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Paul is the son of Alois (nickname "Alex") Letcher and his wife Alice Ketchum, of Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, and later, of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. Paul was the eldest of three sons.
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Paul is listed as "Paul Leroy Letcher" on his birth certificate, and Paul was baptized on Oct. 8, 1911, as "Paul L. Letcher" at the Sts. Peter and Paul (Catholic) Church in Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, by Rev. August Wenker.
The Godparents for Paul at his baptism were John Neff, who was a relative of the family ["possibly" a cousin of Paul's Grandmother Magdalena (Koch)...
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Paul is the son of Alois (nickname "Alex") Letcher and his wife Alice Ketchum, of Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, and later, of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. Paul was the eldest of three sons.
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Paul is listed as "Paul Leroy Letcher" on his birth certificate, and Paul was baptized on Oct. 8, 1911, as "Paul L. Letcher" at the Sts. Peter and Paul (Catholic) Church in Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, by Rev. August Wenker.
The Godparents for Paul at his baptism were John Neff, who was a relative of the family ["possibly" a cousin of Paul's Grandmother Magdalena (Koch) Letcher], and "Maria" Ketchum. [Did they mean "May" (Ida May) Ketchum, his mother's sister?]
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Note: Rev. August Wenker played a large part in our Letcher and Koch family history, as he served as the Catholic Priest of their church in Naperville, Illinois for 33 years. Father Wenker helped to find homes for Paul's father and his three siblings when they became orphans in 1902, he preformed the marriage of Paul's parents in 1909, and Paul was baptized by Father Wenker in 1911, just two weeks before Father Wenker died. See the memorial for Rev. August Wenker, of DuPage County Illinois, on this find-a-grave web site.
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Note: In 1895, John Neff served as a "witness" (in the wedding party), at the wedding of Joseph Koch, at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, in Naperville, Illinois. [Joseph Koch was the brother of Paul's Grandmother Magdalena (Koch) Letcher]. (Magdalena's brother Joseph Koch immigrated to the U.S. in 1888. John Neff "possibly" came with him).
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John Neff was also the Godfather at the baptism for Joseph G. Letcher's son (and Paul's cousin), Harvey Letcher in 1910, at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, in Naperville, Illinois. (Perhaps he was the Godfather for other relatives in Naperville as well).
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Note: John Neff was born in the Canton of Luzern, in Switzerland on May 1, 1866, the son of Jacob Neff and his wife Christiana Hodel. The 1900 and 1910 census' both show John Neff as a single man, living near Naperville, in Lisle township, DuPage County Illinois, with farming families, and working as a farm hand. John Neff was married to Katharina Kaelin, on June 6, 1911, by Rev. August Wenker, Catholic Priest, of the Sts. Peter and Paul (Catholic) Church, in Naperville, Illinois (about four months before Paul Letcher was baptized there).
John and Katharina had a daughter Freida Christina Neff, who was born on Sept. 9, 1912, in Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. (Note: Paul's Uncle Joseph G. Letcher purchased a farm near Buchanan in 1912). John Neff died on Jan. 8, 1914, at the age of 47, in Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. [Could Joseph G. Letcher and John Neff have followed one another to Buchanan, Michigan?] John Neff's probate record and will, are on file, in Berrien County Michigan, in "Probate File # 5315". Paul's father Alois Letcher, and Alois's brother Joseph G. Letcher are both mentioned in John Neff's probate record and will (because John Neff had loaned both of them money in Naperville, about the time that each of them were married).
See the memorial for John Neff (1866-1914), who is buried in the Calvary Cemetery, in Niles, Berrien County Michigan, on find-a-grave.
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Exactly when Paul changed his name to Paul Anthony Letcher is uncertain, but he is listed as "Paul A. Letcher", age 18, in the 1930 Michigan census, and he is listed as Paul A. Letcher on his "application for a marriage licence" in 1935.
