DOB/DOD: July 19, 1893 (Jersey City, NJ) – December 22, 1968 (Teesside South, Yorkshire, North Riding, England); 75 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married George Chapman Hogg [1892-1982] in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, in July 1922 and lived in England until her death.
CHILDREN: One son, Alexander G. [1925-?]. Two daughters, Eugenie M. (1923-?) and Constance M. [1927-1974].
LOCAL ADDRESS: 378 Flax Hill Road, Norwalk
FAMILY: Born to Alexander J. [1867-1959] and Maria M. Richman Rummler [1870-1959]. Two sisters, Roberta “Bobbie” R. Rummler Jones [1895-1981] and Eugenia “Genie” R. Rummler Baldwin [1899-1982].
OTHER: Josephine’s mother, Maria Rummler, was the first woman to be elected to the City Council of Norwalk in 1929. She was also active in the Republican Party, First Congregational Church on the Green, and organized the British War Relief Society’s Norwalk branch.
Josephine’s father, Alexander Rummler, was an artist. The painting above was a result of many requests by visitors to Mr. Rummler’s studio in South Norwalk, CT. They kept asking him to paint himself in a portrait when he is working on one of his works. So, he accommodated them and the above work is the result. It hangs in the atrium of Norwalk City Hall. “Mopping for Starfish” is in the background and hangs on the third floor .
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, Alexander Rummler studied at the Art Students League of New York and then at the Academie Julian in Paris.
He achieved fame when his painting of the signing of the World War I armistice was displayed on billboards across the country.
In 1907, he moved to South Norwalk. Then, in 1926, he was chosen as the artist to represent Connecticut at the Sesquicentennial Exposition held in Philadelphia that same year. His paintings won first place.
In 1936, under a Works Public Administration commission, he painted murals at Norwalk High School, which was then being built. He painted 16 murals and eight smaller works illustrating Norwalk life, such as the oyster factories, fishing, etc. [rjschwartz.blogspot.com]
From the 1914 Smith College yearbook
Graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1914. She also taught at Hillside School in Norwalk. In the Smith College Monthly, volume 25, it says, “Josephine Rummler is a translator decoder with the rating of First Class Yeoman U.S.N.R.F.”
From wikitree.com
During World War I, she was a communications officer giving expert service to the U.S. Navy as a civilian employee.
From history.navy.mil
The first large-scale employment of women as Naval personnel took place to meet the severe clerical shortages of the World War I era. The Naval Reserve Act of 1916 had conspicuously omitted mention of gender as a condition for service, leading to formal permission to begin enlisting women in mid-March 1917, shortly before the United States entered the “Great War.” Nearly six hundred Yeomen (Female) were on duty by the end of April 1917, a number that had grown to over eleven thousand in December 1918, shortly after the Armistice.
The “Yeomen (F),” or “Yeomanettes” as they were popularly known, primarily served in secretarial and clerical positions, though some were translators, draftsmen, fingerprint experts, ship camouflage designers, and recruiting agents. Five went to France with Naval hospital units, and a modest number of others were stationed in Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Panama Canal Zone. However, the great majority were assigned duties at Naval installations in the Continental United States, frequently near their homes, processing the great volume of paperwork generated by the war effort.
Yeomen (F), all of whom held enlisted ranks, continued in service during the first months of the post-war Naval reductions. Their numbers declined steadily, reaching just under four thousand by the end of July 1919, when they were all released from active duty. Yeomen (F) were continued on inactive reserve status, receiving modest Retainer Pay, until the end of their four-year enlistments, at which point all women except Navy nurses disappeared from the uniformed Navy until 1942.
Many honorably discharged Yeomen (F) were appointed to Civil Service positions in the same Navy Yards and Stations where they had served in wartime. Entitled to veterans’ preference for Government employment, they provided a strong female presence in the Navy’s civilian staff through the decades after World War I.
