A MAN OF MANY WORDS

AVERY, C. ROBERT

Born 10 Sep 1918 Ann Arbor, Michigan

Died 15 Nov 1979 Istanbul (Rumeli Hisar)

Buried 20 Nov. 1979 at Protestant Cemetery, Ferikoy, Istanbul. 

 Services were held on 19 November at the Union Church (Dutch Chapel) in Istanbul at 12:30 (National Archives, State Dept. RG59. Decimal File 367.113 (1930-1939) – Form 192: Report of Death of American Citizen.)

I first “met” Mr. Avery  by tombstone when I was temporarily living in Istanbul and  decided to check out who all was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in that city and see if any of the tombstones had interesting information on them (ALL information is interesting to a genealogist!)

Aside from his name, birth year and death year (1918-1979), there were only three words left: Love, Peace, and Züzüniyet.  So my thinking was yes, this last word was quite interesting, because my Turkish-English dictionary didn’t have it listed.

In wanting to know more about him, I found some records that showed all the degrees he accumulated in furthering his education and then learned that he had served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) - in their Publication department .   Since I had sought help on my project from Nancy Whittler who was then serving the Mission Board in Istanbul and fluent in Turkish, having been in Turkey for many years, I asked her if she had any idea what “züzüniyet” – the word on Avery’s tombstone meant.  She laughed, and said there was quite a story about it.

                                                                                                                               

According to Nancy, Mr. Avery was editor of the 6^th edition of the Redhouse Turkish-English dictionary.  It was a big job, but since he loved words – their precision, derivation and meaning - he wanted to leave his unique mark on the dictionary.  He chose to do this by making up the word “züzüniyet,” which would put it as the last entry in the Turkish –English dictionary.  To this word he assigned the definition “conclusion” or “final word.”  The word “züzüniyet” does not appear in any other edition.  It is, however, inscribed on his tombstone.  

Unless one knows the story, or just happens to have that particular edition of the dictionary, the word will be untranslatable!

According to the Memorial Book kept by the American Board of Missions, Bob Avery had a special joy in life.  He loved music, as a listener and singer.  He loved children; they were drawn to him; and he gave them the time they deserved.  His humor never flagged; he saw all whom he met as children of God.  

And yes, he loved words.

He died November 15, 1979 in Istanbul.

MISSING OUT ON SO MUCH

          Dorothe Gould-Pratt came into my life sometime around 1996, excited to learn that I was researching and compiling material on Americans buried in a Protestant cemetery in Istanbul.  She had lived in Istanbul for many years, and we discovered we had many friends in common.  It was one of those friends who suggested that since Dorothe was living in southern California now, she should make contact with me to talk about that cemetery, which also had been one of Dorothe's interests when she was there.

          Dorothe did, and for a few years, she and I met, discussed Turkey, Istanbul, friends there, and – of course – the cemetery.  She dug into her files and provided me with many letters and research from another friend of hers, "Charlie", who had been financially supporting this Protestant cemetery.   What she put in my hands was material that I never would have known of otherwise. 

          Meeting Dorothe was one of the most delightful things that I could experience.  At the time, she was living in Santa Barbara, and when I met her for the first time, I saw a very small and artsy woman, a jaunty tam on her head, a longish gauzy coat flowing in the winds off the coast of that lovely town, and a walking stick, helpful to both her legs and her image.  Her personality was as warm and inviting as her appearance.  And like women who instantly form a bond, we talked our heads off every time we met.

          We talked almost exclusively about what I needed for my book – not only did she give me some ideas of where I might find additional information on those people in the cemetery but also on the visual look of the book – layout, graphics, etc.  It was always over lunch – indoors or outdoors but always in some cute little nook that she had discovered in the short time she lived there.   We never talked about ourselves: the subjects were Cemetery, Istanbul, and book.  

          She ultimately decided to go back up north; I published the book in 1998.  Later I heard that she had died in 2000.  She was 88.  It wasn't until just recently, in searching the internet for someone to use in my Immortal Nobodies blog, that I googled her name and found an obituary.  Here's what I missed:

          She was the daughter of a Ukiah farmer, and studied art at Oakland's California College of Arts and Crafts, and also at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts in the 1930.  She had lived in New Orleans, LA, New York, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Rosa, as well as in Turkey.

