William Armitage Ong (28 December 1902 - November 1979)

William A. Ong, known to all as Bill, was one of the first Ongs I heard anything about as a child, of course excluding my immediate family, my Ong grandparents and various other uncles and aunts.  We knew of him as the "Ong Airlines" man, since indeed that was one of his many ventures.  It was amusing to us that our obscure family name had an airline named after it, even if Ong Airlines was not exactly a household name.  My father had somehow procured a timetable which he had tucked into one of his copies of "Ong Family of America.

Much later I acquired two of his books and learned more about his fascinating career in and around airplanes, especially in his memoir, "Ride The High Wind - An Adventure Story of Flying in the 1920's" (1979, Pilot News Press).

Bill Ong was born in Lacon, Illinois on 28 December 1902, the child of Judson W. Ong, Jr and Mercedes E. Armitage Ong.  He was apparently named after his maternal grandfather William Armitage.  Here is his "About the Author" biography from the dust jacket of his WWII study "Target Luftwaffe - The Tragedy and the Triumph of the World War II Air Victory" (1981, The Lowell Press):

"Following his first solo flight in 1927, Ong won recognition by barnstorming and air racing throughout the Midwest.  From 1929 through 1936, he held the position of sales manager for Rearwin, Inland, Waco and Beech, all manufacturers of civil aircraft.  Charter member of the Professional Racing Pilots Association, he flew in six Thompson Trophy Races during the '30s , and in 1946 returned to Cleveland to win a trophy in a P-51D.

"In 1937, Ong founded his own company, Ong Aircraft Corporation.  When World War II began, Ong, a Captain in the Army Air Corps Reserve, was operating flight schools at seven Kansas and Missouri locations under the Civilian Pilot Training Program.  By war's end, his company had trained approximately 10,000 Army, Navy and Air Force students without a fatality.

"In 1940, Ong was the principal founder and first president of the National Aviation Trades Association, general aviation's most respected voice in Washington.

"After the war, Ong was elected to the presidency of virtually every aviation-oriented organization in the Kansas City area and helped to found the national organization, Silver Wings Fraternity.  In 1960, he was designated "Aviation Man of the Year" by the Midwest Region of the Air Transport Association.  He then became active at the national and international levels, serving as U.S representative to the Federation Aeronatique Internationale, and as Vice-President, received its Paul Tissandier Diploma.

"Ong's love of speed, which took him into dirt track racing in the early '20s, surfaced again in the middle '50s when. his air racing days completed, took up sports car racing.  Winning numerous trophies, he was elected Regional Executive of the Sports Car Club of America, Kansas City Region.

"Ong served two years as President of the National Aeronaticcs Assocaition and two years as Board Chairman, during which time he edited and published National Aeronatics magazine.  He served on both the Collier Trophy Committee and was appointed to the College of Elder Statesmen of Aeronautics.

"During this time, he continued to operate Ong Aircraft Corporation, founded Ong Airlines, a Chicago-based feeder line, and turned his attention increasingly to writing.  He became Associate Editor of the prestigious Flight Magazine and in 1963 was made a member of the Aviation/Space Writers Association.  a prolific reviewer of aviation books, he also served as Contributing Editor to Pilot News, where his "Prop Wash" column appeared regularly.  The Kansas City Star frequently carried his articles on many subjects.  His account of flying in the '20s, Ride the High Wind, was published in 1979.

"In May of 1975, Ong was inducted in the Aviation Hall of Fame at Hammondsport, New York, as a outstanding aviation pioneer, statesman, and author."

The NATA, which now stands for the National Air Transportation Association and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, honors the memory of its co-founder and first president through the annual granting of the "William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award" for extraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry.  A list of recipients can be found here: http://nata.aero/Awards/Ong-Memorial-Award.aspx.

Bill was married for over 57 years to Esther Louise Hunter Ong, of whom he wrote:

"I do not think any other woman would have shared my erratic life with her understanding, her gentle consideration, and her unselfish devotion to me.  She hated airplanes; well she might, for one of them took the life of one of her two sons.

"Yet never once did she protest or complain although dread uncertainty was a heavy cross for her small body.

"I have never won anything of importance in aviation, or in motor racing which I was doing in dirt track cars at country fairs when we met in Illinois.  But no man has won a greater prize than her assent to marry me that hot summer day of August 18, 1921."

