First Cousin - 3x Removed - Part Three (and last for now)

The man that found Marshall's sailor cap mailed it to me - and I am thrilled beyond words to have it in my hand.  A 95 year old family heirloom, reunited with it's family.  I found yet another mysterious address in the cap headband.  I will go bald pulling my hair out to figure out what "the story of the hat" really is...

I found this in Franklin's notes and diary, my notes in []:

Marshall Mousley   Born: June 10, 1900 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [- Died 1991.]

Enlisted in the Navy at the outbreak of World War 1 and served at Cape May Barracks, U.S. Naval Home and on the USS Sappho. 

After the war was in the Merchant Marine on vessels trading with France, Italy, the Adriatic, Mexican Gulf, and the Pacific.  He was in Livorno, Italy with his brother [Elmer], Uncle [Harry McIlvaine], and his cousins Howard and Horace McIlvaine, Charles West, and Danny [Daniel Webster] Bennett at the time the Black Shirts, led by Benito Mussolini, were battling the Reds [Communist circa 1921.]  They were all in port at the same time but on different vessels.

Marshall was aboard the "U.S.S. George G. Henry" when that tanker burned in France. [It had been hit by a torpedo from a German U-Boat with several men killed.]  He was the Assistant Group Engineer on the Laid Up Fleet in James River, VA.  Engineer on "West Ira" bound for China but was injured in New Orleans and left the vessel.

He later entered business with his father [Thomas Charles] in charge of Howard Street Foundry [believed to be sometime just before 1930, the year Thomas Charles retired.] Sold interest in foundry in 1946 and retired [at age 46].

In 1950, organized the "Circle Realty Company."

Member of American Legion; P.O.S.A [Patriotic Order Sons of America - they maintain the cemetery near the Thomas-Neely House in Washington Crossing, PA]; 32 degree Mason [my g-grandfather, Harry Davis Mousley was also a Mason], member of Frankford Lodge No. 892; Lulu Shine, Philadelphia; Benjamin Franklin Consistory (Scottish Rite); and the Northeast Shrine Club.

He married in 1936 and had no children.


Iggy's Research Notes:


Franklin's notes and diary stop in 1951 although Franklin lived to a ripe old age and died in the early 1990s, also childless.

The Cape May Barracks was a Navy "boot camp" established for the training of newly enlisted men in an "old wooden, resort town hotel."  The facility was later handed over to the US Coast Guard.

The United States Naval Asylum opened in 1831 on the east bank of the Schuylkill just above Gray's Ferry. It functioned as a retirement home for naval officers and housed the government Naval School before the founding of the United States Naval Academy in 1845. In 1879, the Asylum became known as the U.S. Naval Home. Under the command of the Philadelphia Naval Yard Commandant, it was in operation until the 1970s.

The first USS Sappho (SP-1427) was a United States Navy ferry transport in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Sappho was built in 1886 as a wooden-hulled commercial ferry steamer SS Sappho at Bath, Maine, by New England Shipbuilding Company. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, William C. Sproul of Chester, Pennsylvania, for World War I service on 6 August 1918 and commissioned her on 20 August 1918 as USS Sappho.

Sappho was assigned to the 4th Naval District for local transport duty, providing transportation between the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and nearby ports in New York and New Jersey.


Just five days after Sappho was commissioned, SS Delaware accidentally rammed her on 25 August 1918. Repairs were complete by 20 October 1918, allowing Sappho to resume transport service.  During this time of repair, I believe Marshall went to France and back on on the "Anna C. Moore" - The "Anna C. Moore" was sunk off the coast of England by a German U-boat during WWII.

Sappho was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 February 1919, and returned to her owner the same day. Her Navy crew was returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard by the tug USS Triton (YT-10).

Marshall was discharged on 19 February 1919 a day after the USS Sappho was decommissioned.

 The USS Ohio was placed in reserve in the Philadelphia Naval Yard in mid-January, 1919 and later decommissioned in 1922).  Marshall may have "picked up" the cap sometime during this period and may or may not have actually served on board.  Franklin's diary is remarkably detailed, but does not mention the USS Ohio at all.

