Ben Byrnes collection of Aubrey C. Ross WWI letters, 1903-1970

Collection

Identifier: 2010-041

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Correspondance of Aubrey C. Ross, a chaplain who served with the Y.M.C.A. through the Army's 79th Infantry Division during World War I. In addition to the 104 letters exchanged between Aubrey and his wife, Laura L. Ross, during World War I, the collection includes correspondance between Ross and various members of his immediate family from 1903 to 1970. The majority of the Rosses were Missouri farmers, and even Aubrey, who lived in New Yok until the 1940s, held a deed to farmland in Missouri. In addition to World War I, the letters also cover the Great Depression, World War II, and the Vietnam War. The collection also includes Aubrey C. Ross's World War I movement orders, travel requests, newsletters, postcards, Army memos, travel pamphlets, pressed French flowers, hotel receipts, and a Report on Activities of the Y.M.C.A. with the A.E.F., as well as various other documents mailed over the years to members of the Ross family, including newspaper clippings and paper crafts.

Dates

Creation: 1903 - 1970

Access

This material is open for research use by any registered reader.

Use and Copyright

This material is owned by the University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections. Unpublished manuscripts are under copyright. Therefore, permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from both the repository and the copyright holder.

Biographical / Historical

Aubrey Cosson Ross was a chaplain who served with the Y.M.C.A. through the Army's 79th Infantry Division during World War I. He was stationed in France from January 15, 1918, to April 22, 1919.

Born in Missouri in 1882, Aubrey was the only son born to J.T. and Josie E. Ross. In the early 1900s, Aubrey moved to New York and married Laura Lutte Hurd. Aubrey and Laura had four children, J.T., Mary Louise, John, and Betsy. J.T., also called Tom or Tommy, married Barbara (last name unknown) and had one daughter, Deborah. Betsy married Joe Schultz, but it is not known if they had any children. Mary Louise married Ralph Henrich and had three children, Tommy, Betsy, and Johnny. The letters do not provide any information on whether or not John married, but in the 1940s he and Aubrey lived and worked together through the Y.M.C.A. in Missouri.

J.T. (who died sometime in early 1937) and Josie E. Ross also had two daugthers, Winnie and Ruby. Winnie married Joe Davidson and had one daughter named Joannah. Joannah married Merle (last name unknown) and had at least two children, J.T. and Bobby D. Ruby married Ernest Carnahan and had two children, Ernestine (who died young in 1927 or 1928) and Ross.

Unfortunately the letters do not provide any details regarding birthdays, anniversaries, or deaths, so exact dates can not be determined at this time.