Day 1 & 2 - Friday/Saturday, May 6-7, 1932- Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

by Grandson Frederick Walton, Family Historian

The story of the Packhiser's 1932 Honeymoon Drive from Coast to Coast

Ninety years ago, in 1932, my Grandparents got married and traveled across the country on their Honeymoon. They left a scrapbook of their trip which I recently discovered.  I am attempting to document their odyssey, uniting old family photos and stories by exploring their treasured mementos from this epic trip. Join me on my journey of discovery.... 

Honeymoon Hotel? Postcard pasted in their scrapbook suggests that this is where they stayed

Erwin and Lydia Packhiser awoke on the first morning of their married life, Friday, May 6, 1932, in a hotel room at the Plaza Club Hotel in Camden New Jersey.  Or did they? I don’t really know because I don’t think they ever told me. My assumption is a likely scenario based on the postcard they saved in their Honeymoon scrapbook from that place.

The Historian’s Dilemma

It’s interesting to realize that much of recorded history, especially ancient history, is the result of hypothesis and guesswork, particularly when there are no eyewitness accounts. Even eyewitnesses can get it wrong. We  have all seen the T. V. Detective show where multiple eye witnesses each have a different story which further confuses the investigation rather than clarifying the situation.

The relatively few mementos the Packhisers kept for their scrapbook clearly suggests a likely geographic route to their destination on the west coast based on where each item was from. I have made the assumption that these items were kept because they were  places they physically visited to either eat , sleep, or sight-see.

Since only a few items are labeled with a specific date, I also assumed that these dates would help me establish timeline points in sync with the geographical route. I was wrong!

Let the Scrapbook  tell the tale

The newspaper clippings describing their wedding tells us they left “immediately after” the May 5, 1932 wedding, but there are no records or remaining family memories of what time that wedding took place! [1] Presumably it was in the afternoon…unless it was in the morning, or early evening…No one really knows anymore. The geographic start point is clearly St. John’s Lutheran Church in Middletown, N. Y., but the timeline is already a little hazy!

St. Johns Lutheran Church, Middletown, N. Y.

I have sorted all 45 scrapbook items into an east to west geographical order. The first two items are from New Jersey. A restaurant and a hotel. Both are undated, but it is logical to assume they began their journey by driving through New Jersey and stopped  to have dinner in a nice restaurant and stayed overnight in a nice hotel.  Otherwise why would they be in the scrapbook? More importantly, to my logic, those two places fit the route geographically.

The next three items, in geographical order, are in Virginia and are also undated. In fact nearly everything in the scrapbook has No date, No marking and NO comments. Nothing is starred, underlined or scribbled on.

15 page Brochure (C) 1931 
from the Packhiser's
Honeymoon Scrapbook

However, a few of the items do have a specific date. The first one, chronologically, following the Virginia and New Jersey items, creates a real issue with the timeline. My Grandparents saved an “official  program for the Fifty-Eighth Kentucky Derby at  Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky” on “Derby Day- Saturday May 7, 1932.” The first Race is at 1:45 p.m… AND there are pencil markings on the first race, and others. Was this their program? Was this their handwriting? There is not enough for me to be sure. I do have a photo of Erwin, Lydia and Helen standing in front of their car with an unidentified gentlemen which family oral history recalls to be taken at the Kentucky Derby. I feel fairly confident they were there, the question is when…and with who?

Two Race programs. BOTH glued into the Packhiser's Honeymoon Scrapbook.
Which Race did they attend?

The timeline problem therefore is… how did they get to Churchill downs in time for the first days races, considering the distance they had to travel AND fitting in all the stops I am assuming they made in Virginia and New Jersey???. Or did they? 

I have assumed this was their program, because they kept it and glued it into the scrapbook.But…there is also another race program dated May 9th. This one fits the timeline much better. Could they have picked up the May 7th program as a souvenir when they attended a later race? If so, whose writing is in it? I have spent weeks pondering this and have no answer.

Timeline Problem

Today, driving the most direct route from Camden, N. J. to Louisville, Kentucky on modern highways would take about 12.5 hours at 65 MPH to travel the nearly 787 mile distance. (According to Google Maps) That is a looooong drive, even considering modern 4 lane highways with regularly spaced rest rooms, gas stations and eateries. 

Approximate Route Packhisers drove from Camden, N.J. through the Shenandoah Valley then on to Louisville, Ky.

Surveying numerous 1930 era maps, the main routes on the east coast haven’t really changed much in the last century. In fact many of the roads they would have driven are still there, often alongside the modern super highways. At 40 mph it would have taken them at least 20 hours to cover the same 787 miles. In fact if you avoided the major highways and tried to follow a similar 1930s route it would take you nearly 21 hours today. Getting roughly 10 miles per gallon, they would have to stop more frequently than a modern driver adding time to their trip. Luckily their 1930s roads went THROUGH every town, unluckily this meant they would have to slow down at every little cross road village, adding even more time to an already long journey. Go ahead and add a couple of more hours to the 20.

