Classmates

I was recently contacted by some classmates of Gerald who lived in his neighborhood. They remembered him as a quiet kid who went to school and then headed straight home to help out around the house.

One classmate from the Annville-Cleona School System, Ray, recalled that Gerald quit school as soon as he was legally allowed. As we know, he later finished his education in the Naval system. Ray remembers seeing Gerald’s father, Daniel, tinkering with cars in the yard (he was an automechanic) but never got the opportunity to see Gerald much outside of school.

I’ve done a lot of digging on Gerald’s side, but now I think it’s time to focus on Linda. From what classmates and family has told me, I haven’t been able to piece together how the two met. Although I’ve talked to a brother of Linda’s, he was much younger and doesn’t know the whole story. I’m hoping that by finding more relatives and friends of my grandmother, I can start putting together the story of how her and Gerald first fell in love.

Wish me luck!

Mrs. Thomas Kaylor

Thomas Kaylor was married. I found this through a search on Ancestry.com.

I don’t feel it would be right to put her name on here. But I do want to talk to her. I’d like to know her point of view.

A quick Facebook search brought up one person with her name who says she is not the person I’m looking for. Based on her profile, I believe her.

I’m not really sure where to go from here. But I wanted to update on this lead since I posted about it on Twitter.

I’ve chatted with some of Gerald’s classmates. Stay tuned for that information!

In the meantime, anyone know how I might be able to find Thomas Kaylor’s wife? All I have at this point is a name and age. Searches on Ancestry.com aren’t finding any newspaper articles or obituaries. Ideas?

Questions:

• Where is Thomas Kaylor’s wife?

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John Kline the Martyr

I was recently contacted by a cousin of mine who is in the middle of a school project about Civil War ancestors. She asked if I had come across any in our family tree. I hadn’t, but it got me thinking.

After some digging, I managed to find some great information through a “long lost” cousin of mine. Not about a Kline solider, but a Kline minister! John Kline, Jr. was a Brethern martyr who was killed in the Civil War.

As we know, Johanne George Klein arrived in America in 1738 on the “Glasgow” with 348 other passengers. He settled at Amwell, New Jersey. There, he was baptized as a Tunker Brethren and married Dorothy Rebman. Together they raised six sons and one daughter. His eldest son, George Jr. is the grandfather of John Kline the Martyr.
 
John Kline, Jr. was born on June 17th, 1797 to John Kline, Sr. and Mary Hershey. He moved to Virginia as a child and later married Anna Wampler. He lived his life as a farmer and a Brethern Elder. During the Civil War, John gained permission from officers in both the Northern and Southern armies to enable him to travel across military lines. He was outspoken about his stance against slavery, as well. For this, and his opposition to the war, John Kline was jailed several times. Regardless, he managed to travel over 100,000 miles on horseback spreading the gospel and promoting peace.

John Kline was ambushed and killed on June 15, 1864.  A marker still stands where he was martyred. He is buried in the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren cemetery in Broadway, VA.

Thanks to my 6th cousin-twice removed Marty for helping me find this information from the John Kline Homestead. For more information on John Kline and the effort to restore his homestead, please visit the John Kline Homestead website.

Meeting Aunt Emma

I apologize for the long hiatus! But I promise I have the goods to make up for it.

Back in October, I recieved a message from a “long-lost” relative of mine who told me Gerald was her uncle. This led me to a joyful meeting between myself and my Great Aunt Emma. When I told my dad about contacting her, he instantly remembered her and told me about her kind heart. In fact, he said, the last time he saw her, she noticed his college apartment was void of pots and pans so she handed over some of her own.

We decided that we all had to meet (and for her and my dad, reunite). In November, before Thanksgiving, we drove out to her home and had a wonderful lunch. Emma even gave me some old photos of Gerald. One of which was the original clipping of the mysterious Navy photograph.

The pieces are slowly, but surely, coming together. I recently recieved a message on Classmates.com from a friend of Gerald’s. I’m hoping that she can give me some insight on his personality, and hopefully, how he met my grandmother.

Emma was somewhat older than him but doesn’t remember the details of how he met Linda. She does, however, recall their last meeting before he died.

Gerald had taken leave from California to bring Linda and the kids back to Pennsylvania for a visit with the family. When a now-taller Gerald saw Emma he laughed and said, “I can finally pat the top of your head.”

It was a great pleasure meeting Emma and her husband Dan. My favorite part was hearing Dan speak Pennsylvania Dutch. I can just imagine my relatives in generations past speaking the same way to one another!

Now on to the next lead!

Hiatus Over!

After a small hiatus for the holiday season, Finding Kline will be returning next week! Stay tuned for more breakthroughs and findings!

127 Church Street

While I was in town visiting the Lebanon County Historical Society, I stopped by Gerald’s home. This is where his mother and father raised their 11 children; and where my father spent summers and holidays after the accident.

Long Lost Relatives

About three weeks ago I submitted a letter to the editor of the Lebanon Daily News asking their readers if they could contact me with any info about Gerald and Linda. I never heard anything back from them.

Imagine my surprise when I logged onto Ancestry.com to find a message referencing this letter! The sender was writing on behalf of her mother, Emma, who wanted to talk to me. After a little back-and-forth and a few phone calls I managed to reach my Great Aunt Emma–Gerald’s sister.

We’re planning to meet in the next few weeks. I’m so excited to see her and some of the other family I’ve never met!

Great Lakes RTC

This past Saturday, I made an impromptu trip to the Lebanon County Historical Society. I looked through the microfilms to find a photo of Gerald that was taken during his Recruit Training at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in Illinois. It was printed in a 1960 issue of the Lebanon Daily News. The result was a better quality, but still grainy, photo. Below, you can see a comparison of the original find, the microfilm copy and a photo of my brother Dan, taken during his time at Parris Island Recruit Depot for Marine Corps Recruit Training. See the family resemblance?

UPDATE: I’ve found the photo!

Annville-Cleona High School Junior

Through Classmates.com yearbook archive I found this photo of Gerald in his junior year. That’s the last year he attended public high school. I still haven’t had any luck finding pictures of Linda. I’m not sure that she finished high school so it may be a little difficult. Nothing in the papers so far, either.