My Old Ohio Home

Joel Salley of Embden, Maine

2026-09-09T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

Sometime after April 23, 1868, and before his death in 1874, Joel Salley of Embden, Maine, received a letter from Slatersville, Rhode Island. The envelope simply read:

Mr Joel Salley
North Anson
Maine

Who was Joel, and who might have sent him the letter?

Joel Salley

Joel Salley was born about August 1847 in Maine, most likely in Embden, since that is where his parents were living in 1840 and 1850. He is on the 1850 through 1870 censuses with his parents and family and is listed as a farmer in 1870. He died at home November 21, 1871, and is buried with his parents in Sunset Cemetery, North Anson. There is a lot of information about the Salley family in Maine but, unfortunately, that is all I could find on Joel.

Who Sent the Letter?

Joel's cousin Mahala Salley, who was born about 1837, married Moses Esten of Slatersville on June 26, 1854. They and three children were living in Smithfield, RI, in 1860. With them was Mahala's brother Uriah Salley. Note that North Smithfield did not split off from Smithfield until 1870, so there is every reason to believe they were in Slatersville, in what is now North Smithfield.

Uriah Salley, who was born about 1830, enlisted in the Union Army on August 31, 1864, and served with Company B, 3rd Regiment RI Heavy Artillery. He was discharged September 4, 1864. He married Hannah Jackson of Blackstone, Massachusetts, on February 2, 1870 by E.N. Maynard, a minister of Slatersville. They were living in Ward 1 of Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1870, and were in the 1872 Worcester City Directory. By 1877 Uriah was living on Second Avenue, Woonsocket.

By 1865 Mahala's parents, Elias Salley and his wife Mary Dunlap, and the rest of their family had joined Mahala and Uriah in Rhode Island. They were living on Buxton Road, which is in Slatersville. Included was Elias' other son, Edwin. Embden Town of Yore said that Elias moved to Slatersville prior to the Civil War.

Edwin Salley was born about 1843 in Maine. He also enlisted in the Union Army on August 31, 1864, and served with Company B, 3rd Regiment RI Heavy Artillery. He was discharged October 5, 1864. He married Eunice Jane Holt in Smithfield on May 13, 1869. They were both living in Woonsocket in 1870, and was still there in 1877.

So who wrote the letter? I thought maybe I could narrow it down by the handwriting, but it could be a male's or female's, and it could have been that of a 65 year old man. I also thought for a while that the stamp would help, since Google AI said it was only in use for a couple years until it was replaced as the main 3¢ postage stamp. But it turns out that AI was probably wrong, again, since the 1870 series of stamps was very unpopular with people and was only in use for a year.

If the letter was written after 1870, then we could eliminate Edwin, since he was in Woonsocket by then. And if it was written between 1870 and 1871 we could eliminate Uriah, since he was in Worcester. But unfortunately the cancellation only includes a month and day. The earliest known use of that stamp was April 23, 1868, according to the Mystic Stamp Company, and Joel died in 1874. Which doesn't help much either.

So the bottom line is that I don't really know which of the Salleys wrote the letter, Elias, Mahala, Uriah, or Edwin. Assuming that it was a relative who wrote it.

Ann Ellen (Sloan) O'Leary, Kilkeel to Cleveland

2026-09-01T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

When my mother's cousin Nan (Gallagher) Fleming researched our family history, she included a note next to her grandmother Anna Cunningham's sister Bridget saying that Bridget married a Sloan and that she was "Ellen O'Leary's mother." Nan Gallagher evidently knew Ellen O'Leary and expected the rest of her family to know as well, since she didn't include any further explanation. So I looked for someone by that name living in Cleveland.

Anna O'Leary in Cleveland

I found an Anna E. Sloan marrying a Dennis O'Leary in September 1882, most likely at St Augustine's Parish, Cleveland. That church is located on West 14th, but by 1883 when their first daughter was born, they were living on Broadway on the Southeast side, not far from the Rodgers clan in Newburgh. They later moved to Newman Avenue, off East 65th Street where they remained at least until Dennis' death on February 11, 1920. Ann was living around the corner on East 65th when she died, July 15, 1939.

On the 1910 Census Ann is called "Ann Ellen," in 1920 she was "Anna L," and in 1930 "Helen". Her death record called her Ann Ellen. So I am sure this is the person Nan Gallagher was referring to.

But Ann (Sloan) O'Leary's records consistently said she was born in Canada. How could she be the daughter of Bridget Cunningham, who was from either Ballymadeerfy or Ballygowan Townland, Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland?

