Caswell, George Emery, 1893-1958.

George Emery Caswell (1893-1958) was born in Wisconsin and served in France with the 108th U.S. Engineers during World War I. His military records list his occupation as a photographer and he documented his army experiences with an extensive photograph record. Caswell married Lillian Soltwedel (1895-1990), a native of Indiana, in Chicago in 1919. Lillian's sister Myrtle Soltwedel (1891-1974) was engaged to John B. Deathe (1896-1922) until his sudden death in 1922.

From the description of Caswell & Soltwedel family collection, c.1912-1933 (bulk 1917-1921) (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 729437358

Biography

George Emery Caswell (1893-1958) was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, to Carroll Lewis Caswell and Ida Louise Roswell. He served in Company "C" of the 1st Wisconsin Infanty National Guard (1910-1912) and enlisted as a Sergeant 1st Class in the U.S. Army in Chicago on July 3, 1917. Caswell was made a Second Lieutenant of Engineering in the U.S. Army in 1919, a Second Lieutenant of Engineering in the Officers' Reserve Corps in 1919, and a First Lieutenant of Engineering in the Officers' Reserve Corps in 1922. Caswell served in World War I with the 108th U.S. Engineers and participated in the Somme Offensive (August 1918) and the Meuse Argonne Offensive (September 1918). Following the war he was honorably discharged with a commission as Second Lieutenant. He married Lillian Soltwedel (1895-1990, born in Whiting, Indiana) on November 22, 1919, in Chicago. Caswell's army records list his occupation as a photographer, and he documented his time in the military with extensive photographic records.

Lillian Soltwedel Caswell's sister Myrtle Soltwedel was born in Indiana on October 16, 1891 (possibly 1902?). She became engaged to John Deathe in 1919, although he died in 1922. Myrtle never married and died in Pasadena, California, in December 1974.

John B. Deathe (the family changed the spelling from Death shortly before John's birth) was born in Lake, Indiana, in 1896. His father George McKinley Deathe (1841-1911) owned a hardware store in Lowell, Indiana, and his mother was George's second wife Emma Buchanan (1859-1935). John Deathe worked as a hardware manager at the Lynch Brothers Department Store in Lowell from 1920 until his sudden death in 1922.

Rene Joseph Sayers was a beau of Myrtle Soltwedel until his marriage to Mabel L. Keough in 1920.

From the guide to the Caswell and Soltwedel Family Collection, 1912-1933, (The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department)