Bill and Esther's son Donald Hunter Ong also became in turn a prominent Kansas City businessman and many descendants of this branch of the family tree still live in the area.

Another website on aviation pioneers has a page on Bill Ong found here: http://petersonfield.org/people/ong_wa/index.php

Albert R. Ong, M.D. (9 October 1846 - 22 September 1906)

Ong Family History is once again grateful to our London correspondent for sharing some of his recent discoveries.  Below are letters to the editors of two English newspapers which Albert R. Ong, M.D. (1846-1906), the author of "The Ong Family of America" (published posthumously in 1906), wrote in November 1905.  The timing is interesting:  The grand Ong Family Reunion had just been held in Smithfield, Ohio in August 1905, and presumably it was the culmination of many years of research and outreach to various branches of the extended American Ong family, the results of which are found in his book with its 201 biographical entries.

Dr. Ong must have been inspired by that event to start or intensify an effort to find out more about the family on the other side of the ocean.  So he turned to writing newspaper editors in the hope that they would publish his letters and stimulate a response from any English cousins.  He succeeded to a great extent, and here are these two instances:

Our correspondent observes that it is interesting that Dr. Ong cites "Thomas", incorrectly, as the American Ong forebear. He also relates a family story that his great-grandfather Ong had received a letter from an American named "Arthur Robert Ong" seeking relations in England.  This was undoubtedly Albert, the name mis-remembered.

We do know that between that time and his death in September 1906 Dr. Ong collected a lot of material.  He summarizes his English research in his preface to his book, which mentions his newspaper outreach:


"After this discovery [of early family records in Boston, Mass. showing that Ongs immigrated from England -Ed.], I determined to make another effort to locate the Ongs of England.  This time I appealed to the press of England, and wrote to several editors of leading newspapers asking their assistance.  At the hands of these gentlemen I received the most courteous and liberal treatment.  The Pall Mall Gazette, of London, kindly published my letter, with liberal comments, and asked other papers to copy.  This effort was successful.  Letters written by persons bearing the name of "Ong" were received from different parts of the Kingdom, one mail bringing me as many as ten letters, so that I soon found myself in correspondence with half a hundred persons in England, who bore the name, or were the descendants, of an "Ong."  ("Ong Family of America", page 11)


How much harder it was to build family trees before the internet!

It was tragic that Dr. Ong passed away amidst all this research and before he could finish the final editing his book, although his brothers and other family members made sure it was completed and published soon after his death.  The dedication at the beginning of the volume is as follows;

IN MEMORIAM

On the morning of the 22nd day of September, 1906, Dr. Albert R. Ong, editor and compiler of this book, died.  Dr. Ong was seemingly in the very best of health up to within an hour of his death. While his decease was sudden, those who knew him and were familiar with his upright life felt that he was thoroughly prepared to meet his maker.

The principal facts of Dr. Ong's active and very successful life appear in their proper place in this volume.

He was a devoted husband and father. As a public-spirited person he was all that could be desired. In his profession he stood high. As a Christian and scholarly gentleman Dr. Albert R. Ong has the well merited respect and admiration of all who knew him. 

Dr. Ong's entry in "Ong Family America" (pp 67-68):


Dr. Albert R. Ong was born on the 9th day of October, 1846, near Smithfield, Ohio.  He was educated at Richmond College, Richmond, Ohio, and Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania.  From the latter college he received the degree of A.B. in the spring of 1872.  During his year he was elected Vice President of Richmond College, in which institute he filled the chair of Mathematics and Astronomy for three years.  (His cousin, Lemuel W. Ong, was the college's President.  -Ed.)  In 1875 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1877 graduated from Columbus Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, as the first honor man.  After graduating he entered the practice of his chosen profession in Smithfield, Ohio.  In 1882 he located in Martins Ferry, Ohio, where he resided until the time of his death and enjoyed a lucrative practice.  He was an elder of the First Presbyterian Church, a member of the Board of City School Examiners, and held numerous other positions of honor an trust for eighteen years.

