THE GREAT WAR

Two events marked the calendars of history when the New Year of 1918 began. One was the Great Influenza Pandemic and the other was The Great War. WWI would soon become very personal for Margaret and Edward. On May 2, 1918, a postcard arrived at the lighthouse from Spartanburg, North Carolina. It was from Charles Herman (n). He was dropping a line to let them know they were leaving North Carolina the next day. He did not know where they were being sent and he hoped to get a pass home before going overseas. Charles would try to “drop a line” before “leaving the good ole USA”. The card was signed, “love, your bro. Chas”. Charles was in the army and soon he would be traveling across the ocean to fight a war unlike any the world had seen before.

For the past several years, Margaret’s life had dealt with death and grief. When she was not dealing with her grief, she was dealing with what was left of her family and Edward‘s activities at the lighthouse. The time in-between was devoted to her church and the activities that came with those responsibilities associated with its various organizations and social groups. Now it was time to step back and take stock of the reality of the situation in which she found herself. In August, Margaret would turn forty. She had been married to Edward for almost ten years. They had lived at the Marblehead Lighthouse for five years. She did not have any children. Her husband was German. The Great War was being fought against the Germans. Her brother-in-law was being sent over seas to fight against his ancestors. Her Tonawanda, New York family still embraced a German culture and spoke the language on a daily basis. Edward was extremely busy with the Lighthouse due to the increased ship traffic as a result of the war activities. Women were being called into action on the home front. They were suddenly needed by the government to join the work forces, to step into the male shoes while keeping their aprons close at hand. While they did this, the men went off to battle. Yet, there was something very wrong with this picture. Women still could not vote.

Margaret never shared her thoughts on the suffragist movement. Many strong independent women did not feel their sex should have the vote. Within her Methodist faith, there was a division of opinion with some women fervently desiring the right while others remained ambivalent about the vote. There is nothing to shed light on which side of the political fence Margaret stood. Perhaps she simply did not know, or perhaps she did know. Later her involvement in one of the Lakeside organizations might give a clue, yet it would remain a mystery with only speculation for guidance. However, the fact that Lakeside had for most of its history been involved in social and political issues and some of those were directly tied to the Women’s Right to Vote Movement, she probably was a strong advocate for it. If it were not for one brief entry in the Marblehead Lighthouse logbooks by Charles Hunter, her political involvement during the Great War may never have been known. A man not given to writing many words briefly recorded, “Mrs. Herman Asst keepers wife and C A Hunter solicitors for 4th Liberty Bond Loan.” (Charles rarely mentioned names of men, let alone women. When he married, the logbook records the event, yet his wife’s name is never mentioned. Even when she was ill and died, Keeper Hunter referred to her only as “wife”) Margaret’s activity was to have far-reaching consequences spilling over into the world beyond her immediate community. The balance of power for women was about to change and Margaret was about to take on a new role.