Coatesville Baseball [Brief History of Coatesville, 1966, Note 2]: “Some 50 or 60 years ago |
[i.e. circa 1906-1916] there was a ball team in Coatesville known as the ‘Coatesville Bluz’. Bill |
[William Morton] McAninch was the manager. He secured games with all the town teams of note |
for miles around . . . these games were fiercely contested by players and spectators alike. . . . |
Other good players were ‘Jug’ Stewart, a clever catcher, ‘Buck’ Phillips, Frank Davidson . . . |
. . . Frank O'Neal was a pitcher and fielder and a scrapping player was ‘breaky’ McAninch.” |
Of course, railroads were the industry of those times, and influenced Vern’s life in many ways. |
Vern’s father, Daniel A. McAninch, was a bridge carpenter and track crew foreman on the |
Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad (merged into the Vandalia Railroad in 1905), and it is |
believed that some of his sons also worked with him for short periods. Vern’s oldest brother, |
John Freeman McAninch (1871-1947), went to Chicago, worked as a brakeman, and became a |
Conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad. And Fred Thomas McAninch (1888-1914), Vern’s |
nearest older brother, became a telegraph operator, working in Colorado (although he died young). |
The names, ages, and occupations given in the 1910 census corroborate the railroad connections: |
McAninch, Daniel A., [age] 59 [occupation] Railroad, [industry] Fence Carpenter [sic] [Note 14] |
Rhoda, wife, [age] 61 M1 [Married,1] 41 [years], 11 children, 7 living / [occupation] “None” [sic] |
Maude, daughter, [age] 24 S[single] [occupation] Teacher, [industry] Public School |
William, son, [age] 22 S[single] [occupation] Fence Carpenter, [industry] Railroad |
Vern, son, [age] 19 S[single] [occupation] "None" [industry] "Railroad" [sic, vs. U.S. Army (?)] |
So, even though he was already in the Army, and was presumably in the Signal Corps enlisted |
training course at Fort Omaha, Nebraska, Vern was still enumerated on the 15 April 1910 census |
with his parents, in his home town of Coatesville, Indiana [Note 14]. |
Vern Joins The U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1909 |
Vern was very interested in the signaling communications and telegraph technology of his day. |
In December 1909, two months after his 19th birthday, Vern enlisted in the Army Signal Corps, |
and received his reporting orders on Dec. 17th, in a Telegram from the Adjutant General’s Office |
[Note 15]. He was ‘Accepted For Enlistment’ on Dec. 18th, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and forwarded to |
Columbus Barracks, Columbus, Ohio, where the official paperwork was completed on Dec. 20th. |
The Enlistment records have original signatures of both Vern and his father, Daniel A. McAninch, |
[since Vern was not yet 21, his father had to sign ‘Consent in Case of a Minor’; the consent for the |
enlistment was signed in Coatesville on Dec. 10th, witnessed by “P. J.[?] Shields, M.E., Pastor”]. |
Vern’s physical description on the Descriptive and Assignment Card in the Enlistment records is |
Eyes: Brown #1 [sic] / Hair: D[ark] Brown / Complexion: Fair / and Height: 5 feet 5 ½ inches. |
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McAninch Family History NL v.XX n.3 / July 2012 / Frank McAninch, Editor / page 2012-20 |