From The Norwalk Hour July 5, 1940
RUMMLERS TO GET GRANDDAUGHTER SOON
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander J. Rummler of 2 Orchard Street, who are anticipating that their young granddaughter, Constance Hogg of Yorkshire, England, will be sent here soon, have received a cablegram and letter from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Hogg, telling that the preliminary arrangements for the child’s visit are underway. The letter tells also of the bombing raids in the immediate vicinity of the Hogg home, although no severe damage had been sustained. Mrs. Hogg was Miss Josephine Rummler, and she saw service as a chief yeoman in the United States Navy during the World War, being the only woman censor. At present, she is affiliated with the Conservation Department of the British Navy. Mr. and Mrs. Hogg have two other children, Eugenie and Alex, who will remain in England.
From The Norwalk Hour September 28, 1940
FORMER NORWALK GIRL WRITES OF BOMBINGS IN ENGLAND
A glimpse into Britain’s attitude toward war circumstances is seen in an interesting letter that a former Norwalker, Mrs. George C. Hogg of Yorkshire, England, has sent her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Rummler of 2 Orchard Street. Mrs Hogg, the former Josephine Rummler, served as a chief yeoman In the United States Navy during the World War and is at present active In the Conservation Department of the British Navy and in the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. In addition to their daughter, Connie (mentioned in the letter), who is twelve years old, Mr. and Mrs. Hogg have two other children, Eugenie and Alex, both older than their sister. Mrs. Hogg’s mother, Mrs Rummler, has been actively associated with the Norwalk Branch of the British War Relief Society, and her daughter’s letter comments concerning the activities of this national organization. The letter, dated September 2, says, in part: “Dear Mother and Dad: Your letter of August 8 came Saturday and that of August 14 today. The government scheme will operate for the USA as soon as the ships are sent here; it’s been in our papers. I wrote on Friday again as we had a seven-hour raid on Thursday night, finishing at 5 A.M. George was on guard duty at the works, but before he left, he insisted on Connie going to bed upstairs as usual. It was a silly idea as he had no sooner got away than I heard bombs and gunfire and had to bring her downstairs. I’d made up a bed on the couch pulled away from the window in the dining room and I persuaded her she would be all right there and turned out the light. She went straight to sleep. I lay down in the next room, ready to do any rescue work if necessary, as I was the only responsible adult in the house. The night was punctuated with noises, but Connie slept on. Since then, I’ve just had her sleep downstairs every night. The next day, I learned a bomb or two had been dropped about a quarter mile away, but they hadn’t exploded yet. Six families were evacuated from the vicinity, but I believe the bombs are now made ineffective. It is now two days later. First raid 10:20 to 12. Just got nicely settled in bed when the sirens started to wail at 12:15 a.m. It wasn’t worthwhile getting up as all clear had sounded 20 minutes. Later, Mrs. Hogg writes at length regarding procedures for evacuating her daughter, Connie, to the United States and speaks of the correspondence with government authorities. Continuing, she writes: “In view of the transfer of American destroyers to Britain, it looks as if there may be more convoys soon. Maggie (the child’s aunt) and all the others are reconciled to Connie going now. There are hazards wherever one is, but I firmly believe the chance of anything happening on the sea is less than the chance of anything happening here. We do get the bombs and gunfire nightly – somewhere in this vicinity – every night for the last 14 days. Of course, one gets used to it, but it’s tiring just the same. I’ve lost count but I know definitely the raid sirens have gone over 60 times already. Fortunately, we have had only two or three day alarms, and during the day one sometimes has to pinch oneself to believe there is a war on. If we got day raids as well as night ones, it would be pretty ghastly. I shall feel easier in my mind when I can feel Connie is safe with you.” Referring again to Connie’s probable evacuation to the United States, Mrs. Hogg says: “Things are looking somewhat better so far as Connie’s going to you is concerned except for the torpedoing of that children’s ship. Most of the parents are agreeing to the children going just the same, so I’m stressing the fact that precautions taken were so good that all were saved and also that it wouldn’t happen once in a thousand times that another ship would be torpedoed. Connie’s case is undoubtedly under consideration.” The lengthy letter also tells of everyday incidents such as the planning of a weekend trip, and there are comments concerning community happenings. “We are going into the country for a week, and we may also stay part of the time at Redcar. Everyone goes to a quiet place for a night’s rest now, so the country villages are doing a booming trade. The trouble is there are little accommodations to be got, and petro rationing prevents one from going very far afield.” Mrs. Hogg tells, too, of a neighbor’s guest for the “duration” who is Al Lafogue, Canadian airman. In this paragraph, she comments, “The son has a good job, and the three girls are working too. They all go in the cupboard under the stairs when the raids are on.” A paragraph of unusual interest, showing the general attitude, says: “Our Discussion Group met yesterday. Someone asked me to bring something humorous, so I took ‘The Specialist’ by Chic Sale. Between that and a reading of Scene I of “Mr. Pim Passes By’ and a chapter of Phillips’ ‘Benjamin Franklin, the First Civilized American,’ we forgot the war entirely. ‘The Specialist’ had everyone almost in hysterics.” Ending her letter in a most casual manner, the former Norwalker writes: “It’s hot here today, and so was yesterday. Probably, it would be better for us if we had a nasty, misty September, but there you are. Wish I could send you some of our roses. I have four bowls full in the house and a lot of beauties still in the garden. Well, I guess that is all for now. Heaps of love to all, but most for you. — Josephine.
