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Bonnot Company, Canton Drop Forge, ceremony, Chicago, Florida, Genealogy, Gulfport, Hotel Onesto, Illinois, Jefferson County, McKinley High School, McKinley Presidential Library, Mississippi, ohio, Ohio State University, Tyndall Field, United States Army, wedding reception
This fall the McKinley Presidential Library received a small collection of papers and photographs from Jefferson County Genealogy Society. Flora Ver Straten – Merrin the president of the genealogy society forwarded this gift to us, explaining her daughter found these papers in her house in Toronto, Jefferson County, Ohio. The minute I opened the parcel I knew there were “threads” to “Seek.”

William E. Aeschbacher who lived at 210 Exeter S.W. Canton, Ohio attended McKinley High School on North Market Avenue in Canton. “Bud” as he was known to his friends studied industrial as a vocation, and played volleyball in his junior year. His classmates described him in their annual saying “Everything has a bright side, and Bill always finds it.”



Meanwhile Audrey J. Babb a junior in 1939 also attended McKinley High, and dreamt of her future. The Babb’s lived at 347 30th Street NW Canton, and the Aeschbacher’s lived at 210 Exeter SW. We can only guess Audrey and Bill may have been high school sweethearts. Audrey attended Ohio State University, and worked at The Bonnot Company, while Bill worked for the Canton Drop Forge Company before being inducted into the United States Army.

In August of 1943 the two were wed in the living room of Audrey’s home on 30th Street NW. She wore a white street-length dress with a shoulder corsage of orchids, while the groom was attended to by his father. Immediately after the ceremony a small wedding dinner was held in the Del Monte room at Hotel Onesto. A wedding reception was that evening at the bride’s home.



William received training in both Chicago, Illinois and Tyndall Field, Florida. The former Miss Audrey Babb, now Mrs. William Aeschbacher accompanied her new husband as he returned to duty in Gulfport, Mississippi.

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November is National Veterans and Military Families Month declared by the Department of Defense, USA. As a part of celebrating the ordinary people performing extraordinary work we at the McKinley Museum bring you stories of our local veterans, and the people on the Homefront. We you enjoyed this week’s adventure Everything Fine the story a two young kids from Canton, Ohio who are doing their best for “The War” effort.