1938 October – Rose Tilker – Str. The Greater Buffalo
POST MARK: GERALD, MO (asm.) OCT 13, 1938 @ 3PM
FROM:
Rose Tilker
TO:
Mr. Henry Roever
R.R./Warson Rd.
Clayton, MO
WRITTEN CONTENT:
Gerald MO. 10/12/38
Dear Henry
When you come out some time are next time with Dad don’t forget to bring me them Hankerchiefs that you promist me you know I haven’t send eney off yet and bring me some pumpkins I will pay you for them
I remain your friend Rose Tilker
The individual’s lives at either end of this postcard portrays the day-to-day challenges people faced during later part of the 1800s to the mid-1900s. This was especially true for recent immigrants: premature deaths; orphaning; significant medical and mental challenges; constant migration; fraud and murder. All of this in the endless pursuit of the American dream. Their lives span two World Wars, an influenza pandemic, and the Great Depression. These are their stories.
Rose Marie Tilker (Hacker) (1897-1964) – Author
In 1848, John Hacker (1819-1895), Rose’s fraternal grandfather, immigrates to the America from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany with his young wife, Anna, and their one-year old daughter, Elizabeth. Upon arriving, they settle in the ethnic German neighborhoods being established in the north side of St. Louis. John was trained as a Cooper (barrel maker) and found opportunities in the flourishing brewing industry being driven by the Busch, Lemps and Griesedieck families who had also recently immigrated from Germany. John and Anna’s family continues to grow with the addition of, Alexander (Rose’s father), John, Mary and Rosa.
There are two main socio-economic factors that drove the mass immigration of Germans from their homeland to various locations in Midwest America, Missouri and St. Louis in particular. It begins in the mid-1830’s and would last until the early 1900s. The initial motivation was the search for land and to escape the overcrowding taking place throughout Europe and Germany. Missouri was particularly attractive to potential German immigrants due to the Giessen Emigration Society’s romanticized descriptions and Gottfried Duden’s 1829 travel book, Report of a Journey to the Western States of North America and a Multi-Year Sojourn in the Years 1824 – 1827 that described Missouri as the “American Rhineland”. The second major motivator was to escape the constant warfare between France and the Prussian/Austrian dominated east that followed the Prussian Army victory over the French at Waterloo in 1815 and would last until the establishment of the German Federation in 1871. In 1848, during the height of the German Revolution, is when John Hacker decides to relocate his young family. These German immigrants were typically from a conservative branch of Lutheranism and ardent abolitionists. Their political activism would be instrumental in keeping Missouri in the Union during the Civil War. It would not be until World War I, when anti-German sentiment ran high, that this immigration slows to a trickle.
Rose’s parents were Alexander (1849-1905) and Bertha (Roesner) (1865-1941) Hacker. She was born in St. Louis, MO on 30 Aug 1897 and was the eldest of their three children. Her younger brother, Alexander, was born in 1894 and John followed in 1896.
Rose was born with Myotonic Dystrophy. Myotonic Dystrophy is a long-term genetic disorder that affects muscle function and is typically inherited from the parents and worsens with each generation. It is a type of muscular dystrophy. Symptoms include gradually worsening muscle loss and weakness. Muscles will often contract and are unable to relax. Other symptoms may include cataracts, intellectual disability and heart conduction problems. In men, there may be early balding and an inability to have children. There is no cure and treatment typically include braces, wheelchairs and pacemakers. MD affects more than 1 on 8,000 people worldwide, can occur at any age but typically occurs in the 20s and 30s. This disease would have made it difficult for Rose to earn a living and would keep her dependent on others for assistance, especially as she aged.
When Rose was born, the Hacker’s lived in the Kosciusko neighborhood of St. Louis. She would be tied to this neighborhood, directly and indirectly, for most of her life. The neighborhood was sandwiched between Seventh Street and the Mississippi River, south of the MacArthur Bridge and north of Cherokee St. During the mid-to-late 1800s it welcomed wave after wave of primarily German immigrants to St. Louis. Here they lived in close proximity to the industries and docks along the river and would be the place to find work. As decades passed, the Germans shifted financially into the middle class and relocated westward into newer neighborhoods such as Dutchtown. During this transition, the neighborhood experienced a wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe: Jews; Croats and especially Polish. This is where the neighborhood would derive its name. It was named in honor of the famous Polish Revolutionary War patriot, Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko. As with many interurban ethnic neighborhoods, by the 1940s, the Kosciusko neighborhood fell victim to urban renewal and by 1960s was essentially nothing but industry, docks and empty lots.