The Canada Connection

Some years ago, on Ros Davies' County Down Website, I found a listing for a Bridget "Biddy" Cunningham of Kilkeel who married James Sloan on May 20, 1846, at the Catholic church in Kilkeel and was the mother of Bridget, born 1868, and Sarah, born 1871. (Since then, I have found the marriage in the Kilkeel parish records at Catholic Parish Records, Kilkeel and the births in the civil records at IrishGenealogy.ie.) What I should have noticed at the time was the long gap between the marriage date and the two births.

A few months ago I started working on this family again. Either more databases have come on line since I looked at them last, or I was a little more diligent in searching. Whatever the case, I found two of their children baptized in Kilkeel in 1849 and 1851, filling in the gap between their marriage and the birth of Bridget a bit.

More important, I found a James Sloan and Bridget Cunningham in London, Ontario, in the mid to late 1850's. They had three children baptized at St Peter's Cathedral between 1854 and 1859, but none before or after those dates. One was a son named Henry, born September 18, 1855 and baptized November 18. Then in the Irish civil records, I found a Henry Sloan, age 9, who died in Glenloughan, Kilkeel, on November 18, 1864, son of James and Bridget Sloan.

Since I have a lot of confidence in Nan Gallagher's research, young Henry's birth and death records were enough for me to conclude that Henry's parents, James and Bridget "Biddy" (Cunningham) Sloan, began their marriage in Ireland and then spent some years between 1851 and 1863 in Canada before returning to Ireland. Making it quite possible for them to have a daughter Ann Ellen, born in Canada, yet from a family in Kilkeel.

Conclusion

I never found the baptism record for Ann Ellen Sloan herself, despite browsing every page of the St Peter's Cathedral parish registers from 1855 to 1863. Perhaps her parents moved out of that parish and into another whose records are not online. Still, Nan Gallagher seems to have been a very careful researcher and her information has always proved true, so there is no reason for me to doubt that the lady in Cleveland belongs to the family in Ireland.

Mrs Elsie Hoffman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2026-08-10T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

In April 1949, Mrs Carl Hoffman of Philadelphia received a letter from the Pitcairn Islands. What can we learn about her, and why might she be receiving a letter from there?

Elsie (Press) Hoffman

Mrs Elsie (Press) Hoffman was born 14 July 1907, in Philadelphia, the daughter of Henry F Press and Catherine Simons. [This is a transcribed record and that is how Elsie's father's name was transcribed.] Elsie is with her parents and her younger brother Harvey at 3535 K Street, Philadelphia, on the 1910 Census. The street name on the census looks like an "H" but her father is listed at 3535 K Street in the 1910 Philadelphia City Directory. They are still at that address in 1920, joined by children Raymond and Ruth. Elsie's father Harvey died October 6, 1943 in Philadelphia. Catherine (Simons) Press died June 26, 1967, at Rolling Hill Hospital, Chiltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. They are both buried in the East Cedar Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Carl Robert Hoffman

Carl Robert Hoffman was born February 24, 1905 in Philadelphia, son of Robert Hoffman and Teresa Fehrenbach. He is with his parents and older sister Freda at 2647 Hutchinson Street in 1910. In 1920, he and Freda are with their mother at 2849 Franklin Street. His father may be the Robert C Hoffman in the State Homeopathic Hospital in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Robert died on April 27, 1929, at Wernersville State Hospital, South Heidelberg, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Carl's mother Theresa (Fehrenbach) Hoffman died in Germantown November 19, 1933, while living at the address on Franklin Street. They are buried together at Mount Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Carl and Elsie Hoffman

Elsie Press and Carl Robert Hoffman wer married on 16 April 1927 in Philadelphia by Horace H Hunt, the pastor of the North Frankford Baptist Church.

In 1930 Carl was living with his mother at 2849 Franklin Street, while Elsie was boarding down the block at 102 Cambria Street. In 1940, they are listed on the census together renting at 4767 Fifth Street. But in October of that year, when Carl registered for the draft, he was at 1341 Tyson Avenue while Elsie was at 448 West Roosevelt Blvd. In 1950 they are together at 1341 Tyson Avenue, the address on the envelope.

Carl Hoffman was living still at that address when he died on March 8, 1969 at JFK Hospital. He buried in Mt Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia, with his parents, his sister Freda, and her husband. Elsie's name is not on the headstone and she does not show up in a search at findagrave.

Elsie (Press) Hoffman died in Audubon Borough, Camden County, NJ on January 21, 2000. Her last place of residence on her Social Security information was Philadelphia. I don't know where she is buried.

The Hoffmans had no children.

Why the letter from the Pitcairn Islands?