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On Aug. 15, 1919, Paul's parents purchased a farm of 171 acres, at 3575 West Bertrand Road, in Bertrand Township, South of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan, when Paul was seven years old. Paul moved from Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, to the farm with his parents and two younger brothers Russell and Ward. Paul and his brothers attended the one room Kansas grade school, located across the road (kiddy-corner) from their red brick farm house. (The land this school sits on, was origionally part of this farm). Paul's parents owned the red brick farmhouse for 46 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks. Paul's parents owned part of this farm (the land), for 54 years, and 3 months.
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Note: The 1920 census shows Paul's parents and children still living in Naperville, Illinois. Perhaps Paul's father Alois had let the renters stay on the farm in Buchanan, until Alois could move his family to Michigan.
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Paul graduated from the Buchanan High School in Buchanan, Michign, in 1931 (where he had played on the football and baseball teams). A group picture of Paul and his football team can be seen in the Buchanan High School, hanging on the wall of the hallway near the gymnasium. Paul's nickname on the football team was "Letch". (Paul's cousin Joseph "Joe" Letcher Jr., also played on his football team. Joe was one year behind Paul in school. Paul and his cousin Joe Letcher looked very much alike). The graduation picture of Paul and the other students in his graduating class of 1931 is hanging near the front office. Paul can be seen in the 1928, 1929 and 1930 editions of the Buchanan High School yearbooks (called "The Pines").
Paul's 1931 high school yearbook could not be found, only to later learn, that the school did not publish a yearbook in Paul's senior year of 1931, because of the "hard times" during "The Great Depression" (per: one of his classmates at a High School Reunion). (Note: The "Stock Market Crash" occurred in 1929, and was followed by "The Great Depression" which lasted until the late 1930's or middle 1940's).
Paul is also seen in the 1930 yearbook photo of the "Alpha Agrarian Club" [Agriculture club, or club for future farmers]. Note: The Alpha Agrarian Club, of Buchanan, MI was the third agriculture club organized in Michigan. On Feb. 5, 1936, it was reorganized into a FFA Club (known as the "Future Farmers of America").
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Note: The Buchanan High School which Paul attended was built in 1922. It replaced a three-story brick school which was built in 1871, that was located directly behind the present high school. Lorenzo P. Alexander (a prominent man in Buchanan), was the general contractor for the three-story brick high school. It was 78 by 80 feet on the ground, and three stories high above the basement, containing eight recitation rooms and one lecture room, and furnished with modern furniture. It was nicknamed "Fort Sumter" by the students. This three-story school could accommodate 540 students and continued in use for 50 years. The top two floors of the old school building were removed and it continued to house the heating system for the new, Buchanan High School, built in 1922.
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Note: Paul's Junior year, 1930 high school yearbook states: "Paul Letcher, another [football] lineman playing his first year on the varsity, became a very valuable man before the season ended. One of the heaviest men on the team, "Letch" bolstered the line with his hard tackling and charging".
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An article in "The News-Palladium" newspaper
on Sept. 8, 1930, mentions Paul on the
football team, which states in part:
"Besides three returning veterans on the
football team, there are also six returning
lettermen from last year's squad, they are:
Dale Hamilton, Roger Thompson, Paul and Joe
Letcher, Claude Imhoff, and Jim Eisenhart".
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During the football season of Paul's senior year, the local Buchanan newspaper published a large article on the front page, after every home game, giving the details of the football game. Fifty five boys had tried out to be on Coach Harold "Curley" Bradfield's team called "the Bucks". Paul Letcher is listed as playing the right tackle position on the varsity football team every game of the season, during his senior year. Some of Paul's fellow team members who were also routinely mentioned in the newspaper are: Captain Robert "Spot" Dempsey, Richard "Dick" Chubb, Paul DeWitt, Louis Morse, and his brother Lauren Morse, Marion Dreitzler, Roger Thompson, Dale Hamilton, Claude Imhoff, Jim Eisenhart, Robert and James Ellis, "Milf" Schultz, Carmen "Jim" Postlewalte, and Paul's cousin Joe Letcher (who played "right end").
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An article in "The News-Palladium" newspaper, in Benton Harbor, MI on Sat., April, 25, 1931, lists Paul and all of his classmates who were graduating from Buchanan High School in 1931.