So if they left Camden, N. J. on the morning of Friday, May 6, stopped overnight in Winchester Virginia after an approximately 6 hour drive covering 250 miles… Then set off the next day, Saturday, May 7, they still had to cover an additional 540 Miles (about 15 hours). There is no way they would get to the races by 1:45 p. m. on May 7th.

Even if they left Camden at 8 a.m. on May 6, and drove straight through they would arrive at Louisville around 4 a.m. not counting stops for gas, bathroom breaks and eating. Technically it could be done…but then why did they keep the brochures for Winchester and the Shenandoah Vally if they didn’t have time to sight-see …or sleep? [2]

Why 40 mph? 

In June 1931 an article entitled “SPEED LIMITS ARE INCREASED” by Lorena Hickok was widely published in newspapers across the nation. The article Begins:

“On that Vacation motor trip this Summer, you'll be able In most parts of the United States to step right along, from 30 miles an hour up to the limit of your car's speed..."

The article explains that many states are reviewing and even eliminating the current 20-30 MPH speed limit. 

“Fifteen States now have NO speed limit outside of cities and towns…45 miles an hour is considered a prudent speed….In Virginia, where the speed limit is 45, a driver may be arrested on a charge of reckless driving if he goes too slowly and blocks traffic...”

New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as the more densely populated New England states, typically had a 35 mile per hour speed limit, Mid-Atlantic states (then called Middle East states!)  typically posted 40 MPH speed limits while southern and southwestern states typically posted 45 MPH speed limits… unless the specific State had no speed limits.

1930s speed limit (found online)

The speedometer dial  on the Studebaker went up to to 100 MPH. The 3,200 pound vehicle, powered by an 8 cylinder engine could have easily achieved 60 mph. I wouldn’t necessarily call my grandfather, Erwin, a speed demon, at least when I was a kid. But he didn’t drive like a little old lady either. I could easily see him driving at 40 to 50 mph or even faster when possible, although the roads weren’t always good enough to permit that speed, even today, especially going through the mountains.

1932 Studebaker Speedometer

Forget Louisville by May 7 

Using 1932 maps, one logical and direct route from Camden to Winchester, if I don't have a time constraint, would have been U. S. 30 (The Lincoln Highway) from Philadelphia through Lancaster, York and Gettysburg, a distance of about 140 miles. At 40 mph it would have taken them 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

1932 newspaper map advertising motor trips from Philly to the Shenandoah Valley. 

Could this be the route the Packhiser's followed? [3]

From Gettysburg they would probably have taken U. S. Highway 15 south through Frederick, Maryland then choosing one of several available main highways to take them to the head of the Shenandoah Valley at Winchester Virginia.The distance would have been another 90 to 100 miles. At 40 MPH their time would have been about 2 1/4 to  2 1/2 hours, say 3 hours to include slowing down through towns and maybe stopping for gas, restrooms or meals.

If they left Philadelphia early, say 8:00 am That would put them in Winchester around 3 PM after a good 7 hour drive. Is this too early to stop for the day?

What if they slept late and had a leisurely breakfast and drove around Philadelphia to see the sights? That would put them in Winchester in the early evening. In either case, they kept and glued into their scrap book a business card from the Sale Inn:

Business Card glued into the Packhiser Honeymoon Scrapbook
suggesting that this is where they stayed, probably on May 6, 1932.

Winchester, Va. (1930 Population 10,855) was a small town compared to Middletown, N. Y. (1930 Population 21,276), but as a Tourist destination, it would have had a number of hotels and restaurants catering to travelers. The Sale Inn bills itself as a place to Lodge, not a place to stop for a bite to eat. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the Packhiser party stayed overnight here on day 2, Friday, May 6, 1932. [4]  

The brochure for the Shenandoah Caverns, about 50 miles from Winchester, boasts accommodations and “Excellent Home Cooked Virginia Meals”, in addition to the Caverns themselves. They could have driven past Winchester on the “Valley Pike”, Rt. 11, and gotten a little closer to their goal by lodging here for the night of May 6, instead, but then why paste the Sale Inn business card in their scrapbook? The extra hour gained doesn’t do much to sync the proposed time line.

“Excellent Home Cooked Virginia Meals” are promised if you stay at the Shenandoah Caverns Modern Hotel. 
From the brochure pasted in the Packhiser's Honeymoon Scrapbook

I’m guessing Winchester was more likely their first stop on May 7. How long did they sight-see here? I’m guessing they had breakfast at the Inn in Winchester, then hit the road by 9:00 a.m. The 50 mile drive to Shenandoah caverns, perhaps making a gas stop could have consumed another 2 hours. Touring the caverns might take another hour or two, bringing us to lunch time. Perhaps they enjoyed an “Excellent Home Cooked Virginia Meal” at the Shenandoah caverns before heading on to the Natural Bridge just down the pike on route 11.

Did the Packhisers visit the Rainbow Lake in the Shenandoah Caverns? 
From the brochure pasted in the Packhiser's Honeymoon Scrapbook

The one hundred mile drive to the Natural Bridge, down the Valley Pike, passed through many places of scenic and natural beauty as well as places of historic significance.   New Market, site of a famous Civil War Battle; Staunton, home of Woodrow Wilson; and Lexington, home of VMI, are some of the major towns they passed through. Perhaps they lingered at one or more of them, although there are no brochures to suggest this.