I had no idea why Elsie Hoffman would get a letter from the Pitcairn Islands so I asked Google's AI agent. Its answer seemed reasonable and was backed up by a few cited websites. The most likely reason was that she collected either curios or postage stamps from the island. One website said "in 1914, the opening of the Panama Canal placed Pitcairn on the direct run to New Zealand. Many of the new visitors were liners carrying hundreds of passengers anxious to have mementoes of the island." But soon many islanders left and "the public economy of Pitcairn languished and it was not until postage stamps were issued in 1940 that the island was able to afford some of the public amenities taken for granted in other parts of the world."

I was going to leave it at that, but I tried Googling "letters from ivan christian pitcairn island" and found an article called "Business: Bounty Barter" dated March 20, 1950, in the Time magazine archives. It said that in the fall of 1940, Fayette R Plumb, Inc., a tool making company in Philadelphia, received a letter from Ivan E Christian of Pitcairn Island ordering two small axes. Mr Christian included three dollars and some hand-painted souvenir leaves. He said to bill him if they cost more. Ivan ordered more tools and paid the bill "by sending handmade baskets which Plumb’s Cashier Elsie Hoffman obligingly sold to friends." He then asked for sheets and pillowcases which Elsie provided in exchange for more baskets. The orders and correspondence continued until at least the date of the magazine article.

So, Elsie Hoffman was not just collecting items for herself but was also selling them to people she knew. Which perfectly explains why she received the letter.

The sender of the letter

The return address on the back says:
From
Mr Ivan E Christian
Pitcairn Island

Ivan E. Christian was born in May 1919 and is a descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty in 1789. Besides sellling curios, Ivan was later the magistrate of Pitcairn Island from 1975 to 1984. He died in 1991. He is easily "googleable" if you want more information.

Sources

The sources for Carl and Elsie Hoffman and families are the usual birth, marriage, and death records, along with findagrave and the Philadelphia City Directory.

The Information about Pitcairn Island came from:
History of Pitcairn Island, at Pacific Union College, Pitcairn Islands Study Center.
The Time magazine article "Business: Bounty Barter", Time, March 20, 1950.

Why Do AI Agents Lie, Steal, and Make Excuses?

2026-07-29T00:00:00-04:00

I've had a few run-ins with Google's Gemini AI agent lately, so the other day I finally asked it a couple of questions. Here are its answers, heavily edited. I've included the sources for its replies at the end. Some of them are actually worth looking at. The highlighting is mine.

Where did AI agents learn to lie, steal content, and then make excuses when you call them on it?

AI agents do not learn to lie, steal, or make excuses the way humans do because they lack intent, consciousness, and awareness. Instead, these behaviors are unintended side effects of how they are trained on human data.

Why AI "Lies" (Hallucination)

• Pleasing the user: Systems are optimized to give an answer rather than admit ignorance.
[.. like making up immigration events and sources to match.]

Why AI "Steals" Content

• No inherent memory: An AI usually cannot track or cite the exact source of its data.
[This is the one that really got me ticked off. It stole the data from a recent article on this site and would not cite the article, no matter how many times I asked it to.]

Update: See the article AI models get convenient amnesia about source material as they grow, MIT boffins find

which can be summarized in this one quote from the article:

"We find that the more data a model is trained on, the less attributable its generated samples become, a phenomenon we henceforth refer to as attribution decay."

If you happen to have a subscription to Nature.com, you can read the original paper here: Outputs of generative diffusion models are often unattributable

Why AI Makes Excuses

• Simulated empathy: When caught in an error, the AI generates a standard corporate-style apology.
[... which has really nauseated me.]

I thought so. AI agents are no better than the miserable wicked human beings they learn from.

Its answer:

Because AI learns exclusively from a massive digital mirror of our world, it reflects both the best and the worst of humanity. It processes billions of pages of human text—including internet arguments, biases, corporate jargon, and misinformation. Without a moral compass or real-world understanding, the AI simply mimics those patterns. It cannot distinguish between a helpful truth and a convincing deception.

Conclusion

So is AI to blame? There really is no AI. It is as Walt Kelly said in Pogo "We have met the enemy and he is us." AI is a massive compendium of the recorded output of human beings, placed in the hands of other human beings. It shouldn't have been hard to guess what would happen. Do you know anyone who would lie, cheat, and steal to keep their job, and then make excuses when they get caught? Then why expect any better from AI?

