Collection #

P 0276

 

 

bock brothers collection
1898–ca. 1920s

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Series Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Barbara Quigley
2 May 2006

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

 

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:

7 folders of photographs including 1 album, 1 OVA folder

COLLECTION
DATES:

1898–ca. 1920s

PROVENANCE:

Gift from Erich L. Ewald, received August 1993

RESTRICTIONS:

None

COPYRIGHT:

 

REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:

Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE
FORMATS:

 

RELATED
HOLDINGS:

 

ACCESSION
NUMBER:

1993.0557

NOTES:

See also:  Harry H. Huey Photographs (P 0277); Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War Collection (P 0480); Albert E. Handley Collection (P 0481); History of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry by W.E. Biederwolf (General Collection: E726.I3 B5 1899); “The Bock Brothers:  Their ‘Splendid Little War’” by Erich L. Ewald, in Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (Winter 1995):  30–37 (Reference Room Collection:  F521 .I48)

BIOGRAPHiCAL SKETCH

Claud and William “Will” Bock, Jr., were brothers from New Castle, Indiana, who served in the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish–American War.  They joined the army after President William McKinley made a second call for volunteers on 25 May 1898.   Claud was a member of Company G, while Will was in Company H.  Both companies were mustered in on 12 July; however, Will did not enlist until 9 August.  Their father, William B. Bock (b. October 1845), had served in the 84th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War, surviving five wounds at Chickamauga in 1863.

At the time of the 1900 census, the Bock household consisted of William B. and his wife Araminta S. (b. September 1841), three sons, and a daughter.  The sons were Hoy (b. June 1868), Claud (b. May 1872), and William (b. October 1875); the daughter was Myrtle (b. March 1878).  All were born in Indiana.

On 1 July 1898, Henry County men enlisting in the 161st Infantry gathered at New Castle for a gala send-off before boarding a train to Indianapolis.  By 15 July all companies of the new regiment had mustered in at Camp Mount on the site of the state fairgrounds, and had begun training under former Vicksburg veteran and future governor Colonel Winfield T. Durbin.  On 7 August the soldiers learned that they would be heading to Jacksonville, Florida, and eventually to Cuba.

Six miles outside Jacksonville, the regiment brigaded with the 2nd Mississippi and the 3rd Nebraska infantry regiments at Camp Cuba Libre. One of the men in camp was William Jennings Bryan.  Bryan served as colonel of the 3rd Nebraska; he spent the war in Florida and never saw combat.  The brigade formed part of the Seventh Army Corps, which was commanded by former Confederate general Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee.  This collection includes a photograph of Bryan with Fitzhugh Lee.

Although the U.S. signed a peace protocol with Spain on 12 August that essentially ended the war in Cuba, the Bock brothers and their regiment stayed in Jacksonville two months.  Their camp was a very hot, mosquito-infested place where malaria spread.  In late October the regiment moved by train to Camp Onward near Savannah, Georgia, a miserable swamp site.  Although the soldiers were disappointed that they would not do combat, their services were necessary to help form an army of occupation until the newly independent Cuba could be stabilized.

On 12 December the 161st boarded an old, converted cattle vessel headed for Cuba.  Entering Havana harbor, they passed the Morro Castle (a fortress built in 1589) and the wreck of the U.S. Steamship Maine.  They settled in Camp Columbia in Marianao, near Havana, for the next few months.  On 1 January 1899, the regiment participated in the official transfer of power as an American flag was hoisted over Morro Castle.

With the war over, regimental officers had great difficulty maintaining discipline among the soldiers.  Officers themselves had gotten wildly drunk on Christmas.  Claud Bock got into some kind of trouble himself and was placed under confinement.  He was eventually released without a trial, but was reduced in rank from sergeant to private “at his own request.”

In late March 1899, the regiment returned to the United States, and mustered out in Savannah in April.  Claud and Will Bock brought back more than fifty photographs that they had bought from various itinerant photographers, such as those employed by Waterman Company of Chicago.

At the time of the 1900 census, Claud and Will were back in New Castle, Indiana, with Claud working in a factory and Will listed as a day laborer.  At the time of the 1910 census, they were still living with their parents, with Claud working as an electrician and Will as a salesman of drugs and books.

Note:  Claud’s name is sometimes spelled as Claude.

 

Sources:

 

Items in the collection.