9 page Brochure (C) 1931 
from the Packhiser's
Honeymoon Scrapbook

When they arrived at the Natural bridge they would be awestruck viewing “Nature’s Masterpiece, Higher than Niagara and old as the Dawn” at least according to the Brochure. But that is about all there is to see, except the nearby Natural Bridge Hotel. It would now be late afternoon or early evening on May 7.

They probably stayed overnight here since the next location, geographically, as documented by scrapbook souvenirs, is either Nashville, Tennessee, where Lydia’s sister lives, OR 200 miles directly north, to Louisville, Kentucky where the Churchill Downs racetrack is located. Both destinations are nearly 500 miles distant from Natural bridge. Which place did they go first? Your guess is as good as mine since they didn't really leave any details.

Hotel pictures from the Natural Bridge Brochure pasted into the Packhiser's Honeymoon scrapbook.

How much time did they spend in the old Dominion? One day? Rushing through to get to the races in Louisville, Kentucky.Two days? Traveling at a more leisurely, site-seeing pace. The two day trip works better geographically but the one day, fast paced trip would explain the May 7 Race program better. Which one is correct? We will probably never know.

If you found this leg of the trip confusing…so did I!, but I think their route will become easier to trace as they travel further west. Since my head hurts from looking at old maps and trying to make sense of the timeline, lets switch gears and talk about Erwin’s Studebaker. 

Next: Discovering Erwin's Automobile

Notes:

1- Middletown Times Herald; Middletown, New York;05 May 1932, Thur; Page 1; "Best Man and Couple Leave for Moviedom; Son of noted Tenor attends Packhiser Nuptials and accompanies pair west"

2- I consulted numerous 1930's era maps to look a possible routes and found, to my surprise, that there was a very extensive road network connecting towns and villages throughout the Northeast. Many of those routes have been widen, resurfaced and renamed, but they are essentially very similar to the routes in my Grandfathers time. 

3- Map from Philadelphia to Shenandoah: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 17 Jan 1932, Sun  •  Page 18

4- 1930 Population of Virginia: HISTORICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL DATA: THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1970 [Computer file]. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 197?.;http://www.virginiaplaces.org/population/pop1930numbers.html

1930 Population of Middletown, N. Y.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middletown,_Orange_County,_New_York

 

On Our Way To California

by Grandson Frederick Walton, Family Historian

The story of the Packhiser's 1932 Honeymoon Drive from Coast to Coast

Ninety years ago, in 1932, my Grandparents got married and traveled across the country on their Honeymoon. They left a scrapbook of their trip which I recently discovered.  I am attempting to document their odyssey, uniting old family photos and stories by exploring their treasured mementos from this epic trip. Join me on my journey of discovery.... 

Muddy roads circa 1930s

Taking a cross country trip is pretty mundane today, but in 1932 it was quite the adventure. Federal  “interstate” highways actually did exist, but were generally two lane, blacktop affairs…unless they were one lane or simply hard packed dirt roads, which was more likely in the sparsely populated areas of the south and southwest. As automobiles became more affordable and commonplace in the teens and twenties, the demand for better roads rose spurring the Federal government to undertake road projects. But that slowed down in the 1930s during the depression leaving many places with unfinished roads and dirt pathways.  

Roadside motels were few and often no more than a cabin with a bed and maybe a cold-water sink. Fast food restaurants were decades in the future. Menu's the Packhisers kept for their scrapbook suggested that restaurants they visited were located within some of the larger cities they passed through.

This was still a time when roads took you TO cities, not around them. Natural obstacles like rivers and mountains had yet to be bridged and pierced by  massive ribbons of concrete forming the four lane interstate highways we now take for granted.

Travelers relied on gas station road maps (which I’m finding in on-line archives) and seemed readily available at the time. There was no such thing as  navigators on your cell phones (or even cell phones!) to guide you on your way. A cross country trip was no lark.

My grandmother told me that they ran into problems along the way. Two that come to mind  were getting stuck in deep muddy ruts and being pulled free by farmers with mules, and getting bogged down in the western dessert sand and being rescued by Indians!  

Years after my grandmother passed I realized what a life-changing adventure this trip must have been and wished I had asked her more about it. I wondered where they traveled and who they visited, but didn’t think I’d ever find out…until now and the discovery of a scrapbook my Grandparents made of their journey.

Recently Discovered Scrapbook of the Packhiser's
1932 Cross CountryHoneymooon Trip 

According to the various items pasted in the scrapbook, some of which include dates, I have been able to make some guesses as to the route may have taken. I assume this is why they kept and pasted these particular items in to their keepsake album. The items  include: matchbook covers, menus, hotel letterheads, event programs, guidebooks and postcards.

 Obviously this was assembled after the trip, but the various items are pasted in or loose and aren’t in any chronological order, which makes the challenge of retracing their route even harder. 

Although the scrapbook itself probably contains 50 pages or more, only the first 19 pages were used. Most of them had three or four items squeezed in to fill the page. It seems items were chosen because they fit the space rather than fitting the chronological time line.