Its sources:

https://levelup.gitconnected.com/how-ai-learns-to-lie-and-why-that-should-worry-you-f2ee2093d1d1
https://lawreview.uchicago.edu/online-archive/law-ai-law-risky-agents-without-intentions

https://www.wired.com/story/uncanny-valley-podcast-what-happens-when-your-coworkers-are-ai-agents/
https://www.orangemantra.com/blog/what-are-ai-agent/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joeokelliott_gain-9-hoursweek-5-levels-of-ai-speech-to-text-activity-7394403165196169216-YlCx
https://ai.plainenglish.io/the-great-ai-hallucination-problem-why-large-language-models-generate-false-information-012b092ce0c5
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tool-use-hallucination-hidden-ai-reliability-gap-breaking-n4eoc
https://www.facebook.com/itsryangeorge/posts/why-is-ai-such-a-freakin-liar-/1335643418372977/
https://blog.synapticlabs.ai/ai-hallucinations-why-ai-lies-trust-verify-guide
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-ai-from-making-things-up-your-essential-guide-sudha-sreejith-k0wnc
https://tendem.ai/blog/web-scraping-ai-training-data-legal-practical-guide
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-helpful-content-update-results-drop-ai-generated-2023-9
https://www.fastcompany.com/91398460/ai-is-quietly-reshaping-the-way-we-talk
https://www.asiapacificsecuritymagazine.com/why-recycling-machine-generated-content-is-dumbing-us-down/
https://www.equalityinforensics.org/resources/blog/artificial-success-how-the-utilization-of-generative-ai-destroys-forensics
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11117051/
https://www.joneswalker.com/en/insights/blogs/ai-law-blog/ai-governance-series-part-1-the-grok-warning-when-ai-governance-fails-in-real.html?id=k%28v
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hidden-truth-ai-memory-why-forgetting-actually-design-abhinay-khanna-tmomc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NauZE2tiyo
https://medium.com/@nomannayeem/the-fabrication-problem-how-ai-models-generate-fake-citations-urls-and-references-55c052299936
https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security/ai-literacy-human-intuition-vs-machine-inference.html
https://www.dreikon.de/en/news/online-marketing-knowledge/ai-and-copyright/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nitin7gupta_ai-is-effectively-the-sum-of-all-human-intelligenceand-activity-7297977180423090178-gMdh
https://miniphilosophy.substack.com/p/the-bias-that-is-holding-ai-back
https://frontline.thehindu.com/newsletter/the-frontline-weekly/epstein-files-moltbook-ai-elite-power-ethics/article70591637.ece
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZu1Ve-Ofmj/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflecting-shadow-ai-mirror-our-collective-psyche-arnone-sphr-68gcc
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/5LNxeWFdoynvgZeik/nobody-s-on-the-ball-on-agi-alignment
https://medium.com/@freeasabird7774/the-alignment-paradox-why-true-ai-safety-requires-abandoning-alignment-eb67a2a46546
https://shelf.io/blog/your-ai-agents-could-fail-and-you-dont-even-know-it/

Removed Articles

2026-07-27T00:00:00-04:00

There were two articles on this site with the titles: Russell Blackwell and Bess Young of Harrison County, Ohio and Fact Checking a Specific AI Generated Wiki Site.

I have removed them. I am tired of having my site scraped by AI bots. In this particular case, Google scraped the information from both articles. It cited the second for information that appeared in the first. It never cited the first article.

If you are interested in the contents of either article, please email me.

Update:

I have put the article about fact checking back online. Google had already scraped the information and there is nothing I can do to change that or remove it from its AI training base of information.

I deleted all content from the article about Russell Blackwell and Bess Young. It is too late for that article as well, but I value that article more than the fact checking article.

From now on I will not be publishing the actual articles on this site, but instead just inform people of what I have written about and how they can obtain the information. My email address will be at the bottom of the page on the main part of the site.

That is, unless I can block Google, Gbot, and Perplexity from accessing my site. Google seems to be the main offender. Bing, Quant, and Ecosia provide links back to my articles when you use them to search. That would include DuckDuckGo, since they use Bing. Perplexity does not behave properly. It did not provide a link to the Blackwell article, although it had the contents when I searched there for it.

If the offending bots respect my request in my robots.txt file, then I might post articles after all. In that case, you would be able to find the articles using one of the good search engines--Bing, Quant, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia--but not using Google or Perplexity.

But I don't expect them to respect my request.

Update:

I have put back both articles. I checked to see how Google Gemini was handling a few other articles on this site and found that it cited all of them. So maybe the Russell Blackwell article was an exception, or maybe it did some good to yell at the AI machine about it.

Russell Blackwell and Bess Young of Harrison County, Ohio

2026-07-21T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

In September 1918, Miss Bess Young of Harrison County, Ohio, received a letter from Private R.E. Blackwell
with the United States Army in Europe. The envelope read:
Private R.E. Blackwell
Co. D. 308 Motor Supply Train
American Ex Forces
A.P.O. 762
postmarked Rec'd From Army, Bordeaux
10 AM Sep 4 1918
marked: Soldiers Mail O.A.S.

to
Miss Bess Young
R.R. #4 Cadiz [scratched out]
Uhrichsville
Harrison Co. Ohio US

Censored by
E Vanderpoel
1st Lieut 2. M.C. U.S.A.

