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Fort Leavenworth prides itself on its history, which really does surround us. Whether we’re on our way to work or the Post Exchange, we pass wagon trails, homes of famous people, even missile sites once top secret but now run down. Main Parade at Sumner Place shows no sign of soldiers’ formations, or caissons near what used to be a dirt road. But what if there is even more to the post yet to be discovered?
It’s not just possible, it’s probable. As a spouse looking for something interesting to do, I started doing research for the occasional history article. At the Leavenworth Public Library, I stumbled across post phone directories dating back to the early 1900s. I thought it might be fun to compile a list of former residents of our quarters in the historic Main Post area.
After doing the list from 1905, when the house was first listed in the phonebook, to the 1970s, when post and city phone listings were combined to make one huge book that can’t easily be searched, I put the notes aside for awhile. One evening, prompted after finding an antique uniform piece, I entered the names into the Google search engine and found information on several people.
Arthur H. Carter was a first lieutenant when he lived here. He was married before he arrived in 1911, and I assume this was his first Army home to which he brought his new bride.
Carter left the Army for a time, but returned to service during World War II and served as fiscal director for the Army Service Forces from 1943-46. An accounting professional in civilian life, Maj. Gen. Carter famously asked the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency who audited the government’s auditors?
Not long ago, an antique shop owner passed through Abilene, Kan., and bought a large picture of Carter in his West Point uniform with a circa-1910 frame. When I saw it on her website, I snapped it up. That picture now hangs over one of our fireplaces where it probably hung a century ago. I discovered via the West Point yearbooks at the Combined Arms Research Libary that his nickname at the U.S. Military Academy was “Goose.” I can’t help saying, “Hello, Goose!” when I’m dusting the fireplace.
Historians and World War II buffs may have heard of Lt. Gen. Troy H. Middleton. Noted for being the youngest major in the Command and General Staff School, he lived here from 1924-27, first as a student, then as instructor. He became friends with another student, George S. Patton Jr. As an instructor, he often found a student named Dwight Eisenhower in his office asking military questions.
Middleton commanded the 45th Infantry Division in Italy during World War II, subsequently becoming VIII Corps commander. After retirement, he was well respected as president of Louisiana State University.
I found a biography about him on Amazon.com with tidbits about our house. His wife had a baby while they lived here, and it was entertaining to read that she had to have a friend walk her to the “hospital behind the house,” now an office building next to our carport. That bio will be placed on the mantle with Carter’s picture.
Did his friend Patton ever dine here or relax on the porch with Middleton? I suppose I have more research to do, not to mention searching for all those other names, making it like a treasure hunt.
There is enough to keep both the casual and serious historian busy. I’m sure many discoveries are waiting to be found. In a way, one doesn’t have to go beyond their front door to find them.
Fort Leavenworth prides itself on its history, which really does surround us. Whether we’re on our way to work or the Post Exchange, we pass wagon trails, homes of famous people, even missile sites once top secret but now run down. Main Parade at Sumner Place shows no sign of soldiers’ formations, or caissons near what used to be a dirt road. But what if there is even more to the post yet to be discovered?
It’s not just possible, it’s probable. As a spouse looking for something interesting to do, I started doing research for the occasional history article. At the Leavenworth Public Library, I stumbled across post phone directories dating back to the early 1900s. I thought it might be fun to compile a list of former residents of our quarters in the historic Main Post area.
After doing the list from 1905, when the house was first listed in the phonebook, to the 1970s, when post and city phone listings were combined to make one huge book that can’t easily be searched, I put the notes aside for awhile. One evening, prompted after finding an antique uniform piece, I entered the names into the Google search engine and found information on several people.
Arthur H. Carter was a first lieutenant when he lived here. He was married before he arrived in 1911, and I assume this was his first Army home to which he brought his new bride.
Carter left the Army for a time, but returned to service during World War II and served as fiscal director for the Army Service Forces from 1943-46. An accounting professional in civilian life, Maj. Gen. Carter famously asked the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency who audited the government’s auditors?
Not long ago, an antique shop owner passed through Abilene, Kan., and bought a large picture of Carter in his West Point uniform with a circa-1910 frame. When I saw it on her website, I snapped it up. That picture now hangs over one of our fireplaces where it probably hung a century ago. I discovered via the West Point yearbooks at the Combined Arms Research Libary that his nickname at the U.S. Military Academy was “Goose.” I can’t help saying, “Hello, Goose!” when I’m dusting the fireplace.
Historians and World War II buffs may have heard of Lt. Gen. Troy H. Middleton. Noted for being the youngest major in the Command and General Staff School, he lived here from 1924-27, first as a student, then as instructor. He became friends with another student, George S. Patton Jr. As an instructor, he often found a student named Dwight Eisenhower in his office asking military questions.
Middleton commanded the 45th Infantry Division in Italy during World War II, subsequently becoming VIII Corps commander. After retirement, he was well respected as president of Louisiana State University.
I found a biography about him on Amazon.com with tidbits about our house. His wife had a baby while they lived here, and it was entertaining to read that she had to have a friend walk her to the “hospital behind the house,” now an office building next to our carport. That bio will be placed on the mantle with Carter’s picture.
Did his friend Patton ever dine here or relax on the porch with Middleton? I suppose I have more research to do, not to mention searching for all those other names, making it like a treasure hunt.
There is enough to keep both the casual and serious historian busy. I’m sure many discoveries are waiting to be found. In a way, one doesn’t have to go beyond their front door to find them.
