tuesday the 27th the ships slipped down the Tyne towards the North Sea, nine miles away. Besides the 339th Infantry, the convoy contained the 310th Engineer Regiment (the 1st Battalion), the 337th Ambulance Company, and the 337th Field Hospital. Bryan was aboard the Somali, an illustration of which appears here. At least one of the ships, the Nagoya, had just returned from a trip to India during which an outbreak of the Spanish Influenza occurred. The Nagoya was never quarantined or fumigated before taking on the Americans, and almost immediately the troops on all the ships became ill, Bryan included.

In a statement he wrote in order to obtain a disability pension from the military after the war, Bryan writes:

I had the influenza on the ship Solomimy sailing from New Castle, England to Archangle Russia Which left me in a weakoned condition,

There were precious few medical supplies on board. Those that had been intended to be brought had been purposely discarded on the docks of Newcastle in order to make room for the cases upon cases of whiskey demanded by the British officers.

The convoy had meantime passed between the Shetland Islands and the bulge of Norway, passed through the Norwegian Sea, rounding the North Cape and passed through the Barents Sea. At this time, they had entered the White Sea, and it was here that the first death from influenza occurred. Soon those soldiers not to ill to come on deck could see "vestiges of islands of land," part of a 24-by-20-mile delta of the Northern Dvina River which flowed north to deposit its soil in the White Sea. At the entrance of the main channel, the convoy waited for a tug to guide them through the labyrinthine canals. Under the heavily overcast sky, there was nothing to see but miles upon miles of swampland, occasionally broken by stunted pine trees. Passing small hamlets and a small lumbering village, they finally arrived around noon on August 6th at the Port of Archangel (Arkhangelsk), a community of 40,000 strong.









At the docks of nearby Bakaritza, the ships began to unload their cargo, and the sick were moved to a primitive Russian hospital nearby, which filled quickly. Several days later, the Red Cross opened a hospital in Archangel and was also immediately filled. Some of the barracks had to take the overflow. In the month of September alone, 75 men died of influenza. By October, a convalescent hospital was opened in an old Russian sailor's home in Archangel, near the American headquarters.

Members of the 337th Field Hospital had practically no medical training. The conditions were primitive, to say the least. The sick lay dying on stretchers on the floors. The medical corpsmen took turns in shifts, one man watching in cased of emergency, the other sleeping on the floor behind a stove. Whenever a patient died, the one would wake the other, and the two men would carry the corpse out to the hallway, to be picked up in the morning by a detail, which would transfer them across the bay to a new American cemetery in Archangel. One can see why Bryan refused to go to the hospital, and conditions there were likely more contagious than elsewhere. After three or four weeks, the epidemic ran its course; nearly 100 young Americans had died, most buried in Archangel, a few at sea on the trip over. Amazingly enough, none of the 337th unit died, although some had been very ill and were a long time convalescing.

Bryan revived soon enough and was immediately sent to the railroad front at Obozerskaya, although it was probably too soon for him to have fully recovered from his illness. We'll pick up with Bryan's adventures there after we hear next from his mother at home.

The letter to Bryan's parents below and Robbins oral history hint that the troops of the 339th Infantry may have enjoyed some time in London to see the sights before heading north to Newcastle-on-Tyne for their ship to Russia during WWI. While in England, it seems that every American soldier received the following letter of greeting from King George V. Obviously, he would not have personally hand-written thousands of letters, although the greeting most assuredly was dictated by him. The reason there is a portion of the letter image missing is that in the original scan which my aunt sent me, there was a clipping next to and slightly on top of it from a history or nostalgia magazine which showed another copy of this letter and an inquiry by someone as to the history behind these letters. I have "whited" this out, so as not to detract from the letter itself:

WINDSOR CASTLE

Soldiers of the United States, the people of the British Isles welcome you on your way to take your stand beside the Armies of many Nations now fighting in the Old World the great battle for human freedom.

The Allies will gain new heart & spirit in your company.