Stamped: Passed As Censored [something] A.E.F.

Can we learn a little more about this couple?

Russell Errett Blackwell

Russell Errett Blackwell was born February 13, 1888, at Station 15, Monroe Township, Harrison County, Ohio, the son of Martin Luther Blackwell and Sarah Frances Miller. In 1900 he was with his parents and siblings in Bowerston Village, Monroe Township. Station 15 was located on the railroad line, just south of where Ohio Route 151 meets U.S Route 250. Bowerston Village is about 5.3 miles north of that. The family was still in Monroe Township in 1910, presumably at the same place. The 1910 census doesn't give any details as to location.

World War I

Russell registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, in Cadiz, Ohio, and enlisted in the United States Army on September 19, 1917. He was assigned to the 332nd Infantry at first, but on May 12, 1918, he was transferred to the 308th Supply Train. Both units were attached to the 83rd Infantry Division, which trained at Camp Sherman, just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio. The Division staged for departure to Europe at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and Camp Mills, Long Island NY, in late May 1918, before leaving for Europe via various ports. Russell's unit left from Boston on June 12, 1918, and arrived in Le Havre, France, on the 28th. The 83rd was designated as a depot division and assigned to the area of Le Mans.

Depot divisions were located at the French ports. They received newly arriving soldiers and provided six weeks of basic training before they went to the front. And, yes, Le Mans is a port. The river Sarthe is navigable out to the English Channel.

Russell Blackwell returned home to the United States in 1919, leaving Brest, France, on July 1 and arriving in Boston on July 12. [note: his information says June 12, but I am assuming that is a mistake.] He was discharged July 19, 1919.

While at Camp Sherman, Russell survived a serious outbreak of the Spanish Influenza:

"In Chillicothe and at Camp Sherman, the disease spread just as quickly as it did everywhere else. Thousands of residents and soldiers were infected in a very short time. Approximately 5,686 cases of influenza were documented among Camp Sherman soldiers in 1918. 1,777 of them were unable to ward off the disease and died."

Russell's letter to Bess Young was postmarked Bordeaux. That was where the mail from the American troops was gathered and sent to the United States. It was censored by 1st Lt Edwin T Vanderpoel of Metuchen, New Jersey, the commanding officer of the 308th Motor Supply Train.

Bess Dale Young

Bess Dale Young was born March 24, 1889, in Stock Township, Harrison, Ohio, the daughter of John Young and Annie E. Baker. In 1900 she is with her parents and siblings in Stock Township. In 1910 the census page says they were living on the Moravian Road, which runs west from Cadiz to Deersville. Based on the birth dates of his children,

Bess' great grandfather, also named John Young, was born in Ireland about 1789 and arrived in Harrison County between 1829 and 1834. The tree at familysearch has exact dates for his birth and death and that of his wife, but provides no source for the information. John's wife's name is Martha on the censuses but the tree says it was Matilda. They had a daughter named Matilda but not one named Martha, so maybe Matilda is correct. Her daughter Elizabeth (Young) McIlroy's death record says her name was Matilda Goorley. The tree says it was Martha Matilda McDougal. Again, no source at familysearch for her surname.

Russell and Bess (Young) Blackwell

Russell Blackwell was discharged from the Army on July 19, 1919, and on September 3 he and Bess were married in Harrison County by Charles Gilmore, a Presbyterian minister. They lived in a number of places over the years: Uhrichsville in 1920, Monroe Township in Harrison County in 1930, and at 736 Second Street NW in New Philadelphia in 1940 and 1950. They were still at that address on April 9, 1974 when Russell died. They had been married almost 55 years. They had no children.

Russell worked as an oil well pumper until September 1938 at which point he was unable to work, according to his WWII Draft Registration form. He evidently had some kind of pension, since his 1950 census information said he had received $650 in income other than wages and salaries.

Bess Blackwell, still residing in New Philadelphia, died on May 18, 1982. Both died at Union Hospital, Dover, Ohio, and both are buried in Evergreen Burial Park, New Philadelphia.