Mrs. Hogg numbers her letters so that her parents may know if any are missing, and this letter is number 34.
From The Norwalk Hour September 9, 1941
NEED $136 MORE FOR BRITISH AID
Stocking Of Mobile Kitchen Requires Full Quota of $2,000; Appeal Made By Group Here
Generous people front Norwalk and vicinity, with the welfare of the British in mind, have contributed $1,864 to the local office of the British War Relief Society,’ Inc., for the furnishing and stocking of a mobile feeding kitchen in England. However, $136 is still needed to fill the quota of $2,000 necessary to stock the kitchen for two years. The value of the mobile kitchens, manned by unsung heroes who follow in the trail of destruction wrought by Nazi bombers, has been stressed again and again, but first-hand information as to their worth, both in relieving suffering and raising morale, has been received by Mrs. Alex Rummler, chairman of the local branch of the British War Relief Society. Mrs. Rummler is in receipt of a letter from her daughter, Mrs. Josephine Rummler Hogg, of Redcar, Yorkshire. Mrs. Hogg’s home is on the North Sea coast of England in the path taken by Nazi planes on their raids into England. Mrs. Hogg and her family have been “bombed out,” and while they have not had to depend on a mobile kitchen for sustenance until sufficient repairs could be made to their home to enable them to prepare meals, their neighbors have. Mrs. Hogg states: “Thirty houses were bombed out in the raid, and the roof supports were loosened in our house, and all the windows and doors were blown out. Cooking facilities next door were put out of commission, and it was then that we realized the quality and completeness of the mobile kitchens. Believe me, we are grateful for them.” The mobile kitchens are equipped to serve complete meals to 200 persons at a time and, during heavy raids, have served as many as 1,000. Supplying the money for their equipment is very necessary as even ordinary kitchen pots and pans are at a premium. All supplies are purchased in this country. When a family is bombed out it depends on the kitchens. The kitchens are not used entirely to feed bombed out families. They follow the firefighters and rescue squads to the scene of each new attack and keep them supplied with hot drinks and food, necessary to men and women – even women act as firefighters – working under the pressure of disaster and the necessity for speed. The crews of the mobile kitchens take their risks along with other branches of civilian service, the unbreakable backbone sustaining the morale and fighting spirit of a people put to the greatest tests of courage and sacrifice. Each of these kitchens performs an invaluable service. Mrs. Rummler states that there is a kitchen in England waiting to be serviced and put to use. All that is still needed to ensure its operation for two full years is $136. A sum of $2,000 is needed, and $1,864 has been collected. The $136 from a city the size of Norwalk isn’t much, but it will mean assistance. Mrs. Rummler said today that may save the lives of many men and women, adding that there are enough people here who can afford to send a check payable to the British War Releif Society Inc. or to leave cash at 14 Main Street, Norwalk.
Burial information is unknown. Josephine Rummler Hogg is likely buried in England, where she lived with her husband, who was born in England.
END
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