I wish that I could shake the hand of each one of you & bid you God speed on your mission.

George R.I.
April 1918

On the reverse of this letter, Bryan scribbled a note to his family:

Somewhere in England
Dear Mother and all,

We are all feeling fine. This is a greeting from his Majesty King George. This sure beats everything that I ever took in. There is no end of new and queer sights. I would like to write the name of the cities that we see but can not. It would be censured. This is sure some city believe me. The band is playing american pieces it makes a fellow lonesome for America.

Will write the next chance. Bryan

Co I 339 Inf
American Expeditionary Forces

We settle and move so often that we hardly know where we are But write according to my address above. Every thing looks favorable. That is all I can say. Now mother do not worry. For we get plenty to eat and feel good. Will have worlds to tell you some day.

With love

The signature in the bottom left corner is "Dwight Fistler, 2nd Lieut". It also appears on the front of the envelope's face, seen below. Unfortunately, this envelope was scanned with part of the magazine article sitting on top of it. All these pieces were being stored in sleeves, and that is how they were scanned.





You can see in lieu of postage, the words "Soldiers [sic] Letter" appear in the upper right corner of the envelope's face. I suppose the return address probably said something along the lines of "A Message to You from His Majesty King George Vth." Directly below Bryan has written once again his address. The addressee is "A[ngelo] M[errick] Robbins, 1612 Mystic Ave, Muskegon Hts, Mich, USA," Bryan's father.

Bryan's comment that "this is sure some city" makes me wonder if this was written from London. A family story has been handed down through the generations, from Bryan to my grandfather Bob, to my dad (also named Bryan) who told it to me: Apparently Bryan and a buddy were out and about seeing the sights of the city when a commotion was heard. "The King is coming!" "Bow, the King is coming!" Down the street came the King (was he in a carriage or a motorcar?). Bryan and his friend knew that Americans bow to no king; however, they wished to be respectful and were in uniform, so as the regent approached, they saluted. King George V leaned out his window and returned the salute to the young men!

Truth or legend? While we'll probably never know for sure, I'm fairly certain there was some sort of truth at the base of it. There usually are in family stories.

"We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back 'til it's over Over There."
[Click here for the lyrics and melody of George M. Cohan's famous WWI song.]

In late July 1918, the 339th Infantry, to which Bryan was assigned, was sent by train from Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan to Camp Mills in Nassau County, Long Island, New York. Second Lt. Hugh McPhail of Company A (Bryan was in Company I) shared in his memoirs that the train first stopped in St. Thomas, Ontario for a much-needed stretch of the legs and beef sandwiches and coffee. Swinging by Niagara Falls, the troops went on to Hoboken, New Jersey and took a ferry across to Long Island, arriving at the camp in the late evening (whether this was a one- or two-day trip is not clear).

According to an excellent historical website on Camp Mills, it was one of four staging areas for the Port of Hoboken. The other three were Camps Dix, Merritt, and Upton. Today, Camps Mills and Merritt (Bergen County, New Jersey) are housing developments, and Upton (Suffolk County, Long Island, New York) is Brookhaven National Labs. Camp Dix later became Fort Dix (Burlington County, New Jersey), still continuing in operation. Upon arrival, Bryan would have been fed, and given a card to fill out and mail home, assuring his family that he had arrived safely. For obvious intelligence reasons, no information would be given to the soldiers about where they were headed.

On a Sunday morning, the troops were marched down to the ferry and then embarked on the U. S. S. Plattsburg, a merchant ship that had been commissioned for troop transport. Originally christened the Harvard, she had been built in 1888 in Glasgow, Scotland. She had already served a commission with the U.S. military during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Since then, she'd been decommissioned, refitted with new engines, and then recommissioned by the U.S. Navy for use until 1919. In 1922, she was renamed the New York, but was scrapped in Genoa in 1923. Originally, she probably looked like this depiction in a photo postcard, but probably had this camouflaged painting as shown here, during her troop transport service. Once on board, the troops were ordered belowdecks, where they were to remain until the ship was out to sea and out of sight of land. For two weeks they zigzagged across the Atlantic, avoiding enemy submarines, until they arrived in Liverpool.