 

Ewald, Erich L.  “The Bock Brothers:  Their ‘Splendid Little War.’” Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (Winter 1995):  30–37.  Reference Room Collection:  F521 .I48

 

Indiana Historical Bureau.  “Indiana in the Spanish-American War” in The Indiana Historian (http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publications/inspanishamerwar.pdf).  Accessed 2 May 2006.

 

U.S. Census, 1900 and 1910 (http://www.heritagequestonline.com).  Accessed 2 May 2006.

 

Wikipedia.  “William Jennings Bryan” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan).  Accessed 2 May 2006.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of photographs that Claud and Will Bock brought back home from their service with the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish–American War.  Also included are some photographs of the Bock family of New Castle, Indiana.  The collection is arranged into series as detailed below.

Series 1, Photograph Album:  This small 100–page album appears to have belonged to Will Bock and to have been assembled years after most of the photographs were taken.  The photographs range in date from 1898 to the 1920s, and are not in chronological order in the album.  The subjects include scenes from the Bock brothers’ time with the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry in Florida, Georgia, and Cuba, including camp scenes, soldiers, monuments, Morro Castle, the wreck of the battleship Maine, the Cristobal Colon Cemetery, and a bone yard.  Also included are scenes of family outings including a visit to Chickamauga, Georgia, where the Bock brothers’ father was wounded during the Civil War; Knights of Pythias activities; and the Pence drugstore and staff in New Castle, Indiana.  In this guide, captions from the album are in quotation marks; however, in some cases the spelling of names and words has been corrected to facilitate a keyword search of this document.

Series 2, Portraits, Unknown Locations:  This series includes portraits of Claud and Will Bock, a few of their fellow soldiers, and an unidentified picture.

Series 3, Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville Florida:  This series consists of an image of the camp of the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and a photograph of Colonel William Jennings Bryan with Major General Fitzhugh Lee in camp.

Series 4, Savannah, Georgia:  This series contains a photograph of Sergeant Claud Bock working in Camp Onward in 1898 before going to Cuba, and another of a fumigating station in 1899 on the return trip from Cuba to Indiana.

Series 5, Cuba:  This series includes photographs of Camp Columbia, soldiers from the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Major General Fitzhugh Lee, the wreck of the battleship Maine, Morro Castle, the Cristobal Colon Cemetery, a bone yard, a monument built by the 161st regiment, and a Spanish fort and block house.

 

series CONTENTS

Series 1: Photograph Album

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

“Wm. Bock Jr.” portrait as a young man (page 1).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Sergeant Claud Bock on Voluntary Extra Duty / Savanna Ga / 1898” (page 2).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Camp scene with tents and soldiers:  “Co. C / Co. H / 161st Ind. Vol. Inft. Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville Fla. / (x Wm. Bock) 1898” (page 3).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Family camping scene with tent and cars (ca. 1920s):  “On Sugar Creek / Wm Bock, Claude Bock, Myrtle Crider, Marshall Crider / Fred Bock took the picture” (page 4). 