Alexander worked and lived in the Kosciusko neighborhood. His furniture/secondhand store was located just a few doors down from their S. Broadway St. home. In 1907, tragedy, the first of many in Rose’s life, strikes. At the age of 58, Alexander passes away. Bertha is now widowed and alone to raise Alex (13), John (11) and Rose (10). Years prior, Bertha’s younger brothers, August and Carl, had left St. Louis for Arkansas and then Arapahoe (Cheyenne County) Colorado where they had established farms on new claims. Even with multiple Hacker family members living in the Kosciusko neighborhood, Bertha decides to relocate the family nearer to her brothers in Colorado and make a go of farming.
In 1918, tragedy would again strike the Hacker family. In October, after demobilizing from the war in Germany, John, 22, dies of pneumonia while convalescing at the Fort MacArthur Infirmary in Waco, TX. Given the timing, this was probably brought on by the Spanish Flu that ravaged the globe from the spring of 1918 to the spring of 1919 and claimed more than 50 million lives.
Shortly after John’s death, Bertha and Rose decide to abandon the farming life in Colorado and return to their home on S. Broadway St. in St. Louis. By the mid-1920s, Rose marries an individual named Paul J. Barber and on 17 May 1926, Rose gives birth to a son, Paul Aloysius Barber. Unfortunately, he is also afflicted with Myotonic Dystrophy. This may have been a reason for the eventual split between Paul J. and Rose shortly after Paul’s birth. In 1929, Rose and her son Paul move in with Bertha at her new home on DeKalb St. that is also located in the Kosciusko neighborhood.
At about this same time, an individual named Alfred Meyer has a farm in the small town of Gerald, MO. Gerald is a small farming community located approximately 70 miles southwest of St. Louis. On his farm Alfred has approximately 175 chickens that can lay 130 dozen eggs a month. He then turns around and sell the eggs to various customers in nearby St. Louis. In 1926, Alfred decides to sell the farm and move to St. Louis. Unfortunately, at this time there is a significant decline in individuals interested in farming. In 1926 alone, more than 2 million farmers moved to the cities, but only 1 million “city folk” moved to rural areas. It took several years for Alfred to finally find a buyer for his farm. During this period, Alfred rents the farm to an individual named William Danz. In 1930, Alfred ends up trading the farm to Elmer Muir for a house in St. Louis. Apparently, Elmer does not take to farm life. The very next year, 1931, he sells the farm to Rose M. Barber for $100. Rose then moves her mother, son, and her brother Alexander’s family onto the farm. Prior to this, Alexander had been living and working in St. Louis as a hardware salesman.
Sometime during late 1931 or early 1932, 35-year-old divorcee Rose is introduced to 60-year-old widower Louis F. Tilker by Theo. Stranghoener, a mutual friend in Gerald. At the time, Louis lives in Clayton, MO, a “suburb” of St. Louis and works as a Landscape Gardener. They are married on 04 Mar 1932 in what is most likely a marriage of convenience. Firstly, there is the age difference of 25 years. Secondly, although Rose did initially move to Clayton with Louis, as the postcard highlights, she returned to Gerald sometime before 1938. Lastly, her reference to Louis as “Dad” in the postcard is not the most endearing term.
In 1936, Louis and Rose put the Gerald Farm up for sale. As with the previous owners, the farm does not sell quickly and is continuously rented out or “shared”. The latter is assumed to be some sort of “sharecropping” where in lieu of rent, the landowner’s shares in a portion of the crops produced on the land. To make matters more difficult, this was going on in the middle of the Great Depression when crop prices dropped so low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms. In some cases, the price of a bushel of corn fell to just eight or ten cents. Some farm families began burning corn rather than coal in their stoves because corn was cheaper.
The beginning of 1941 was a difficult period for Rose. On 22 Jan 1941, at the age of 76, Rose’s mother, Bertha Marie Hacker (nee Roesner), dies from Lobar Pneumonia. She is laid to rest at the Holy Family parish cemetery in Port Hudson MO, a few miles from Gerald. Less than one month later, on Valentine’s Day, her husband, Louis Frederick Tilker, dies from Coronary Thrombosis which led to Cerebral Thrombosis and was brought on by Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease. In laymen’s term a heart attack. He is buried alongside his first wife, Wilhelmine (nee Fricke) (1871-1929) at the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Washington MO.