          In 1961 at the age of 50, she boarded a freighter from New Orleans to Turkey in what would become a 23 year journey into the Middle East.  She worked a while for NATO, hosted a radio program called "Dorothe Learns Turkish", and found her lifetime interest in Turkish wood-block printing.  She used her artistic talents in many ways with this art form, from providing displays in museums, to creating hand block-printed scarves and other clothing for fashion lines out of New York.  Her business expanded to Australia, Beirut, Italy, England, Puerto Rico, to name a few.

          Although I didn't know it, at the time she moved north after we met she was already working on new designs and fashioning new garments until a few days before her death.  She left many cousins and many more devoted friends.  She is buried in the Old Rural Cemetery in Santa Rosa.

            I am so sorry I missed out on knowing what all she had done with her life.  I have never looked at the cover of my book without thinking of her as I knew her.  Now I look at it and regret what I didn't know.

In Istanbul there is a small chapel referred to as the "Dutch Chapel" because it is located in the Dutch embassy.  In that chapel is a record book where names and places of people passing through the little chapel are recorded.  At the time I lived in Istanbul, Lew and Nancy Scudder were the pastors of the church.  They knew I was interested in learning about any Americans who were buried in the Protestant Cemetery at Ferikoy-Istanbul and they wanted me to take a look at their Chapel's Record Book.

At that time, my object was to learn as much as I could about each American buried in that cemetery - who were they, why were they in Turkey, where had they come from in America, and anything other tidbits that might come up.  There seemed to be no one place where all that information was available, and I intended to research as much as I could until it was time to return to California.

The entries in the Record Book at the Dutch Chapel really started much later than I expected.  As I recall, the earliest notations were from the 1920s.  I had been researching from the records of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions whose presence in that city began in the 1830s and I was a bit skeptic that this late record book would be very helpful.  But I was very wrong.

I had been alerted to the fact that an American Hippie had died in  shootout with the Istanbul Police in the 1960s but none of my contacts could give me a name or a good date.   But he was listed in the Dutch Chapel book, along with many others who died in the 1900s instead of the 1800s.

But most poignant was the following:

The Report of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Membershio of the Union Church, Istanbul, Page. 165:

In a blinding snowstorm in January of 1945, an American Naval Airplane crashed in Thrace not far from Istanbul, and three of its complement were instantly killed.  The plane was burned after an explosion and one body was never found.  The bodies of these two pilots were interred on 3 February 1945 in the Protestant Cemetery, Ferikoy, Istanbul.

Their names were posted in the Dutch Chapel Record book along with the above:  Lt. Lauren Winslow Hawees, USN, and Lt. JG Anthony F. Sommer, Jr. USN.

There was no marker where these men were buried.

In further research I contacted the National Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.  This is the data they sent me:

Lauren Winslow HAWES
born 9 July 1913, Natick, MA
died 30 Jan 1945 Thrace (near Istanbul) Turkey
Dependents: Wife Rachel Hawes (nee Whittemore), Daughter Suzanne
Service: U. S. Naval Reserve - 16 Sep 1940 to Jan 1945
Last known address: Key West, Florida
Service Number: 75916

Anthony F. Sommer, Jr.
born 27 Jun 1922 Detroit, Michigan
died 30 Jan 1945 Thrace (near Istanbul) Turkey
Dependents: Father Anthony F. Sommer Sr.: Mother Helen Sommer; sister June/Jane
Marital Status - single
Service: US Naval Reserve. 13 Aug 1942 - 30 Jan 1945
Inducted Corpus Christi, TX, Jacksonville, FL, Norfolk, VA
Decoration and medals - European, African, Middle Eastern area Campaign medal
Last known address, 18914 Gainsborough (town not given).

At the time I was in Istanbul, there was no marker to identify where these men are buried.  However, since that time the cemetery received a large bequest from an American woman who had spent many years in Istanbul (I had heard of her through a friend, who spoke of her as "Charlie".  As I understood it, part of her money went to commemorate these two Americans who lost their lives so long ago.  I also understood that at least one of the bodies was subsequently brought back to America for re-interment.