The following estimate of Dr. Ong's character and standing in the community in which he lived is taken from an article which appeared in "The Weekly Times" of Martins Ferry, Ohio on September 27th, 1906:

"In the death of Dr. Ong, Martins Ferry and vicinity sustain a distinct loss.  It was one of his characteristics to hew the line, let the chips fly where they would, and this, in itself served to mark him as a man among men.  True to himself, at all times, he could not be false to others, and the friends he attracted to himself and who knew him best will consider themselves honored, for all time, in having been intimately acquainted with him.  He will be missed more perhaps than any other citizen of Martins Ferry.  To say nothing of the place in the home which can never be filled, he will be missed in the fire department, so near and dear to him, on the various boards he served so faithfully, and in the hundreds of homes in which he was a trusted adviser.  Dr. Ong was a clean, polished, courteous, courageous Christian gentleman, more than which may be said of no man."

In 1884 he was married to Mary Kathryn Anderson, daughter of James and Fannie E. Anderson, who survives him.

John McGrew Ong (1799-1877) (?)

Here are two interesting old photos shared by a cousin-in-law (the wife of my fifth cousin once removed to be precise!):

This one is marked "great-grandfather Ong" and given the provenance we are guessing they are both photos of John McGrew Ong (1799-1877), one of the sons of Rev Jacob and Mary McGrew Ong, and the husband of Mary Jane Cuppy (1797-1877).  (And he is also my great-great-great-great-great uncle!)  The other seems to be the same person, marked "an Ong":

John McGrew Ong was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, just a few years before the family of Jacob and Mary Ong moved to Ohio.  John and Mary (Cuppy) Ong raised their family in/around the Ong homestead in Jefferson County, Ohio but moved to LaSalle County, Illinois sometime in the 1850s.

Thanks for sharing the photos!

A visit to Watertown, Massachusetts

Last weekend, while your Editor was starting a long weekend's holiday in Maine, one of my Ong cousins sent me a message saying he was visiting Watertown, Mass, the original home of the Ongs in America, and asking if I knew if any Ongs were buried there, and where the oldest Ong grave marker might be.  I knew that one of the oldest family records cites that "Francis Onge widow", whom we usually cite as Frances Onge, was buried at Watertown on 12 November 1638, "55 years old".  But where exactly she was buried, and whether there was a headstone or other marker I didn't know, although I was pretty sure there wasn't one since it would have long since come to my attention.

I was frustrated that I could not immediately answer the question fully, so at the end of the long weekend when seeing that my car's navigation system on the trip home to Connecticut was sending me into central Boston to avoid congestion on the I-495 ring-road, I decided to take a lunch break in Watertown and do some quick exploring.

First some equally quick history:  Watertown, which lies on the north bank of the Charles River immediately to the west of Cambridge, is one of several towns founded as part of the original Massachusetts Bay Colony when a fleet of 15 ships led by Governor John Winthrop carrying around 1000 passengers arrived from England in the late spring of 1630, considered the start of the Great (Puritan) Migration.  (The others were Boston, Dorchester and Roxbury.  Salem (1624) and Charlestown (1629) had been founded under the Bay Colony's auspices prior to Winthrop's arrival.)  The Onge family of Lavenham, Suffolk, arrived in Boston in February 1631 (1630 Old Style) on the Lyon, a voyage primarily devoted to winter supplies (the colony already had severe food shortages) but which also carried a few families.

The evidence suggests that the Onge party consisted of Frances Onge, widow of Edmond Onge (1568-1630) of Lavenham who died the previous summer, accompanied by several of her children as well as her late husband's cousin, Francis Onge (1605-1666), presumably accompanied by his wife Susan Onge, nee Chandler (b. 1608), as we have evidence that Francis' oldest son, also Francis (1632-1657), was later cited as "born in New England" when he was admitted in 1644 to Colchester (Essex) Grammar School, at a time when Francis (who also attended Cambridge and ordained a priest in 1638) was Minister at Great Parndon, then Peldon, both in Essex, England.

For reasons we can only guess at (possibly personal connections to one of the 1630 founders), the Onges were assigned to Watertown, and "Francis Onge" (whether this refers to Widow Frances or her cousin-in-law Francis is a matter of debate) appears in the earliest records as the holder of three parcels, showing that he or she held a "proprietary share" in the town.  The custom at the founding of Watertown is that the original proprietors received several free lots, which varied in size according to the size and standing of the family.  One lot would be a "homestall" to include the main residence, which were all originally located at the eastern end of the current town,  Other (non-contiguous) lots were allocated for plowlands and for livestock.

