Bartlett Melvin Egeland 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Born: 24 January 1891, , Day County, SD 1 2 4 7
- Partnership (1): Olive Sarah Albers on 11 August 1917 in Northfield, MN
- Died: 14 September 1919, Corpus Christi, TX at age 28 5 6 7
- Buried: 30 September 1919, Rose Hill Memorial Park, Corpus Christi, TX 5 6 7
 Cause of his death was Drowning from hurricane.5
General Notes:
World War I Service Record, Day County, South Dakota
Name: Egeland, B. M.
Residence: Webster, South Dakota
Branch: US Army
Detachment: Company I, 37th Infantry, Brownville, TX
Rank: Captain
Parents: Martha Egeland
Volume No. 19
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(Martha's sons, World War I:) "Bertie was a captain, but never left the states. He was stationed in Texas somewhere and trained soldiers for the war."
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Death Notes:
Name: B M Egeland
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 14 Sep 1919
Event Place: Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas, United States
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Record Number: 27516
Citing this Record
"Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K38N-FX3 : 13 March 2018), B M Egeland, 14 Sep 1919; citing certificate number 27516, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,073,673.
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Burial Notes:
Captain Bartlett M. Egeland and his wife, who both perished in a large storm or hurricane which hit the Corpus Christi area in September 1919. They were originally buried in temporary graves in the Rose Hill Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, TX and then later reinterred in the Webster Cemetery in Webster, Day, South Dakota.
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Noted events in his life were:
• He has alternate birth date of 24 January 1892 and a birth location of South Dakota.
6
• He appeared on the 1900 US Census in Webster, SD on 4 June 1900. 1
1900 US Census
Sheet 3A, District 128, Family 49, Roll 1549
Webster, Day County, South Dakota
Home owned, no mortgage
Bartlette Egland..Son..Jul 1891..9..SD..At School
(Living with widowed mother.)
.
• He appeared on the 1905 South Dakota State Census in Webster, SD in June 1905. 2
1905 South Dakota State Census
Cards 52-58
Webster, Day County, South Dakota
Bartlett Egeland..14..SD..Student..Card 57
(Living with widowed mother.)
.
• He appeared on the 1910 US Census in Webster, SD on 22 April 1910. 3
1910 US Census
Sheet 2B, District 155, Family 46, Roll 1479, Ward 1
Webster, Day County, South Dakota
Fifth Street; House owned, no mortgage
Bartlett M. Egeland..Son..19..SD
(Living with widowed mother.)
NOTE - If his birth date was in Jul 1891, then his age should have been 18 instead of 19.
.
• He appeared on the 1915 South Dakota State Census in Webster, SD in June 1915. 4
1915 South Dakota State Census
Cards 341-346
Webster, Day County, South Dakota
House owned
Bartlett M. Egeland..23..WI..Insurance Agent..High School..Lutheran..Card 345
(Living with widowed mother.)
.
• Death Image: 14 September 1919, in Corpus Christi, TX. 5
• His obituary was published in The Corpus Christi Caller on 25 September 1919 in Corpus Christi, TX.
6 Clasped arm in arm with one life preserver between them Captain B. M. Egeland, in command of Company I, 37th Infantry, and his wife went down together on a raft during the storm.
Captain and Mrs Egeland, his two junior officers and two enlisted men were in the captain's home on North Beach at the time the storm struck the beach in all its fury. Refusing to believe that the waves could do the damage in Corpus Christi which they afterward did or that there was any great danger from them, the little party did not leave the house until forced to do so by the rising water.
As they left the door, the railroad embankment was the highest bit of ground on the horizon and toward this they made their way. Starting down the right of way to the city their passage was soon block by a large two-story house which had drifted across the track.
Seizing on this as a refuge, they entered and found one old couple already there. For only a short time did the house protect them from the force of the storm, for the wind shifted it about and it was apparent that the house was destined soon to go to pieces.
Leaving the house, Captain and Mrs. Egeland became separated from the rest of the party when on of the lieutenants was struck on the head by flying debris and knocked unconscious for a few minutes.
The captain and his wife mounted a raft for safety and were carried out into the bay. Lieutenant Wilson saw them clasped tightly together with one life preserver between them drifting out over the waters.
The body of Captain Egeland was recovered and identified early Tuesday afternoon on this side of the bay being brought to the temporary morgue at the court house. "The hardest thing that I ever did was to put his body into that box", said Lieutenant Wilson, who had served under Egeland for a number of years. He was buried in Rose Hill cemetery.
The body of Mrs. Egeland was not found until several days later, where it had drifted to the other shore. She was buried in the cemetery there. Both bodies will later be disinterred by the government and sent to their former home in North Dakota, at the request of Egeland's brother.
Captain Egeland had been stationed in Corpus Christi in command of the Rest Camp for soldiers ever since it had opened. Previous to that he had been on duty in the Brownsville district for some time.
(Source: The Corpus Christi Caller, 25 Sep 1919)
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• He was buried on 30 September 1919 in the Rose Hill Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, TX.
Find a Grave Memorial 139303945
. 5 6
• He was buried after 30 September 1919 in the Webster Cemetery in Webster, SD.
PLOT Sec 1 Row E
Find a Grave Memorial 192694095
. 7
Bartlett had a relationship with Olive Sarah Albers, daughter of John R. Albers and Louise C. Ebling, on 11 August 1917 in Northfield, MN. (Olive Sarah Albers was born on 21 May 1894 in Bridgewater Township, Rice, MN,8 9 died on 14 September 1919 in Odem, TX 9 and was buried on 1 November 1919 in Webster Cemetery, Webster, SD 9.)
Marriage Notes:
Both Bartlett and his wife, Olive, who were only in their twenties, were drowning victims of the hurricane that hit the Corpus Christi, Texas area on 14 Sep 1919. The storm had come across Florida and warnings were up along the Texas coastline well in advance but some false rumors that the storm had turned northward into Louisiana had prompted officials in Corpus Christi to take down all the warning signs the day before the storm actually hit. As a result of the ill-made preparations approximately 600-900 people were killed.
I'm not exactly sure where Bartlett and his wife lived but the death certificate for Bartlett was issued in Corpus Christi and the informant appears to be "Max P. Dunn, Chairman of the Rescue Committee. Texas death certificates do not have a separate date when the certificate was made out and the only date that appears is the date of death which is when the storm hit on 14 Sep 1919.
What is unique about their deaths is that the death certificate for Olive was issued in San Patrico County and is about 5-10 miles inland and north of Corpus Christi. Actually, the certificate says the place of death was "on Bay, near Odem, Texas." The informant on her certificate was her father who lived in Northfield, Minnesota. Once again there was no date when the certificate was filled out and only a date of death of "about Sept 14th". Her official cause of death was listed in non-medical terminology as "Corpus Christi Storm Victim". There is no medical doctor's signature on her certificate. It would appear that her father traveled from Minnesota to the Texas coast in search of his daughter and fearing the worst after hearing of the devastation in the Corpus Christi area. I can't imagine the time between the storm hitting and the father identifying the body of his daughter to be anything less than several days later.
After the father claimed her body, he directed that her remains were to be buried in Webster, South Dakota. This was accomplished on 1 Nov 1919. I'm not sure if the father even knew that her husband's remains had been found and he probably was just buried in Corpus Christi but for some reason he chose to have her buried in Webster...perhaps to be near her mother-in-law who was still living there. I'm surprised he didn't have her buried back home in Northfield, Minnesota where she was born and where her parents were still living.
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