John
W.
Kephart
Ranck
How in the world? I don't know. Nobody knows. It's a secret. Kephart kept his clients' secrets. To name your son after someone not a family member!...I know, I KNOW. The connection, whatever it was, manifestly was deep, but narrow. It did not span time. None of my three brothers nor I nor a cousin ever heard of lawyer John W. Kephart. Neither my parents nor my cousin's parents, nor our common grandparents, nor anybody else in the whole goddamned extended family ever said why Uncle Jack was named John W. K. Ranck.
Uncle Jack is not a forgotten member of the family either! Far from it. John W. K. Ranck is the most remembered person in the family. My dad, Miles Ellsworth, Jr. (there are three others, we're up to V) kept a framed photo of "my kid brother Jack" as he always called him over his reading chair in the bedroom.
I have a different photograph also framed, hanging on the wall just to the right of where I am now sitting. And I didn't even know him! He was killed ten years before I was born.
My mother told the story over and over of the time she, pregnant with III, sat on a hillside watching dad and his kid brother ski down a hill in Barnesboro and laughing so hard at their falls and mishaps that she thought she was going to give birth right there. Jack was by far her favorite in-law.
Mum remembered when he left for the war. As he was being driven away he looked up over his shoulder at her and waved.
She remembered, as does my brother, III, the day a couple of years later when the big black government limousine drove up--just like in Saving Private Ryan--and two officials in military uniform got out. My brother was playing on the sidewalk out front. He saw them drive up and get out but didn't pay attention until he heard mum scream.
Uncle Jack was a college graduate, the first in the family. In the war he was part of the legendary, glamorous, 10th Mountain Division, the ski division (He couldn't have done too bad on that Barnesboro hill.).
1st Lt John W. K. Ranck’s Co. B, 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment advancing in the Italian mountains in January, 1945.
—the only American division specially trained for mountain and winter warfare.
...
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, had called the division a bunch of
“playboys”—and with some justification. 👏 No other infantry division had a higher collective I.Q.
or a higher percentage of high school and college graduates in its ranks. Many of the mountain soldiers had been hotshot skiers from East Coast prep schools and Ivy League colleges.
He was a bona fide war hero:
March 4, 1945 near Sassomolare, Italy :
1st Lt. JOHN K. RANCK of Company B led a squad to within grenade range of the Germans. Charging the position, the party killed one German, wounded one, and took four prisoners. Lt.
RANCK continued the advance 200 yards farther, taking four more prisoners. Finally he neutralized the gun position, personally killing the gunner while his squad finished off the rest of the occupants.
April 30, 1945 near Nago:
The 1st Battalion finally occupied Nago at 1115 that morning. They had fought one of the
most discouraging and difficult actions of the entire campaign. For 14 straight hours on the 29th,
they had climbed up sheer cliffs, through ravines, and over slippery shale slopes. Finally at 1700
they had reached a high point from which they could see Nago. The only approach to the village
was through a small cut in the rocks. The Germans had a strong final protective line, a 20 mm
gun, a 37 mm ack-ack gun, one tank, and self-propelled guns...
After a 15-minute artillery barrage, Company B moved through the ravine single-file. As the
column wound its way over the rocks, a German plane dipped low and dropped eight personnel
bombs on the weapons platoon, killing nine men, including 1st Lieutenant JOHN K. RANCK.
most discouraging and difficult actions of the entire campaign. For 14 straight hours on the 29th,
they had climbed up sheer cliffs, through ravines, and over slippery shale slopes. Finally at 1700
they had reached a high point from which they could see Nago. The only approach to the village
was through a small cut in the rocks. The Germans had a strong final protective line, a 20 mm
gun, a 37 mm ack-ack gun, one tank, and self-propelled guns...
After a 15-minute artillery barrage, Company B moved through the ravine single-file. As the
column wound its way over the rocks, a German plane dipped low and dropped eight personnel
bombs on the weapons platoon, killing nine men, including 1st Lieutenant JOHN K. RANCK.
So yeah, Uncle Jack was everybody's favorite, the fair haired boy of the entire family.
Finding no answer in my own family I began googling Kephart in 2016. After handling the whole S.F.F.H.C. business with consummate discretion Kephart became Cambria County Solicitor in 1906, then a Superior Court Judge in 1914, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice in 1919 and Chief Justice in 1936. In 1940 Kephart "retired" and went back into private practice (to earn some money) in 1940.
