The prompt for this week is "Spirit". I decided to remember the 'spirit' of my great, great grandfather William Frederic Strandt, who died on October 30, 1962 in Allegan, Michigan. He also liked the spirits of alcohol a little too much.
William Frederic Strandt was born on February 15, 1876 in Chicago, Illinois to Carl Friedrich Theodor Strandt and Wilhelmine Marie Friederike Gley. Carl and Wilhelmine had come to Illinois with their 3 children in November 1871 from northern Germany. They were joining Strandt family members who already lived in the area. Meanwhile, Wilhelmine had a sister who lived a bit further away in Allegan, Michigan.
The 1880 Federal census finds William living with Carl and "Amena" in Downer's Grove, Illinois. Carl's profession is Farmer. William is the only child still living at home. Older brother Carl is working as a laborer on another farm, while older sister Caroline has moved out. She would be 16 so I'm guessing she probably was living with another family as a servant. She marries and starts a family in 1884. Younger sister Wilhelmine Johanna has disappeared completely. I have not been able to find any record of her death, or marriage, or anything related to her after the family comes to Chicago. If anyone knows anything about her, please let me know.
The next big event in William's life is marrying a young Mary "Matie" Elizabeth Pulsipher in Allegan, Michigan on June 8, 1898. William is 22 years old and Mary is 21. I often wondered how William came to Allegan when he lived in and around Chicago. While researching his mother's family I discovered he had an aunt and uncle who came to Allegan, before his parents came to America. My guess is that on a trip to visit his aunt and uncle he must've come across and met Mary. After marrying Mary, William put down roots in Allegan. Almost a year later, their first child was born, Eva Wilhelmina Strandt. She was born on April 20, 1899 in Allegan. She's named after both of her grandmothers.
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| William and Mary Strandt, Baby Eva 1899. |
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| Mary Strandt in the middle. William Strandt on the far right with a young Carl Strand. 1903. Possibly Carl and Wilhelmine Strandt. Others unknown. In 1904 daughter Ruth Bessie is born in Otsego, Michigan and son Howard is born in 1909 in Hinsdale, Illinois. Sometime between Ruth's birth and Howard's birth, William decided to move the family back to Illinois, where he thought he might have better luck in earning money. It was not to be though, and the family moved back to Michigan. The 1910 Federal census finds the family living with William's father Carl in Trowbridge Township. Both William and Carl are listed as Farmers. It is sometime around here where Mary's uncle, Charles Richard Brownell, who was very successful in the lumber business in Louisiana, deeded a farm to William and Mary. From what I've been able to find out, William didn't seem to have much luck in farming. He wasn't very good at it, or at training horses. Younger son, Carl, was good at farming, and training horses. Carl had one pair of horses trained so well he could drop the reins and the horses would continue down the row and wait for Carl at the other end. Carl was also very good at farming. He liked to farm "the German" way and had disdain for his neighbors who farmed "the American" way. These disagreements led to many arguments between William and Carl. The one thing William did seem to be good at, was drinking. By all accounts, William drank. A lot. William would get drunk and become belligerent. Arguing and yelling. One time he became so drunk he chased Carl around the outside of the house with an ax, threating to kill him. Daughter Eva would often fear for her mother's safety. Not trusting what William might do. Finally, Mary had had enough and filed for divorce from William January 13, 1917, citing Cruelty. William contested it but a divorce was granted on July 31, 1917. It was Absolute. Carl was happy about the divorce and began to farm the farm his way. Unfortunately for Carl, William and Mary reconciled and almost a year to the day, on July 15, 1918, William and Mary remarried and William moved back home. Upon moving back home, the arguments between William and Carl started back up again. The final straw came when William sold Carl's favorite work horses that he had trained so well. Carl was still upset about it, years later talking about the incident. Carl then moved out. The 1920 census finds William, Mary, Eva, Ruth and Howard all living in Watson Township at the Strandt farm. In 1926 William, Mary and Howard are living with son Carl and his family in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both men are working as drivers. Carl started his own trucking company and allowed his parents and younger siblings