As soon as I exited the Mass Pike and pulled into the town I parked and googled "old cemetery Watertown" and discovered that there was an "Old Burying Place", aka the Arlington Street Cemetery, on the corner of Mount Auburn and Arlington Street so I immediately made my way there.

View of Watertown Old Burying Place gateway from across Arlington Street

Entering through the gate there was a plaque with historical information and the location of notable monuments:

Based on this information it seems certain that this cemetery is the final resting place of Frances Onge, but the location of the grave is unknown.  There were a couple of 20th century monuments set by descendants of other Watertown founders to honor their earliest American ancestors:

I wonder if they would allow an Ong monument some day?

Anyway life in early Massachusetts was mobile, and available records show all of Frances Onge's known adult children died in other towns, so hers is the only known Watertown burial.

Satisfied that I had the answer to my cousin's question, I went to the Watertown Free Library to check out the local history section.  (While the library is "free", parking was not!)  The Library had an extensive genealogical and local history room, and I could have spent a few days there, but only had 30 minutes of so before I needed to hit the road.  I did manage to find a copy of an early allotment map which showed several Onge plots, generally assigned to "S. Onge", referring to Frances' son Simon Onge (1619-1678).  I understand that these lots are not the same as the Francis Onge lots, which to a certain extent ended up in possession of Simon's very likely brother-in-law Justinian Holden, who is generally believed to have married Frances' daughter Elizabeth (1616-1673).  This map was part of Henry Bond's "Genealogies of the families and descendants of the early settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts":

I subsequently found a better copy on the internet:

The "homestall" of Simon Onge, appeared to be on what is now Mount Auburn Street:

This is at the corner of what is now Mount Auburn and Belmont Streets, at the eastern apex of what was the Meeting House Common and across the street from the Northwest corner of what is now Mount Auburn Cemetery.  So I decided to leave the library and take a last look at what may have been one of the early family homesteads:

As you can see it is now a Star Market!  And one of the "T" transit lines also runs through it.  Anyway the neighborhood - and much else - has changed quite a bit since the 1630s!  I look forward to a return visit to dig around a little more.

Ongs in the American Civil War

4th West Virginia Monument at Vicksburg, citing officers killed in battle, including Lt. Finley D. Ong

Off and on over the years I have taken notes about family members who served in the Civil War (1861-1865).  Growing up I was very aware of my branch of the family keeping alive the memory of Finley Ong, one of my great-great-grandfather's older brothers, who served in the 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and died of his wounds in a Confederate field hospital during the Battle of the Wilderness in Virgina (May 1864).  The 1906 "Ong Family of America" book also mentions several members who served, including the three cousins and their uncle (the officer mentioned on the monument above) who made the supreme sacrifice. 

Thanks to the age of the internet we can more easily find many military records, and I include here a list of all those I can see who served with the last name Ong, noting their unit, and I have also tried to group them by family linkages.  Note there are a few I have not put in their proper place but will seek to do so.  (All help welcome!)

The main take-away from all this is that the Ong family certainly made a substantial contribution to the Union cause, especially for a family which was historically Quaker (and therefore doctrinally pacifist).  The list below includes over 35 young men from 10 states, all descended from a single set great (or great-great) grandparents (Jeremiah & Christiana Ong) who lived on the Pennsylvania frontier only a century earlier.  But like many families who settled in part in the border states (in our case, Virginia/West Virginia), we had divided loyalties and were represented on both sides of the conflict.

I have left in brackets information about wartime service mentioned in the 1906 book which I cannot yet confirm from another source.


UNITED STATES ("UNION") ARMY

Grandsons of Jacob Ong (1760-1849)

1^st Lt. Finley Davis Ong, Co. F, 4th West Virginia. Vol. Infantry mortally wounded Vicksburg 22 May 1863 (son of Jacob Ong)

Theodore W. Ong, Corporal, Co I, 37th Indiana Infantry died 1864 of complications from wound in 1863) (brother to Finley D.)