I inventoried every single item (there were only 46) and recorded the physical location. (i.e. A cafe in New Jersey, A hotel in St. Louis, A guidebook from the Grand Canyon, etc.) Then using a map, I numbered each item from east to west, allowing me to sort them geographically. This resulted in roughly the route they took. Some of the Items had identifiable dates, which helped me establish a rough Chronology. 

Possible route taken by the Packhiser's on their 1932 Cross Country Trip based on Scrapbook mementos

In this and following blogs, I intend to establish a rudimentary outline of their travels and stops across the country in 1932 America. Whenever there is a memento of lodging, I will make the assumption that this was probably an overnight stop. I know for a fact that their journey was somewhat relaxed because, for example, evidence shows they stayed in one place (St. Louis) for an extended time. Other dated evidence suggests at certain points in their trip, they moved rapidly being in distant places only days apart. 

How long they stayed at any one roadside attraction is anybody's guess. I can only assume that they kept a brochure or business card as a reminder because they actually made a stop. Their first stop seems to be on their wedding day as they began their cross country journey.

The Wedding- May 5, 1932- Middletown, N. Y.  

The Thursday May 5, 1932 Middletown Times Herald Newspaper reported Erwin and Lydia Packhiser’s wedding in a front page story headlined “Best Man And Couple Leave for Moviedom”. Of course the headliner was the best man, Enrico Caruso, Jr. but thats another story! 

According to the article, The timeline begins that very day, after their wedding:

 “…in St. Johns Lutheran church today” the couple were married and “left immediately after the wedding…for Hollywood…”.

Clearly there was some preliminary planning involved since they were able to share their ultimate destination, but how many reservations they made and how much was left to chance is not documented.

Erwin and his bride Lydia (back seat) with sister Helen (front Seat) and pal Ric Caruso (taking photo)
on their way to California in 1932. Look at his shiny new 1932 Studebaker!

Geographically, the first souvenir item is a matchbook cover from Lambs Seafood Restaurant in Mount Holly, New Jersey. I’m guessing this is where the honeymoon couple and their guests, Ric Caruso and Helen Packhiser, ate their wedding dinner. Its unknown whether this was a favorite place or something that looked nice as they were passing by. An internet search failed to find this restaurant currently operating, but I did find a 1932 postcard showing a large building, probably popular in its day.

1932 post card and Matchbook from the scrapbook

After dinner, based on a Plaza Club Hotel envelope addressed to Mr & Mrs. Erwin Packhiser, containing a postcard of the Hotels offerings, the couple most likely stayed overnight in nearby Camden,  New Jersey. There is no record to confirm this was a pre-planned stop or one of convenience.

The Hotel Plaza was built at Fifth and Cooper Street in 1927 and closed in 1985. The old hotel was finally demolished in February of 2014. An ad in the June 1, 1932 issue of the Camden Courier-post boasted the Hotel's membership in the Automobile Association of America- "The World's Largest Motor Federation". Classified Ads list the hotels rate of $6.00 per person per week. While it may be a coincidence, AAA is often a common denominator for places they ate or stayed. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Erwin was a member and used this organization to find clean, safe, reliable lodging and food wherever possible.

 Looking at the spiderweb of roadways connecting the densely populated cities and towns along the New York-New Jersey corridor, even in 1932, it is difficult to spot an obvious route. A lot would depend on roads Erwin was familiar with and drove often. As a regular visitor to New York City, Philadelphia may well have been within his sphere of travel as a singer and performer. Whatever route they chose, the three or four hour trip from Middletown to Camden would all have been reasonable as an afternoon’s drive on that first journey as a wedded couple.

1932 Map of New York shows several routes the Bridal couple may have chosen

Next Stop: Day 1-Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

Notes:

http://dvrbs.com/camden/CamdenNJ-PlazaHotel.htm

OUR Honey-Moon

The story of the Packhiser's 1932 Honeymoon Drive from Coast to Coast

 by Grandson Frederick Walton, Family Historian

Erwin and Lydia's Wedding Photo
May 5, 1932

My grandparents, Erwin Rudolph Packhiser (1898-1981) and Lydia Hedwig Kroll (1904-1995) were married in Middletown, New York on Thursday, May 5th 1932 at St. Johns Lutheran church. 

I think this is probably where they met as part of the Luther league, a social club for young Lutherans. 

 Their wedding was reported  in the New York Times on Friday May 6, 1932, the following day, but  by then they were already well into the first leg of their epic Honeymoon Journey.

It may seem odd, that the title of the Times piece gives no indication of the Packhiser's nuptials. In fact, the wedding announcement itself seems to be in third place. The headliner is Erwin’s best man, Enrico Caruso, Jr., the illegitimate son of the world famous opera singer.

Enrico Caruso, Jr. circa 1932 Note dedication to Erwin and Lydia Packhiser
and his nickname "Ric"

Erwin met him while singing in Broadway shows where they became friends. Later Ric, as he was known, met Erwin's sister, Helen and they fell in love. Since Erwin’s father wasn’t a renowned opera singer, Caruso got top billing, although the occasion was Erwin and Lydia’s Wedding. Even sister Helen is mentioned before the bridal couple!

