I have another story that Aunt Mae recalled.
Grandmom's Mother , Aunt Mae's Grandmom Daigler came here straight from Germany. She didn't speak any English. She was very "High Society", as you can tell from the goat and buggy in the picture of Grandmom and her family. Her brothers were Fred and Bill Waples. When their Father died, she lost everything and Fred and Bill ended up in an orphanage. Uncle Fred later bought an oyster Saloon and was very successful. Uncle Bill became very close to Uncle Fred and inherited his money when Uncle Fred died. The story is that Grandmom and Aunt Ruth were supposed to inherit a share of it, but Bill Waples got it all. Thats where he got the money to open his jewelry store. (I think that is how it went, has anyone else heard this story?) All three girls worked there at one time or another. When my Mom left to go to become a Wave in the Navy, Uncle Bill gave her a hard time and told her that women just became waves to service the men. She ignored him and went anyway, to get away from him. (he sounds like a real gem)
You need to be a member of Eggtrick to add comments!
My father (Frank) used to tell that it took his grandmother (Agnes Deagler) 17 days to come by ship from Germany to the United States. He never said whether she came as a child or an adult, a married woman with husband, or as a single woman coming to marry her betrothed. He did say she never spoke English so he, his brother and sisters and parents all spoke German at home when his grandmother was around. According to census records she was widowed and living with her daughter Anna Waples in 1900. In the 1900 census and the 1910 census she lists herself as a widow with 5 children, 4 of them still living. It was my understanding she had one daughter and three sons living and they were all born in America. I have no idea what year she arrived, how old she was when she came. My father did say the seas were so rough the passengers had to be shut in the hold of the ship so no one would be swept overboard, but I don't know if that was all 17 days - probably not. It also sounds more like a vessel under sail than under steam, but I don't know that either.
I never heard any story about her being from high society - it was my impression that the goat was and wagon belonged to my father. He did say the goat was a mean so-and-so and would butt anyone who came close to it, especially my father's father. Since the family "portrait" was taken about 1910/1911, Agnes would have been about 80 years old and I wonder why she would have bought a goat and cart regardless of who owned the goat and cart. It's a shame she isn't in the picture as well - has anyone ever seen a picture of her?
Bill Waples (my dad's brother) was married as a younger man and for a while after his wife's death, he supposedly lived in a gentleman's club in downtown Philadelphia. He then moved in with Mae and Dan Casey and boarded there at least according to the 1930 census. In 1920 he was living at home on Girard Avenue with his parents, his sister Ruth and his brother Frank. In 1930 they (Mae and Dan Casey, Marie, Francis, Kathleen, Danny, Bill) were living on Ditman Street and Frank Waples and William Waples were both boarders there.
In 1920 Bill Waples lists himself as a jeweler in a tool shop; in 1930 his occupation is listed as the owner of a jewelry store.
All this information came from the actual census records filled out at that time. That was when the census takers actually came to the house and asked everyone the same questions!
Not only did Mae, Honey and Cass work in Uncle Bill's jewelry store, so did your Uncle Dan and Uncle Bill - Uncle Dan was the crystal cutter - he hand cut watch crystals. My father worked there from about 1947 until his brother died in 1971. Also my father's sister Agnes's husband, Harry Sears, worked there - even longer than my dad I think. Kitty Waples and Billy Waples both worked at the store as well. It started out as a watch findings place - all the parts that go into watches and their repairs were sold by Uncle Bill's store. He owned the whole building at 731 Sansom Street. My father, Uncle Harry (Sears) and another fellow - "Uncle" Joe - not only sold watch parts but they also repaired watches. When jewelry stores took in watches for repair, they were seldom repaired on site - they were taken down to Sansom St. to various stores for repair. Your mothers/aunts worked in the office (as did Kitty) and fathers/uncles worked on repairing watches and cutting the crystals for them. In 1950 (or thereabouts) Uncle Bill bought the building on 8th St. and broke through the wall separating the two buildings - at least on the first floor. This gave him an "L" shaped room and he continued to sell watch parts in the original building on Sansom St and sold jewelry, jewelry boxes, wallets, etc. on the 8th st. side of the building. You could enter either door and just walk through. I remember the grand opening of the second store and the bouquets of flowers people had sent.
