FAN Club Includes Military Affiliations

Writing about the military service of ancestors in my husband's family tree, I learned via newspaper items and military records that his 1c2r had served in the Spanish American War: George Ainsworth Larimer (1873-1922). I've written about George before. He eloped with Cora May Lutz (1875-1945) on July 4, 1899 in a surprise move that was seen as a "thunder clap from a blue sky" when revealed months later!

Online search for military unit and war

I wanted to document more about George's military service, so I did a simple online search for the Spanish American War, 1898. This took me to a super-informative site marking the centennial of that war, with names, dates, and photos! I was delighted to discover lots of details about Company C, 157th Indiana Volunteer Infantry--the "Goshen Company" in which George served (because most of the men enlisted from the town of Goshen).

Looking at the names of the men in that company, I noticed someone familiar from hubby's family tree: Miles Powell Bradford (1872-1944). A newspaper search gave me more info, including the snippet shown above, about Miles Bradford being on the sick list as Company C was to be mustered out after the war was over, in the fall of 1898.

Served with future brother-in-law

From previous research, I knew that Miles had married George's sister, Atta Larimer (1875-1936) in 1902. They announced their intention to take the train to Chicago to be married by a minister who had previously led their congregation in Goshen, Indiana. Not a surprise, not a thunder clap. 

My discovery that Miles and George had served in the same military unit opened up a fresh avenue of speculation about how Miles might have met his future wife, Atta. Their home town of Goshen, Indiana had 7,800 residents counted in the 1900 US Census, not a tiny fly speck of a town but not a metropolis either.

Could George have encouraged his military buddy Miles to meet or court his sister Atta? Was the men's military service a catalyst in the romance? Or were Atta and Miles acquainted before the war? Since Miles's father operated a Goshen grocery store, and Miles worked with his father, it is possible they met when Atta shopped there. Lots of possibilities here. 

This situation reminds me that military affiliations can be a really key part of an ancestor's FAN club (friends/family, acquaintances, neighbors) and as such, they are worthy of closer investigation.