Roy Long and Vivian Maupin: early 1900's

Roy and Vivian—

While attending a writing class at church, someone in the class had begun writing her family history with a story of how her grandparents met.  As almost the eldest in my family, I thought I’d better write more of my family stories also.

Grandpa Roy grew up in a Baptist farm family of 12 children outside of DeSoto  MO near Big River. His mother was the daughter of a German miner and his father was from a Jefferson County Mo. family that had been farming and mining there before statehood. Any schooling Grandpa had would have been in a one room country school.He was raised with hard work and chores, but  Roy broke  away from the family traditions of farming or mining  to work at Missouri Pacific Railroad shop in De Soto, MO as a welder/boilermaker.   He was tall with blond good looks and based on notes, postcards, and photos that he saved, he was well loved by the ladies in the area.

  

Grandma Vivian grew up in a Methodist-Episcopal family with 7 children in a large Victorian home in DeSoto Mo.  Her mother’s family was from England and my aunt remembers tea parties and lace-curtain- elegance.  Grandma was raised in a more privileged family that was also more fun-loving.  During the Depression, an uncle gave all of the girls in the family violins and the boys each got a dime to buy ice cream with.  My dad often told stories of riding in the rumble seat of his grandfather’s Packard. Vivian’s father was the foreman of the Missouri Pacific roundhouse and the family travelled often by train to St. Louis for shopping and to Kansas City and Texas where family lived. She was one of those women whose personality and kindness sparkled in her eyes.

I don’t know how they met—the only common thread was Roy worked in the Missouri-Pacific shops and Vivan’s father was the foreman of the  Missouri-Pacific roundhouse in the same small town of De Soto, Missouri..  Grandpa had turned many a female head, and Grandma was a small town aristocrat. . .  and the boss’s daughter.  I have no letters and no photos of them at this time.  World War I was looming.

Roy enlisted in the Army Air Corps, not realizing that Vivian was pregnant with dad (LeRoy). LeRoy Harold Long  was born Aug. 1918 while Grandpa was in France. While I do have post cards Roy sent his parents, there is no indication that he had become a father.  The post cards are letting his parents know that he had landed in New York and would be home soon.

And Vivian?  I have one photo of her at this time, standing in a large circle — she appears to be pregnant. So, she wasn’t sent away or locked in her room.  Based on the stories I have heard about her family, I believe she was loved and cherished.  Her parents were indulgent with their children, even when they were adults and married.  Great grandmother Annie was so beloved that many of her descendants still bear her name (mine is in the middle).  They were not stingy with their wealth and freely gave what they had to all of their children that needed it, especially in the Depression where they provided housing for any needing it including one of my aunts (Norma) who lived with them as a teen-ager.  So, I believe they did whatever they needed to keep her physically or emotionally healthy.

Roy was discharged from the army on March 27, 1919 and  got married on the same day.  The witnesses were Mamie and Leo Wilson—Vivian’s sister and brother-in-law. She was 20; he was 25. It's worth noting that Vivian's mother was one of the founding "mothers" of the Episcopal Church in DeSoto.  Roy's family were the backbone of their Baptist Church and yet they were married by the Justice of the Peace not in a church. That seemed to be pretty common at that time---at least in my  Dad's family.   I wish I had one photo of them together when they were young, but starting life together with a 7 month old boy was undoubtedly a big adjustment.

As far as any of us know, Grandpa, despite his reputation with the ladies, remained faithful in his marriage to Vivian.  They had 6 children (Milton died as a baby) and remained married for 32 years until she died in 1951. But, there must have been a little bit of embarrassment on someone’s part since I found their marriage certificate which is in contradiction to the “official marriage records” in Jefferson County, Missouri.  The 1919 had been changed to 1916.

For more on Roy and Vivian , click here. 

Roy M. Long Coming Home

Within a year of going to France, Roy M. Long was back home. Again, I will transcribe to the best of my ability. The note above says:

"March 3, 1919

I am ______ you this card to let you now that we land in the morning in new york and that i well and get a long fine and hope it finds you the same.
Your son,
Roy M. Long"
This next note (above and below) says:
"March 19, 1919
I went through Niagra Falls last night and I sending you this pictures of it. Be sure and keep this because I want it when I get home. Roy M. Long"


For more information on Roy M. Long in World War I with photos and discharge papers, Click here.

Roy Long in France 1918-1919

These are post cards with no messages on them. I think people bought more post cards back then because they didn't have cameras or cell phones to take photos. :-)
These photos all have to do with World War I in France, but I don't read French and can't give more detail. If you do know French or just want a closer look, double click on the photos and use the back arrow to come back to this page/

This post card looks like a typical "tourist" post card. But, maybe Roy Long visited there or was stationed nearby.