Erwin Packhiser (R) in front of Stage Door at a Broadway Theatre.

Another important tidbit is the announcement of their honeymoon plans:

"Mr. Caruso, who has appeared on the stage in Italy, left immediately after the wedding with the bridal couple and Miss Helen Packhiser, sister of the bridegroom, for Hollywood, where the four expect to engage in motion-picture production."

I knew that my grandparents had traveled across the country on their honeymoon, but didn't know they has made such a quick departure. Years after my grandmother passed I realized what a life-changing adventure this trip must have been and wished I had asked her more about it. I wondered where they traveled and visited, but didn’t think I’d ever find out…until now. I recently discover a treasure trove of 1932 souvenirs.

Cover of 1932 Honey-Moon Scrapbook

My grandparents made a scrap book of their journey, which I hope to use to fill in some of the blanks and maybe explain some of the old pictures that have passed down to me. These discoveries will be the subjects of future Blogs. But for now, back to the wedding.

The local Middletown Herald News was kinder to the Wedding Couple. At least they are mentioned in the headline, "BEST MAN AND COUPLE LEAVE FOR MOVIEDOM", even if it is after the Best Man!

The lengthy article, published on the front page of the May 5, 1932 edition, the same day as the wedding,  describes the brides wedding attire. 

    "The bride was given in marriage by her father. She was attired in a pearl gray suit trimmed with gray fur and wore a gray hat. "

The scrap book starts with the above photo of my grandparents, the only item on the very first page. The remaining pages have nearly ever inch covered with pasted in mementos of their journey. Like me, you might have assumed this was a picture of their traveling outfit, but we would be wrong.

Looking at the photo of the bride above, the newspaper description perfectly describes the wedding outfit she is wearing in the photo. The suit appears to be "pearl gray" and above her knee, fur trim can be seen. Look closely at her hat, there is a little piece of netting covering her brow. (at first glance I thought it was a smudge on the photo). Viewing the scanned photo under high magnification, the couples hands appear slightly blurred although their faces and upper bodies are in perfect focus.The hands, being within the same focal plane, should be in focus too, but they aren't because the camera has caught motion. Is it a nervous shudder or more likely a tender hand squeeze just as the photographer snapped the portrait?

Besides the fact that the newspaper article describes her outfit, there was an even more convincing clue written directly on the back of the photo: 

"Our Wedding Day 5/5/1932; On our way to California."

 

My mother,  Jeanne, recalls her mother Lydia telling her that once they decided to get married,  Erwin didn't want to wait. There was no time to plan a big wedding or buy a brides dress. She couldn't recall the reason for such urgency. Perhaps he was just anxious to begin a new life in Hollywood, chasing his dream. 

In future Blogs I'll explore some of the keepsakes they pasted in the album, using them to tell the story of their Honeymoon Trip Ninety years ago!

Read the whole Front Page story of the wedding in the May 5, 1932 Middletown Times Herald News 

 

Next: On Our Way To California

Three Old Maids

(C) 2021 Frederick Walton- Kroll family Historian 

old-maid \ ˈōl(d)-​ˈmā-​d \ noun- a woman regarded as unlikely ever to marry; a spinster

Here are some interesting statistics about the eleven children of Julius and Ottilie Kroll: 

1) Half & Half- The children are almost equally distributed between males (five)  and females (six).

2) Born in Thirds-  Their birth places are neatly grouped- nearly one third in Blue Island, Illinois (three), one third in Posen, Germany (four) and one third  in Chester, New York (four).  

3) Half & Half- Of the six girls, half of them never wed and became "old maids". 

4) Of the three "old maids"- each was born in a different place. 

The three old maids were: Johanna Therese Kroll (1896-1983), Margaret O. Kroll (1902-1978) and Elsie Kroll (1903-1990). They never married, each leading an interesting life in a changing 20th century when unmarried women were perhaps looked at either distainfully or with pity for their inability to catch a man. As the century matured, so did views on unmarried woman and in the later part of the century, and their lives, they were perhaps thought of as leaders of the more commonly accepted "liberated" independant woman.  

Of the five brothers, only one never married. Eric Kroll (1899-1986) lost his arm in a farming accident at a young age. According to my mother, he was her favorite uncle. He once told her that he would never get married because he felt it was unfair to a woman to have a one armed husband. 

Each of the three sisters will be covered in a separate blog post.

Margaret, The Middle Maid

I start with Margaret O. Kroll. She never married. I don't know if this was by choice or by chance. Aunt Margaret was apparently quite a daredevil when she was young, at a time when automobiles, motor cycles and aeroplanes were relatively new. She went sky diving, probably in the mid 1930s, and her chute didn't deploy properly, causing her to have a serious accident, although I have never uncovered all the details. 

 I was a young boy when I knew Aunt Margaret in the 1960’s. She was a tiny, frail, pixie-like woman with gray hair and a bright smile. She was very shy and timid. She sometimes whispered to her sister, Elsie, but rarely spoke. She sat in the corner of Aunt Elsie's kitchen when she visited from the Middletown State hospital (psychiatric hospital) just up the street. 