From Liverpool, they rode by train over 200 miles to Camp Aldershot (nicknamed "Camp Cowshot" by the Yanks) in Hampshire (the south of England), where they stayed for three weeks. According to Lt. McPhail, it rained nearly every single day. It was here the men of the 339th got whiff of a rumor that, instead of going to France to fight the Huns, they might get shipped to North Russia, as being Midwesterners, "they were used to the cold, anyway." By now, it was mid-August and someone decided to clothe the soldiers in good long-john underwear in preparation for the cold Russian winter ahead. They were taken out on one of the few sunny warm days for a ten-mile hike, which must have been loads of fun wearing long underwear in the humid English climate!

I know that many readers tend not to click on links to other sites in items they read online, but I highly recommend that you do so on this post. I found fascinating descriptions of the history of the places mentioned, along with historical photos and postcards, all of which I would have loved to use to illustrate this post. Copyright prevents me from doing so, so please check out the links. They will give you a better overview than what I've been able to do of the sights and experiences the men of the 339th--many of whom had never until then left their home communities--would have had on their trip from Michigan to England.

From Muskegon Heights, Muskegon County, Michigan, my great-grandfather, William Bryan ROBBINS, was sent southeast to Camp Custer in Battle Creek, Calhoun County. Camp Custer actually lies right at Calhoun County's west border with Kalamazoo County. General George Armstrong Custer is one of Michigan's native sons, and although he is most famous for his unsuccessful battle at Little Big Horn in Montana, he had built up quite a reputation for himself during the Civil War. Camp Custer was built in 1917 to accommodate the training of what would eventually be 90,000 Midwestern troops heading to Europe during World War I. At the end of the war, it was used as a demobilization base for over 100,000 men. Many soldiers, Bryan included, passed through the camp twice: once on their way to war, and again on the way home. This was the home of--among others--the 85th Division, originally called "The Custer Division," but eventually taking the nickname "The Polar Bear Division," because of its service in the American North Russian Expeditionary Force.

During the early 1920s, the predecessor to the Veterans Administration, the Veterans Bureau, established the Battle Creek Veterans Hospital, whose grounds contained 200 acres that were farmed by staff and patients. In 1940, Camp Custer was designated as Fort Custer, becoming a permanent military base. Over 300,000 World War II soldiers were trained there, including my paternal grandfather, Robert Lewis ROBBINS, and his brother, Bill, Jr., sons of Bryan. The fort also housed 5,000 German prisoners of war. In 1981, the Fort Custer National Cemetery was created, with opening ceremonies on Memorial Day 1982. The official address for Fort Custer is Augusta, Michigan, a small community just to the west of the base and located in Kalamazoo County.

Bryan would have been at Camp Custer in late June and though late July of 1918, at which time the 339th Infantry was shipped overseas. In his papers was this postcard of one of the barracks' interior, on the back of which was addressed, "Mr. Geo. Lewis," Bryan's future father-in-law. It wasn't addressed fully, so perhaps it was never mailed, or mailed inside another letter:





There is also a little poem printed on the reverse of the postcard:

When recreation time comes 'round
I wish that you would just sit down
And write a little line or two
To the one, you know, loves you.

Also among Bryan's papers was this clipping of a newspaper article with an update on the Spanish Flu epidemic that hit Camp Custer, apparently that fall of 1918 (the date of the unnamed newspaper is October 7th). Bryan's unit was not at Camp Custer when the epidemic hit; they were on their way to Russia, and I will be blogging more about that, later:



You can click on the image above to read the article in full in my Picasa Web Album. It is rather long. In the Picasa view, click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand corner to zoom in for an easier read.

