Service can mean so many things. Service to your country in the military or other capability, volunteering in many service organizations, or simply giving great service through your job or business. The first individuals that came to my mind from my family tree whose lives equaled service were my daughter in law's great grandmother, Flora Moschell Schiller Daggs and my 1st cousin 6 times removed, Levi Coffin.
Flora was born in 1901 in Indiana. From her first marriage, she had three children but the marriage ended in divorce after 20 years. It would be another 20 years before she would marry again, only to lose that husband to death just 13 months later. I am not sure exactly when her service to the Salvation Army began, but she appears as a very active participant after her second marriage in 1957. I have found many news articles about a group within the Salvation Army where Flora was a guiding hand. It was a group for seniors called the "Older Americans of the Salvation Army". They held weekly meetings to plan their activities. Flora lived to the age of 95. Two articles that detail the work her chapter was responsible for.
1972
1974
Every year at Christmas, my daughter in law, son and their 3 children honor the service given by Flora by volunteering to ring the bell at one of the iconic red kettles in their area.
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Levi Coffin was born in North Carolina in 1798. He was from a Quaker family and had an experience as a young boy that would forever guide his life. He spoke with a slave about his bondage and sympathized with him. By the time he was a teenager, Levi was helping his family assist escaped slaves. In 1825, Levi along with his new wife and son, moved to Indiana. He quickly became involved with a movement that would become known as the Underground Railroad. Levi himself estimated that he had helped about one hundred slaves per year escape further North. By the 1840's Quaker leaders began to advise their members to stop aiding runaways and let the law take care of matters. Levi did not stop and his Quaker meeting expelled him. In 1847, he moved to Cincinnati to manage a goods warehouse that would only handle materials that were produced by free labor, not slave labor. It was difficult to locate such goods and the business was sold in 1857. But none of this deterred Levi from continuing his work with the Underground Railroad. He continued his work on up through the Civil War. After the war, he helped in forming the Western Freedman's Aid Society to help the now free slaves with food or shelter or establishing businesses or getting an education. Over his lifetime, it is estimated that Levi aided between 2000 and 3000 escaped slaves find freedom. It is said that Harriet Beeche Stowe's book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" used Levi and his wife as models for the Quaker couple in her story. Levi died in 1877 at his home in Ohio. His home is now a National Historic Landmark.
Levi Coffin
Levi's home in Fountain City, Indiana
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