I think, technically, her mother left the house to all her unmarried daughters, so even though this was where Aunt Elsie (who we called Heshie) lived alone, it also belonged to Margaret, Nonie-Jo, and Dorothea, who was unmarried at the time of her mother's death. 

Aunt Margaret would sit quietly in the corner, almost folded in on herself as if to make herself invisible,  I was told she loved me and my brothers and she would smile and smile whenever we visited her at Aunt Elsie’s. She had a child like innocence, but as I got older, I realized there was something wrong with her. She was always “old” to me, as a child, and as I got older and more involved in school I saw less of her. 

She passed in 1978, but I don't recall her funeral, even though I was in college locally at the time. I remember her well from my early days and wonder what she was really like before I met her?

Margaret is both the easiest to document and the most complex. Easiest because of the limited information available and complex because during some periods of her life information is so limited it makes her somewhat of a mystery. The early period of her life is sparsely documented but easily decipherable. 

Her parents, Julius and Ottilie Kroll each immigrated separately from Germany, in the early 1890's, to Blue Island, Illinois where they married in 1893 and started a family. Their son Conrad (1909-2003), Margaret's youngest brother, in a handwritten summary of his parents life, documented that the Kroll Family emigrated (i.e. left Blue Island Illinois) to go back to the German kingdom of Prussia on 1 Sept 1897. [1] 

Margaret was the fourth child born in Germany during the families stay there between 1898 and April 1902, when they returned to the U. S. A. Her birthdate is 17 February 1902, although I have been unable to find her German birth certificate in on-line German archives

The first records containing Margaret are as an infant passenger leaving Hamburg [2] on 5 April 1902, stopping at Boulogne, France; Plymouth, England  and arriving with her large family in N. Y. [3] on April 17, 1902. At the tender age of 2 months old, she was already an international traveler.  Perhaps her birth records can't be found because they were never reported to the German civil authorities as her parents busily prepared for their departure to America.

When the Krolls arrived in N. Y. they settled in Chester, New York where Margaret and her siblings grew up on the family dairy farm. (see "The Kroll Family at Elm Cote")

Margaret with some of her siblings and friends circa 1925

Early census records reveal nothing out of the ordinary, a young girl in a large family on a rural farm, going to school. She is not listed in the 1920 census at her parents farm, where almost all her siblings still resided, nor in any other census taken that year. [4] She was 17 (almost 18) when the census was enumerated. Could she have been living at the farm and been simply overlooked? A clerical error?  Could she have been away from home training to be a stenographer. Was she living in a boarding house, but not captured in the census? There is no way to know.

My Grandmother, Lydia (middle), playfully captioned this photo
"A Rose between two thorns"
Margaret is on the right and Theresa Kruger on the left

Family photos from the 1920's show her with her siblings, probably around Chester. She is an attractive and according to family stories, an adventurous sort. The post World War One world saw lots of changes, both in technology and attitudes. The slow, horse drawn pace of the previous century was being replaced by modern automobiles, fast trains and aeroplanes. Distant cities like Middletown and even New York City were suddenly as close as a few railroad stations away. Farm girls, growing up observing and perhaps being assigned some of the backbreaking chores on the dairy farm, that started before the sun rose and didn't end until after sunset, could now choose other careers. While no specific documents describe this metamorphasis, I recall my grandmother telling me about the hardships of farming and how she did not want to be a farmers wife. I suppose this was true for her sisters as well because they all sought careers rather than farm life.

 My mom recalled hearing that the Kroll girls might have been "pushed" out and "forced" to go to work rather than remaining on the farm as another mouth to feed. She recalled her mother, Lydia, telling her that she quit school at the age of 14 (1918) to live with a family in Middletown as a Nanny. The brothers all worked as farm laborers on the family farm thereby "earning" their daily bread. 

Margaret and some of her sisters

 Margaret Kroll left the family farm and is listed in the 1926-1933 Middletown, N. Y. city directory [5] first as a typist and later as a stenographer for an architect. A stenographer is someone skilled in the transcription of speech (for example, a secretary who takes dictation) while a typist is a clerical worker who writes letters, etc, using a typewriter. Margaret was skilled in both and was probably required to take notes during client meetings and later type them up for the architect. This would probably include very technical measurements and terms requiring her to pay careful attention to detail. Her continued long term employment would suggest she performed her job well. 

My Mother recalled visiting her Aunt Margaret at her workplace when she was a child. Mom told me that Margaret was perhaps her favorite Aunt because she was so full of fun, always smiling and giggling. Newspaper articles from the early 1930's capture a few moments in time that illustrate this. 

On June 29, 1929 The Kingston Freeman reported in a social column that Kingston Luther league invited the Middletown Luther league to a swim party, picnic and dancing in Kingston. Margaret is listed among the attendees along with her sister Lydia and future brother-in-law Erwin Packhiser. The Luther League is a Lutheran social society for young members of the church.

The Middletown Times Herald reported on October 18, 1930 that Margaret O. Kroll was named as head of the committee selling tickets for an upcoming masked ball hosted by the Queen Esther chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star at the Masonic hall.