For more interesting online reading regarding Camp/Fort Custer, I recommend the following websites:

• Camp Custer - Battle Creek, Michigan - a lovely collection of colorized postcards from Camp Custer's WWI era, showing various structures and the troops participating in training exercises
  
• Camp Custer Photos - from the Willard Library's Photographs from Battle Creek History; includes photos of new draftees marching from the train to the camp
  
• Fort Custer Photos - also from the Willard Library; WWII-era photos
  
• Citizens' Military Training Camp, 1924 - a fascinating little-known chapter in the history of our national defense movement
  
• Fort Custer National Cemetery - contains interesting historical facts about the camp and the fort, as well as the cemetery

On 5 June 1917, my great-grandfather, William Bryan ROBBINS, registered with his local draft board in Muskegon Heights, Muskegon Co., Michigan on what was coincidentally his 21st birthday. He was living at 1130 Reynolds Street and employed as an "automobile repairer" for Muskegon Auto Company in neighboring Muskegon. This would have been three months before meeting his future wife Marie at her grandfather's funeral, when he worked as a chauffeur. I wonder if he worked both jobs simultaneously.



His brother Lloyd also registered on the same day; in fact, his registration number is one before Bryan's, and on his registration card it states his address as 1133 Reynolds Street. Lloyd was working as a carpenter in Muskegon Heights, but I can't quite read his employer's name: Bud Brown?



Lloyd's registration card leaves me with some questions. I wonder if his address was written in error and should be number 1130, instead? Near the close of the war, Lloyd writes to Bryan from home and says, "We are building some houses just east of our house on reynolds [sic], and we are going to move over there in a short time, so it will be like old times again." When Bryan applied for his marriage license in December 1919, he gave 1130 Reynolds as his address. My other question is regarding Lloyd's middle name. It looks like it could be Ray, but the image is blurry. Lloyd and Bryan had a cousin, Arthur "Roy" Robbins, who also served in WWI. I wonder if Lloyd's middle name is actually Roy, not Ray. I also would like to discover more about Lloyd's service in WWI. I know he served in a machine gun corps with the 32nd Division in France, but that's the limit of my knowledge, and my initial attempts to find out more have been unsuccessful.

For the record, the young men's father, Angelo Merrick ROBBINS, Sr., also registered for the draft on 12 September 1918. At the time, he was a salesman for Hoekie [Hocker?] Bros. of Rochester, New York, and lived at 1612 Mystic Avenue in Muskegon Heights.



One year after he had registered for the draft, Bryan received his Order of Induction into the Military Service of the United States:

Order of Induction into Military Service
of the United States

The President of the United States,

To Bryan Robbins
Order Number 4099 Serial Number 4429

Greeting: Having submitted yourself to a local board composed of your neighbors for the purpose of determining the place and time in which you can best serve the United States in the present emergency, you are hereby notified that you have now been selected for immediate military service.

You will, therefore, report to the local board named below at Court House, Muskegon, Michigan, at 4 P. m., on the 23rd day of June, 1918, for military duty.

From and after the day and hour just named you will be a soldier in the military service of the United States.

[Signed] Carl A Stauffer
Member of Local Board for Muskegon County, Mich.,
Report to Local Board for Muskegon County,
Muskegon,
Michigan.
June 17, 1918.

In establishing some more of the characters that will be appearing in the documents and letters of William Bryan ROBBINS, Sr.--my great-grandfather--during his service in the American North Russian Expeditionary Forces at the end of World War I, I have posted some photographs of him and his sweetheart, Marie LEWIS, which I recently received from my aunt, as well as a photo of her parents. According to my grandfather, his parents Bryan and Marie met while Bryan was chauffeuring during the funeral of Marie's maternal grandfather, John WILKINSON, Sr. John's burial occurred 14 September 1917 at Oakhurst Cemetery in Whitehall Township, Muskegon County, Michigan.


George Emmett Lewis and Mary J. Wilkinson, c. 1917

His daughter, Mary J. WILKINSON, her husband George Emmett LEWIS, and their 10 children were living in nearby Muskegon Heights at that time. This was around the same time period that Angelo and Lula ROBBINS and their four sons moved to Muskegon Heights from Ensley Township, Newaygo County, Michigan.



