G+V Staats

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1920-30s - Gordon & Verna Staats

Up until sometime in 2015 or later, I had really only seen one photo of my grandfather, Gordon Staats, Sr., taken as a group photo, where I think he's the second man on the left behind the counter, but it's pretty hard to tell. The only one we're sure of is that the first person is Peter Quinzi, his brother-in-law (who's also in the second picture). This was taken inside Buehler Brothers market on Genesee Street in downtown Waukegan, IL. Denny remembered that Rusty, their Springer Spaniel, who was stolen from their home on Lewis Ave found his way back to the back door of the Buehler's market one Sunday when my dad was their dressing a deer for some hunter.

Then, a couple years ago, the following two items appeared from somewhere in some boxes of my dad's stuff sent to me after he passed. The first is a picture of grandpa (left) with Peter Quinzi. The second is a picture at a picnic in which Uncle Denny helped identify people, specifically pointing out Gordon (seated, fourth from left) and Verna (next to him, holding jar of olives and looking down). His sister, Viola (Vi) is seated to his right and his other sister, Jestina (Jess) is seated across the table. Vi's husband, Peter Quinzi is standing just to Verna's left (second from right standing). I met all of them when I was very young, but all except Verna dies between 1971-1972 when I was 4 and 5-years old. I remember Vi being very small and taking a train from Waukegan to Kenosha to go see her. I also remember going to Jess's house in Dollar Bay and that the stairs were very steep and she gave me a painted ceramic statue of Dumbo (hey, this is what you remember when you're five ... I still have it ... I think, at my mom's house).

Here are clips from the picture above showing a close-up of Gordon and Verna, Vi and Peter, and Jess. Gordon and Vi look really tan.

There were a couple other random pictures from dad, but no idea who or what they're of. The boy leaving the water in the middle of the beach photo could be Gordon, but there's no way to be sure, while I'm pretty sure the boy on the car is not Gordon.

There were also two newspaper clippings, about his dad playing softball and he and his dad winning the Cub Scout Derby. According to Denny, Al Hawley (Elaine's husband) helped build the derby car (soap mobile) when they lived in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He also helped build one for Denny, but he didn't win that year. The hill they raced on was the one the went down to the Johns Manville plant, which should be Greenwood Ave (although Denny thought is may have been Glen Flora Avenue). Al and Elaine moved the family to California after the death of their daughter Sharon from Polio in 1952 at age 8.

Then, mom was (finally) cleaning out some stuff and sent a photo album which appeared to have been Gordon and Verna's. It sat on top of my scanner for months untouched until Tank the dog tore into it and chewed the right side of about the fist third of the pages, destroying several pictures (we left him home for a 4 day trip and apparently this was part of his revenge, even if Andy's girlfriend came by every day, twice a day). This (and the free time afforded by COVID-19) got me to finally scan in the photos and try to make sense of the album.

I am still very confused by the content, after initially assuming it was organized chronologically. Uncle Denny again helped identify a couple pictures of his parents, which helped me then realize the photos were somewhat randomly inserted into the album, with several pictures clearly taken at the same time scattered across 51 mostly double-sided pages and 183-photos (same location, same outfits, separated by 20-pages, uggh). None of the photos were labeled, unfortunately.

To help make sense of this, here is a quick overview of what I know of Gordon, Sr. and Verna, and their families:

Gordon's parents, August and Ida, were married on 5/26/1894

His father, August, was born 3/25/1871 in Huron, Michigan as the youngest of five children to Johan Carl August and Justine Wilhelmina Staats who immigrated from Gramzow and Lutzlow in Brandenburg, Germany in Sep 1868 eight years after their marriage. August worked as a mechanic and equipment maintenance at Quincy Mine (1900), later as an engineer at the Tamarack Mining Company (19091), then as a fireman (1913) and boiler attendant (1919) at the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. He left Michigan and moved to Kenosha, WI in 1916, where he resided until his death on 6/20/1941. In Kenosha, he worked at the Nash Kelvinator company in the drop forge department.

Gordon's mother, Ida Stevens was also born in the same area in Hecla, Michigan on 8/20/1871 as the 6th of 9 children to Joseph Burrows and Emma Stephens who immigrated in 1854 from Redruth in Cornwall, England the year they were married. Joseph worked at the Watchman Mine in Calumet. Ida moved to Kenosha in 1924 with the children, several years after August (who Denny recalled was a wanderer).

Gordon had four older siblings (a fifth sibling, a brother August, died at birth in 1911).