Ambitious! He was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice when his namesake was born. Yet...yet, nobody in the family has a memory of Kephart. How long had this relationship with Kephart been going on and what was the relationship? I found this from the Pittsburgh Post, reprinted in the Harrisburg Daily Independent, September 19, 1913:
WHAT "AD'S." DID FOR KEPHART As an example of what newspaper advertising will accomplish
the ease of John W. Kephart, the Cambria county attorney, is pointed to as one worthy of study by men in public life. Mr. Kephart, who is a brother of Chief Clerk Kephart, of the Senate, was unknown in the state, outside of his home territory, before he announced himself as a candidate for the nomination for Superior Court judge, but he felt he owed it to the public to make himself known. He -began a campaign of newspaper advertising, and eschewed the old methods of making personal calls on the various counties in...[text cuts off].
Whether the following is a continuation earlier in the cached Google webpage or an article from another paper I do not know:
He simply used printer's ink in the newspapers and told the, people that he wanted the nomination and why he was qualified for it, and he put that advertisement in almost every paper in Pennsylvania. The result was just what might have been expected...many voters read Kephart 's plea, took notice of a few of the others and then voted for the Cambria county man.
Finding no answer in my own family I began googling Kephart in 2016. After handling the whole S.F.F.H.C. business with consummate discretion Kephart became Cambria County Solicitor in 1906, then a Superior Court Judge in 1914, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice in 1919 and Chief Justice in 1936. In 1940 Kephart "retired" and went back into private practice (to earn some money) in 1940.
Ambitious! He was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice when his namesake was born. Yet...yet, nobody in the family has a memory of Kephart. How long had this relationship with Kephart been going on and what was the relationship? I found this from the Pittsburgh Post, reprinted in the Harrisburg Daily Independent, September 19, 1913:
WHAT "AD'S." DID FOR KEPHART As an example of what newspaper advertising will accomplish
the ease of John W. Kephart, the Cambria county attorney, is pointed to as one worthy of study by men in public life. Mr. Kephart, who is a brother of Chief Clerk Kephart, of the Senate, was unknown in the state, outside of his home territory, before he announced himself as a candidate for the nomination for Superior Court judge, but he felt he owed it to the public to make himself known. He -began a campaign of newspaper advertising, and eschewed the old methods of making personal calls on the various counties in...[text cuts off].
Whether the following is a continuation earlier in the cached Google webpage or an article from another paper I do not know:
He simply used printer's ink in the newspapers and told the, people that he wanted the nomination and why he was qualified for it, and he put that advertisement in almost every paper in Pennsylvania. The result was just what might have been expected...many voters read Kephart 's plea, took notice of a few of the others and then voted for the Cambria county man.
Cutting Edge Kephart! He won election to the Superior Court by the novel experiment of newspaper
advertising. My grandfather, I, owned a newspaper, the Barnesboro Star. Since Kephart placed ads "in almost every paper in Pennsylvania" he must have placed one in I's paper. For that you name your son after him?
I then found this in the Johnstown Democrat, February 15, 1914. I reprint in entirety and will then explain:
Barnesboro, Feb. 15.--The Barnesboro Plain Dealer is the name of a new weekly newspaper, which made its initial bow to the public last Friday. It is a creditable looking sheet and ought to thrive if it does not succumb to the ills which seem to have beset it with almost its first breath. The new weekly is edited and managed by J. Harold Ranck, lately editor, and manager of the Barnesboro Star, published by the Star Printing Co., of Barnesboro. Mr. Ranck was served with an injunction Saturday following the first appearance of his new venture; restraining him from publishing the newspaper and also from being employed in any printing or publishing establishment in Barnesboro or its immediate vicinity, according to reports.
The Star Printing Co. was until recently an asset of John W. Kephart, now superior court judge, or at least Mr. Kephart is said to have controlled it, along with a chain of other weeklies in northern Cambria county. Prior to its incorporation the Barnesboro Star, a local weekly, was owned by John C. Miller, who is now in the west. When Mr. Kephart acquired control, a corporation was formed, known as the Star Printing Co. J. Harold Ranck was then conducting a small job printing
establishment here and Mr. Ranck disposed of his plant to the new company and entered its employ as
foreman of the mechanical department.
The company which absorbed his plant is said to have an agreement in which Mr. Ranck agrees not to enter again into the printing business in Barnesboro or its immediate vicinity and it is on the basis of this agreement that the injunction has been asked. The hearing in the temporary injunction will come up next Tuesday, when some interesting developments are looked for...
