If you follow my other blog, you already know I am reading a massive biography of Charles Lindbergh. When I got to the parts about his transatlantic flight and the kidnapping/murder of his oldest son, I was struck by how much these two events permeated American lives. I was also struck by the fact that my grandfather was alive for both events and yet stories about either cannot be found in our family lore. I checked with my dad’s cousin and she said the same thing (her father was my grandfather’s brother). She did mention that she asked Nellie (Grandpa’s mother) about the Wright brothers once and was told that at the time, everyone thought they were crazy to try to fly.

Grandpa was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1920. Lindbergh made his flight in May 1927, which would put Grandpa at age 7 and his brother Cliff at age 6. I’m going to assume that at least Grandpa was in school at this time; however, May 21, when he actually landed in Paris was a Saturday. My understanding is that schools closed all over the country, so that means that either schools closed that Friday or the following Monday (or both). I’m not sure how to confirm this for Cleveland schools.

Grandpa and his younger brother c. 1927

After spending a few weeks in Europe, Lindbergh returned to the United States and then from July 20 to October 23, 1927 he participated in a “Goodwill Tour” of dozens of cities in 48 states. Every stop was cause for celebration, parades, banquets, and other events.

For reference, Cleveland’s population in 1920 was just under 800,000 and in 1930 it was just over 900,000. This means that about 5% of the population showed up at the airport on August 2, 1927! That’s crazy!

The Times Recorder, Zaneville, Ohio. 4 August 1927, Thursday. Page 10

Now August 2 isn’t exactly school time, especially nowadays. I want to say that I remember Grandpa talking about going to school in September, but I am not sure. So I guess it makes some sense that it wasn’t on Grandpa’s radar if his parents weren’t interested in aviation or couldn’t for some reason take the boys to any of the events. In 1927, I believe Nellie and Paul’s (Grandpa’s parents) marriage was falling apart, but they didn’t divorce until 1929. My guess is that Nellie couldn’t take off work and Paul was drunk somewhere? Additionally, Aunt Anna died in 1929 after an illness; it is possible that everyone was too busy with life, work, and taking care of her that everything else fell to the wayside.

I found a few more articles that indicate Lindbergh visited Ohio more than twice in order to visit with Myron T. Herrick, who was governor of Ohio from 1904 to 1906 and Ambassador to France 1912 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1929. (He happens to be buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Cleveland, which is where Aunt Anna Martin also happens to be buried!)

Regarding the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping/murder case, Grandpa was much older. In March 1932 Grandpa turned 12. My uncle thinks he remembers Grandpa mentioning this event from his childhood; my dad thinks so, too, but can’t remember how much of what Grandpa said came from first hand memories from the news and what he’d read about it since then.

Again, this event was plastered all over the news. It was unavoidable. By this time Nellie and Paul were divorced and America was fully in the Great Depression. I imagine that since Grandpa remembers a lot of time spent around the radio as a kid that they probably discussed the kidnapping and later murder. My understanding is that there was a national “keep your kids at home” mentality for awhile after the kidnapping. With Nellie being a single mom, I can totally see her instructing the boys to go straight home after school.

I thought of another reason this event may not have made such a big impact on Nellie and the boys’ lives. This was right before Hitler became chancellor of Germany. I do remember Grandpa talking about how Ignatz and Lena (Grandpa’s paternal grandparents) received letters from home (Germany) that would make them cry. I specifically remember him saying both Ignatz and Lena (she died in 1934), so it’s safe to say that they could’ve been receiving these letters about the same time. Whether the letters were about Hitler’s rise and all the changes he made in Germany, or if they were about all the suffering from the depression that rampaged through Europe after WW1, I could not say. None of the letters have survived.

Below is one page of an Oakland, California newspaper from the day after the kidnapping to give you an idea about how much of the event that happened in New Jersey was covered.

Do you have any family stories regarding Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight? The kidnapping and murder of his son? Or any other “world news” event? I’d love to hear about it!