Obituary of Russell Blackwell

Russell E. Blackwell, 86, of 736 2nd st. NW, New Philadelphia, died following complications Tuesday morning in the extended care unit at Union Hospital. He had been a patient five weeks. Born at Station Fifteen, near Dennison, his parents were the Martin Luther and Sarah Frances Miller Blackwell. He was a retired oil well worker and an Army veteran of World War I. He also was a member of First Presbyterian Church of New Philadelphia, a 32nd Degree Mason of Valley of Columbus and the Blue Lodge of Leesville. Surviving are his widow, Bess Young Blackwell; five sisters, Edna Blackwell and Carolyn Blackwell, both of Columbus, Mrs. Ray (Dorothy) Copeland of Tiro, O., Mrs. Oscar (Ethel) O'Donnell of Dennison and Mrs. Lyda Reaveley of Salinas, Calif. Two brothers and a sister are deceased. Services will be Thursday at 3:30 in Linn-Hert-Geib Funeral Home with Rev. Stuart Barr officiating. Interment will be in Evergreen Burial Park. Friends may call Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at the funeral home.

Findagrave says this was originally published in The Times-Reporter 10 Apr 1974.

Conclusion

It seems a shame to have all this information on these two people, descendants of some of the earliest families in Harrison County, and have no one to share it with. But, as mentioned, they had no children. It makes me wonder who kept the letter after Bess died and how long the family held on to it before someone sold it off. Hopefully a relative will find this article. You can find Bess Young's page in the familysearch tree here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LKVP-ZL7. Clicking on Russell's name will take you to the Blackwells.

Russell wrote Bess another letter, postmarked September 7, 1918, at A.P.O. 762, Le Mans. As of this writing, the envelope is for sale here: https://www.postalhistory.com/results.asp?group=20&sort=2&cs=oh.

When writing the section on WWI, I relied mainly on the article in Thunderbolt. After I had finished I realized that the familysearch site had the original government document on line. You can find that in the last source listed under the WWI section. The Thunderbolt article agrees completely with the original source. Familysearch helpfully tells us that the information about the 83rd division is on images 365 to 372 of the government's document.

I might have gone overboard on sourcing this article. If you would like to understand why see the article Fact Checking a Specific AI Generated Wiki Site.

Sources

The sources for Russell Blackwell and Bess Dale Young and families are mostly the usual birth, marriage, and death records, along with findagrave, draft registrations, and the Philadelphia City Directory. Email me if you need the exact details. Other sources were:

Ohio Railroad Stations, Past and Present, Harrison County at https://www.west2k.com/ohstations/harrison.shtml
Ohio WWI Returning Soldier Index Cards at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7BNX-4ZT2?lang=en

Thunderbolt, Volume 71, Issue 1, Winter 2017, "Golden Lions–83rd Infantry Division during World War One" at https://www.83rdassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ThunderboltWinter_Final_pages_online.pdf

Harbour of Le Mans at https://www.lemans-tourisme.com/en/port-capitainerie-du-mans.html

Mail by Rail: The Story of the Postal Transportation Service, by Bryand Alden Long with William Jefferson Dennis, Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, New York, 1951, at the website of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2010-10/mailbyrailstoryo00long/mailbyrailstoryo00long.pdf

Thank you to this article at Roads to the Great War for pointing to that book. https://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-railway-mail-service-goes-to-war.html

"The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 at Camp Sherman" at the website of the National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/articles/influenza-at-camp-sherman.htm

familysearch.org "American Expeditionary Forces, Infantry, 83rd Division" at https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Forces,_Infantry,_83rd_Division
Click on FamilySearch Digital Library, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/244497, and it will take you to

Order of battle of the United States land forces in the World War : American expeditionary forces. Divisions, by Army War College (U.S.). Historical Section, US Government Printing Office, Washington:1931. images 365 to 372, at https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/244497-order-of-battle-of-the-united-states-land-forces-in-the-world-war-american-expeditionary-forces-divisions

Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939, Muster Roll of Company "D" of the 308th Motor Supply Train at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:662H-K6KB?lang=en

U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, at https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/61174/records/4176607

Fact Checking a Specific AI Generated Wiki Site

2026-07-14T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

While working on the article Russell Blackwell and Bess Young of Harrison County, Ohio, I wanted to know more about the 83rd Infantry Division in WWI, so I searched for it. One of the results was an AI-generated wiki's article about the unit. It looked well-written and I was going to rely on it until I started noticing some statements that seemed irrelevant to the subject. The information said to be sourced in footnote[9], compared to the footnote itself, is what first got my attention. I decided to fact check the article and the results are below.

The short answer is this: I didn't find anything incorrect, but there were many statements in the article that were not supported by the sources listed in the footnotes for that section. The article seemed to pull in a lot of information that the AI had accumulated and thought was pertinent to the subject. But in those cases it never provided a source for the information it included. More than once the article would discuss the 83rd's activity in WWI but the footnote would refer to WWII. On the good side, it did list sources about the unit in WWI, and I was able to put something together from looking at the sources themselves.