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Paul had very fond memories of his high school days in Buchanan. When his children were young, and before they had a television, Paul would sit in the living room in the evenings and tell his children stories of his high school days.
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Paul, age 23 (almost 24), was married to Thelma Celestia Bliss, age 17, the daughter of Lloyd Feather Bliss and his wife Cecile Gay Upham, on Aug. 14, 1935 in South Bend, St. Joseph County Indiana, by Joseph P. Miller, Justice of the Peace. On Paul's "application for a marriage license", Paul gives his father's name as "Alex" Letcher (his nickname). (Also, on his parents marriage certificate, his father is listed by his nickname of "Alex" Letcher).
Paul's marriage certificate in Book 088, Page 225.
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Paul and Thelma's marriage announcement was published in "The News-Palladium" newspaper, in Benton Harbor, MI on Friday, Aug. 30, 1935, page 13. It reads as follows:
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Announce Marriage. Announcement is made of the marriage of Miss Thelma Bliss, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Bliss, Terrecoupe road, to Paul Letcher, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Letcher, of south of Buchanan, which took place in South Bend, [IN] August 14, [1935]. Justice of Peace, Joseph Miller, performed the ceremony. The couple was attended by Miss Evelyn Doty and Frank Trapp [Paul's cousin, and her future husband], both of Buchanan, [MI]. Mr. and Mrs. Letcher will reside with the former's parents for the present.
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Note: It was Thelma's "grandparents", Clarence and Cleta "Cleo" Upham, who were the ones that lived on Terrecoupe Road, not her parents.
Her parents were living on Geyer Road, N.-E. of Buchanan.
[Note: See the memorial for Paul's cousin Evelyn (Doty) Trapp, of Michigan, on this web site.]
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Paul and Thelma had met on a double-date they had, to a local dance (each with another partner). For one song, they switched partners. Paul and Thelma started dating after that.
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Note: Paul did not continue with his parent's Catholic faith, after his marriage.
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Paul and Thelma Letcher are also listed in the 1940 Buchanan High School yearbook, at the bottom of page 14 (which lists former graduates, and where they are living).
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Paul and Thelma had seven children, six girls and one boy. They are listed on the memorial for his wife Thelma Letcher.
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When Paul and Thelma were first married, they lived with Paul's parents at 3575 West Bertrand Road, South of Buchanan, MI. Their eldest child was born in an upstairs bedroom there in 1936. The home at 3575 West Bertrand Road, was located about 1/4 of a mile North of the Michigan-Indiana state line. The mailing address of the home at 3575 West Bertrand Road was then listed as South Bend, Indiana, even though it was located South of Buchanan, in Berrien County Michigan. (It now has a Niles, Michigan mailing address).
Paul and Thelma then lived near the train depot in Niles, Berrien County Michigan (East of Buchanan), and then near Bertrand, Berrien County Michigan (South-East of Buchanan). They lost this home in a fire. The 1940 census shows Paul living with his wife and their two eldest children, on the East side of Niles, in Howard township, Cass County Michigan. (Niles is on the boarder of Berrien County and Cass County).
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On March 21, 1945, Paul and Thelma purchased a 100 acre farm on Shattuck Road, North of Vandalia, in Sections 22 and 23 of Penn Township, Rural Route # 1, Cass County Michigan, from Carson C. and Esther M. Griffis. (It is "now" known as 17747 Shattuck Rd.). This was the "North half of the N.-W. quarter of Section 23, and the East half of the N.-E. quarter of Section 22", containing 100 acres in Penn Twp. Cass Co. MI. This farm is located on Shattuck Road, on the sharp curve between White Temple Road and Quaker Street. The 1960 plat map of Penn Township, Cass County Michigan shows the farm of Paul Letcher in Sections 22 and 23 (North of Vandalia, Michigan). (The barn and the tool shed, as well as the long row of locust trees that ran along-side the driveway, have since been removed). Paul and Thelma owned this farm for 17 years, 1 month, and 14 days, from March 21, 1945 to May 4, 1962.