A year later, in early 1942, Rose finally sells the Gerald farm to Frank Ziegelmeyer. Shortly thereafter, Rose and Paul move back to her mother’s home on DeKalb Street in the Kosciusko neighborhood of St. Louis.
Over the following years, Rose’s health steadily declines to the point where she is bed ridden and blind which hinders her ability to care for Paul, who apparently suffers from some form of mental and/or physical handicap(s). As a result, in January 1955, Rose (58) and Paul (29) move into the house of Barney (58) and Ida Etta Finchem (54) who also happen to live on DeKalb Street. Also living at the Finchem’s house is Fred Gestemer (73) and Celia Krajci (51). Rose has sold two pieces of property (assuming the DeKalb St. home and Fred’s farm in Clayton) for a grand total of $8000 (2020 = $77K). In August 1955, the Finchem’s purchase a home 13 miles west of DeSoto, MO and move all residences, except for Barney who remains in St. Louis, to the new house. The $3000 down payment for the new home is provided by Rose. Ida later claims that this was offered by Rose to persuade the Finchems to “move to the country”. For this down payment, Rose and Paul were offered a “home for life”.
On 2 Nov 1956, Fred Gestemer wonders away from the house into some nearby woods. It takes a search party fourteen hours to locate and return Fred. On 26 Nov 1956, while Fred is eating breakfast, he suddenly slumps in his chair and dies. Just the week prior to Fred’s death, a Health Commissioner had visited the home and suggested all the tenants return to St. Louis. Unfortunately, he does not meet with Fred nor witness what condition he may have been in. That same week, Rose’s pastor visited on Thanksgiving and found her in a “cold unheated room” and subsequently has “members of the parish gather clothing for her”.
As a result of Fred’s death, Sheriff’s deputies visit Mrs. Finchem’s small, isolated home. During the visit, deputies find Paul living in a poorly constructed, unheated chicken shack which he had shared with Fred. He is huddled on a dirty bed wrapped in covers in freezing weather. An undertaker notes that Fred’s left foot and lower back showed signs of advanced gangrene and signs of dehydration. An autopsy reveals that death was caused by a head injury suffered from a blow and had probably occurred approximately a month prior. The Coroner subsequently orders an inquest. On Thursday, 29 Nov 1956, twelve witnesses testify and a jury of six men find that homicide by party or parties’ unknown has occurred. Barney and Ida are then taken into custody, and bond is set at $2500 each. The Prosecuting Attorney later determines that evidence is insufficient to warrant a charge of homicide in the death of Fred. Barney and Ida are released on Saturday, 1 Dec 1956. Rose and Paul are immediately removed from the home and move to the Rose Hill Nursing home near DeSoto as wards of the county. Celia Krajci decides to remain behind with her “friends”. [ARTICLE 1; ARTICLE 2; ARTICLE 3]
This would not be the end of legal troubles for the Finchems. During the investigation into Fred’s homicide, Rose tells authorities that in addition to the $3000 she “gave” the Finchems as a down payment on the DeSoto house, she also “gave” them $4800 in two $2400 installments and $150 for the purchase of cow and $150 for the purchase of a station wagon. The Finchems deny receiving the funds and state that anything they did receive was to cover the $100 monthly fee for the care of Rose and Paul. Part of this monthly fee would cover their daily “fare” consisting of two bologna sandwiches and three cups of coffee each and on special occasions chili and doughnuts. A local real estate agent testifies that he did receive a cashier’s check in the amount of $3000 signed by Rose with an “X” and Ida Finchem as co-signee of which $2000 is used as a down payment for the DeSoto house. The remaining $1000 is more than likely pocketed by Ida. With the testimony from the Real Estate Agent, the Prosecuting Attorney felt that he had cause to file charges of fraud and deception against the Finchems. A Preliminary Hearing was scheduled for 17 Dec 1956. No information is readily available pertaining to the outcome from this Preliminary Hearing.
In addition to the Fraud and Deception charges, the Prosecuting Attorney considered seeking an injunction to restrain Ida from caring for others on the grounds that her home constituted a public nuisance. Unfortunately, his options are limited. In 1955, the Missouri’s State Legislature repealed one nursing home law and passed anther statute in its stead. Unfortunately, the State Attorney General deems the latter unconstitutional. Therefore, there is no statute under which Ida can be charged for the improper operation of a nursing or convalescence home. As with the Fraud and Deception case, no further information is readily available pertaining to this matter.
