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| #14 Private Frank George Korn Private Korn was a resident of Defiance when he enlisted in Company M, 6th Regiment O.V.I. at the age of 29. He served in Cuba and mustered out with the rest of the company in May 1899, in Augusta, Georgia. According to his death certificate, he was born on June 20, 1869, the son of Johann Adam (Adam) and Margaret (Wolsifer) Korn. On December 28, 1899, he married Hattie Mae Wahl in Defiance. The family moved around, mostly in Indiana and Illinois, with their children: Elizabeth May (Bessie), born in 1900; Franklin J. 1903, Everett W, 1909; Virginia Marie, 1916, and Vernon Howard,1917. The last three children were born in South Bend, Indiana, which was their residence in the 1910 Federal Census. Frank worked as a harness maker. The family was still in South Bend for the 1920 Census, but now Frank had a job as a "metal man" in an auto factory. Hattie was a homemaker, and two children, Bessie, 19, and Franklin, 17, had jobs outside the home. Bessie was a bookkeeper at a laundry and Frank was a clerk at an auto body shop. The rest were in school. Their next move , according to the 1930 Census, was to a rented house on Maypole Street in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Frank, 60, was back to leather work again as a harness maker, and Hattie, 50, was minding the house. Most of the children were still living at home: Bettie (Bessie), 29, was a bookkeeper; Everett, worked as an electrician; Virginia, 14, and Vernon, 12 were in school. This last move might have been due to Frank's health. In September 1931, Frank was admitted to the U.S. Home for Disabled Veterans located in Danville, Illinois; he was 62 years old at admission. His disabilities included dental cavities, defective vision, hemorrhoids, and a heart condition, myocarditis. His pension of $50 a month may have been used to cover his care. Unexplainably, he gave his next of kin, Hattie, as living at Route 1, Elkhart, Indiana. In 1936, their son, Franklin, passed away. The family could not be located in the 1940 census, but in 1950, Frank G., 80, and Hattie, 70 were enumerated in Elkhart, Indiana, now retired. Frank died that same year on May 2, 1950. His obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on the same day:  Hattie ordered a military bronze marker for Frank, which was the only kind permitted in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Chicago, his burial place. It took until October, 1951, to have it approved. Hattie lived on until 1969, remarried and moved back to South Bend. Her obituary appeared in The South Bend Tribune on April 18, 1969: MRS. HATTIE M. HODGES Mrs. Hattie M. (Korn) Hodges, 98, of 619 Park Ave., South Bend, died at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in Memorial Hospital after an extended illness. She was born Nov. 1, 1870, in Defiance, Ohio, and came here 13 years ago from Elkhart. On Dec. 28, 1899, in Defiance, she was married to Frank G. Korn, who died in 1950. In 1958, she was married to Elmer Hodges, who died in 1959. Surviving are two sons, Vernon H. Korn of South Bend and Everett W. Korn of New York City; one daughter, Mrs. Virginia Thompson of Elkhart; three grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Mrs. Mabel Gallagher and Mrs. Ethyl Bullard, both of South Bend... Burial will be in Highland Cemetery. She was a member of the church (First United Methodist), Naomi Rebekah Lodge of Elkhart; The Royal Embroidery Club of Elkhart; and the Jones-Darling Auxillary 44 of the United States War Veterans."  Highland Cemetery, South Bend, Indiana Dianne Kline, Researcher |
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