I also remember being about 7 maybe when my mother said we were going to go in town and would stop by and see Daddy that day in the store where he worked. Now I thought when I saw the word "material" on Uncle Bill's letterhead, he sold fabric like the material store my mom and I went to when she bought fabric. Buying fabric was a big deal for me because it meant my mother would be making me a new dress or skirt or something. Imagine my dismay when we got to Uncle Bill's store and found no fabric there - just row upon row of little boxes along the wall each containing a different part of a watch. My dad was behind the counter and it was a very high counter so the salesman/repairmen could look at a watch or piece of jewelry without having to bend over and get an aching back. There were high stools on the customer side of the counter. It was a glass-top counter. My father, Uncle Joe and Uncle Harry worked like dogs in that store. There work benches for fixing watches was right in the window of the store (so people could see watchmakers at work and also so they could keep an eye on who was outside and who was coming into the store) and it was a huge plate glass window getting the afternoon sun. That was fine in the winter, but in the summer it was brutal - no air conditioning and not too much fan (small watch parts could be blown to kingdom come and never found again in a strong breeze!).
I KNOW ALL THE AUNTS WORKED IN THE JEWLREY STORE.WHEN THE GIRLS MARRIED HE GAVE THEM A SET OF REAL SILVERWEAR ( LINDA HAS MY MOTHER'S SET) MY MOM ( AUNT HONEY) SAID HE WAS A DIFFICULT MAN TO WORK FOR. WHAT YEAR DID HE DIE I DON'T REMEMBER HIM AT THE FAMILY PARTIES ....JUST THE STORY ABOUT THE DOLLAR BILLS ON NEW YEARS EVE.
My father used to work long hours fixing watches. Then he became a cop and continued to work there part-time. I went a couple of times when I was a kid and there was this old adding machine that I used to love to play with. I remember it had long glass cases and the hardwood floors were sandy and dusty. (Not like the jewelery stores they have there now.) There was a sign on the outside of the bulding with a plague "Waples Building". It was there for many years and when I started working in Center City, and would be in that area, I noticed it was still there. I use to tell whomever I was walking with that it was my Great Uncle's building on Jeweler's Row. At the present, the sign is gone, I guess his family sold it. (Who were his children?) Uncle Frank Waples and Aunt Ruth? They must have had a bundle of money when he died. Did he leave anything to Grandmom and Grandpop? If not, I guess he felt he took care of his sister throughout the years.
Maureen, This story fills in some details I didn't know. I think Uncle Fred was Uncle Bill Waples uncle. Bill Waples had only one brother, Frank Waples. Our Grandmother Agnes Deagler was born in Phila but her mother, our grreat grandmother named Agnes Wergel was born in Germany 1829 and died in 1917. Her trunk she brought from Germany was used by my mother every summer to ship clothes and bed sheets to Sea Isle because there was not enough room in the cars. Mom told me most summers they packed up and went to Sea Isle and then rented a place when they got there. Can you imagine doing that today. The rent was about $400 for the season.
The story I heard was he took Ruth, and Grandmom's (maybe Uncle Frank too) inheritance from their uncle and used it to buy the jewelry store. He always told his sisters that they would be taken care of in his will. Of course, they were left nothing. What a guy!
Grandmom got her house during the depression by taking in one of her uncles. The one who had the tapeworm. He toopk a plate of food up to his room everynight to feed the tapeworm. Gross. I guess. Anyway, the uncle was a great embarrassment to our mother (Aunt Mae) when she had boys come over to pick her up. I don't know if he went around undressed or made a lot of noise, I'll have to ask her. Grandpop would shave him. But by taking care of this uncle they got the money to buy their house.
Yup, he took all the inheritance and bought the jewelry store. He also left the store to his two children - Bill and Kit. Bill ran it for awhile but my father quit, Uncle Joe and Uncle Harry were no longer there so Bill had no help and had to sell the store. He and Kit got all the money from the sale and believe me, they never shared any of it. There is now a plaque outside the store calling it the William Sparks Waples building.
The story I heard was that your grandmother's Uncle Bill bought the house for the Casey family to live in in exchange for taking care of him for the rest of his life. He and his wife Aunt Mary. According to the 1920 census, your grandparents were just married and living with one of your grandfather's brothers. By the 1930 census, your grandparents were living on Ditman Street (down the street from your Grandmother's father) and had Uncle Bill and my father living with them as boarders (that's your grandmother's brother Bill not HER Uncle Bill). At that point, her brother Bill is listing himself as owner of a jewelry store. I always heard that your grandmother's Uncle Bill bought Magee Street for her in exchange for allowing he and his wife to live there until they died. High price to pay for a house, isn't it? I think the plate of food to feed the tapeworm is a bit of a "story." I think he was just a lush who would not always be clear headed and I think he probably gave the boys coming to date your moms/aunts a hard time just on general principle.