Rose would remain at the Rose Hill Nursing Home until her death on 6 Nov 1964 at the Firmin Deloge Hospital in St. Louis. The immediate cause of death is not listed, but states that it is due to Myotonic Dystrophy, Pneumonia and Congestive heart failure. She survived 67 hard and difficult years. She is buried at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Crystal City, MO.
Paul Aloysius Barber dies on 30 November 1987. Probably due to complications similar to his mother’s. He is not buried with his mother, but is laid to rest at the Neely Cemetery in Jefferson County, MO. He was 61 years old.
Henry William Roever (1886-1971) – Recipient
To tell Henry’s story, it must begin with that of Louis F. Tilker (1871-1941), Rose’s second husband. Louis’ parents were Fred L. Tilker (1844-1873) and Wilhelmina Ravers (1835 – <1900?). The couple has a second child, Wilhelmina “Minnie” Tilker (1869-1945), Louis’ older sister. Both Fred and the elder Wilhelmina had immigrated from Prussia and settled in the St. Louis area. They probably immigrated as children around the same time as Rose’ ancestors, ~ 1840, met and married in St. Louis. Sadly, Fred dies in 1873 at a young age (~ 29) from Cerebitis, which is inflammation of the cerebrum and typically caused by complications from the autoimmune disease, Lupus. This leaves Wilhelmina alone to raise two children under the age of four.
The 1880 census shows a Wm. Reber with a “wife”, living with Minnie (10) and Louis (9) Tilker. Given that spelling errors were common in early census taking, it can be reasonably assumed that Wilhelmina is the “wife” and she had remarried a man named William Roever, who will more than likely turn out to be Henry’s father.
In 1900, Henry Roever (13) is living with Minnie and her husband Fred Maschmeier. In the census for that year, Henry is described as Fred’s “bil” (brother-in-law). From this, two reasonable assumptions can be made. First, given Henry was born after Fred Tilkers death in 1873 and Minnie’s mother appears to have remarried a man named Roever, Henry is Minnie’s half-brother. The second assumption is that given Henry is living with his half-sister, William Roever and Wilhelmina have died and/or run off. In 1904, Fred Maschmeier passes away and Minnie remarries a man named August Gau in 1907.
By 1917, Henry moves to the Clayton, MO farm with Louis and his family. Henry’s WW1 draft registration indicates that his occupation is farming. It also states that he has a “fractured foot”. Given that there are no military records on file for Henry, this appears to have made him “exempt” from the draft.
Henry continues to live and farm with Louis and his family in Clayton until the late 1930s. In 1938, he receives a postcard from Rose, his sister-in-law, asking him to bring “handkerchiefs” and pumpkins during his and Louis’ next visit to the farm in Gerald. By 1940, Edward, Louis’ youngest son, has moved next door to his father and operates a nearby filling station. By this time, Louis is 68 years old and decides to give up the farming life. Instead, he and Henry work as “helpers” at Edward’s filling station and he continues to visit Rose, his “wife”, in Gerald until his death in 1941.
After Louis’ death in 1941, Henry moves to Louis’ eldest son Fred’s house in Elsah, Il, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Fred, like his dad Louis, is a Landscape Gardener at Principia College, a local Christian-based school located in Elsah. He remains here until his death in 1971 at the age of 84 years old. He is interned at the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Washington, MO alongside his half-brother Louis and other members of the Tilker family.
Looking back on Henry’s life, he is in continuous need of a caretaker. Was the “fractured foot” noted in the WW1 Draft Registration a permanent debilitating condition? It was not noted in his WW2 Draft Registration. Or did he suffer from some other permanent medical or mental condition that kept him from marrying or living independently?
The Greater Buffalo
The Greater Buffalo was a sidewheel excursion boat that was latter converted to a training aircraft carrier, the USS Sable (IX-81), to be used on the Great Lakes. She and her sister ship the USS Wolverine (IX-64) – which together were used for the training of over 17,000 pilots, landing signal officers and other navy personnel – hold the distinction of being the only freshwater, coal-fired, side paddle-wheel aircraft carriers used by the United States Navy. One of the pilots to qualify on the USS Sable was a 20-year-old Lieutenant JG and future president George H.W. Bush.
The ship’s saloon was on two decks, and there were 650 staterooms and more than 1,500 berths for passengers. Each room had a telephone connected by a central switch board located in the ship’s lobby. The highest priced staterooms offered a private bathroom, couch, and balcony. Her dining room could seat 375 with amenities including distilled water and what was advertised as “washed and cooled air”. Foot lights were incorporated into the hallways and staircases so that the main lights could be turned off for the passengers sleeping comfort. Greater Buffalo could transport up to 103 vehicles on her main deck and 1,000 tons of freight.