William Bryan Robbins, Sr., 1916, posing with ship prop & background


William Bryan Robbins, Sr., c. 1917


Marie Lewis, c. Winter 1916 - 1917


Marie Lewis, c. 1917

Bryan was 21 in 1917, and Marie was only 15. But apparently their romance was in full bloom by the time he was inducted on 23 June 1918. This is further verified by the following note Bryan carried on his person in North Russia, presumably at all times:

if found on my body please send to the address below

Pvt Bryan Robbins
Co I 339th Inf

Nov 3 1918 Archangle [sic] Russia

Miss Marie Lewis
Hoyt St
Muskegon Hts Mich USA

Good bye, Marie
My last thoughts are of you and my people
Love to all
Bryan

This just leaves a lump in my throat! Thankfully, Bryan made it safely home, or else I--and all their many other descendants--would not be here today!

I want to set the stage, so to speak, of the family that my great-grandfather William Bryan ROBBINS, Sr. grew up in, before posting some of the documents, letters, and photos from his World War I service. The photo below is of his parents, Mary May KIMBALL, also known as Lula or Lulu WEAVER, and Angelo Merrick ROBBINS, Sr. Click on the links to read the AnceStories (biographies) of each for more background on this family.





This photo, recently sent to me by my aunt, is the only one I have of my great-great-grandfather, and I know of only one other, which is probably in the possession of my paternal grandmother. In that particular photo--a formal portrait--Lula and Angelo are surrounded by four of their sons, Lloyd (b. 1894), dressed in his World War I uniform; my great-grandfather Bill (b. 1896); Angelo Jr.--"Angie" (b. 1904);, and Don, the surprise baby (b. 1914). It was obviously taken right before Lloyd went over to France to fight with the 32nd Division of the U.S. Army, in a machine gun corps, probably in 1917. At that time, their eldest son, Floyd (1893 - 1916), was deceased (the family story says from eating wild mushrooms; his death record states from pneumonia). Their only daughter Reva (b. 1898) was institutionalized at Traverse City State Hospital for mental illness; she committed suicide there in 1926. Lula and Angelo also had a stillborn son in 1906.

Below is a contract of a promise of labor between Bill (Bryan--he went by either) and his eldest brother, Floyd, on March 8, 1915. At this time, Floyd was a married man, having married Flora LIEFERS the previous year. What's interesting to me is all the family signatures on the back page.

March 8, 1915

It is hereby contracted and agreed by and between Bryan Robbins, party of the first part, and Floyd Robbins, party of the second part, that said party of the first part agrees to help said party of the second part, in stumping a portion of land belonging to A. M. Robbins, said party of the first part agreeing also to help said party of the second part in various farm operations as shall be agreed upon between the two. In consideration of which work rendered by said party of the first part, said party of the second part agrees to plow an acre and a half of new land, more or less, for said party of the first part, and to guarantee to said party of the first part all the crops raised upon said land during the year 1915, raised by said party of the first part. And all legal actions arising under this contract are hereby waived by party of the first part, and party of the second part, respectively.

For witness whereof we are hereby sign our names this eighth day of March, 1915.

Signed Bryan Robbins
Party of the First Part
Party of the Second Part
Floyd Robbins.

Witness Lloyd Robbins
Witness Lulu Robbins

This contract doesn't say where this takes place, but I have documents verifying the family's residence in Ensley Township in Newaygo County, Michigan from at least 1906 through 1914, so likely this is still Ensley Township. The fact that the contract mentions farm work backs up my theory that this is a rural area, rather than urban. Floyd died 4 April 1916 in Ensley Center; the family was next found residing in Muskegon Heights, Muskegon County, Michigan as early as 12 September 1918.

