This adorable little model was Ernst Kaspar August Wahl from Chicago, at Christmas 1901. I assume he was about 3-4 years old in the photo, so I guess he was born around 1897-98.
Indeed, Ernst Kaspar August Wahl was born on October 5, 1897 in Chicago. In 1900, he was the only child of his parents Ernst H. and Edna Wahl. The family and their two servants, Emily and Agnes Carlson, resided at 2149 Kenmore Avenue in Chicago. I suppose this was their home in 1900:
I can see from the 1900 Census that Ernst’s father Ernst Sr. had immigrated from Germany in 1893, and Ernst’s mother Edna was a 1st generation American. Ernst’s maternal grandparents were also from Germany.
By 1910, Ernst had become an older brother to George Wahl, 3 years younger than Ernst. The 1910 Census lists “own income” in the field about Ernst Sr.’s occupation. Their house in Kenmore Avenue was owned by Ernst Sr. morgage-free. I have an idea how Ernst Sr. might have come to his wealth, but I’m going to keep you in suspense for a little while and reveal a juicy bit of gossip at the end of this blogpost. You are in for a treat -a true Cinderella story, I can promise you that!
In 1917, our boy here was drafted to serve in the US Army during WWI. At the time, Ernst was 20 years old and enrolled as a student at the Northwestern University in Chicago. According to his draft card, he was tall, slender, had blue eyes and dark blond hair. His home address in 1917 was 5048 Kenmore in Chicago. Perhaps in this house?
The family lived in the same house in Kenmore Avenue also in 1920.
I don’t know when exactly Ernst married Gertrude Hayes. On April 6, 1924 they became parents to their only child, Barbara Marie Wahl. Ernst and Gertrude parted ways is 1933. Star Tribune of December 28, 1933, informs us that Gertrude’s request to divorce Ernst K. Wahl was granted.
The 1940 Census of Chicago reveals that Ernst was a stamp dealer, dealing with stamps for collectors. His ex-wife Gertrude, a high school teacher, was listed as a patient at the Glen Lake Sanatorium in 1940, a tuberculosis treatment center in Hennepin County, Minnesota. She died on April 25, 1940, at the Sanatorium, presumably from tuberculosis. Looks like their daughter Barbara graduated in Minnesota before moving back in with her father Ernst in Chicago by 1950. I found this Duluth Central High School 1941 Yearbook photo of Barbara:
Apparently Ernst was drafted again in February 1942. He was 44 at the time, I’m not sure if he was shipped out, or kept in the reserves. The address listed on his draft card was 2835 N Racine Street in Chicago, which I assume was this house:
In 1950, I find Ernst together with his daughter Barbara in Chicago. Ernst’s occupation reads “advertising man”. The industry mentioned in the Census is of the scaling division manufacturers, but I’ve no idea what that means.
Looks like Barbara never married. I don’t know what happened, but she died in 1964, a week after her 40th birthday. I can imagine Ernst never recovered from this loss, he passed away on August 1, 1965 and was buried at the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
Source: newspapers.com
But now, as promised, let me tell you about how Ernst’s parents, Ernst Wahl Sr. and Edna Pauline née Schmidt, met. His parents’ lovestory was made for the history books! Ernst Wahl Sr. immigrated from Germany in 1893 (or 1892 according to another record), and took up employment as the coachman for the well-known German family of Kasper George Schmidt, a millionaire brewer in Chicago. Mr. Schmidt had opened a brewery in Chicago in 1860 which by 1866 was known as the K.G. Schmidt Brewery. The daughter of the wealthy family and the driver fell in love. When Edna’s father found out, he was furious and fired his coachman. Edna was just 17 at the time, with three weeks to go until her 18th birthday. She couldn’t turn to her mother for moral support either as she had lost her mother when she was 14. She was alone with her big feelings and Ernst was probably her best friend as well, someone who understood her, didn’t judge her, supported her. So on her 18th birthday she made the decision to elope with her sweetheart and get married without her father’s approval. If you've watched that brilliant historical TV series of Downton Abbey, the storyline of Lady Sybil and driver Tom Branson sprang to my mind, With the difference that Ernst and Edna’s storyline was real life, no movie production!
I found this photo of Ernst's mum Edna on FindaGrave:
A scandal like that was considered quite the blow to the family name and reputation, the news was kept secret by the family until, well, the press got wind of it and showed no mercy with their headlines:
Source: newspapers.com
This might have been the family's first scandal, but it surely wasn’t the last. No surprise where big sums of inheritance money are involved. It took 18 years of litigation to settle the estate of Kasper George Schmidt, who died in 1898, among quarreling relatives. It was finally settled in 1915.
Our boy's grandpa Kasper Schmidt was quite the figure in Chicago's high society. If you wish to know more about him, I recommend to read the recent blogpost by Brookston Beer Bulletin. I must say, I do see a lot of grandpa Kasper in little Ernst's face.
I will add Ernst to FindaGrave and hopefully can make contact with relatives and return the photo. Keep your fingers crossed, will you!