To protect against a shipboard fire, safety features that were included in her construction included an automatic fire alarm system, a sprinkler system throughout the ship and fire safety walls. Her hull was all steel with eleven watertight compartments and a double bottom divided into sixteen watertight compartments. Hydraulically controlled watertight doors could be remotely operated from the engine room. A full-time watchman was on duty to add an extra layer of protection for the ship and passengers. Navigation equipment included a Sperry gyro compass and log, a Haynes automatic sounding machine along with high powered searchlights at each end of the ship. The ship was also equipped with twelve 60-person capacity lifeboats along with an assortment of life rafts and floats.
At the time she was given the nickname “Majestic of the Great Lakes”.
CHARACTERISTICS:
Tonnage: 7,739 gross register tonnage
Displacement: 6,584 long tons
Length: 519 ft
Beam: 58 ft
Decks: 7
Installed Power: Inclined compound steam engine (Piston Diameters: #1 = 5 ½ ft, #2 = 8 ft, #3 = 8 ft); Stroke length = 9 ft; 9 boilers
Propulsion: Sidewheel = 32 ¾ ft in diameter with 11 paddles 15 ft long and 5 ft wide and rotated at 30 RPM
Speed: 18 knots (21 MPH)
CHRONOLOGY:
1924 – Following a period of company growth during WW1 the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company was able to order a pair of new ships for their Great Lakes routes. Greater Buffalo and her sister ship, Greater Detroit. When launched, they were among the largest side wheel paddle ships on the Great Lakes.
13 May 1925 – On her maiden voyage from Detroit to Buffalo, Greater Buffalo carried a capacity number of passengers. She was to be used as a palatial overnight service boat transporting 1,500 passengers between Buffalo and Detroit for the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company. Along with passenger service, the Greater Buffalo offered her customers the option of transporting up to 125 automobiles for their voyage.
1930 – 1935 – During the Great the Depression, Greater Buffalo along with Greater Detroit, were taken out of service. This along with union disputes and worker strikes, caused continuing losses for her owners.
1936 – The Greater Buffalo was docked in Cleveland and used as a “floating hotel” for the 1936 Republican Convention.
1938 – The Greater Buffalo and Greater Detroit are taken out of service for the season only to return to service the next year. Rose sent the postcard to Henry on 13 Oct 1938. Given that the Greater Buffalo was out of service, her assumed economic situation and the distance from her home to Lake Erie, it is highly unlikely she purchased the postcard while on an excursion. It does beg the question, where did she get the card?
1941 – Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a need for large vessels that could be converted into training aircraft carriers. Post conversion, Greater Buffalo’s length would be two-thirds that of an Independence-class aircraft carrier. It was felt that if Navy pilots could master takeoffs and landings on this short deck, they would encounter less issues transitioning to a standard-length aircraft carrier. In addition, there would no need to take an active duty combat ship out of service for this type of training. Training on the Great Lakes also provided additional benefits. It could take place out of the reach of enemy ships, submarines, and mines.
7 Aug 1942 – Greater Buffalo is acquired by the War Shipping Administration to be converted by the American Ship Building Company in Buffalo, NY and renamed the USS Sable (IX-81). The cabins and superstructure were removed leaving the main deck. Supports were added as well as a steel flight deck. This contrasted with the Douglas-fir wooden deck installed on the USS Wolverine. This steel deck would allow for the testing of a variety of non-skid coatings. The bridge island was located on the starboard side of the ship. She could accommodate forty aviators with bunks for twenty-one. Sable lacked a hanger deck, elevators or armaments as her sole purpose was for the training of pilots.
8 May 1943 – USS Sable is commissioned. A number of crew members assigned to her were survivors of USS Lexington (CV-2) which had been lost earlier during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
22 May 1943 – USS Sable departs Buffalo, NY.
26 May 1943 – USS Sable arrives at her assigned home port of Chicago, IL. She is docked at Navy Pier joining her sister ship USS Wolverine. The two ships are casually referred to as the “Corn Belt Fleet”.
7 Nov 1945 – At the end of WW2, the USS Sable is decommissioned.
28 Nov 1945 – USS Sable is struck from the Naval Vessel Register.
7 Jul 1948 – USS Sable is sold by the Maritime Commission to the H.H. Buncher Company for scrap and sent to their ship breaking yard in Hamilton, ON.
27 Jul 1948 – USS Sable is reported as “disposed of”.