On July 16th I received a surprise in the mail: three CDs' worth of scanned pages and photographs from the scrapbooks of my paternal grandfather's sister. It was a treasure trove, and I was absolutely giddy over it! There is a large collection of letters, documents and photos from my Great-grandfather Robbins' service in the American North Russian Expeditionary Force during and shortly after World War I. I will be sharing these treasures with my readers in the near future, and to give you background, I encourage you to read his AnceStory (biography) here.

I am also posting an article below which I submitted to the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society's 2005 literary contest "My Favorite Military Ancestor," for which I won a second-place prize of $50 towards purchases at my favorite genealogical publishing company. This should give you a better idea of why American forces were in North Russia (and Siberia)...a fact that the U.S.S.R. used against us in their history books during the Cold War. After all, we had invaded them once; why wouldn't we do it again?
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William Bryan Robbins, Sr.
(1896 %u2013 1972)
A Polar Bear in North Russia

by Miriam Robbins Midkiff


It was a humid night in Western Michigan, and the stars and fireflies twinkled over the yard of my great-grandparents' home where I stood on a small statue of a polar bear. My 10-year-old cousin scolded, "Don't stand on that! It's Grandpa's!" The "grandpa" mentioned was his grandfather and my great-grandfather, William Bryan Robbins, who had recently passed away. It was 1972, I was five years old, and although it was a time of sorrow for many family members, it was a time of magic for me. Just a few days earlier, I had flown 3,000 miles with my parents from our small Alaskan village, population 300, coming into a breathtaking view of Chicago at night, a scene I would never forget. At our journey's end, my grandfather met us at the airport in Grand Rapids. We drove 35 miles west to tiny Conklin and pulled into the driveway of my great-grandparents' home. Grandpa said, "Now there's Great-grandma. She's feeling sad today, so give her a great big hug." I flew out of the car, and running across the yard to where my petite ancestor sat, I surprised her with the biggest embrace my small arms could manage!

Although our time in Michigan created memories that I still look back on with fondness, I unfortunately have none of the man whose funeral was the purpose behind our trip. I had seen him on two previous visits, but was too young to remember the lean, gray-haired man with an affinity for his pipe and the Robbins' trademark storytelling. Nor did I have any clue of the significance of the statue in his front yard. Born 6 June 1896 in Hesperia, Michigan, William Bryan Robbins was named for the silver-tongued presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Also known as "Bill" or "Bryan", he was the third of seven children of Angelo Merrick Robbins and his wife, Mary May "Lula" Kimball. Because Angelo was a schoolteacher, the Robbinses lived all over Newaygo County, wherever a teaching position became available. It wasn't until 1906 that the family settled in Ensley Township for ten years. Although Bill never attended a higher institute of learning, he continued to educate himself by helping his father study for his annual teaching certifications.

As Bill became a young man, the political climate in Europe geared up for World War I. There were also changes at home. After Bill's oldest brother died in 1914, the family moved west to Muskegon Heights, a growing community situated three miles inland from Lake Michigan. Here Angelo ended his teaching career and became employed at a nursery, while Bill found work as a chauffeur in the new age of automobiles. One fall day in 1917, Bill was hired to drive a hearse for a funeral. Among the mourners was a blue-eyed, four-foot-eleven, 15-year-old, Marie Lewis. It must have been love at first sight, because they began a courtship that lasted two years. Bill's older brother, Lloyd, was already serving in France with the 32nd Division in a machine gun corps. So, joining the patriotic spirit that was sweeping the nation, Bill enlisted on 23 June 1918 to begin an unforgettable year in a forgotten expedition in American history.

