There is a dramatic story of the wedding between Ruth Wilson and Thomas C. Mullins.
T.C. enlisted in the Army in June 1918 and was made Captain in the Corps of Engineers because of his extensive engineering education and experience. He was sent to Camp Lee, Virginia, for what was meant to be 3 months of training. But after 3 weeks, he was told that deployment was imminent. He was briefly sent to Fort Harrison, outside Indianapolis and about 200 miles from Boonville, where Ruth lived.
Change Of Plans—A Scramble Ensues!
Initially, Ruth and T.C. had decided to wait until after World War I to marry. But on the first Friday at Fort Harrison, he and Ruth spoke by phone and decided to marry the next day—just before T.C. was deployed to Europe.
The next day (Saturday), T.C. quietly left the base AWOL to travel to Boonville, while a friendly lieutenant covered for him. T.C. arrived by train at 8 p.m. that evening.
The courthouse was closed, of course, but Ruth’s brother, Bob Wilson, managed to find the clerk to open the office and issue a license.
The family’s minister was on vacation. Aunt Ida, Bob’s wife, went to the home of the Methodist minister in town. The minister’s wife said that he was already in bed but was willing to get up and perform the ceremony. He told Ida it would take a bit longer because he needed to put his wooden leg back on!
The ceremony proceeded successfully.
The Honeymoon
Immediately after the ceremony, Ruth’s uncle, Bob Gough, drove the couple in a Stanley Steamer at break-neck speed to Evansville so they could catch the 11 p.m.. train back to Indianapolis. There, the couple had a 2-week honeymoon—the best C.T. could manage with occasional leaves from the base.
Ruth spent some time with close friends, the Ashby family, but mainly remembers sitting in a hotel room waiting for a knock at the door.
Then, T.C.’s orders arrived: He was put on a troop train to Fort Upton on Long Island to embark for Europe. Ruth traveled separately by train to Center Moriches, a small village on Long Island near Fort Upton. There, she stayed in a small inn with several other officers’ wives.
Their Farewell
She tried to stay in contact with T.C., but as the time for shipping-out approached, security was tight and there were severe restrictions on communications. But they had a code: When the day came that he was to sail out, he called her and asked if she planned to go into New York City that day to see his family, including his brother, George Mullins (a Mathematics Professor at Columbia). Ruth gave the planned answer, “Yes, I think I will.” She laments that this was to be her farewell to her husband.
In fact, she did go into the city. George’s home had a full view of the troop ships lined up in the Hudson. Ruth said, “The ships looked like huge jig-saw puzzles or gargoyles, in all colors and sizes and shapes instead of troop ships.”
At night, the ships closed heavy curtains over every window and the entire Hudson was pitch black. No cigarettes or lights were allowed on deck. There were U-boats patrolling the coast and the threat to U.S. ships was ever-present.
As rapidly as they safely could, the ships moved out.
Ruth knew T.C. was on one of the hulking vessels but had no idea which. She said, “…it was a case of so near and yet so far. Nothing we could do about it.”
European Arrival
T.C., as it turned out, was on an Australian troop ship, which he said later was fine except the men got sick of mutton for dinner! The ship took a long, northerly route to Europe, to try to avoid the menacing German submarines. T.C. was appointed commander of the submarine guard. He recalls shooting at anything and everything suspicious, even icebergs and flocks of birds.
T.C. arrived safely in France, less than 4 months before the end of the war on November 11, 1918. He remained in France for another year, with the task of selling war equipment to the French government. He returned home to Boonville in October 1919 to continue his engineering career and start a family.
© 2013 W. Mullins