UPDATE! The photo has been sent to a local genealogy friend in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
I found this photo in Germany, but as you can see, the photo studio where this photo was taken at was in Green Bay in Wisconsin, USA. The photo is labelled by hand in old German kurrent hand-writing:
"Emma Küstermann Robert's wife
with little Walther, 4 months old 24/11/88"
So many valuable clues! Let's start digging!
Walther Wolleben Kustermann (in American records without the dots above “ü” in Küstermann) was born on July 10, 1888, in Green Bay, in Brown County, Wisconsin. So he was indeed 4 months old when the photo was taken.
His father Robert Kustermann had been born in Germany in 1855 and had immigrated to the US in 1872 at the age of 16. He and his brothers set up the book and musical instruments business G. & R. Kustermann in Green Bay, selling organs and pianos as well as sheet music.
The Kustermanns' business was known in Green Bay as the "Temple of Music",
Their shop included some pretty special collectors' pieces:
The Kustermann brothers were active members of the Green Bay German community.
Robert frequently travelled between Europe and the US, sometimes staying for many months in Europe.
Robert married Walther’s mother Emma Kalb on September 25, 1884. Emma was a daughter of a farmer and county treasurer Joseph Kalb, originally from Germany. Green Bay Press-Gazette reported about Emma and Robert's nuptuals the following day:
Life looked promising for the Kustermanns. Father Robert’s business was booming, the family had standing in the community and little Walther was well provided for. But on July 28, 1890, 2-year-old Walther’s life changed forever. His mummy Emma passed away unexpectedly and just like that, it was just him and his grieving father.
Walther’s father Robert never re-married. He dedicated his life to raising his boy and to his work. Father and son travelled to Germany and Switzerland together in 1894. And looks like they stayed for 10 years!
You'd think Walther, surrounded by so much music since his childhood would follow his family's footsteps. But no, by 1909, Walther had graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a university degree in mathemathics. I was lucky to find a 1909 yearbook photo of Walther. He was about 21 in the photo.
By September the same year, he had enrolled in the University of Munich in Germany for the purpose of studying mathemathics.
As WWI broke out, he returned to the US. He was drafted by the US Army in 1917, but he asked to be exempted on physical grounds. At the time, he taught engineering at the University of Michigan (1913-1918). According to his draft card, Walther was tall and slender, had dark brown hair and blue eyes.
The father-son duo can be found registered in Green Bay in 1920. After Walter’s employment with the University of Michigan, the father-son duo moved across the country to San Diego in California where I found them in the 1930 Census. Walter was 41.
Sadly, Walter passed away suddenly in May 1932.
With his life ending too soon, it gives me some consolation to know that we have two photos of young Walther to remember him by. I can definitely see the same features in both:
Walter was unmarried and I assume he had no children. But I’m hoping that there are relatives of the Kustermann or Kalb families out there who might be interested in this family photo. So please reach out if you know Walter Kustermann or his parents Emma and Robert from your own family tree.
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