Like most wars, the events in Northern Russia in the early twentieth century had multiple complicated causes. At the beginning of World War I, Russia was one of the Allies, but was undergoing internal turmoil between the Czarist monarchy, the Provisional Republicans (a democratic party known as White Russians), and the Bolsheviks. When the communists overthrew the Provisional government that succeeded the monarchy, they signed an armistice with Prussia, switching sides mid-war. The Allies were horrified, realizing the enemy could now relocate troops to the Western Front, gaining a three-to-two advantage. The U.S. could also lose a fortune in munitions and foodstuffs it had stored at Murmansk, North Russia, originally intended to help the Allied cause. Things changed when the Bolsheviks realized that they had the disadvantage in their armistice with Prussia, and appealed to the Allies for assistance. Britain saw the opportunity not only to re-establish the Eastern Front, but also to colonize the area. Immense pressure was put upon President Wilson to supply American troops for the expedition, since most British troops were occupied in Western Europe. Ostensibly, Americans were sent to Russia to defend their munitions from Axis takeover. The truth is, the weapons had long been "requisitioned" by Bolsheviks by the time they set foot on Russian soil; and the next 17 months would be a senseless waste of American lives for a purposeless and futile campaign that rivaled the wars of Southeast Asia half a century later.

Bill Robbins' basic training took place at Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan. He was assigned to Company I of the newly formed 339th Infantry of the 85th Division, later nicknamed the "Polar Bear Division," because of its service in the American North Russian Expeditionary Force (ANREF). But Russia was the last thing on these Michiganders' minds that summer of '18. They believed they would join their brothers in the trenches of Western Europe. Leaving in late July, they made their way by train and ship to the south of England, where they had the bad luck to be stationed at the wrong place at the wrong time. General Pershing felt he could not spare any of his troops from France, so he chose the 339th to be assimilated into British schemes. The Americans were re-outfitted with British uniforms, rations, and supplies, which were of lowest quality. Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton had designed the outer garments of the uniforms. While constructed to keep out the cold, the soldiers' safety and agility in battle had not been kept in mind. The overcoats were stiff and unwieldy, the boots' slippery soles as useful as high heels on frozen terrain. The horrid rations consisted of ancient canned corned beef and seven-year-old frozen rabbit. Medicine was limited to iodine, quinine, and laxatives. The injury to insult was the replacement of reliable, U.S.-made rifles with the Russian Moisin-Nagant 7.62mm rifle, whose poor design and inaccuracy caused soldiers to describe it as being able to "shoot around corners." Additionally, there was no scabbard for the bayonet, so it had to be permanently fixed to the rifle, making it only useful to roast meat over campfires!

The 339th was sent to Newcastle-on-Tyne, where they embarked for an eleven-day voyage. This transport also included the 310th Engineers, the 1st Battalion, the 337th Ambulance Company and the 337th Field Hospital. The medical training of the latter consisted mainly of learning how to roll bandages. Medical supplies had purposefully been left behind in England to make room for crates of whiskey for British officers. Only a handful of first aid equipment was brought along by some American medics. On their route through the North Sea, influenza took hold, due to one of the ships not being disinfected after its last trip on which it had carried many deadly cases of the illness. Several men died enroute and were buried at sea. When the ships arrived at Archangel on September 7th, a large number of soldiers were ill and had to be quarantined in makeshift hospitals. Four weeks later, the flu ran its course with nearly 100 young men dead and buried in a new cemetery in Archangel. Bill also became ill, but refused to seek medical treatment. He knew that in the contagious atmosphere of the infirmaries his chances of survival were slim. He recovered and was sent to the Railroad Front.

Archangel was then a city of 40,000 inhabitants, located where the Dvina River flows into the White Sea. The surrounding 250,000 square miles are nothing but swampland, with only stunted pine forests breaking up the monotonous landscape. A railroad stretched southward to Moscow for some 900 miles. Several companies, including Company I, were stationed at the Railroad Front, an area of about 125 square miles encompassing both sides of a 17-mile stretch of railroad. Encampments were made along the railroad, and these outposts were defended, along with French troops, from the Bolsheviks ("Bolo"). Besides the French, there were also British and Royal Scots, Italian, Canadian, and Serb troops spread across the province. All were placed under British command; lower-ranking British officers were given authority over other high-ranking officers. The Americans got on well with the other troops, except for the Brits. Unfortunately, the British took advantage of the Americans, even confiscating food, supplies, and gifts sent to them. Many soldiers had to pay to receive goods sent by their own families! Additionally, some in the service organizations stationed in Archangel also joined in to profit in this unethical manner. Bill recalled that he purchased a sweater from the YMCA, which had been made and donated by citizens back home. The Americans were paid in worthless British script; Bill ended up giving away his to a peasant when he left Russia.

