Who's Who -- The family of Charles Scheel (b. abt 1829)

Charles Scheel (b. abt 1829) immigrated to the United States from Germany and settled in Buffalo about 1850. So far we've had easy families for our who's who - one husband married to one wife the entire time, they had x number of kids, here's the list.

However for THIS Charles Scheel, things are not so neat and clean!

First, he married Phillipina (last name unknown) in Buffalo, NY, and I can confirm by using the 1860 US census that they had the following children:

Phillipina (b. Aug 1855 - ??)
Charles (b. 1858 - ??)
Susan (b. 1860 - ??)*
*this child doesn't appear on any other census or documentation; I can only assume that she died as a young child.

However, by the 1870 US census, Phillipina has died. Of course I'm assuming this since divorce was rare and the children would have typically lived with their mother back in the mid 1800s. So when she drops off the census and is replaced by another woman as Charles' wife, I can only assume she passed away. I am still looking for a death certificate or other information about her.

Instead, in 1870, Charles is married to Elizabeth Klein. Besides Phillipina Jr. and Charles Jr., they are listed as having the following children living with them:

Henry (b. 1861 - ??)
Elizabeth (b. 1864 - ??)
Frederick (b. 1866 - ??)
William (b. 1869 - ??)

I'm not sure which women (Phillipina or Elizabeth) is the mother of these children. There is not really a good gap between the births that would indicate where the split occurs. However, from subsequent censuses, I know that Elizabeth Klein is the mother of:

Caroline M. (b. 1871 --??)
Edward Christian (b. 15 Dec 1874 - 3 Aug 1937)
Albert (b. 1878 - ??)


I will be posting more about this family, and the censuses they are found on, later.

Edward C. Scheel's WWI Registration

.
Charles E. Scheel registered for the WWI draft at the same time his father, Edward Scheel, did. Again, thanks to Ancestry.com, I was able to find his draft card and post it above. The front of the card is on the left and back on the right.

Front of Card:

Serial Number: 6127 (upper left corner)
Order Number: *298 (upper right corner; * is unreadable number)
Name: Edward Christian Scheel
Address: 2619 North Avenue, Niagara Falls, Niagara (County), NY
Age in Years: 43
Date of Birth: December 15th, 1874
Race: White (box checked)
US Citizen: Native Born (box checked)
Present Occupation: Warehouse Manager
Employer's Name: Measurements (?? -- my guess)
Place of Employment: 349 3rd St, Niagara Falls, Niagara, NY
Nearest Relative: Name: William & Caroline Scheel
Address: Baltimore, MD
Signature affirming above answers: Edward Christian Scheel

Back of Card:

Height: Tall (box checked)
Build: Slender (box checked)
Color of Eyes: Blue
Color of Hair: (unreadable)
Obvious Physical Impairment: No
Signature of Registrar: John C.... (last name unreadable)
Date of Registration: Sept. 12th, 1918

The historical background of the draft cards helps to put all this information in context. This excerpt is from Warren Blatt's excellent web page at http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/wwidraft.htm:

On May 18, 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed, authorizing the President to temporarily increase the military establishment of the United States. The Selective Service System was responsible for the process of selecting men for induction into the military service, from the initial registration to the actual delivery of men to military training camps.

Under the office of the Provost Marshal General, the Selective Service System was made up of 52 state offices (one for each of the 48 states; the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico; and the District of Columbia), 155 district boards, and 4648 local boards... The average district board had jurisdiction over approximately 30 local boards, each with an average registration of 5000 men. Local boards were established for each county or similar subdivision in each state, and for each 30,000 persons (approximately) in each city or county with a population over 30,000.

During World War I there were three registrations:

The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31.

The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. (A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918 for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration.)

The third registration was held on September 12, 1918 for men aged 18 through 45.

Using the historical background above, I can see that Edward and Charles registered for the draft during this third registration period. This would make sense because they were not age-eligible in the other two registration period with Edward being to old and Charles too young.