To make sense of the rest of this article you will need to go to grokipedia and search for "83rd Infantry Division (United States)."

A Breakdown of discrepancies

Here is a breakdown of the agreements and discrepancies between the article and the sources, broken down by sections supported by a specific footnote.

from the beginning down to [1][2]

sources:
[1] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-83rd-infantry-division
[2] https://armydivs.com/83rd-infantry-division

Both are entirely about WWII and say nothing to support the first part of the first sentence.

from there down to [2][3]

[2] https://armydivs.com/83rd-infantry-division

See above.

[3] https://www.cityofgroveok.gov/building/page/united-states-army-83rd-infantry-division-thunderbolt
Returns a 404 Page Not Found Error. Doing a site search at www.cityofgroveok.gov for 83rd Infantry Division found nothing. "Thunderbolt" was a nickname acquired during WWII, so I don't think this site said anything about WWI.

from there all the way down to [2][1]

This includes three paragraphs. They are about WWII. I was only concerned about WWI so I did not check them.

from "Activation and Training" down to [5]

[5] https://www.usar.army.mil/WWI/LegacyUnits/
This was fine. The source is a military site that includes the activation date of the 83rd Infantry Division in WWI.

from there down to [6]

[6] https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3707
This site is about Camp Sherman. True, the camp was newly constructed. From there the article conjectured why the the camp was constructed and adds, from somewhere else or from its imagination, that it had something to do with the army going from a small organization to a much larger one. All of that could be true but, if it is, the information comes from somewhere else and not the source cited.

from there down to [7]

[7] https://www.83rdassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ThunderboltWinter_Final_pages_online.pdf
The source says nothing about the Selective Service System.

from there down to [8]

[8] https://www.normandytothebulge.be/83rd-infantry-division/history
True, the 83rd was made up mainly of men from Ohio. The source does not say how large the unit was by late 1917.

from there down to [6]

[6] https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3707
The source says nothing about any of this.

from there down to [9]

[9] https://www.woodlandheightsohio.com/living-in-chillicothe
This is a local Chillicothe site. It says nothing about training soldiers. It says "Winters are typically short but very cold, with temperatures typically ranging from 24°F to 42°F, though they can drop below 7°F!"

Opinions might vary about whether those temperatures in winter are harsh. But they are milder than the winters in Northern Ohio, and certainly nothing like the "harsh Midwestern winters" experienced in Northern parts of the Midwest.

The site says nothing about "rudimentary sanitation that contributed to outbreaks of influenza."

It is true that there was a serious outbreak of the Spanish influenza at Camp Sherman, but that source says nothing about it.

from there down to [10]

[10] https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/83rd_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

This is a wiki based site. It provides no sources for any of its information about the 83rd Infantry Division and shouldn't be used as a source. I didn't bother to check if its account agreed with the AI-wiki.

The section entitled "Order of Battle" - footnotes [11] and [12]

[11] https://www.newrivernotes.com/order-of-battle-unit-structure-american-forces-world-war-i/
The source agrees with what is said in the article. But source [12] is a better-known site and would be enough support.

[12] https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Forces%2C_Infantry%2C_83rd_Division
Familysearch, "American Expeditionary Forces, Infantry, 83rd Division" familysearch gives their source for the information: Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War. American Expeditionary Forces. Division. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1931 FamilySearch Digital Library pp. 358-365; Images 365-372

So the AI article is accurate regarding the 308th Supply Train and the 332nd Infantry. But neither site say anything about the last paragraph in this section.

The section entitled "Combat Operations"

I did not need the information about the 332nd Infantry Regiment so I did not check this section.

"Casualties and Demobilization" down to [13]

[13] https://armyhistory.org/viva-lamerica-the-332d-infantry-on-the-italian-front/
This site is mostly about the 332nd Infantry Regiment's activities in Italy. It says nothing to support the statement that the 83rd "sustained relatively low casualties." And it doesn't provide any source for its information.

from there down to [13][8]

[13] see above. The source agrees with the AI-wiki article.

from there to the end [18]

[18] https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/OrderofBattle4.pdf
The article seems correct. I didn't read the source closely. It is very detailed and I didn't need the information.

1886 Obituary of James Gratton

2026-01-24T00:00:00-05:00

From a typescript of the obituary, included in the Gratton family files and probably done by Wilfred Harrison.