The American troops received no help from their superior officers in these matters. ANREF commander, Colonel George Stewart, abdicated his authority to the British command and would not interfere to assist his men. To make matters worse, the major in charge of the 339th was a drunken incompetent. He would send his companies after the enemy without proper intelligence or maps. If they failed in their missions, he would blame them. He so infuriated the enlisted men that he was in danger of losing his life. Bill recalled later some of the men shooting at the chimney of the major's building to scare him into going back from the front. The saving grace in this situation was the lower-ranking American officers, who did all they could to ease the load of those under them, taking part in their privations. These men often risked receiving reprimands from their superior officers as they defended the enlisted men in courts martial, or refused to obey orders that unnecessarily risked their men's lives.

Above and beyond all obstacles was the climate, worse than the enemy himself. With the winter of 1918-1919 being one of the coldest on record, the thermometer plunged to 60 below zero. Bill once told how the men would sit on frozen, snow-covered logs near the campfires while they warmed themselves. When the spring thaw hit, they discovered that some of the "logs" were actually corpses! With inadequate clothing and lack of food, the troops looked to the peasants' ways to survive. They discarded the cumbersome boots for fur moccasins, trapped rabbits, shot wild birds and used grenades to blow fish from the frozen rivers to eat. Always they must stay on the lookout for terrorist attacks. Like the wars in Korea and Viet Nam, our troops could never be sure who was enemy and who was friend.

Meanwhile, the families of the ANREF were appealing to their Congressmen. The Armistice, signed on November 11, 1918, had ended World War I, but their sons were still fighting what seemed an endless war. Finally, an Act of Congress brought the Polar Bears home. Beginning June 3, 1919, the first of the troops shipped out of Archangel for Brest, France. On June 21st, they boarded the S.S. Von Steuben for their final voyage home, arriving in Detroit on July 3rd. Orders to form ranks and march down the street were disregarded, as families mobbed the platforms to embrace loved ones. On July 7th, the Force demobilized at Camp Custer and headed home. Bill received his discharge pay of $284.45. He was fortunate that he was never wounded, and although he did not receive any medals, he was issued a Bronze Victory button. One hundred twenty-one American dead were left behind in Russian soil for another ten years, until a search party returned with the remains of eighty-six.

As for Bill, he married sweet little Marie whose letters sustained him during the bitter hardship of the north. They were wed Christmas Day 1919 and became the parents of five children. All three sons served in World War II: two in the Army Air Corps, the other in the Navy. Bill's years after the war are another story; but when he passed away on 6 August 1972 in Grand Rapids, he was survived by his wife of nearly 53 years, five children, ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. As I stood at his grave in Coopersville Cemetery, Ottawa County, Michigan for the first time in October 2000, I marveled at the obstacles this man had overcome thousands of miles away, and I felt proud to be his descendant. Truly, William Bryan Robbins, Sr. is one of my favorite military ancestors!

Sources:

Newaygo County, Michigan Vital Records

Oceana County, Michigan Clerk's Office

Muskegon County, Michigan Vital Records

1900, 1910, and 1920 U. S. Federal Census Records

Robbins Family Records

Robbins Oral History, as told by Robert Lewis Robbins and Bryan Henry Robbins

Discharge and Enlistment Records of William Bryan Robbins

Quartered in Hell: The Story of American North Russian Expeditionary Force, 1918 %u20131919 by Dennis Gordon, published by The Doughboy Historical Society and G.O.S., Inc., Missoula, Montana, 1982

"Detroit's Own" Polar Bears: The American North Russian Expeditionary Forces, 1918 %u20131919 by Stanley J. Bozich and Jon R. Bozich, published by Polar Bear Publishing Co., Frankenmuth, Michigan, 1985