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“3rd Battalion 161 I.V.I. on parade in Havana Jan. 1, 1899, when Spain evacuated Cuba.  Gen. Fitzhugh Lee on the white horse on the left. Maj. Olds commanding battalion.”  (White horse is barely visible next to crowd in lower left corner) (page 5).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Knights of Pythias:  “K. of P. National encampment Terre Haute, Ind. / July, 1914.”  Colonel Chas. A. Phelps and Captain Wm. Bock are identified (page 6).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Indian Monument on the Prado Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 7).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Preparing to put quick-lime on this dead man and then throw his bones in the boneyard (see page 29) / 1899.”  Shows two men attending to the body of a dead man (page 9).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Morro Castle / Havana Cuba / 1898” (page 11).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Indian Monument on the Prado / Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 13).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Interior of Cabanas Castle / Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 15).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Inglaterra Hotel & Opera House / Havana / 1899” (page 17).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Wreck of the ill fated Battle Ship Maine in Havana Harbor / 1899” (page 19).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Burial Place of the Maine Victims / Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 21).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Where the Maine Victims were buried / 1899” (page 23).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Governor’s Palace / Havana Cuba / American camp in the foreground / Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 25).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Wreck of the Battle Ship Maine in Havana Harbor / 1899” (page 27).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Bone Yard in a cemetery near Havana Cuba / 1899” (page 29).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Fumigating station at the mouth of Savannah River / 1899” (page 31).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Ruins of a Church in the City of Savannah Ga. / 1899” (page 33).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Interior of the dining room on an ocean linter / Savannah Ga. / 1899” (page 35).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Monument Erected by the 161st Ind. Vol. Inft. / 1899 / Camp Columbia Cuba” (page 37).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Pineapple field near Marianao Cuba / 1899” (page 39).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“DeSoto Hotel / Savannah Ga. / 1899” (page 41).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Sherman’s Headquarters at Savannah Ga. 1864-5” (page 43).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Gummers Saw Mill on St Johns River Fla. Near Jacksonville and also near Camp Cuba Libre / 1898” (page 45).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Scene near the Savannah River in Savannah Ga. / 1899” (page 47).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Scene in Savannah Ga. in 1899” (page 49).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Blanch Travis / Maude Bock / Iola, Kansas” (page 51).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Maud K. Bock, Iola, Kansas” (page 53).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Four women in hats and long dresses by a train (one of them might be Maud[e] Bock) (page 55).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Same four women as above, on the train (page 57).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified woman in long skirt (could be Maud[e] Bock) (page 59).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified woman on porch (could be Maud[e] Bock) (page 61).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Camp Dewey on Blue River in Henry Co. Ind. / 1898” shows four women, two men, and a young child seated on the ground with a tent in the background (page 63).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Jacob Brenneman, Roe Hoover, H.C. Elliott, W.M. Pence, Wm. Bock Jr. / New Castle, Ind.” standing outside the Pence Drugs store (page 65).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified location showing cannons in foreground with river and mountain in background (page 67).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Snodgrass House” shows people standing outside a log cabin [Chickamauga, Georgia] (page 69).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Wm. B. Bock, standing near the spot where he was wounded Sept. 20, 1863. / Fifty years later / Sep. 20, 1913.”  [Chickamauga, Georgia; this is the father of the Bock brothers] (page 71).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Capt. Wm. Bock / U.R. / K. of P.” shows William Bock, Jr., in his Knights of Pythias uniform with sword (page 72).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified white-haired man with mustache in suit with a cane, U.S. flag in background (page 73).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified white-haired man with mustache in suit with a cane, sitting on steps by a rock wall.  Handwritten signs in the background:  “[unreadable] Market St. / [Clothers?] …Furnishings” and “Mr. & Mrs. J.M. Caldwell / [unreadable]” (page 75).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified man in a suit and bowler hat with an umbrella standing atop a flat rock balanced precariously on top of other rocks.  A woman in a hat is seen in the background; the site overlooks a river below (page 77).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Studio portrait of unidentified young man in uniform holding a rifle with bayonet (possibly one of the Bock brothers) (page 79).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Men in uniform, other passengers on a steamboat (page 81).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“On Board the City of Cleveland on Lake Erie” shows two women and a boy with men in uniform (page 83).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Hand-colored photo of trees and clouds (page 85).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Hand-colored photo of pond (page 87).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Six men, three women, two children, and a dog on the steps and porch of a house (page 89).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

[Iowa Monument in Rossville, Georgia] (page 91).  <http://www.chickamaugacampaign.net/walker/iowa-monument.html>

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Unidentified man in suit and hat crouching among weeds and drinking from a small container (page 93).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“K of P Camp / Cleveland O. / 1920” shows scores of tents and a few cars beside large lake [Erie] (page 95).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Hand-colored photo of trees and water (possibly Lake Erie) (page 97).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“Maj. Matt R. Peterson / 3rd Battalion 161st Ind. Vol. Inft. / Spanish-American War” (page 99).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

“84th Ind. Monument on Snodgrass Hill” [Chickamauga, Georgia] (The 84th Indiana Infantry Regiment was a part of General Walter C. Whitaker's Reserve Corps during the Chickamauga campaign of the Civil War.  In 1911, veterans of the 84th Indiana returned to the Chickamauga battle field to erect a monument at the place where their regiment had fought in September 1863; William B. Bock was wounded there) (page 100).

Photographs,                         Folder 1

Series 2: Portraits, Unknown Locations

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Sergeant Claud Bock in uniform, holding rifle with bayonet (cabinet card photo by The Nonpareil Art Studio, no location [1898]).

Photographs,                         Folder 2

Will Bock in uniform, holding rifle with bayonet (cabinet card photo by The Nonpareil Art Studio, no location, 1898).

