The Year in 1917

In 1917 the U.S. was still maintaining its neutrality and President Woodrow Wilson speaking out for a peace without victory. But the year would end with the U.S. embroiled in the conflict it had sought for nearly three years to avoid. In 1917 and 1918 over 24 million men in the United States had completed draft registration cards and 2.8 million were drafted to serve. Soldiers and those left on the homefront were singing along to songs like Over There, Goodbye Broadway, Hello France and Back Home Again in Indiana.

By the time the U.S. had entered the war the world food supply had been severely cut. Farms throughout countries that had formerly been leading agricultural producers had been abandoned as farmers left the fields to take up arms. Fields of wheat became fields of battle and crops were burned, trampled and destroyed. The burden of feeding stricken countries in Europe fell to the U.S. A month before the U.S. officially entered the war, the National War Garden Commission was formed to promote the building of gardens and preservation of produce through canning or drying. War gardens were created across the country; the city of Rochester, New York had more than 15,000 war gardens in 1918.

On March 2, citizens of Puerto Rico received full U.S. citizenship and this island would send 20,000 soldiers to the U.S. Army to serve in WWI.

Also in March, the Russian Revolution began with the overthrow of the Czarist regime of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government. Later that year the Bolsheviks would seize control in what is known as the “October Revolution.”

In movies, Mary Pickford starred in The Little Princess, the story of a little girl left in a boarding house when her father went off to war. In another film, Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” character came to America in The Immigrant.

Information from above is courtesy of Ancestry.Com.

World War I Draft Registration Cards

Andro Fill's World War I Draft Registration Card:

Hritz Fred Fill's World War I Draft Registration Card:

Peter Fill's World War I Draft Registration Card:

World War I Draft Registrations

According to Ancestry.com, in 1917 the U.S. was still maintaining its neutrality but by the end of the year, the US would be involved in the conflict it had sought for nearly three years to avoid.
The war needed soldiers and in 1917 and 1918 over 24 million men in the United States completed draft registration cards and 2.8 million were drafted to serve.

Andrew and his brothers all registered for the draft for World War I. Although the youngest, at age 31, Andrew was the first to register on June 5th, 1917 and listed his address as 2513 West 7th Street, Cleveland, OH. Occupation is listed as Grocery and Meat Merchant. Exemption from draft requested due to wife and 4 children. His draft form indicated that he was born in Volovec Austria. His physical demographics were noted as: short stature, slender build, brown eyes and brown hair.

Although the registration form is difficult to read, Peter's address looks like 2554 St. Ticknor Street, Cleveland, OH. Nearest relative is noted as Mrs. Mildred Fill. Enlistment date is September 12, 1918, exact same date as Hritz Fred Fill. His occupation was noted as a Car Inspector for Pennsylvania Railroad. His physical stature was very different from his brother's: Tall build (believe it says 6'2") and slender build. Peter was 34 when he registered.

Like his younger brother, Peter, Hritz Fred Fill did not register for the draft until well over a year after Andro; he was 39 at the time he registered. The eldest brother is listed on his draft card as Hritz Fred Fill and his nearest relative is Helena Hritz Fill. Their address in September, 1918 was 614 Cathedral Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. He is noted as being of medium build, medium height, blue eyes, and bald. He was a laborer for McKinney Steel Company in Cleveland, Ohio and a naturalized US Citizen.

The Trip to the United States

Although there is much that we still do not know about Andro's trip to the United States, we do know the following from the ship's Manifest:

First Name: Andreas
Last Name: Fyl
Ethnicity: Hungarian, Ruthenian
Last Place of Residence: Wolowice
Date of Arrival: Jan 04, 1906
Age at Arrival: 19years
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Ship of Travel: Francesca
Port of Departure: Trieste
Travelling with Simon Glusrko; both destined for Olga Street in Cleveland,OH to Hryr Fill. Andreas notes that he is going to see his brother; while Simon refers to brother-in-law. We can assume Catren (Catherine)'s birthname is Glusrko based on this information.

The "Francesca" was built by Russell & Co, Port Glasgow in 1905 for the Austrian company, Unione Austriaca. She was a 4946 gross ton vessel, length 359.8ft x beam 48ft, one funnel, two masts, single screw and a speed of 12>knots. There was accommodation for 30-1st, 50-2nd, and 1,500-3rd class passengers. Launched on 2/6/1905, she left Trieste on 27/8/1905 on her maiden voyage to Naples, Palermo and New York. She did 17 round voyages on this service.

Picture of Andy

Andrew in front of his Meat & Grocery Store

The Patriarch of the Fill Family

Our Fill family story begins with the youngest of three brothers, Andro who became the Americanized Andrew Fill. Born 10 Dec 1886 in Volovec, Galicia (now the Ukraine), he landed in America aboard the Francesca at the Port of New York, better known as Ellis Island, on January 3, 1906 and made his way to Cleveland, Ohio where his elder brothers had already settled.

Hritz (Fred) Fill was the eldest and was born on 25 Jan 1879. The middle brother that came to the United States was Peter Fill who was born on 15 Jun 1884.

According to the legend related by George Fill, one of Andrew's children, in his memoir "As I Recall" Harry was excited to get his baby brother a job at Bethlehem Steel Company. Harry and Peter already worked there as laborers and they proudly took Andy to work with them the next day. It was Andy’s first and last day on the job in the steel mills. Working in a steel mill is hard manual labor; he had to lift large pieces of scrap, clean them off with ammonia and haul them over to the huge ovens where they would be melted. This was not the job for Andy.

Andy had big ideas. He found an old boarded up store on West 7th Street on the old Southside of Cleveland and decided he would open up for a Grocery and Meat Market. A loan netted him enough money for lumber for shelves, a large metal wash tub that could hold ice blocks for refrigeration, some knives and a small butcher's hatchet. Andy also arranged to get his hard canned goods on a 30 day payment plan. Before long "Andy's Place" was open for business.