Franklin Elsworth Delk
14 Jul 1893 to 22 Nov 1967
Franklin Elsworth Delk was born July 14, 1893 in Dunkirk, Jay County,
Indiana. He was the first child born to the marriage of Martha Luticia
Maitlen and Ekmer Elsworth Delk.
Military Service
June 1, 1917 --- Frank joins the U. S. Army in Des Moines, Iowa.
Document 76 is the small notice published in the Leon, Iowa newspaper on
June 7, 1917. Document 77 is from a Des Moines, Iowa newspaper. These
brief notices do not tell all of the story. The first thing is that the
Selective Service Act was pass May 18, 1917 and by June 1st it was
already determined that two of the four Delk boys would enlist and the
other two would not be drafted. The two picked to enlist were Charlie
and Russell. Frank and Ira would stay home. The second part of the story
is as follows:
Weldon, Iowa had a high school. Students from farms around Weldon would ride their horses to town and lodge them in Bart Davis's barn. His property was across the street south of the Methodist church and a couple blocks north of the school. A saddle was stolen from one of the students and was later found in Elmer Delk's barn. Frank was accused of stealing the saddle. He was given the option of enlisting in the army or standing trial for theft. He chose to enlist. Dr. Jamison had the job of seeing to it that Frank got enlisted. Charlie Delk was Dr. Jamison's driver. Why George Hall went with them to Des Moines is not known. (The Bart Davis mentioned above is the father of the Bart Davis who married Lillie May Delk.) It was later discovered that one of Frank's friends (nicknamed 'Mule') had actually stolen the saddle. Frank's mother was extremely upset that now three of her sons would be in the service and one unjustly.
Marriages
Frank admitted to five marriages. He had no children by any of the marriages but he had step children by two of them. Four of the marriages are documented and it is believed that each of the four preceded Frank in death.
There is evidence that Frank got married to a German girl while he was
in the U.S. Army during WW I. If this is true then the wives are as
listed below:
Gretel Neimann. The following items are evidence that Frank was married
to Gretel--
(Note: Some material has been translated from the German and some is
Gretel's English.)
September, 1919: This photograph (photo 97) is a picture of Gretel. On
the back it says: "I think you like this picture the best. Do you
remember me? Souvenir of your little dear wife. September, 1919,
Germany."
October 5, 1919: Document 78 is actually a postcard from Gretel. It was
contained in an envelope where the address and stamp were placed. It
contains the words, "your little dear wife."
December 5,1919: Document 79 is another postcard. It does not use the
word 'wife,' but does say "Thousands of kisses at my dear sister Mary."
Yulanda L. Steen. Frank married Yulanda on May 6, 1927.
Sarah Gearhart. Document 16 is a small article from the Leon, Iowa
newspaper announcing the marriage of Frank to Sarah Gearhart.
Neva Wilson.
Elizabeth (Esther).