	Jestina (Jess) was born 3/1895 in Michigan. She married Clarence Gutcher 12/19/1925. They resided in Dollar Bay, MI in an old Staats' family log cabin that Clarence fixed up until their deaths, his in 2/1970 and hers in 3/1972.
	Viola (Vi) was born 5/25/1897 in Great Falls, Montana (near her Uncle Bill's ranch). She married Peter Quinzi (who interestingly was born in Houghton, MI) in 6/1928 in Kenosha, WI, where they lived until their deaths, his is 10/1970 and hers in 9/1972. Peter worked as a meat cutter/butcher with Gordon for many years.
	Carl was born 9/9/1900 in Osceola, MI. He married Ida Siegel in 4/1929 in Waukegan, IL. He worked as a water boy at the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in 1918, then in various machine departments at the Nash Motor Company in Kenosha. He lived in Kenosha until his death in 4/1940.
	Clyde was born 10/30/1902 in Dollar Bay, MI. He married Genevieve Dulong in 12/1921 in Hubbell, MI. He worked as an office boy at the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in 1918 before moving the Kenosha, where they lived until their deaths, his in 9/1985 and hers in 1/1995.

Gordon was born in 10/25/1912 in Dollar Bay, MI, ten years after his next oldest sibling, Clyde. He moved to Kenosha with his family at age 11 in 1923. He played baseball and fast-pitch softball, pretty well apparently.

Verna was born 9/8/1913 as the sixth of eight children born to Julius and Mathilda Schuelke, both of whom were born in Greenwood, NE. Julius' parents, Wilhelm and Caroline Schuelke were from Hagenow and Kline in Konitz, Germany and immigrated in 1866 two-years after their marriage, coming from Bremen. Mathilda's parents, George and Margretta Hanson, came from Kobenhavn in Kobenhavn, Denmark and Tjaereborg in Ribe, Denmark respectively. They immigrated in 1865-67 and were married in 6/1967 in Hartford, WI (Aunt Gete told Steve they married because they were the only ones in town who spoke Danish). Their parents both became farmers in Greenwood, NE, taking advantage of the President Grant era homestead act to get a farm in the railroad easements. Their first two children were born in Greenwood, while the next three were born in Beadle and Broadline, SD. Verna (and Elaine) were born in Butterfield, MN, while the last child, Bud, was born in Wilmont, WI. The family had a dairy farm in Wilmont until the entire herd had to be put down due to hoof-and-mouth disease. This apparently was too much for Julius, who died in Wilmont in 3/1926, when Verna was 12. 'Thilda" then moved into the city of Kenosha and later remarried to Herman Schulz in 1927.

Verna used to tell Steve that both her and Gordon's families gravitated to Kenosha and it's AMC Auto plant. She stated that all of the men in the family either worked there or on Great Lakes ships, especially during the Great Depression. For years, every time the Gordon Lightfoot song, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, came on, she had to tell whoever would listen that her brother crewed on it's sister ship. Steve finally found some proof of this in ship's manifests for the W.E. Fitzgerald showing both her brothers Bill and Glen Schuelke as a crewman, along with Ray Langer, Vera's husband.

Steve also remembered some conversations with Aunt Gete, who worked at AMC too apparently in Quality Control. She stated that she would often switch or give her shift to one of the men who was supporting a family, as they needed the money more than she did.

Gordon and Verna apparently met at Kenosha High School. Not sure when they were married.

He and Verna both settled in Kenosha, where both of their sons, Gordon and Dennis, were born, before eventually moving across the border in Illinois to Waukegan.

Gordon and Peter Quenzi both worked at Buehler Market in Kenosha. Gordon then moved (with family) to the Buehler Brothers Market in Waukegan and eventually was promoted to the manager. He was later a regional sales manager for Buehler's, with an area that included most of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana (which meant he would travel a lot).

In about 1950, he left and opened his own market, Reliable Meats, across Genesee Street from Buehlers, effectively running Buehler's out of business. Verna and both boys worked at the market.

	They employed 10-15 butchers, many working for a day's pay after the Korean War.
	There were several poor or large families that would come to the back door for a handout or would operate on credit with no real ability to pay it back.

They decided to expand and bought an A&P grocery store. The lease and location was not favorable. Additionally, Gordon, Sr. did not know produce, canned goods, etc. The Quality Meat Market helped support the A&P grocery. Eventually, the owner did not renew the lease as he wanted to expand his furniture store. Both Quality Meats and the A&P closed at the same time.