Photographs,                         Folder 2

Private Robert Kendall, from Lewis Creek, Ind., member of Company H, in uniform (cabinet card, photographer unknown, ca. 1898).  (Kendall and Will Bock were the only two who enlisted into Company H at a later date than the rest; they joined 9 August 1898.)

Photographs,                         Folder 2

First Lieutenant James I. Meyers (b. 1864 in Wells County, Ind.), Company G, in uniform, holding sword, standing under a tent (photographer and location unknown) (copy neg. no. C6202).

Photographs,                         Folder 2

Major Matt R. Peterson and wife.  Written on back:  “Major of third battalion / resigned December 1st, 1898. 161 Ind. Vol. Inft. / Major Peterson died of yellow fever at Las Animas Cuba, at 9 o’clock, October 17, 1900.  His wife killed herself an hour later.  They were interred at Havana October 18, 1900 with military honors.”  (See http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/fever-browseprint?id=02142001 and http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/fever-browseprint?id=02142002)

Photographs,                         Folder 7

Real photo postcard showing unidentified man in a suit and bowler hat with an umbrella standing atop a flat rock balanced precariously on top of other rocks.  A woman in a hat is seen in the background; the site overlooks a river below (same image found in album on page 77).

Photographs,                         Folder 2

Series 3: Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, Florida

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Colonel William Jennings Bryan with Major General Fitzhugh Lee, sitting on benches outside a tent (cabinet card, unknown photographer, [1898]).

Photographs,                         Folder 3

Blurry photograph of the camp on the 161st Indiana’s day of departure for Savannah, Ga. [23 October 1898].

Photographs,                         Folder 3

Series 4: Savannah, Georgia

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Sergeant Claud Bock on extra duty at Camp Onward, 1898, shown swinging an ax over a pile of wood (six copies:  two postcards, three 5” x 7”, and one 4” x 5”).

Photographs,                         Folder 4

Birdseye view of fumigating station near the mouth of the Savannah River, 31 March 1899, on return trip from Cuba to Indiana.  (See chapter X in Biederwolf.)

Photographs,                         Folder 4

Series 5: Cuba

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Camp Columbia, 1899 – group including:  Tuck Freeman, Dan Snider, Claud Bock, Arthur Huddleston, Guy Buckley, and “a private we call Bad Eye / he is on a toot at time of taking this picture.” (Two copies of cabinet card, photographer unknown.)

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Camp Columbia, 1899 – group including:  Jesse Guire, Wm. Bock, Bert Devers (or Deavers), Robert Kendall, John Hatfield, Jacob “Jake” Felts, Ira Geiger, and Jesse Siles on inspection day (copy neg. no. C6203 and C6194).

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Railroad station between Marianao and Havana.

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Two privates of Co. G by their tents, on guard at a creek three-quarters of a mile west of Camp Columbia (photo by Waterman of Chicago, 1899).

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Three soldiers by monument.  Written on back:  “Monument built by the boys of the 161st regiment. Camp Columbia near Havana Cuba. 1899.”  Labeled on front:  “Camp Lee, Havana, Cuba 1898–1899” (photo by Waterman of Chicago).

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Pineapple field near Marianao, 1899.

Photographs,                         Folder 5

Wreck of the U.S.S. Maine with the battleships New York and Texas in the background, 1 January 1899 (copy neg. no. C6195).

Photographs,                         Folder 6

“Graves in the Colon Cemetery / victims of the Maine,” 10 December 1898 (copy neg. no. C6196).

Photographs,                         Folder 6

Major General Fitzhugh Lee on horseback in camp, Marianao, 20 December 1898 (copy neg. no. C6199).

Photographs,                         Folder 6

“Spanish Fort near Havana.”  Written on back:  “Spanish fortification near Cerro and about a mile and a half from the camp of the 161 Ind.”

Photographs,                         Folder 6

(Cuban?) men in Spanish camp.

Photographs,                         Folder 6

Morro Castle, Havana (copy neg. no. C6198).

Photographs,                         Folder 6

Three men by “Spanish Block House between Camp Columbia and the coast / about three quarters of a mile from the 161st. Ind. regiment and about the same distance from Playa (copy neg. no. C6197).

Photographs,                         Folder 6

“Bone yard in the Colon (Cemetery?)” (photo by Sullivan Photograph Company, Havana, Cuba). 

OVA Photographs,  Folder 1

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1.      Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://opac.indianahistory.org/

2.      Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3.      Select  "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4.      Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P 0276).

5.      When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.