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Their five eldest children attended the one-room White Temple Grade School, on the S.-W. corner of White Temple Road and Quaker Street, and the four eldest, later attended the Cassopolis High School in Cassopolis, Michigan. The White Temple Grade School was located in Section 14 of Penn Township, Cass County Michigan. It was in District # 3. (It was closed about 1959).
Their children were also members of the White Temple 4-H Club. (The children showed their 4-H exhibits at the Cass County Fair in Cassopolis, MI).
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Paul "personally" added the enclosed knotty-pine porch, hardwood flooring in the dining room, and a bathroom, and master bedroom downstairs (on the South side of the farmhouse). Paul also built many fireplaces for people in the Cass County, Michigan and St. Joseph County, Michigan areas.
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On Dec. 2, 1963 (after the first four children were grown), Paul and Thelma purchased a two-story home on Driskel Lake, (lot # 88), on North Main Street, in Jones, Newberg Township, Cass County Michigan, from Flora Belle Timm (a widow). Their three youngest children then attended the Three Rivers High School. They sold this home to John Paul Pionke Jr. and his wife DeLora K. Pionke, on April 21, 1972.
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Paul then personally built a ranch style home at 61388 North Main Street, in Jones, MI, on the lot he owned right next door to (on the North side of), the two-story.
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After all their children were grown, Paul and Thelma sold this ranch-style home on Sept. 21, 1977, and moved to 58546 Ash Road in Three Rivers, Lockport Township, St. Joseph County Michigan.
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After they were first married, Paul worked in the factory at the Bendix Corporation in South Bend, IN., and then, he was a farmer, North of Vandalia, MI. He later was self employed as a "General Mason Contractor" (per his business cards).
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After Thelma died in 1978, Paul married Mrs. Vivian Marie Milton (maiden name "Crippin"), of Plymouth, IN., on July 12, 1980 at the Jones Methodist Church in Jones, MI. (Vivian was born on July 7, 1922 in Battle Creek, MI and died Sept. 20, 1997 in Marshall, IN. She was the daughter of James Crippin Jr. and his wife Gladys M. Bennett). Paul and Vivian were married only a short time, and then divorced.
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Paul later had a close companion named Mrs. Celia A. Haskins, from Constantine, Michigan. (She was the widow of Harold L. Haskins Sr.). She made Paul's last years very happy ones, and cared for him during his cancer illness. Celia A. Haskins (July 14, 1915 - Oct. 4, 2003), is buried in the Constantine Township Cemetery, in Constantine, St. Joseph County Michigan, next to her husband Harold Sr. and son Harold Jr. (See her memorial, on find-a-grave).
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Paul died in the Borgess Medical Center (hospital) in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County Michigan, of prostrate cancer, at the age of 76 years, 1 month and 4 days.
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His obituary was published in the Three Rivers, Michigan newspaper. It reads as follows:
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PAUL A. LETCHER. Mr. Paul A. Letcher, 76, of 58546 Ash Rd., Three Rivers [MI] died Monday, November 2, 1987 at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, [MI]. He was born on Sept. 28, 1911 in Naperville, Illinois, the son of Alois and Alice (Ketchum) Letcher. He graduated from Buchanan (Michigan) High School. On August 14, 1935 he was married to Thelma Bliss in South Bend, Indiana. They made their home in Buchanan, [North of] Vandalia, Jones, and Three Rivers, [MI] following their marriage. Mrs. Letcher died on July 26, 1978. Mr. Letcher was self-employed and was engaged in the construction business. He was a member of the Three Rivers F. O. E. # 2303. Surviving are six daughters: Miss Mary Letcher, Mrs. Clayton (Joanne) Dorman, Mrs. William (Lois) Fink and Mrs. Joseph (Victoria) Hackenberg, all of Three Rivers, [MI], Mrs. Hermann (Nancy) Heib of Kalamazoo [MI], and Mrs. Clarence (Patricia) Hunsberger of Jones, Michigan; one son, Kenneth E. Letcher of Three Rivers [MI]; 18 grandchildren; one great grandchild; several nieces, nephews and his beloved companion, [Mrs.] Celcia [Celia] Haskins of Three Rivers [MI]. His parents, two brothers and two grandchildren preceded him in death. Friends may call at the Halverson Chapel after 2 p.m. Wednesday. Religious services for Mr. Letcher will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the Halverson Chapel with Paster Bill Hollett of the Jones Faith Bible Church officiating. Graveside services will be held at 3 p.m. at the Buchanan Cemetery [Oak Ridge Cemetery, in Buchanan, MI]. The family will receive their friends at the funeral home Wednesday and Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Memorials may be given to the St. Joseph Cancer Society.
