Charles G. Elliott: A Man of War and Roses

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator

Distinguished Service Cross Citation for Charles G. Elliot, January 10, 1919

When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we visited several florists. The first two handed us books and told us to point at the arrangements we liked. The third, a small older gentleman, picked up a pencil and pad of paper, sat down with us, and asked us about ourselves and what we wanted our wedding to be like. He didn’t show us any catalog photos or push particular types of flowers. He wanted to make arrangements that felt personal to us that would make our day special.

Somehow in the course of our conversation, we learned that the florist had served as a corpsman during the landing at Normandy on D-Day. I was struck by the juxtaposition of that horrific, bloody day and the delicate-looking, quiet man who crafted absolutely gorgeous flower arrangements for our wedding. I was reminded of this encounter when I recently “met” another soldier who, after his time in combat, spent his life among flowers – Charles G. Elliott.

Charles G. Elliott, Elmira Star-Gazette, December 24, 1917

Charles was born in 1892 in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Sometime before 1910, he moved to Elmira with his parents Ernest and Dora. His father got a job as a laborer at a greenhouse and young Charles worked there as an apprentice. By 1917, both father and son were florists working for the United States Cut Flower Company in Elmira Heights. The horticultural company came to the Heights in 1903 and built massive greenhouses on its 62-acre site. By 1907, it was one of the largest and most successful plant and flower growing operations in the country.

In July 1917, Charles enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to Company M, 56^th Infantry Regiment, 7^th Infantry Division. The 56^th was formed from the 17^th Infantry Regiment on May 15, 1917 and was organized at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia in June that year. Shortly after enlisting, Charles left his job as a rose grower and was sent to Fort Oglethorpe for basic training. He was deployed to France in 1918. The 56^thwas stationed at a defensive position along the Moselle River. While the regiment saw only minimal direct combat, the soldiers were in no way safe or detached from the violence of war.

Photograph of men at camp during WWI donated to CCHS by Charles Elliott’s estate

On November 5, 1918, near Preny, France, Charles Elliott was on patrol when he and another member of the company were wounded by heavy machine gun fire. He was hit in the thigh by a bullet but was able to retain command of the patrol, take care of the wounded man, and report to the company commander before he was evacuated. For his heroism that day, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross from the United States and the Croix de Guerre with a silver-gilt star from France.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the United States Army’s second highest military decoration after the Medal of Honor. It is awarded to soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat against an armed enemy force. Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded to just over 6,000 of the approximately 4.7 million Americans who served in the U.S. military during World War I.

Charles Elliott’s Distinguished Service Cross and citation

The Croix de Guerre was awarded by the French government to French and allied soldiers for acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy. Stars and palms pinned to the ribbon show the level of military command that officially cited the soldier for bravery. Charles’s silver-gilt star indicates he was mentioned in dispatches at a corps level. More than 11,000 Americans were awarded the Croix de Guerre during the war.

Charles Elliott’s Croix de Guerre and citation

Charles spent nearly six weeks in the hospital recovering from the wound he received on November 5. In June 1919, he returned home and went back to work at the United States Cut Flower Company. On January 5, 1921, he married Crete F. Kingsbury. It was a small ceremony at her mother’s home with their immediate relatives in attendance. Four years later, they had a son, George Kingsbury Elliott. Charles continued working at the United States Cut Flower Company for 30 years, becoming foreman in the greenhouse by 1940.

In 1930, The Elmira Floral Products Company was created as a joint venture between the United States Cut Flower Company and Hoffman Nurseries to market products of the two companies. In 1948, the United States Cut Flower Company changed its name to Elmira Floral Products, Inc. and the 44-year-old award-winning floral company was officially no more. Charles then went to work at Hoffman Nurseries and stayed there for seven years before finally retiring from the plant business. 

After many years of cultivating beauty in a turbulent world, Charles Elliott passed away on November 15, 1957.  He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Charles Elliott’s headstone in Woodlawn Cemetery, August 13, 2026

Discovered History: Summer Cohesion

 By Susan Zehnder, Education Director

What do clues, white curator gloves, pencils, paper, and objects have in common with eight- and nine-year-olds during the summer? It might sound like a sure recipe for eye rolling, but these materials actually created history detectives out of 128 Summer Cohesion students and their counselors.

This year, students had a chance to sharpen their literacy and drawing skills by examining objects from Chemung’s past. Many are eager to return. Here’s what they did.

Each group’s visit started with a scavenger hunt in the main gallery, where they were given visual clues in the form of a tiny picture. This activity encouraged students to move around the large room as they searched for their item and gave them a chance to see the wide variety of items we have on display. Quite a few students had been to the museum before, but by being asked to look for specific items, they discovered things they hadn’t seen on previous visits. They also had the opportunity to revisit familiar items. This approach kept things interesting for everyone. Our galleries are filled with hundreds of items of all sizes. Objects vary from small military medals to fossilized mammoth teeth and a tusk, and everything is connected to Chemung County’s past. There is always something new to see.

Once students found the item that matched their clue, they had to determine if the item was an artifact or a document and report their discovery. Additionally, they were asked to provide two words to describe the item.  As a result of collecting descriptive words, students saw how a “box” became a “small blue box made of metal and leather, while a “trunk” became a “large, old, decorated box.” Their words were recorded on a large sheet for them to see.

After the hunt, participants gathered in the education room for the next activity. Working with a partner, they received a photograph of an object to draw. Each object was different and it wasn’t always obvious from the photograph what kind of object they were looking at. This helped students focus on the details they saw and not ones they assumed existed. Each pair of students had to look closely at the photograph and draw what they saw.

When students were satisfied that they had drawn the object the way they wanted, they put on white curator gloves. For many this was particularly exciting, because they knew it meant they would be handling the actual objects. They brought their photograph up to match and collect its real object, which they carefully brought back to their table. Taking turns, students compared their objects to their drawings in order to make any additions or changes to their work.

Sometimes making changes to written text is tough for students this age, who often falsely interpret needing to make changes or editing as having failed rather than as receiving the chance to improve their work.  Comparing the photo, their drawing, and the actual objects helped guide the students through the process of editing. Although photographs are helpful, being able to see and handle a real object gave participants an entirely different experience of these historical items. Some students found their objects were a surprise because they were smaller or larger than expected. Others found the object’s color to be different. Holding the objects and feeling how heavy or light they were often changed what students thought the items were used for.

Each pair of students also worked together to write a label for their object. Here, using descriptive words became especially helpful if they weren’t able to identify what it was. Some objects looked familiar and were easier to decipher. A mortar and pestle, for instance, was described as a “food masher.” Other objects were tougher to identify and required some creative thinking. A cast iron bank shaped like a log cabin was labelled as a “house,” and students described a Haversack, similar to those used by soldiers to carry supplies during the Civil War, as a “traveling bag.”

Before they left, students compared their work to a poster with photos and labels of each object.

 We gave everyone the option to take their drawings with them or leave them for display in the museum. You can see some of their work on the wall as you enter the Museum’s Bank Gallery.

Mindful that this is their summer break, and a being a firm believer that kids should be allowed to play, discover, and create, especially in summer, when I heard the comment “this is the coolest thing ever” I felt that these detectives had successfully uncovered a new way to look at history around them, and no eyes rolled!