The gentleman below is Marshall Joseph Joffre whom was considered a hero by many at that time, but history has not been so kind. Click here for more information.
Again, thanks to my sister Jane who shared Grandpa's post cards.

Roy Long's postcards home 1918

These post cards are from Roy Long to his parents while he was in training before he went overseas in 1918. To see the post cards larger, double click; then, use your back arrow to come back to this page. I will attempt to transcribe each post card, but the handwriting and fading of those done in pencil make it very hard. Please let me know if you don't think I've transcribed it correctly. The first one is to his father "T. H. Long" note the address "Desoto, Mo".
"Feb. 17, 1918 S. Carolina

Hello,
I thought_____ you _____ this to let you [know] that well. hope you are the same. You spoke about ______ you want to they haven stoped them at all. They go even of the week. I got wine Tuesday. It is all might send him if you wants."


This next post card, also from Roy in South Carolina is to his mother "Mrs. Mary C. Long"

May 18, 1918 S. Car

Dear Mother,
I thought would write you a few lines to let you now that I am well and that I received the cake you sent me and it was all OK. Your son Roy
We are moving______I don't know where____. [postmark says "New York"]
The next one is from Augusta, Georgia

"Dear Father,
I thought send you a card to let you now that I am well and hope it finds you the same. I like fine here as far as I now you. From your son Roy M. Long [what follows is his rank and company---not sure if I got it right]Co. B3rd RODN Comp Air corps Augusta Ga"

Thanks to my sister, Jane, who shared these post cards.

Vivian Maupin and Roy Long 1918

Roy Long, 3rd from the left

The photo below just says the woman on the left is Vivian, but I believe this was the summer she was pregnant with Dad. It's a part of a photo with a large group of young people. I was happy to find it because I had often wondered what it must have been like for her in 1918 to be pregnant and unmarried. This photo at least tells me she wasn't locked away in an attic. At first, it shocked us that our father, LeRoy Long, was born out of wedlock. But, his father Roy Milton Long had left for World War I and couldn't really make an honest woman out of Vivian Maupin until he returned in 1919.
We also have the crocheted cap that Annie Reed made dad as an infant. Mom left the note that the star was in the top of the cap because his dad was a soldier over-seas. This tells me that despite the "inconvenience" of his birth, he was loved and cherished.
The photo above shows the cap was worn quite a bit---it's soiled around the edges. The glasses were also Dad's when he was very little. I don't think LeRoy Long is wearing the hat below, but here he is in 1919, probably.

Although we don't have any letters between Vivian and Roy, we do have this souvenir made out of silk.

And, he did bring the doll on the right back to Vivian from France.
Maybe someone else in the family has letters between them. We do have post-cards from Roy to his parents, and he never indicates any friction. But, that's another blog.

Roy Long: World War I

Steve and Norma were at my house last weekend. We were talking about Grandpa, Roy Milton Long, and how he never admitted he was half German. He was not happy about me studying German or living in Germany either. They related a story that when Grandpa had taken German prisoners, the Germans looked at him and asked if other people back home looked like him. He said they did. We are sure the Germans recognized he was German and realized they were fighting other Germans in World War I.

Roy Milton Long enlisted in the Army Dec. 15, 1917 in St. Louis, MO. (double click to make the photos and documents screen size, then use the back arrow to return) He was assigned to the 95th Aero Squadron where he was stationed in France. I remember growing up hearing his stories about him fighting the Red Baron, flying with Eddie Rickenbacker, but I just turned a deaf ear on it all. I have never been able to verify those stories, but we do know he was a mechanic in the Air Corps. We also know that he received an award (a medal?) for capturing Germans.

I found a story I'd written down that Roy drained the radiator of a plane so he could have hot water for a bath. Also, I know that Grandpa used to always say that his cough was from being gassed, I'm not sure that is true either. As his grandchildren got older, I realized that almost all of us had allergies, asthma, coughs. So, I'm not sure about the mustard gas story although we heard it frequently.

After the war ended, he returned on the U.S.S. Frederick and was stationed in Fort Dodge, Iowa until his release on March 22, 1919.This is from a huge (but cracked and brittle) photo of all of the men in the 95th Aero Squadron in Ft. Dodge Iowa.
Roy is not in the above section, but that section has the information.
Someone drew an arrow pointing out Roy (above). Below is a close up---I can't imagine why the German prisoners thought he looked German!