(†)Theodore “Ted” Elmer Oetzel (211.1)

Nov 10

Written By CLGAdmin

Born: 5/1/1890 Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois

Died: 12/31/1970 Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois

Parents: Jacob Oetzel and Elizabeth Nee. Volker

Spouse: Lorena Mae Nee. Roe (1924)

Children: Theodora “Doddie” Ann Oetzel 1925-2012 / Jack Boyton Oetzel 1927-2003 / June Oetzel

Bio:

In 1910, Theodore is 10 years old and living on a farm with mom and dad and older brother George, who is 11, in Worth Township, Woodford County, Illinois. The farm is rented, and Jacob spends zero weeks off of work and is naturalized, reads, and speaks English. Mom can do all but speak English and is not naturalized at this time. They have been in the United States for 17 years. Young Ted and brother George are both in school for 6 months of the year and would go on to complete the 8th grade (the school calendar was beginning to be standardized by the end of the 19th century as a result of school reform agreements between wealthy parents and educators - many researchers say farm schedules had nothing to do with it). The town they are living in, Worth Township, is largely rural with Germantown Hills being the only incorporated area with farmland surrounding the town. Germantown hills would have been a small community near to home, just a couple miles from Worth, while Peoria and Metamora are roughly 6 to 15 miles away. All men on the census are farmers, other than Mr. Leo T. Schwenk who is a blacksmith, and roughly half of the listed citizens are German immigrants.

By 1910, Ted and his parents have moved to Fondulac, Tazewell County to another farm. Ted is 20 years old and brother George is there too, as is brother William (24), who was not on the previous census. There is a note to be made about Ted’s siblings at this point. By 1910, mother Elizabeth has had 8 kids, 7 of whom are alive during their 37 years of marriage while we have only seen three on U.S. censuses. As a reader, we also know they had a daughter named Theodora who was born in Peoria who does not appear on censuses with her brothers and parents, and she may have grown up with another family. I do not know the name of the child who passed early, and Ted’s parents likely had kids who stayed in Germany. All three brothers work as laborers on the farm at this time, the dominant profession, while one man is a fisherman named Joseph Wooster.

The draft for the First World War would begin on June 5, 1917, and Ted along with brother George, would enter service with the U.S. Army on June 28, 1918. Ted would enter M.G. Training at Camp Wheeler, near Macon, Georgia (training focused on teaching non-commissioned officers how to instruct machine gun training to others). Camp Wheeler served as a major East Coast mobilization center for National Guard troops preparing to sail for Europe. He was then transferred to Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Camp Shelby was brand new and was responsible for training nearly 50,000 cadets between 1917 and 1918. The 38th and 101st divisions were trained there, as well as a half dozen other engineering and artillery elements. The 38th would enter combat in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during the peak of fighting. The unit’s officers were immediately reposted to units who had lost their previous officers and were still engaged in active combat. The unit did not suffer substantial losses, losing 301 men and officers before the end of the war. Just over 100 men died in combat with 47 dying to wounds and 68 from non-combat related accidents or incidents and 81 dying from Flu or pneumonia. The 101st would not see combat, as they were organized 9 days before the end of World War 1.

It is an interesting note that Camp Shelby was never supposed to happen, at least not in Hattiesburg. The government was deciding on creating a major training installation in either Meridian or Biloxi but the charismatic Dr. Walter Crawford, a Hattiesburg native, was able to successfully convince General Leonard Wood to select Hattiesburg. Ted would finish his service at Camp Gordon in Atlanta on the rifle range, and would be discharged on January 8th, 1919, at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois having attained the rank of sergeant. Ted’s brother, George, would also enter training at Camp Wheeler and would go on to be assigned to Company M, 143rd Infantry. George would have likely been a new replacement to this Unit, as many of the men were drawn from the 3rd and 5th Texas National Guard, tasked with securing the Mexican border earlier in the decade. They would arrive in France in 1918 and would also go on to fight in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and would be withdrawn from the line in October 1918, a month before the end of the engagement. George’s regiment would suffer much more than the regiments trained by his brother Ted. The 143rd would go on to lose 2,601 men and officers during their time in combat. They suffered 331 officers, and 469 men killed in combat with 177 officers and 329 men having been gassed. They also suffered 39 officers and 474 men sustaining severe wounds. The regiment was demobilized at Camp Bowie, Texas on June 13, 1919. Ted and George’s cousin named Rudolph was also in the 143rd Infantry. George and Rudolph would attain the rank of Private.

Ted is 29 years old during the 1920 census, is fresh out of the military, and is a boarder in Fondulac. He is one of 7 boarders in the house of Mr. Louis Grider, who is a 42-year-old restaurant manager while Ted is a general farmer. The boarders range in age from 65 to 29 (Ted is the youngest) while there is only one lady, 42-year-old Cora Stewart who is widowed and a servant at a restaurant, probably Louis’. Three of the men are also widowers while the other three are single. They work at brickyards, railroads, and coal mines. Ted would go on to marry Lorena Mae Rowe in 1924.

By 1930, Ted and Lorena have started their family and are living in East Peoria at 127 Schertz Street. They rent their house for $20 and other than their two kids, Theodora and Jack, they also have 4 “roomers”. Two of them are 18 and two of them are 23 and they work all sorts of jobs, including as a bridge carpenter and timekeeper at a tractor manufacturer. Ted works as a machinist at a tractor manufacturer. Ted has many neighbors who are veterans including 52-year-old Benett Hill, who was in the Spanish American War. The house does have a radio set.

By 1940, the family has moved to rural Groveland, Tazewell County, Illinois. They live with 15-year-old Theodora, 12-year-old Jack, and 5-year-old June. Jack attends the 5th grade while Theodora is in the 7th grade. Ted is still a machinist at a tractor manufacturer, making $1400 annually. This is one of the higher salaries on the census.

Ted would register for the draft again in 1942 at the age of 51. He was working in Rock Island, Illinois at the Rock Island Arsenal while living at 2448 18th Ave. in Rock Island while his wife lived in Tazewell County. At the time, he is 5’8” and 140 pounds with brown hair and eyes. He has “ruddy” complexion.

Ted would move to Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois where he would pass away on December 31st, 1970.