Moses Johnson of the 100th U.S. Colored Troops

 Moses Johnson was born in 1832 in Maryland where he worked as a laborer.  Noted on his military service record was "refugee of North Carolina." Johnson was recruited by Lt. J. J. Steiner. He enlisted in the Civil War on September 24, 1864 at Sandusky, Ohio. He was mustered in December 31, 1864 for one year's service. He listed his age as 32 and his height as five feet seven inches. Private Johnson served in Company D of the 9^th US Colored Heavy Artillery as a substitute for John Luckey, Esq. of Elmore, Ohio (Ottawa County). His service was credited to Harris Twp. Ottawa County where Luckey lived. 

 He worked as company cook for the teamsters of the 9th Heavy Artillery unit and performed extra duty as a teamster for the quartermaster department. Johnson was later transferred to Company E of the 100th US Colored Infantry. He mustered out one year and twelve days later. 

Civil War Tombstone of Private Moses Johnson
Courtesy of Find a Grave

Moses and his wife Anna, who was born in North Carolina in 1834, farmed in Washington Twp. Sandusky County. In 1870, the couple had a son named Moses. By 1880, Moses and Anna had adopted an eleven-year-old boy named John Thomas. 

The following year, Moses filed for and received a pension for his Civil War service (#543749). Sometime after this date, Anna passed away. And on October 16, 1889, Moses married again in Ottawa County, Ohio to Martha Elonor Bibb. He reportedly suffered from a degree of blindness. Martha Johnson was granted a widow’s pension (#564284) March 31, 1898. Moses Johnson is buried in the Elmore, Ohio Union Cemetery.

Undated Obituary for Moses Johnson
Courtesy of Find a Grave

 

Nazi Stolen Treasures at the Merkers Salt Mine

 Merrill Rudes was a prominent Ottawa County, Ohio, probate and juvenile courts judge. Born in Genoa, Ohio in 1920, he served as a captain in General George Patton’s Third Army during World War II. Captain Rudes was with the Third Army as it crossed the Rhine, plunging deep into German territory. While on patrol near Thuringa, Captain Rudes met two women who had worked as forced labor at the nearby Merkers mine. They told him of “treasure in the Salt Mines.”  According to a March 2019 wtol.com (Toledo, Ohio) article, Rudes included their information in his notes and sent it up to headquarters.

On April 8^th, 1945, U.S. Army officials followed up on Rudes’ notes. There, in the mine, they discovered more than 500 masterpieces by artists such as Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Manet, Titian, and others. The vault inside Merkers contained the Nazis’ stolen gold, silver, platinum, sculptures, drawings, and also valuables confiscated from Holocaust victims.

  

Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton examining valuables stolen by the SS from Jews in concentration camps 

Courtesy of National Archives

Immediately, Patton informed Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. On the 12^th, the three generals descended more than 2,100 feet into the mine to personally inspect its treasures. General Eisenhower was visibly moved when he saw those items taken by the SS from Jews at the concentration camps.

That night while discussing the protection and movement of the treasures, the three generals learned of President Franklin Roosevelt’s death. According to the earlier Yalta Conference agreement, this area would become part of the Russian sector once the war ended. The generals planned to remove the treasures as quickly as possible via a heavily-guarded convoy that included air cover. The artwork, many pieces wrapped in sheepskin overcoats, abandoned by the Nazis, was transferred within days to Wiesbaden and then Frankfurt. 

Young Woman with the Pearl Necklace by Vermeer, 1664
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

,

In late 1946, amid strong opposition, 202 of the most important works were brought to the U.S. President Truman, personally, gave his assurance the paintings were not confiscated, but only temporarily moved for better protection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. 

Two years later, when conditions improved, General Lucius Clay ordered the artwork returned. But many Americans wanted to see the paintings before they left for Europe. The Army agreed to a traveling exhibit that would take the paintings on a 12,000-mile journey to 14 of the nation’s leading museums. An estimated 7 million Americans saw the European masterpieces. An requested admission fee of 30 cents raised more than $190,000 which the U.S. Army used for the support of orphans in the American sector of Germany.

Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton Looking at Stolen Artwork

"Paintings from the Berlin Museums" Exhibition, 1948

                         Courtesy of  National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. was the first to display the paintings beginning March 17th to April 25th, 1948. In 40 days 964,970 visitors attended the exhibit. The original frames had  been removed for storage. Because they were lost in a fire, the gallery used simple wood moldings to display the paintings.  Fifty of the most fragile paintings (mostly on panels) were returned immediately. After the Boston exhibit another fifty paintings  were returned.

In March 1949, over a 10-day period, more than 100,000 visitors saw the exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art. The exhibit was in part made possible by the museum’s director Otto Wittman, one of the Monuments Men (now made famous by George Clooney’s movie). Area businesses raised funds so that 42,000 schoolchildren could attend. As Toledo was the tour’s final stop they would be among the last Americans to see the masterpieces all in one place in the U.S.

Note: For a detailed account of events at Merkers mine, see  Greg Bradsher's article in the National Archives publication "Prologue," Volume 31, No.1, Spring 1999.