The "West Ira" was also later sunk by a German U-Boat during WWII in the Caribbean Sea.

I wonder what Marshall thought of German torpedoes...

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

...ah, minions... 

First Cousin - 3x Removed - Part Two

I had no luck in deciphering the names on Marshall Mousley's USS Ohio cap

I investigated the obvious, perhaps one of the ladies was to become his wife? That was not the case, for Marshall married an Elizabeth A. Miller (1910?-1994) in 1936.  Interestingly enough, Elizabeth's father, may have been Fredrick W Miller, who worked as a "hatter" in a "factory."  Could this be the Stetson Hat Factory?

Looking in another direction - I attempted to discover what 35 Ringold B, Trenton, NJ might tell me.  I found a map of the area dated 1908.

I see a house numbered 33 and the place next door labeled "A," but no #35.  Interestingly (to me anyway) is the P and R R.R. Freight House and nearby Philadelphia and Reading (P and R, commonly known as "the Reading") Rail Road Passenger Station.  Being familiar with this area, I was startled to see the railroad tracks - they are long, long LONG gone!!

Today, the scene is vastly different.

As you can see, there is no sign of any railroad facilities!  Also, there is no sign of #33 Ringold Street either.  The monument in the center far right is the Trenton battle monument commemorates the American victory at the first Battle of Trenton, NJ, which occurred on December 26, 1776.  It was completed in 1893.

It isn't clear if it is on the 1908 map - however, today, #35 Ringold Street is the building on the lower right and is home to the Trenton Police Department.  The building with the red A in a balloon is the Reading Senior Citizen Center.  The now vacant field above is where #35 B would have stood.  Stymied!  The Reading Railroad passenger station would have been located where the police department building stands today.

So, I looked into the US Census - picking 1920 as the closest year to 1917-1919, and found an entry for #35 Ringold Street.  It was occupied by a Edward Joseph Fay who was born in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey (born 1873/1877/1881 depending on which source you chose to believe - died 1942), the son of John and Rosa Fay.

Edward's wife was Elizabeth L Fay (1888-1960).  He worked as a brakeman for a "steam railroad."  I wouldn't be surprised if it was for the Reading Railroad.  If not, the Pennsylvania Railroad had a number of branch line tracks only a short stone throw away., including what is now the "Northeast Corridor" for Amtrak.  The census was just about illegible...

I checked the "nearby" neighbor's names - and found none that possibly match with any of the names on Marshall's hat, including Marshall's!

I then looked into the service record for the USS Ohio, and found that this battleship served as a "training classroom" for new recruits - to quote Wikipedia, "Soon after the United States entered World War I [the USS] Ohio [was] recommissioned on 24 April 1917. Throughout the war, she operated out of Norfolk, training crews for the expanding fleet, taking part in battleship maneuvers. She arrived at Philadelphia on 28 November 1918 and was placed in reserve there on 7 January 1919."  Coincidentally(?), Marshall's discharge date aligns with the date the battleship was placed in reserve.  I would conjecture that Marshall was never far from home (Philadelphia) during WWI and spent most of the War in Norfolk, Virginia or at "home" in the Philadelphia Naval Yard..

Stymied for the moment, I did come across something interesting.  The cousin of mine - the one that sent me the photos of Marshall and his brothers - that I posted (here) - when I told him of Marshall's cap, tells me that he has a photo of Marshall's brother Elmer wearing a similar cap!  I await seeing this photo!

First Cousin - 3x Removed

Recently, I came across an interesting item while "Googling" one of my grandfather's 1st cousins (and Franklin Mousley's brother), Marshall Mousley ( 10 June 1900 - September 1984).  His WWI sailor's hat was found in a flea market!  I don't know who the women are - the names are not clearly legible.

A "fellow" blogger, Jacqi prompted me to do this search "just for the heck of it"!  You never know what you might find! I goggled the address in Trenton - it is now the "Reading Senior Citizen's Center. I'm going to try to find out what was there in 1919.