Gordon, Sr. decided to open another meat market, focused on selling higher-end cuts

Gordon, Sr. later went to work managing the meat department at the Crib's grocery. This was the market the Schads went to, and Steve remembers his grandma Dorothy taking him there and introducing him as Gordon's grandson.

When they moved to Waukegan they rented at first and eventually bought a house on Lewis Ave.

Gordon eventually died from arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in 11/1971 (when Steve was four), 18 years after his first heart attack.

	Gordon had a brain tumor in his 30's. It was successfully removed, but Denny felt like his personality changed, as he was more hyper afterward. Verna always blamed her brother Glen. Glen and Gordon had gotten into a fight as teenagers or in their young twenties, and Glen hit Gordon in the head with a bat.
	Gordon, Sr. had a heart attack in his late 30's. Was prescribed two months bed rest, prohibited from working all day, and took a two hour nap every afternoon afterward. Verna had to got to work and run the store during this time and Denny remembered dad heading home for a nap every afternoon afterward. Steve remembers his grandma, Verna, talking about keeping the men working during this time.
	Gordon was a lifelong smoker. When told it was hurting his heart, he switched to a low-tar branch and was told this was OK by the doctor.

After Gordon's death, Verna later worked as a manager at the Ft Sheridan commissary. Gordon, Jr. convinced her to come out of retirement to help at his gas station/quick mart in Waukegan.

Verna ultimately moved to Cypress, CA to be near her sister Elaine's widower, Al. They were later married in 9/1986 in Hawaii. Verna ultimately passed in 8/1992 in Cypress.

Verna wound up inheriting a cottage on Bootjack Road on the shore of Portage Lake built by Clarence, the husband of Gordon's sister Jess. She would come essentially kidnap Steve and his brother, Matt, for months over the summer (and it seemed like most summers she arrived to pick them up in a new Cadillac, always with a cooler with egg salad sandwiches). She loved to fish, and Matt would spend hours with her on the water on one of two boats. Steve never really liked it, much to her very apparent annoyance. They picked wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and thimbleberries each summer, spending a lot of time canning jam. Every Thursday was a fish fry at the Dreamboat Inn about 5-miles down the road back toward town, and the nearest grocery store. We went to town to shop about once a week, or whenever Grandma needed more PBR.

First up, the album contained Gordon and Verna's wedding photos. I had never seen a photo of them together before, couldn't really recall Gordon and only really remember Verna when she was 60-years or older, so this was an unexpected treasure, even if I did have to have Uncle Denny confirm it was really them. Once that was confirmed, and I realized the images of them throughout the album were them and not his dad or brother, and that Verna's images were not of Jess, I realized the album couldn't be from a single time when Gordon was still a young boy, but had to have images from scattered timeframes (and locations).

The album had several photos of a younger Gordon. He is on the right in the first row in the group photo. According to Denny, he is standing in front of their Dollar Bay house in the picture on the right.

Here are photos of Gordon and his Owl's Cafe softball team. The team photo below is the same one from the newspaper clipping, with Gordon second from the left in the front row (with his right arm up on John's shoulder).

Neither of the individuals are Gordon, but he is second from left in the middle, kneeling row in the group picture.

He is in the back just behind the coach in the left two group pictures, and center back in the third.

Here are some more of Gordon. These and the next several groups of pictures were all taken at the same house, a while wood sided building. I think this is Jess and Clarence's house in Dollar Bay, MI, but it looks pretty rural to be that house. If it is, and if the baseball field is still in the same spot, the house is at 48671 Main St, Dollar Bay, MI 49922. Shockingly, there are no Google Street View images of Dollar Bay to help resolve this riddle, as their house is still there. The roofline does match the satellite view, and the garage is almost bigger than the house, which I remember from driving by years ago.

Here is Verna at the same house.

Here is Gordon, with Verna and Jess.

Here is Jess, and I assume the other lade is Vi (Viola).

Assume this is Jess and Vi.

Denny couldn't confirm who this is, but I assume it is Clarence, Jess' husband (although it could be Carl or Clyde Staats)

Here are a couple more image of the house. Sure can't tell if this is indeed Dollar Bay, as it looks too rural to be that home.

There were also several pictures of Jess and Clarence's log cabin on Mud Lake. He eventually left the cabin, bought the property on Bootjack and built the cabin Steve remembers on Portage Lake (in 1952). Denny thought he never owned it and the property was abandoned. The Mud Lake area is now reserved for deer hunters. Gordon is standing on the stoop in the horizontal photo.