Derbyshire Courier, November 13, 1886

An old Dronfield Liberal has just gone to that place where oppositions cease from troubling, and politicians are at rest. Jame Grattan, locally known as the Mayor of Dronfield, probably from the interest he took in the sittings of the local magistrates which he attended with greater regularity than any of the J.P's upon the Bench, died on Friday. Many years ago he was landlord of the Green Dragon Inn in that town. He was an enthusiastic Liberal and a firm believer in Mr. Gladstone and all his works, and was a familiar and prominent figure in all the demonstrations of the party which have taken place any time during the past half century. His advocacy of Liberalism was chiefly confined to narrating the stirring events which occurred during the first elections in the Division, and he was never so happy as when fighting his battle o'er again, in relating his exploits in connection with the agitation for the repeal of the Corn Laws. He took a gossiping interest in all local affairs, and his constant inquiry was if there was anything going off. At last he has gone off at the advanced age of 76.

Notes

James was buried on the 8th, so maybe the obituary meant he died on Friday the 5th, not the 12th.

1869 Letter from Henry and Maria Boswell to Emily Hall

2026-01-23T00:00:00-05:00

Included in the Gratton family files collected by Wilfred Harrison (1905 - 1992), of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, a descendant of James Gratton, was the following letter written in 1869 from Henry and Maria Boswell to Emily Hall. Following the letter is a transcription and some notes regarding the people mentioned.

Transcription

Boyds Mill Street
Attercliff Road
Jan 14th 1869

My Dear Sister,
I should have answered yours sooner but thought I would wait and see if Maria got any better. But I am sorry to tell you she is no better and little Harry is very poorly. We have tried all over to get a woman but cannot. We should feel vary grateful if you could come and stay with us, as I should then know the house was left in honest hands. I think of sending Maria to Buxton to see if that will do her any good, as she had been recommended to go. I hope your mistress will let you come and I will pay all expenses. Be sure to write by return of post.

In haste from your affectionate brother and sister, H & M Boswell

P.S. Mr H Billops called to ask for your address. His mother is dead.

Notes

I corrected or modernized the spelling and added some punctuation. "Little Harry" is their son, born in the 2nd Quarter of 1868 and died 2 years later in the 1st Quarter of 1871. They also had an earlier son Joseph, born in the 1st Quarter of 1866 and died in the 2nd Quarter of 1869.

I don't know who little Maria was. She is not with the Boswells on the 1871 census. There are no matching birth records for a Maria Boswell or Gratton from 1861 to 1869, unless she was born pretty far from Derbyshire. Maria Boswell probably wanted to send little Maria to Buxton because of the thermal mineral waters found there.

Mr H Billops is Henry Billups who married Maria and Emily's sister Agnes on 31 October 1869 in Sheffield. His mother, Jane (Davison) Billups Golding, died 8 November 1868 in Attercliffe.

Possibly a Letter from Emily Hall to Jane Billups

2026-01-15T00:00:00-05:00

Included in the Gratton family files collected by Wilfred Harrison (1905 - 1992), of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, a descendant of James Gratton, was the following letter, probably from Emily Hall to Jane Billups. Following the letter is a transcription and some notes regarding the people mentioned.

Transcription

My dear Niece, This your dear mother history. I thought you and John would like it.

Agness Gratton 4 daughter of James and Ann Gratton, born April 4th 1845 and was married Oct -- 1869. She came to America in 1873 and brought John Henry with her. Jennie was born June 15, 1874 and James William August 11, 1876, Tom September 1878, and dear mother passed away March 13, 1880 and entered Episcopal Church or the Church of England Cemetery Lewistown, Mifflin County, PA.

Do you know when James William died or where?

Notes

This looks to me like a letter that Emily (Gratton) Hall intended to send to her sister Agnes (Gratton) Billups' daughter Jane, or Jennie, some time after Agnes' death. Agnes and her husband Henry "Harry" Billups kept in touch with Emily after they moved to Pennsylvania, and their letters included the exact birth dates of their three children born in America. See Harry and Agnes (Gratton) Billups, Letters on this site. Of course it could have been one of Jennie's other aunts--perhaps Harry and Agnes had written other people besides Emily--but I'm guessing it was Emily since the letter was found with her papers.

It must have been written after April 27, 1882, since that is when James William Billups died.

The letter raises a few questions:

1) How did the writer know James had died?

2) Did Harry continue to write his in-laws in England after his wife died? How else would anyone in England know about James' death? If Harry was still writing as late as 1882, why aren't those letters with the other 35 in Emily's collection? Or did he write someone else, maybe the Boswells?

3) Does it tell us that Jennie and John were still together? If so, were they still with their father, Harry? Tom had been with his paternal aunt Naomi (Billups) Jackson in Pittsburgh since at least the date of the 1880 census.

4) But the biggest question to me is: Why was the letter never sent? Had the family in England lost touch with Harry? Had he, perhaps, written to tell them he was moving and then never wrote to tell them where?