to move in with them so Ruth, and then Howard could attend high school. After Howard graduated from high school, William and Mary moved back to the farm. William's lack of farming skills really showed during the Great Depression. Unable to pay bills and in danger of having the farm foreclosed on by the bank, William and Mary asked Carl and his family to move in and take over running the farm. William and Mary agreed to move out. Carl agreed. Carl took out loans, bought supplies, and got to work. He was able to turn things around and get the family farm stable again. However, William and Mary decided to stay, and not move out as they had agreed to. This led to more arguments between William and Carl and led to an eventual lawsuit filed by Carl against his parents, to get them to move out. The case went to the Michigan State Supreme Court. Carl eventually won, and William and Mary moved out. The case left such a bad taste in Carl's mouth, that he never spoke to William and Mary again. He also forbid family members to speak to them. Something which, his family did not respect. I've heard many stories of Carl's children, and wife Mildred, sneaking over to visit William and Mary and not letting Carl know. The 1940 Federal census finds William and Mary living next door to Mary's younger sister, Florence and her husband. William's occupation is Laborer, and the home is rented. William also says he only went to 7th grade in school. Mary had worked as a teacher off and on over the course of her life. Her income as a teacher helped support her and William. The 1950 Federal census finds William and Mary living just down the road from granddaughter Viola and her family. Viola would sneak down and visit William and Mary and not say anything to her father, Carl about it. William's occupation is listed as a Farmer once again. William's wife, Mary, passed away in November 1961, and William passed away October 30, 1962. I haven't been able to find a cause of death yet, but he was 86. After Carl cut off contact with William and Mary, and forbid others from seeing them, I don't know how William was as he got older. If he mellowed and drank less, or if he continued to drink. I'd like to know more about William. Did he drink because he was unsuccessful in earning a living and supporting his family, or, was he unsuccessful because he drank? Which came first? The drinking or the economic failure? Maybe it was a combination of both?  William and Mary in later years.  A hymnbook belonging to William Strandt.  |
Grandma Strand always reminded me that I was born on grandpa's birthday. I thought that was neat. Nice research
ReplyDeleteThanks! I should publish a calendar with all the birthdays on it. There's a lot of overlap.
DeleteI was told by my mother, Mildred that Howard Strandt bought the farm for his parents to live on. My dad was ordered to pay them five dollars a month for the rest of their life which he did and on their deaths he had to pay $500 toward their funeral expense. The only time I saw my grandparents was in their casket at their funeral. I don’t know why my dad went to the funerals as he never would speak to them even my grandmother asked when she was dying in the county medical care to ask Carl to come he would not go. The family was very kind to my dad at the funeral and my dad shunned them all that was my dad , he knew how to hold a grudge. In talking to my cousin, Howard‘s daughter Charlene about my grandparents she said her grandmother Mary would drive by the farm and tell her that she had cousins there that she had never met. I ask her what kind of people they were and she said they were very kind and loving even my grandfather. I never knew them so I didn’t miss them. Now I wonder if it would’ve been a good thing if I could have known them my dad was a hard man and he was good to my brothers, but as a girl I was useless to him. In later years I had a reunion at the lake with my brothers and sister, and invited Howard and family to join us , they did and they were lovely people. But the joke among us was if dad ever finds out, we’re all out of the will.
ReplyDeleteGreat information and recounting of history! Just a thought….alcoholism runs rampant on my side of the family. Of the four siblings in my dad’s family, only he escaped the disease. His father (George) was not, to my knowledge, an alcoholic, but his brother Arthur was (I don’t think Aunt Frieda was but she sure knew how to pack a bunch of booze in her mincemeat cookies….). Half of my first cousins struggled, while the other half of us didn’t. It makes me wonder if the gene goes farther back on Carl Friedrich Theodore’s side, although it would be kind of hard to confirm without documentary evidence of some sort. Still, it pops up way too frequently in that Strand/Strandt line to ignore.
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