I submit that these man surely belong to my Immortal Nobodies.

This is a picture of the 1945 flag they flew under.  Note that there were only 48 stars.

THE PRATTS & THE SLOANS

REPUBLISHED FROM HOT COFFEE & COOL JAZZ

 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

CHASING A TURK!

As many of you may recall, when I lived in Istanbul I discovered a Protestant Cemetery with lots of Americans buried in it. Burials began around 1856. Many of the people were missionaries. Some were connected to the American Consulate and other were educators, servicemen, Near East Relief workers, some who had married Turks and a few tourists. I spent my nearly two years in Istanbul documenting these burials and ultimately in 1995 published a book of my findings.

I am not related to any of these people, except that once you have them touch your life in a way these did, it is hard to let go of them. Here’s an example:

1992 – Researching in Istanbul:

In the cemetery there is a large tombstone upon which is written the name of

Rev. Andrew T. Pratt, M.D.
Died 5 Dec 1872
Afer 20 years of labor in Turkey
Aged 46 years

This stone also had on it “In Memory of his children” and then showed the following:

An infant son
Died Aintab April 2, 1852
3 days old

Ellen Maria
Died Aintab 23 July 1856
11 years 8 months

Robert W.
D Killis 3 August 1858
1 year

Clara Eliza
Died Aintab 27 Oct 1867
8 years 9 months

Helen Jeanette
Died Constantinople 20 October 1868
1 year 11 months

Andrew Goss
Died Constatinople 22 Nov 1871
3 years 6 months

My goal in this research was to find 1) who these people were, 2) where in the United States were they from, and 3) what were they doing in Turkey. My intent was to get this information into a book first. Later I put them on the internet.

While I was in Istanbul I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with the Secretaries of the American Board of Missions and from old files they held in their headquarters I learned that after Rev. Pratt’s death, his wife Sara left Istanbul with her three children and returned home to America.

1995 – Researching in Maryland, still trying to identify some of the people buried in Istanbul:

In the College Park, Maryland Branch of the National Archives, in Record Group 59, Microfilm #T194 Roll 10 in the Consular Dispatches there is a “List of Citizens of the US Residing in Constantinople on July 1, 1871” showing the family composition to be Andrew and wife Sarah, children Albert-9, Fanny-7, Andrew-3, and Eliza-2. From the tombstone I knew that Andrew died. But in that same Consular Dispatch collection there was also a form indicated William Tully Pratt’s birth in June of 1871, six months after the census was taken.

So then I knew that one of these four children died before Sarah Pratt took them back to the US. But I didn’t know which one it was.

Getting into the Consular Dispatches was an exceptionally fruitful time. I was there for 5 days and I could have used more time, but I had to be back to work on Monday!

All during this period of time after returning from Istanbul I had focused on adding to my knowledge of the people in the cemetery. It was amazing how much information I had found in the Los Angeles Public Library! But after coming home from Maryland, I decided it was time to publish what I had and then get back to researching my own family.

I did, but Istanbul wasn’t ready to let go of me.

2002 – Researching in San Bernardino, California

I the early 2000s I became the editor of the San Bernardino Valley Genealogical Quarterly, and for inclusion in some issues I transcribed some of the San Bernardino County marriage records. One day I came across this entry:

Albert H. Pratt, age 26, born in Turkey, resident of Utsalady, Washington Territory, and E. Madeline Sloan, age 24, born in Illinois, resident of Redlands [California] were married in Redlands on 13 June 1889.

I was shocked. Surely this had to be the same Albert Pratt that I knew of in Istanbul. How many Albert Pratts born in Turkey could there have been? Of course the first thing I did was to look on the 1880 census for a Pratt family. Sara could have remarried but surely some of her children were still single. And sure enough, there she was in Amhurst, Massachusetts, still a Pratt and with children Albert aged 17, Fanny aged 15 and Eliza aged 10. So then I knew that it was little William Tully Pratt who was the last Pratt to die in Istanbul.

And now what I found was that nine years later, this same Albert appeared in San Bernardino County, California and married a local girl, Madeline Sloan of Redlands.

To Be Continued