These two aren’t in my direct line of ancestry, but they do have some unique experiences during WWII that I thought were interesting
John Peter (JP) Anderson is 2nd Great Uncle, a brother to Reuben Anderson, my great-grandfather. JP was a missionary in China for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. JP left for China in 1906 and ended up completing 50 years of missionary service in China and with a couple of short furloughs he retired from Voice of Prophecy in 1957.
As you may have gathered, he was in China during WWII. JP was held at the Canton Civil Assembly Center starting on Feb 19, 1943 and was there until the end of the war. He documented his time by writing over 1000 pages to his wife who had sailed back to the states in Sept 1943 and the church put together a sample of his writings that makes up about 100 pages – it’s really interesting reading. In addition to that large document we have a letter that he had sent to his brother Reuben
Charles Johann Moeller is my 3rd Great Uncle and is the brother of Anna Moeller who married Gottlob Mauser, my GG Grandfather.
Charles was born in Germany in 1868 and immigrated to America with his parents Heinrich and Anna Moeller in 1882. He became a Methodist pastor and by 1937 was retired to San Diego, CA where he was a substitute preacher. At that time he preached in German to the German prisoners of War on Coronado Island.
A direct quote in a letter from Charles to Tille (Mauser) Lehn on Oct 3, 1945:
“Beginning August 12th I’ve been preaching in German every Sunday to German War Prisoners. There are 600 of them here on Coronado Island. Since the Chaplins here could not speak German they asked me to do it for them.”
I received this photo from Mildred (Mauser) Bieber and she had received it from Marguerite it is labeled as the following members of the Moeller Family
Back Row, L – R: Walter August Hemme, Regina Moeller, Mary Hemme, Herman F Moeller, John Moeller, August Hemme
Middle Row, L-R: Rose Moeller (on lap), Henry John Moeller, Emma C Moeller, Rudolf Moeller (on lap), Henrich Otto Wolpers (second husband of Anna Moeller), Anna (Moeller) Wolpers (mother of Charles the subject of this piece), Jeannie Moeller, Hannah Moeller, (baby on lap unknown), Emma Hemme
Front Row, L-R: Ernest Moeller, Ruth Moeller, Helen Moeller, Magdalena Moeller, unknown child, Emma Hemme
Photo taken in San Diego, CA about 1905
Cory and Nicole Family History 