#52Ancestors: Out of Place

In 2014, I began researching each of the Gold Stars listed on the University of Washington's World War I memorial in anticipation of an exhibit about the war and its impact on the University, Seattle, and beyond. The exhibit was on display in the UW Libraries Special Collections in late 2016 and an online version can be found here.

Of the fifty-eight individuals identified as having either attended or graduated from the University of Washington who served during World War I, and made the ultimate sacrifice, only one remained completely elusive in verifying any details about his life story: F. E Bueler. Or maybe it was Buehler? His name was recorded in two different ways on the UW’s memorials. 

Aside from the two possible names, the only other scant information available came from the Sixteenth Biennial Report of the Board of Regents which lists him among the UW's casualties:

F. E. Bueler, lieutenant, 116th Infantry. 

Died at Lyons, France.

Initially, I focused my efforts on locating a roster of the 116th but that was unsuccessful. It seemed unlikely to me that an officer, a lieutenant, would leave so little trace! I tried every spelling variation of Bueler/Buehler I could think of to no avail. I suspected at least the last three letters were likely to be correct but searching *ler using left-hand truncation didn't yield any likely suspects either. 

Frank Ernest Bleuler (1890-1919)

By the time the exhibit rolled around, I was no closer to knowing anything concrete about this former UW student. I had to move on to other research and settle for using a placeholder image in the exhibit. Periodically over the years I would dust off Bueler and try again but still no luck! Until last week, that is! I wasn't even searching for Bueler, rather I was looking for some statistics relating to the 1918 influenza epidemic, but one of the search results linked to Gold Star Honor Roll: A record of Indiana men and women who died in the service of the United States and the allied nations in the world war, 1914-1918. I clicked on the link, not really expecting much when what to my wondering eyes should appear but the name Frank Ernest Bleuler! BLEULER! Even before I finished reading the brief entry I was sure this was the elusive F. E. Bueler I had been seeking. 

Suddenly the pieces began falling together. Turns out nothing in the Regent's Report was quite right. Of course, the most obvious thing is somewhere along the line a critical letter fell out of place which led to all the confusion. The practice of the time of using initials made matching up the details even more challenging. Also, Frank served in the 166th, not the 116th. Finally, although Frank died in France, as noted, he died in a hospital in Blois, miles from Lyon. An only child, Frank's parents Dr. Ernest Bleuler and his wife, the former Mary Helen Thompson, elected to have their son's remains returned to the U.S. and he is buried in South Bend, Indiana. 

Tenacity and serendipity both played a role in finally restoring Frank's story to the larger narrative of the University of Washington's Gold Stars. Although it took far longer to uncover the details of his life than it did for most of his fellow Gold Stars it is so gratifying that Lieutenant Frank Ernest Bleuler can now be remembered for his service and sacrifice. No longer out of place.

Copyright 2019 by Lisa A. Oberg, GeneaGator: Vignettes of Yesteryear. All Rights Reserved.