On July 23, 1931 Margaret Kroll won an award in the Middletown Times Herald newspaper photo contest with a lovely landscape view of the cliff face of Sam’s point, which supports the stories of her adventuresome side. She would  have to hike the rugged wilderness to get this shot. The Sam's Point Preserve, in Ulster County New York, is located on the highest section of the Shawangunk Mountains. 

Margaret Kroll of 42 East Ave
"won the landscape award with her clear snapshot at Sam's Point"

By January 1935 Margaret Kroll had risen to an officer position in the Order of the Eastern Star, being named to the position of "Ruth" with the repsonsibility to "Share the lesson of Honor and Justice" as reported in the January 5, 1935 issue of the Middletown Times Herald.

These brief glimpse shows a young woman who was socially active and adventurous, at least with fellow members of her church and Masonic group. She attended parties, dances and other organized social events. She was active and organized enough to be given the reponsibilities of an officer in the Queen Esther chapter, indicating a person who was willing to be deeply involved as a leader. 

During this period, with her sister Lydia living nearby for friendship and support, Margaret lived in a series of boarding houses, with other single young ladies holding similar jobs like stenographer, school teacher, Dental hygenist and dressmaker. [5] With Chester being only a short train ride away, I would imagine she also visited her family and old school friends as time and circumstances permitted.

Based on the above, we can follow Margaret throughout the period 1926 through 1933, but then she "disappears".  Family oral history recalls that around this time, dare-devil Margaret's adventurous side led her to try sky diving.  Apparently Margaret's parachute failed to open properly and the resulting fall caused serious injuries, putting her in the hospital, followed by a lengthy recovery. I recall both my grandmother, Lydia, and her sister Elsie, telling me about Aunt Margaret's accident when I was a child. It was spoken of in hushed, whispered, sad tones. This was a life destroyed at its peak. How I wish I could remember the exact details. Even my mother, who was a child when it happened, can not come up with all the details at this point. With her contemporarys all gone, there is no one left to ask about the exact date and details.   

After a lengthy gap in her records, it is not clear how or why she suddenly shows up again in the 1940 Census [6] as a stenographer living as a lodger at  20 Chestnut Street. She she is not listed in City Directory records for this period, in fact there is No Kroll listed between 1934 and 1947, when her mother and Elsie are listed at 112 Monhagan Ave. It was my understanding that the accident ocurred earlier than 1940, if so perhaps she had recovered enough to go back to work. The census shows that she worked as a stenographer in an architects office for 51 weeks in 1939 and for 38 hours the week prior to the Census enumeration.  Could this have been her old employer? The Census states she received $612 dollars in 1939 ($51 a week ) slightly less than the average salary of $900-$1000 for a stenographer/ secretary.

Margaret's 1940 landlady, the widow Elizabeth K Lesher, age 71, can be found in the Middletown city directory for several years prior to 1940, but has moved by 1941. I wonder what happened to Margaret? A close review both in the Alphabetical listing as well as the street listing reveals no information about Margaret or any other lodger, so another gap appears.   

My Mom's younger sister Dee recalled visiting Aunt Margaret in the mid to late 40's. As a little girl she had many conversations with Aunt Margaret but remembers one in partiular. Margaret loved birds and would spend hours watching them flit around in the bushes surrounding Elsie's house. One day she pointed a bird out to my aunt who asked  her what kind of bird it was. Margaret called the birds “Masonic birds” which is probably a reflection of her time with the Order of the Eastern Star. Aunt Dee confided that, even as child-like as Margaret was, she was a bit odd and she made her nervous. My aunt recalled that her mother, Lydia, told her stories of odd, unpredictable outbursts by Margaret when they were both children. Was Margaret simply high spirited or was she always a bit off kilter?

No formal documents were found to describe the time between the 1940 Census and the time I first met Aunt Margaret  in the 1960's. I know that by then she lived at the State Hospital and remember walking past there on my way to the park, both places a few blocks past my grandparents house. Sometimes when we walked to the park my dad would lift me up so I could walk on top of the wall, which was shoulder high to my parents walking on the sidewalk below.

The entrance gates to the Middletown State Hospital. Aunt Margaret lived there but I wasn't allowed to go in.

Privacy regulations impede requesting any information on "inmates" of the state hospital, which closed around 2006 due to budget cuts. Today the buildings lie abandonded and mute, protecting their secrets. They have no information to provide about their former residents.

Margaret died in in August 1978 and is buried with her parents and the other "old Maid" sisters in the family plot at the Walkill Cemetery in Middletown, New York. (See "Visiting the Cemetery")

Those who knew her are few, and the documents that describe her are fewer still. 

Notes:

[1] The Kroll's were German farmers living in Przependowo, Obornik, Posen, Preussen. Przependowo is a manorial farm near Murowana-Goslin in Posen...today Przebędowo is a village in the admin district of Gmina Murowana Goślina, within Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, adjacent to Murowana Goślina.

[2] Ancestry.com; Staatsarchiv Hamburg. Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 [database on-line]. Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 130; Page: 774; Microfilm No.: K_1773

[3] Ancestry.com; New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line];Year: 1902; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 26; Page Number: 39.