Jacob Ong, Battery G, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery (brother to Finley D. & Theodore)

Jacob B. Ong, M.D., Co K, 69^th Ohio Vol Inf; Surgeon 14th (TN) then 18th (MO) Reg US Colored Infantry (son of Isaac Ong)

Abraham C. Ong, Co H, 157^th Ohio Vol. Infantry (Son of John McGrew Ong)

[John Lewis Ong, (OFH “Captain of a company of government scouts”) (brother to Abraham)]

[(OFH: Capt?)  Isaac A. Ong (Union Reg.  Lived in TN) (brother to Abraham & John Lewis)]

Great-Grandsons of Jacob Ong

Finley M. Ong, Co. K, 8^th Iowa Volunteer Infantry (son of Jacob Finley Ong, grandson of Finley Ong)

John Irvine Ong, Corporal, Co. L, 6^th U.S. Cavalry (brother to Finley M.). Enlisted 20 Mar 1861. Discharged due to disability 20 Nov 1862.

Finley Ong, Co. H, 126^th Ohio Vol. Infantry, mortally wounded Battle of the Wilderness 6 May 1864 (son of Moses Harlan Ong, grandson of Finley Ong)

Lindley H. Ong, 40^th Ohio Vol. Infantry died of illness in service 8 Jul 1862 (son of Lewis H. Ong, grandson of Finley Ong)

Finley J. Ong, Corporal Co F 4^th West Virginia Infantry died 1863 (son of Nathan Ong, grandson of Jacob Ong)

William C. Ong, Co F., 4^th West Virginia Infantry (brother of Finley J.)

Albert J. Ong, Co U, 5^th Ohio Cavalry (son of Dr Jacob B. Ong (above), grandson of Isaac Ong) (permanently wounded?)

Oliver M. Ong, Co H, 157^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (son of James Alfred Ong, grandson of Isaac Ong)

Plummer Young (son of Eliza Ong Young, grandson of Isaac Ong)

2^nd Lt. Oliver C. Ong 2nd West Virginia Cavalry (son of Reason Ong, grandson of Nathan M. Ong)

Nathan King Ong, Co K, 9^th Ohio Cavalry (brother to Oliver C.)

Grandsons of Jesse Ong (1762-1857): 

John D. Ong, 1^st Indiana Heavy Artillery (b 1838. son of James Ong b 1809)

Great-grandsons of Jesse Ong:

First Lt. David McK. Ong (1829-1872), Co G, 2nd Kentucky Infantry& 2^nd Missouri Cavalry (son of Jesse Ong (1804-1874))

William J. Ong (1835-1904), Co B, 14th Illinois Cavalry (brother of David McK. Ong)

Grandsons of Jeremiah Ong (1766(79?)-1850):

Wilson Ong, 44^th Illinois Vol Infantry (son of John Ong)

Nathan Ong, 44^th Illinois Vol Infantry (brother to Wilson)

Benjamin Ong, 4^th New Jersey Infantry (son of Isaac Ong)

Ira Connell Ong, 129^th, Illinois Vol Infantry (son of William G. Ong)

Benjamin W. Ong, Co H, 104^th Illinois Infantry (brother to Ira C.)

Jesse R. Ong, Co H, 104^th Illinois Infantry (brother to Ira C. and Benjamin W.)

Roger John Ong, Co B, 77^th Illinois Infantry (brother to Ira C, Benjamin W and Jesse R.)

John Ong, Co E 155^th Pennsylvania Infantry (son of Zadoc Alexander Ong)

William Ong, Co C 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry (brother to John)

William W. Ong, Co G, 139th Illinois Infantry (son of Thomas O. Ong)

Great-grandsons of Jeremiah Ong

Joseph Eli Ong, 44^th Illinois Vol Infantry (son of Wilson Ong)

Identity/descendancy unclear

William Ong, Co G, 12^th Penn. Infantry (from website)

Ernest M. Ong, 13^th West Virginia Infantry

Jacob Ong, 81^st Pennsylvania Infantry

Jesse Ong, 52^nd Indiana Infantry

John Ong, 2^nd Colorado Cavalry

CONFEDERATE ARMY

John Gardiner Ong, Co H, Crescent Regiment, Louisiana (Great-grandson of Jesse Ong)

Isaac Ong Co E 8^th Virginia Cavalry (Sgt., died May 1861) (descendacy unclear)

John W. Ong, 8th Virginia Cavalry (son of Isaac)