robertalovett

Rob't Lovett -- D.H. McCulloch -- A.D. Sturtevant -- Vorys -- Gould -- Davison -- Gates -- Farwell -- Ames (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• 2 older comments, and then…
• Art Siegel said:

  This is a group of men at Port Washington , Long Island in July, 1916 who came to train at the aviation school there to become a unit of the Aerial Coast Patrol. The story from the New York Evening World., July 15, 1916: 90 H.P. FLYING BOAT SOLD TO F. T. DAVISON Young Aviator Gets First Unit of New Aerial Coast Patrol. The first step toward establishing an aerial coast patrol for this country was taken to-day when F.T. Davison ordered a ninety horsepower Curtlss flying boat, according to an announcement Issued by the Aero Club of America. Robert Lovett, Allen Ames, H. B. Sturtevant, G.D. Winan and Mr. Davison reported at the Wanamaker Aviation School, Port Washington, L.I. to begin training as aviators. The unit is to contain twelve men, four to act as pilots, four as observers and four as anti-aircraft gunmen. Two experts In wireless telegraphy also will be added. The full equipment of the body Is to include four seaplanes and a complement of motorboats and automobiles for anti aircraft work. President Wilson and the War and Navy Departments have given their consent to a plan for a coast patrol worked out by the Aero Club and a bill appropriating $1,500,000 for its maintenance was Introduced in the Senate a few days ago." chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1916-07-15/ed-... Other sources reported that Davison was the son of H.P. Davison of J.P. Morgan & Co., and Robert Lovett as the son of Robert S. Lovett of the Union Pacific RR. query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20B14FF355B17... The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of July 16, 1916 reported that David McCollough (note spelling, elsewhere it is David H. and D.H. McCulloch) was the aviator in charge of the school. fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%205/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20E... This seminal early event in the history of American aviation is covered in Chapter 6 of "Millionaires' Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power." by Marc Wortman. That book identifies these men more accurately: Robert Abercrombie Lovett (September 14, 1895 – May 7, 1986) was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Lovett John Martin Vorys, later a Congressman from Ohio en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Martin_Vorys Rear Admiral Erl Clinton Barker Gould (1895-1968) www.millionairesunit.org/index.php?option=com_content&... Albert D. "Al" Sturtevant (1894-1918) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_D._Sturtevant Frederick Trubee Davison (February 7, 1896 - November 14, 1974) was an American World War I aviator, Assistant US Secretary of War, Director of Personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency, and President of the American Museum of Natural History. Artemus Lamb Gates (November 3, 1895 – June 14, 1976) was an American businessman, naval aviator, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in charge of naval aviation efforts in World War II. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemus_Gates John V. Farwell III (1895-1992) www.millionairesunit.org/index.php?option=com_content&... articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-20/news/9201260003_1_...http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=farwell&GSfn=john&GSmn=v&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=52131027&df=all& Allan Wallace Ames (1893-1966) www.millionairesunit.org/index.php?option=com_content&...http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=ames&GSfn=allan&GSmn=w&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=49000003&df=all&

• Barbara (LOC P&P) said:

  Thanks, artolog, for providing all the information and resources. I haven't been able to get to the bottom of whether David H. was "McCulloch" or "McCullough." I have also seen some "McCullough" on other sites, though Bain seems to have stuck with "McCulloch"--as in this close-up In any case, we'll add information when we next update the description.

• Art Siegel said:

  McCullough again:
  

• TVL1970 said:

  Barbara (LOC P&P) Barbara, as Art has found, "McCullough" is frequently used as the spelling for the aviator in question. However, after spending (too much?) time connecting the dots, I am certain that "McCulloch" is the proper and correct spelling. David Hugh McCulloch, Sr. was born to parents William Turbett McCulloch and Lucretia J. McManigal in Pennsylvania on April 23, 1890, and he passed away on September 20, 1955. He was married to Helen Wheeler Fair, and the children I have been able to identify thus far are: Virginia Fair McCulloch (who would marry in 1946 (and divorce in 1956) Bertrand L. Taylor III, then marry (and later divorce) renown diver Peter Robin Gimbel (of Gimbel's Department Stores) in 1960; Alice Fair McCulloch (married to Frederick Hemsley Gillmore in August 1933); Helen Fair McCulloch, and David Hugh McCulloch, Jr. Although the preponderance of evidence points toward "McCulloch" as the proper spelling, that evidence comes primarily from (not necessarily accurate) newspaper society notices of impending marriages, noting "father David H. McCulloch" as the noted Naval aviator, with homes in both Port Washington, Long Island and Palm Beach, Florida. What settles the issue is the short life of David Jr. David Hugh McCulloch, Jr.'s birth is announced on Page 13 of the June 30, 1922 issue of The Evening News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (note, "Mrs. J. Emery Fleisher" is McCulloch, Sr.'s mother, Lucretia, who married Fleisher some time after her first husband William passed away at the age of 41 in 1894): Mrs. J. Emery Fleisher has received the announcement of the birth of a grandson, David Hugh McCulloch, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. David Hugh McCulloch, of New York City, June 24. Mr. McCulloch, the father, is the famous aviator who was on the Ill-fated N-3 which floundered several years ago near the Asores on its trans-Atlantic flight If you go to Find-A-Grave, two headstones stand next to each other at Woodlawn Cemetery in Palm Beach, Florida. One is for David Hugh McCulloch, Jr. "June 24, 1922 - December 7, 1922" See: www.findagrave.net/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=96138161 The adjacent headstone is for David Hugh McCulloch, Sr. "April 23, 1890 - September 20, 1955" See: www.findagrave.net/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=96138063 It is curious and somewhat disheartening that there is no notation of his service (and achievements in aviation), nor of his family, other than the immediate proximity of the grave of his son who died at too young an age. Similarly, it is surprising that there isn't any information (obituaries, notices, etc.) reporting or noting his own passing in 1955 that can be located thus far (perhaps as more publications are digitized, this is will change?). However, with the knowledge that McCulloch was born in Pennsylvania (see also the story about the historic flight of the Curtiss NC Flying boats to the Azores on page 36 in the May 4, 1919 Brooklyn Eagle - "Lt. David H. McCulloch, considered one of the best pilots in the Naval Aviation Corps, has been in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps since 1917 when he was 27 years old, having been born in Pennsylvania in 1890."), combined with the notice of his son's birth, and the aforementioned grave site information, we can say for a certainty that the proper spelling of the name is "McCulloch", and for the first time as far as I am aware, we can say with a reasonable certainty that he was born on April 23, 1890 and passed on September 20, 1955.

• Barbara (LOC P&P) said:

  Thanks, TVL1970, for all the research and deduction! I see that in the updated catalog record on our site ( www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2005022296/ ) we favored "McCulloch" (with an alternative "McCullough" there for retrieval purposes, but with a question mark). Alas, we entered the wrong middle initial in the process. We'll adjust further, indicating that "McCulloch" is most likely the accurate spelling.