Brian Casey > Joyce Day MeuseJanuary 14, 2008 at 6:42am
Thats exactly right. My dad told us this story just this past Christmas eve. He bought the house and Grandmom cooked and did his laundry etc. He apparently began to have dimensia or alzheimer's like Grandmom did many years later. He took a spill down the stairs and was in the hospital and Grandmom was very worried because the house was still in his name and she was worried if he died that they'd all get kicked out. It was after the fall that they got him to put the house in the Casey's name. But as far as I know, he lived there until he died. I forget which of my Dad's uncle's it was.
Replies
I never heard any story about her being from high society - it was my impression that the goat was and wagon belonged to my father. He did say the goat was a mean so-and-so and would butt anyone who came close to it, especially my father's father. Since the family "portrait" was taken about 1910/1911, Agnes would have been about 80 years old and I wonder why she would have bought a goat and cart regardless of who owned the goat and cart. It's a shame she isn't in the picture as well - has anyone ever seen a picture of her?
Bill Waples (my dad's brother) was married as a younger man and for a while after his wife's death, he supposedly lived in a gentleman's club in downtown Philadelphia. He then moved in with Mae and Dan Casey and boarded there at least according to the 1930 census. In 1920 he was living at home on Girard Avenue with his parents, his sister Ruth and his brother Frank. In 1930 they (Mae and Dan Casey, Marie, Francis, Kathleen, Danny, Bill) were living on Ditman Street and Frank Waples and William Waples were both boarders there.
In 1920 Bill Waples lists himself as a jeweler in a tool shop; in 1930 his occupation is listed as the owner of a jewelry store.
All this information came from the actual census records filled out at that time. That was when the census takers actually came to the house and asked everyone the same questions!
Hope this might help with some family history.
I also remember being about 7 maybe when my mother said we were going to go in town and would stop by and see Daddy that day in the store where he worked. Now I thought when I saw the word "material" on Uncle Bill's letterhead, he sold fabric like the material store my mom and I went to when she bought fabric. Buying fabric was a big deal for me because it meant my mother would be making me a new dress or skirt or something. Imagine my dismay when we got to Uncle Bill's store and found no fabric there - just row upon row of little boxes along the wall each containing a different part of a watch. My dad was behind the counter and it was a very high counter so the salesman/repairmen could look at a watch or piece of jewelry without having to bend over and get an aching back. There were high stools on the customer side of the counter. It was a glass-top counter. My father, Uncle Joe and Uncle Harry worked like dogs in that store. There work benches for fixing watches was right in the window of the store (so people could see watchmakers at work and also so they could keep an eye on who was outside and who was coming into the store) and it was a huge plate glass window getting the afternoon sun. That was fine in the winter, but in the summer it was brutal - no air conditioning and not too much fan (small watch parts could be blown to kingdom come and never found again in a strong breeze!).
It was Aunt Mae's Great Grandmother Daigler. Her brothers were Fred and Bill Daigler
Grandmom got her house during the depression by taking in one of her uncles. The one who had the tapeworm. He toopk a plate of food up to his room everynight to feed the tapeworm. Gross. I guess. Anyway, the uncle was a great embarrassment to our mother (Aunt Mae) when she had boys come over to pick her up. I don't know if he went around undressed or made a lot of noise, I'll have to ask her. Grandpop would shave him. But by taking care of this uncle they got the money to buy their house.
The story I heard was that your grandmother's Uncle Bill bought the house for the Casey family to live in in exchange for taking care of him for the rest of his life. He and his wife Aunt Mary. According to the 1920 census, your grandparents were just married and living with one of your grandfather's brothers. By the 1930 census, your grandparents were living on Ditman Street (down the street from your Grandmother's father) and had Uncle Bill and my father living with them as boarders (that's your grandmother's brother Bill not HER Uncle Bill). At that point, her brother Bill is listing himself as owner of a jewelry store. I always heard that your grandmother's Uncle Bill bought Magee Street for her in exchange for allowing he and his wife to live there until they died. High price to pay for a house, isn't it? I think the plate of food to feed the tapeworm is a bit of a "story." I think he was just a lush who would not always be clear headed and I think he probably gave the boys coming to date your moms/aunts a hard time just on general principle.