Interesting developments indeed, Johnstown Democrat, thank you very much. As far as I knew the Barnesboro Star was always my grandfather's, Miles I, the father of Uncle Jack. I thought Star Printing Co. was Miles I's too. No. At least not for sometime prior to 1914. The paper and Star
Printing were "assets" of John J. Kephart, Esq., Judge Kephart in the year that article appeared. As were "a chain of other weeklies in northern Cambria county." Randolph Hearst Kephart! J. Harold, or Harold J. as it sometimes appears, Ranck was I am very sure, Miles I's brother. I was very sure of that in 2016 too but when I sent that article to my brother (the klansman, not III) he was not sure and since he is ten years older his uncertainty put doubt in my head. I am still reasonably sure. There was evidently some family upset over the bidness and Miles I got his lawyer, John W. Kephart, to enjoin Harold.
advertising. My grandfather, I, owned a newspaper, the Barnesboro Star. Since Kephart placed ads "in almost every paper in Pennsylvania" he must have placed one in I's paper. For that you name your son after him?
I then found this in the Johnstown Democrat, February 15, 1914. I reprint in entirety and will then explain:
Barnesboro, Feb. 15.--The Barnesboro Plain Dealer is the name of a new weekly newspaper, which made its initial bow to the public last Friday. It is a creditable looking sheet and ought to thrive if it does not succumb to the ills which seem to have beset it with almost its first breath. The new weekly is edited and managed by J. Harold Ranck, lately editor, and manager of the Barnesboro Star, published by the Star Printing Co., of Barnesboro. Mr. Ranck was served with an injunction Saturday following the first appearance of his new venture; restraining him from publishing the newspaper and also from being employed in any printing or publishing establishment in Barnesboro or its immediate vicinity, according to reports.
The Star Printing Co. was until recently an asset of John W. Kephart, now superior court judge, or at least Mr. Kephart is said to have controlled it, along with a chain of other weeklies in northern Cambria county. Prior to its incorporation the Barnesboro Star, a local weekly, was owned by John C. Miller, who is now in the west. When Mr. Kephart acquired control, a corporation was formed, known as the Star Printing Co. J. Harold Ranck was then conducting a small job printing
establishment here and Mr. Ranck disposed of his plant to the new company and entered its employ as
foreman of the mechanical department.
The company which absorbed his plant is said to have an agreement in which Mr. Ranck agrees not to enter again into the printing business in Barnesboro or its immediate vicinity and it is on the basis of this agreement that the injunction has been asked. The hearing in the temporary injunction will come up next Tuesday, when some interesting developments are looked for...
Interesting developments indeed, Johnstown Democrat, thank you very much. As far as I knew the Barnesboro Star was always my grandfather's, Miles I, the father of Uncle Jack. I thought Star Printing Co. was Miles I's too. No. At least not for sometime prior to 1914. The paper and Star
Printing were "assets" of John J. Kephart, Esq., Judge Kephart in the year that article appeared. As were "a chain of other weeklies in northern Cambria county." Randolph Hearst Kephart! J. Harold, or Harold J. as it sometimes appears, Ranck was I am very sure, Miles I's brother. I was very sure of that in 2016 too but when I sent that article to my brother (the klansman, not III) he was not sure and since he is ten years older his uncertainty put doubt in my head. I am still reasonably sure. There was evidently some family upset over the bidness and Miles I got his lawyer, John W. Kephart, to enjoin Harold.
Kephart did Miles I a good turn BUT I have terrific relationships with my clients and their families and not one has ever named their child after me.
That is it. That's all I was ever able to find. It is a mighty thin reed on which to base a relationship substantial enough to warrant naming one's son but it is a reed. It is something. It was not substantial enough either to inform the other members of the family. Presumably I informed Jack. Faye. Kephart...I guess. I would presume I notified Judge Kephart. But there is no evidence, no correspondence between I and Kephart, nothing. If there is anything, it is all secret. And, there is no evidence that the relationship was substantial enough to endure. Kephart died in 1944, in an excruciating scalding accident at the Warwick, Pennsylvania hotel he was staying in when he was in private practice. His body was returned to Ebensburg for burial in Lloyd Cemetery there. You see that massive mausoleum at center left?
Did Miles I attend the funeral?
Uncle Jack was killed by the Nazi's on April 29, 1945, the day before Hitler swallowed his gun in Berlin. The war in Europe was over. Some German pilots just didn't get the memo. Uncle Jack's body was returned from Italy and he is buried in the Ranck Family Cemetery in North Barnesboro.
Uncle Jack was killed by the Nazi's on April 29, 1945, the day before Hitler swallowed his gun in Berlin. The war in Europe was over. Some German pilots just didn't get the memo. Uncle Jack's body was returned from Italy and he is buried in the Ranck Family Cemetery in North Barnesboro.
