Mack Vangilder WWI Vet

McKinley Roscoe “Mack” VanGilder was born August 9, 1894, in Christy Twp., Lawrence County, Illinois, to Wallace and Elmira Hughes Vangilder, who were originally from Ohio. During Mack’s childhood, he attended school and helped his father farm.

On New Year’s Day, 1915, Mack married Inez Fern Hill, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Hill of Sumner. The newspaper noted that Fern was bright and lovable with a winning disposition and a favorite among her class of Sunday school girls. In late spring, the couple announced that a new addition would be joining the family. The happy prospective grandfather, George Hill, the President of the First National Bank of Sumner, gave his only daughter and her new husband a new Buick automobile.

Donald Lee Vangilder was born November 11, 1915, at Sumner. The young mother’s health began to decline. The Sumner Press reported on Thursday, May 18, 1916, that Mr. and Mrs. Mack Vangilder, baby, and Mack’s mother, Mrs. Wallace Vangilder, returned Monday from the Martinsville, Indiana, Springs where Mrs. Mack Vangilder had taken the baths to alleviate her rheumatism.

Mack continued to farm and registered for World War II stating that he was medium height and weight, with blue eyes and brown hair. In July of 1917, he hired Miss Florence Snyder to cook for the family, assist with the housework, and help with the baby.

After two years of painful suffering, Fern died Sunday afternoon at 2:30, February 3, 1918, at age 20 years, 5 months, and 3 days. The funeral was held Tuesday at the M. E. Church; out of respect for Fern and her family all stores in Sumner were closed during the funeral hours. She was buried in the Sumner Cemetery.

Mack was broken-hearted; his grief almost unbearable. His son, Donald, two years old was taken to live with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Hill. Mack enlisted in the army four months later on June 14, 1918, and was immediately sent to Kansas City, Missouri.

 A letter he wrote to his sister, Mary and brother-in- law, C. M. Cunningham described his reason for choosing to fight.

 “I often think it is a long, long way to Sumner and my dear little boy, tho’ will be much further when I cross three thousand miles of sea. You know I have never been satisfied since dear Fern was torn from me and am as much satisfied here as I was on the farm. Would love to see Donald tho’ I must not grieve over him as I know he is in good hands. I only feel it is my duty to help in keeping away the invaders from our land of freedom.

“I feel like it is all I can do and the only thing to do, and I want to do it. I must fight for the protection of my dear little boy, that he will have a civilized and peaceful world to live in.”

The letter of June 17, 1918 sent from Rahe Auto School North Kansas City, Missouri continued by describing Army life as experienced by a WWI private.

Mrs. C.M. Cunningham:

Dear Sister and Bro. Thought I would write you to let you know you had a brother who was man enough to pass the physical examination and are now feeling the effects of the vaccination and shot in the arms. They are very sore presently. I was examined this Monday morning. They sure give them a good examination here, quite different from the one our local board at Lawrenceville gave us.

This is now our third day here and I have done nothing but take a one-mile “hike” yesterday morning before breakfast, lay around on our cots, take baths and lineup to eat. It is quite different to eat here than to sit down to a quiet farm table and eat where there are just three or four at home and 1600 of us here now. All eat as we can get it. We form in lines, pass through an aisle where we get our trays, then pass on and get what is coming to us. We get good feed three times a day, consisting mainly of boiled beef or pork or breakfast bacon, also potatoes, fruit, coffee, cake and bread. I like it fine as far as I have gone. It must hard on a fellow when he does not like it, for there was one fellow cut his throat the first night and died shortly after.

Last night we were assigned to our Company. I was placed in Co. M., also Rob Laws, Ora Foster and two other boys from Lawrence County. They will probably go to France with me. We probably will be assigned to our job this evening. Will let you know later what it is. All received a monkey jacket and overalls to wear until we get our uniforms. That will be about two or three weeks. We are quarantined for two or three weeks then our captain said if we acted with good behavior and worked good, they would turn us loose at night until 12:00 o’clock to go to Kansas City. Of course, we will not go. Ha! Ha! Well, I should say we will.

Your cake was fine. We divided it up among us Lawrence County boys. They all bragged very much on it. I told them who baked it. Was very much surprised to get such a fine and useful present as you gave me. I certainly appreciate it and thank you very much for your kindness to me.

Well, Mary, it is now dinner time and I will have to cut this letter short. Rev. R. M. Peters was here to see the Lawrence County boys. He just left. It is sure fine to meet an old friend or just any one from near Sumner. This is a different life here than you can imagine. In 1600 men you will find men in various walks of life, mechanics, saloon men, farmers, all kinds of them, tho’ at that it is a very jolly crowd. It is a hard place to live just right tho’ I will live in the way you would have me live, to respect you and my country.

My God bless you, Will close sending you my best regards,

Your Brother, Mack

Two months after the letter was sent, relatives received word that the Lawrence county boys who had been at Rabe’s Auto School, Kansas City, Missouri, receiving war work training, were being transferred and would come through Sumner on August 13, 1918.

 Fern Eaton will be kept there as one of the instructors of new men; Mack Vangilder was to be sent to Camp Taylor, Kentucky, while the other eleven Lawrence County boys were being transferred to Maryland. They were: Ora D. Foster, Robert A. Laws, Palmer Holsen, John Hutchinson, Lawrence E. Osborn, Leslie E. Brian, Talmadge D. Parrot, A. R. Wardell, J. D. Lewis, Gordon Martin, and Wilbur Dunlap.

While Mack was stationed at Camp Taylor, he came home on leave over the 1918 Christmas holiday to visit his son and other relatives. Not much is known about the rest of his army career other than he was discharged February 11, 1919, as a private in Battery E, 6 Regt F.A.R.D. (Field Artillery Replacement Depot). When Mack returned to Sumner, Donald continued to live with his grandparents, and eventually Mack remarried.

Mack and his second wife, Olive Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed U. Bailey of Lawrenceville, had three children, Gordon, Eleanor, and Elizabeth Ann. They rented a home at 515 S. Carrey St. in Sumner in 1930. He was a boilermaker with the oil refinery and raised tomatoes. entering his fruit in Dowell’s annual tomato growing contest to see whose plant would produce the first tomato of the season. While working for the Indian Refinery Company. Mack was injured while helping raise a heavy steel beam. He lost his balance and sat down on a protruding spike nail that penetrated his hip to the bone.

A couple years later, in January, 1932, Mack escaped serious injury when he lost control of his car near the bridge over the Allison and Russell drainage ditch half-way between Lawrenceville and Vincennes. The car hit both sides of the bridge and plunged off the pavement into the flood waters of the ditch, being almost submerged when it came to a stop. The car was pulled out by a wrecker and suffered little damage. All Mack received was an involuntary cold bath. By 1942, when he registered for WWII, he told the examiner that he had lost his left thumb but did not provide details as to the date.

The Vangilder children attended Hadley school; both parents were involved in their activities. Mack was a director at the school and Olive was a leader of Blue Ribbon 4-H club. Mack continued working at the refinery as a boiler maker, working 39 weeks in 1939, for an annual salary of $1098. He supplemented his income by farming; but by 1948, he may have been simplifying his life as he advertised in the Sumner Press that he was willing to sell, 75-pound weaned pigs, a 700-pound Guernsey bull, a 6-year-old milk cow, 16 feeder lambs and 10 ewes.

Mack Vangilder died July 21, 1951, and was buried in Sumner Cemetery. A military gravestone was placed on the grave of a brave man who fought a war so that his son could “have a civilized and peaceful world to live in.”