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Paul is buried next to his first wife Thelma,
in Section B, Lot 88.
(Their eldest child Mary Pauline Letcher,
is buried close by).
Paul and Thelma's headstone reads:
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LETCHER
PAUL A. 1911-1987.
THELMA C. 1918-1978.
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Paul's "Letcher" family line is as follows:
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1. Joseph Letcher Sr. and his wife Magdalena Koch of Willisau, in the Canton of Luzern, in Switzerland, and later, of Naperville, DuPage Co. ILL. They immigrated at Ellis Island, New York on Dec. 18, 1893, with their 3 children, and two young boys, both named Joseph Koch, the sons of Magdalena's unwed sisters Mary and Rosa Koch, who had immigrated previously. They are buried in the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in Naperville, Illinois.
Magdalena is the daughter of Joseph Koch Sr. and his wife Catherina Zemp, of Switzerland.
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2. Alois Letcher and his wife Alice Ketchum of Naperville, DuPage County Illinois, and later, of Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. They are buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
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3. Paul Anthony Letcher and his wife Thelma Celestia Bliss. They are also buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan.
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Note: Both Paul's parents (Alois and Alice Letcher), and Thelma's parents (Lloyd and Cecile Bliss), are also buried in this cemetery. Also, Paul's Great Aunt Rosa (Koch) Keller, the sister of his grandmother Magdalena (Koch) Letcher, is buried here, as well as his Uncle Joseph G. Letcher, Uncle Fred Ketchum Sr., and his Aunts Ida May (Ketchum) Letcher, Stella (Ketchum) Kuntz, and Jennie (Ketchum) Watry (and their spouses), are buried here. His brother Russell Letcher, and at least eleven of Paul's (Letcher, Ketchum, Doty, and Watry) cousins, and six Keller "second" cousins (his father's cousins), are also buried in this cemetery.
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Note: Five consecutive generations of his wife Thelma's family, are also buried in this cemetery!
(Now six generations, counting Paul and Thelma's daughter Mary Pauline Letcher).
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At last count, we have counted over 76 people, who Paul and Thelma are related to, that are buried in this Oak Ridge Cemetery! (We stopped counting after that).
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Note: See the memorials for Paul's family,
on this web site:
Paternal Grandfather,
Joseph Letcher Sr., of Illinois.
Paternal Grandmother,
Magdalena (Koch) Letcher, of Illinois.
Maternal Grandfather,
Leander Eugene Ketchum, of Illinois.
Maternal Grandmother,
Mary E. (Nickson) Ketchum, of Illinois.
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Father, Alois Letcher, of Michigan.
Mother, Alice (Ketchum) Letcher, of Michigan.
Brother, Russell Letcher, of Michigan.
Brother, Ward Letcher, of Michigan.
Wife, Thelma (Bliss) Letcher, of Michigan.
Daughter, Mary Pauline Letcher, of Michigan.
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Note: Paul Anthony Letcher is my father.
Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
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Click on photos to see enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
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Click on: "Find all Letcher's in
Oak Ridge Cemetery" (on the left).
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See an additional photo of Paul (as a child),
on the memorial for his mother Alice Letcher.
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See a photo of the church Paul was
baptized in, on the memorial for
his Grandfather Joseph Letcher [Sr.]
of Illinois.
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