Toledo woman finds 101 year old WWI registration card in book, returns to owner

A piece of family -- and American -- history is back in the hands of its owners loved ones more than a century after it was first signed and it's all thanks to one Toledo woman.

Christy Limauro purchased a book from the Friends of the Library book sale at the Sylvania Branch of the Toledo Public Library. Come to find out, the book included a little something extra. Inside was a World War I registration card signed 101 years ago.

According to the Toledo Library, Limauro started researching the registrant, Toledo resident Clem Clair Hubbard, in hopes of returning the card to his family. Using a 1940 census online, she found the names of his wife and children. The Library’s Local History and Genealogy Department staff provided her with obituaries for some of Hubbard’s children that led to additional names. Limauro sent a message to Hubbard’s grandson and other relatives. After a couple weeks, Limauro called Hubbard’s grandson, Ed McPeek of Las Vegas, and was elated to hear back.

“I am so happy to say that I will be able to pass this family memento on to Ed and his family,” Limauro said. “I hope someday to be able to meet Ed and Debbie in person and hear more about their family and their history in our area.”

Deborah McPeek, Ed’s wife, was impressed with Limauro’s thoughtfulness and desire to return their family document. Deborah McPeek’s granddaughter saw Limauro’s message and was excited to help link her grandfather with her great-great grandfather’s registration card. She said it generated a new interest in the family's history.

According to the Library, the family says the registration card, for decades tucked inside a family Bible, certainly had a journey! Ed McPeek remembered the distinctive green Bible at the Toledo home of his grandparents, Clement and Mayme Hubbard, until his grandfather’s death in 1964. It then passed to his parents, Helen and Kenneth McPeek, in Ottawa Lake, Michigan. After Ed McPeek’s father died, the Bible was donated to St. Michael’s Lutheran Church. It eventually reached the Friends of the Library book sale. The card remained hidden for so long and is now with Ed McPeek and his family.