Verna caught a nice fish, while she and Gordon are in the middle of this group on the dock. Denny stated Gordon had the record for the largest northern pike ever caught in Mud Lake. The last three look like they're on a different dock (boards are facing the other way and the shore is farther away), and could easily be from the cottage on Bootjack.

Here are a couple photos of a younger looking Verna working at Roepke's in Twin Lakes, WI, which is near their Wilmont farm. Due to the one sign, this is the ONLY clearly identifiable location in the album (other than the general Wisconsin Dells area). If the girl with Verna is a sibling instead of a friend, it could be Elaine, who was three years younger (her next two oldest siblings were brothers Glen and Bill, the next older was Marguerite, who was five-years older). As she appears again in the album and they were wearing matching dresses, I assume this is Elaine or Gete (I never met Elaine and while I clearly remember Gete, she was so much older than that I can't tell if this is her or not).

There were a number of photos at the Hotel Blackhawk, where it looks like she also worked. Unsure where this was, but assume it was in Twin Lakes, WI. Not sure who the lady is with her.

Here are some pictures of Verna with a car and a huge snowdrift. The first picture has Verna with a small boy, which is likely my dad, Gordon, placing the picture around 1942-3. Not sure if this was Wisconsin or the U.P.

Here are some photos of Verna in the snow, she is the third from the front on the sled, and in the back against the snowbank. It looks like the same person I assume to be Elain behind her on the sled and with her on the snow bank. If these are the Schuelkes, then the young boy is Bill, who is 13-years younger than Verna, and the two boys are likely Glen and Bill who are one and two-years older, respectively. Gete, Pearl and Vera were the oldest, 5, 6, and 13 years older than Verna, respectively, so one of them may be the girl in front of Verna.

I'm assuming this is another picture of the Schuelke's, with l-to-r Thilda, Bill, Verna, Glen (?) and Elaine.

This may also be the Schuelkes. None of Gordon's or Verna's siblings had five children. The girl-girl-boy-boy-baby order would work for Gordon's family, but not the ages as he was ten years younger than his nearest sibling, Clyde. This would match the Scheulke's (if you take out Vera, who Uncle Denny believed may have been adopted) with Pearl (1907), Gete (1908), Bill (1911), Glen (1912) and Verna (1913) (Elaine (1916) and Leslie/Bud (1926) would not be pictures). The ages and sexes may match (they boy I think might be Bill may look too old). Wish I could confirm this somehow.

Here are some other photos of Verna ... who knew?

The boy on the left holding her is in a couple other photos, so this might be her brother Glen or Bill, or maybe Gordon's brother Clyde or Carl.

No, Verna's not in the photo on the right, but it's clearly the same steps and day as the middle photo. Maybe she took the second photo and the other girl in black took the first.

This must be Jess, Verna and Vi.

Verna's only clearly in the first three photos below. But they were all clearly taken at the same house. So, where and who?

Several photos of Verna at the beach or lakeshore.

The shorter lade with Verna in the pictures on the right looks like the same person she worked at Roepke's with, maybe Elaine (and who I mistook for Viola until I realized the ages wouldn't work as Vi was 15-years older). But maybe the other lade is Vi, as it sure looks like Peter Quinci with Verna in the last image. These could also easily be Schuelke's (oh how I wish someone had labeled these photos).

Here is Verna again with someone, who appeared in the next photo with someone else. This may be Clyde or Carl Staats, or Verna's brother Glen or Bill (or simply a friend).

Here is an unfortunately out-of-focus picture of Gordon, Verna and a Clarence (?). Here are Jess, Gordon and Verna (so maybe the man is Clarence?).

Here are a couple other photos of Gordon and his family

This is likely Viola on her wedding day (it was on the same page as one of the photos of Gordon in a suit and hat). The other two are clearly of Jess (glad at least one person other than Gordon and Verna is easy to spot).

With Wilmont and Twin Lakes near the Wisconsin Dells, I guess it's no surprise to find photos from the Dell's in the album. Here is Verna.

There were a number of pictures of the Dells.

This man, who I believe to be Clarence appears several times in the album. In the second image below, it looks like the same person, although the hair is parted on the wrong side (negative flipped maybe), so who knows? If it's not Clarence, then it could be Clyde or Carl with their wife, or Clarence with one of his four sisters. If it is one of Gordon's brothers, only Clyde had children

I assume this is Pearl Schuelke, but the light white-out prevents identifying who she's with.

I think this is Elaine

There were also a number of other people who we couldn't identify.

G+V Staats