[4] Margaret is not listed with the rest of the Julius Kroll family in Chester, N. Y. in the 1920 U. S. Federal Census: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line];  Census Place: Blooming Grove, Orange, New York; Roll: T625_1251; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 87, Sheet 4B, line 62-72.; and independant search of the 1920 census for "Margaret Kroll" yielded 24 results, but no matches.

[5] Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line].  Middletown, New York, City Directory, 1926-1933. (1932-missing) contain entries for Margaret Kroll; 1934-1945 Middletown City Directories ALL contain NO Kroll entries (36, 41 & 44- missing)

[6] Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line].; Census Place: Middletown, Orange, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02709; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 36-40, Sheet 5B, Line 43.

Remembering "Heshie"- The Halloween Caper

It was a dark and stormy night...

October 29, 1971. This was my last chance and I was looking forward to a big payoff. Halloween was the perfect time to blend in with the trick or treaters. Unfortunately this simple plan was already in jeopardy. This year Halloween fell on a Sunday, but some places planned to celebrate with trick or treating on Friday night, others on Saturday night. If I was lucky this would double my chance for a big score, but if I got the date wrong...oh well, I'd lose my chance and go out with a fizzle instead of a bang.

My two accomplices were ready. Their metamorphis complete, no chance anyone would recognize either one of them. Good. Now to sneak into town without being noticed.

We climbed into the car. The dark moonless night was perfect for our deed. As we got closer to town the streetlights backlit the dark, leafless autumn branches swaying in the breeze. The windshield wipers beat back and forth sweeping the raindrops off the windshield and mimicking the rythmic pounding of three hearts anticipating how successful our carefully laid plans would be.  A traffic light turned from yellow to red forcing the car to stop at the bottom of the street. There was no one on the sidewalks leading to the house where we were headed. Not sure how this would play out, we forged on, committed to our plan. The car pulled into the familiar driveway. We had been here many times before, but tonight was a little different.

The porch light was off, and we arranged ourselves carefully so that when the door opened, the light from the hall would light us up and let them know we meant business.

Ding-Dong. The doorbell summoned the occupants and we could hear footsteps cautiously approaching, obviously not expecting visitors. Good, we had surprise on our side.

Suddenly the overhead porch light snapped on blinding us as the door eased open and a face peered at us inquisitively.

TRICK OR TREAT we yelled in unison as our grandmother's confused face broke into its usual friendly smile now that she recognized her grandchildren. 

"Halloween is not until tomorrow" she said, inviting us in and admiring our costumes. 

Mom joined us from the car as Ami admired our costumes and said something witty about each one. Our Grandfather, "Grossi",  barely stirred from behind the paper and grunted a greeting at the three children interrupting his evening.

She offered us a treat and taking advantage of our "rights" as grandchildren we each helped ourselves to a big handful. 

We kind of knew that Middletown may not be trick or treating until tomorrow, so our visions of visiting the neighbors on Monhagan avenue were simply not going to happen.

"Why don't you go over and see Heshie ", asked Ami, meaning her sister who lived across the street. "She would love to see you", she assurred us.

A prim and proper Elsie Kroll Circa 1991

Giggling with anticipation at "tricking" Heshie in our costumes we crossed the darkened street and climbed the stairs to Heshie's house, sitting on a small knoll overlooking Monhagen Avenue. We once again arranged ourselves on the porch, shushing each other with whispered giggles and anticipating her surprised reaction. Unlike her sister, Heshie was a little stern and didn't always shower us with the unconditional love that our grandmother, Ami, did. She was always kind to us and we always got a dollar bill in our birthday card from her, but whenever we visited her we could count on being escorted out when she had gotten her fill of us, which was just long enough to be hospitable to a bunch of rambunctous little boys. She wasn't mean. but firm, and being a mid-aged spinster, she put strict boundaries on just how much we would disrupt her carefully ordered lifestyle.

Heshie's house, 112 Monhagan Ave

We settled ourselves on the darkened porch, and reached out to ring the door bell.  Ding-Dong. Footsteps. Porch light. 

Heshies face pressed against the glass as she pulled the lacy curtain aside. With knitted brow she scrutinized the three faces one by one, not recognizing any of us in our costumes. We smiled knowingly. We had fooled her. To our surprise,  the curtain fell back in place and the light went off. Heshie was not one to waste time on unexpected and unwelcome hooligans gathered on her porch. 

We sprang forward and rang the doorbell repeatedly, yelling: "Heshie, it's us!" but to no avail. 

She completely ignored the racket hoping it would go away, which we finally did. We were more disappointed not to share our clever costumes with her than not getting a few of the good treats she was sure to be handing out to strangers the next night. Oh the indignity of it all!

We slumped back to Ami's and reported our experience which gave Ami and Mom a good laugh. We felt like victims and wanted them to call Heshie, but the moment had passed and we loaded ourselves into the car for the trip home. Tomorrow would be another day, although at thirteen going on fourteen I was already stretching things, next year I'd be starting High School and leaving these childish traditions behind.

We didn't get any candy that night, but we had added a good "Heshie" story to our memory. That night we tricked Heshie and she tricked us!