Frank Utpadel's Video

The Bayfield Heritage Society interviewed long-time residents to preserve some stories and culture. In 1988, they came out to the farm and interviewed Grandpa Utpadel. 

We had a VHS of the interview that I converted to digital at one time but can't find now and then they started selling them on DVD, which I bought with a couple others, and can't find either. Luckily, they now have posted it on Youtube and you can watch it by clicking HERE.

Bopa's Video

In December of 2006 Mary and I sat Bopa down and videoed him answering our questions and telling stories. It ends abruptly because the tape ran out in the camera. I recall switching to a new tape, but either that tape was lost or he decided enough was enough. 😀 It was probably the latter, but if I ever come across a long-lost tape, I'll add it to this one.

Click here to watch his "interview".

He died in 2018. Click here to watch his memorial video.

Invention of the Wheel!!

This post is a bit of a stretch as it does not concern a DIRECT ancestor, but I thought it was very interesting. It is about William Joseph Horsley Sr, who was my 4th great uncle (Frank Utpadel's great-great uncle; his mother Jennie Smith's great uncle on her mother's side.)

William Horsley was born in October 1840 in Kentucky to General Scott (General was his first name, not a title) and Livinstena Horsley. The family moved to Vigo County Indiana in 1856.  William married a woman named Sarah (maiden name unknown at this time) some time in the early 1860's but the marriage produced no living children. He fought for the Union in the Civil War.  In May 1880 Sarah filed for divorce which was granted in June.

Petition for Divorce

Divorce Granted

William married Catherine Lorraine Riner 5 months later on November 3, 1880. They had nine children in 19 years. He died on June 20, 1924 in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the age of 83 and was buried there.

In 1895 William was issued a patent for a vehicle wheel. I wish I understood how the design below was different from other vehicle wheels. I also wish I knew if the design was used and if he made any money from it. Or if it wasn't used, then why not.

From the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office Apr-Jun 1885

From the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office Apr-Jun 1885

The patent expired 17 years later on May 28, 1912.

Arthur Utpadel "Little Grandfather"

Arthur Robert Utpadel was our grandpa, Frank Utpadel's younger brother. He was born on November 19, 1916 and it is said his death in 1921 was the first traffic fatality in Wheeling, IL. 

When Arthur was 4 and Frank was 5, their parents had trouble keeping an eye on them. While Otto and Jennie worked, the boys would sneak away and go down to the train station in Wheeling to look at the trains. Drastic measures were taken to keep them safe and they tied ropes around the boys' waists and then to a tree in front of their building on Milwaukee Avenue.

On March 18, 1921 Arthur managed to untie his rope, while Frank could not. At about 3:45 pm Arthur went into the street and was struck by a car. 

Arthur was taken to St. Luke's Hospital at 1439 S. Michigan in Chicago and died 17 days later.

Cook County death certificate for Arthur Utpadel. Incorrect birthdate is listed.

The Daily Herald (Chicago, Illinois) 15 Apr 1921, Fri  • Page 5

Jennie

Jennie Smith - Photo given to me by her son, my grandfather, Frank Utpadel

Jean "Jennie" Smith was born in 1891 to James Smith, an immigrant from Ireland, and Ida Daugherty who was born in Kentucky.

In 1900 she lived at 904 W. 17th Street in Anderson, Indiana, a house her father rented by working as a day laborer. She lived with her parents, her younger brother Frank and her 3 older half sisters from her mother's first marriage to George White (May, Minnie and Emma). According to the census her mother, Ida, had given birth to 2 other children who died but there is no information as to when they were born or died.

Ida died some time within the next decade, probably around 1905. The older girls were married and Frank lived with their father in a boarding house. Jennie was first sent to live with her father's brother, Joe, at Loon Lake in Illinois By 1910 she was living with with her cousin, Mae (Buntin) Busch in Vernon Township in Lake County Illinois. Mae was the daughter of Jennie's father's sister Eliza. Jennie worked for them as a household servant.

Vernon Township is only about 6 miles from Wheeling, where the Utpadels lived and grew up and at some point Jennie met Otto Utpadel and married him on November 29, 1911.

Otto Utpadel and Jean Smith marriage certificate

Otto and Jennie lived in Wheeling the rest of their lives. Otto's obituary said they had 7 children. I have documentation verifying 6 of them and was told by my grandpa, their son Frank, that there was a boy born after his sister Lorraine, before he was. Their children were:
Lorraine Jean 1912-1998
Baby Boy who was born and died in about 1914 (unverified)
Frank Albert 1915-1996
Arthur Robert 1916-1921 
Richard Orville 1920-1969
Warren James 1922-2016
Baby Boy Stillborn on February 23, 1923

In April 1919, Jennie was appointed Postmistress of Wheeling.

The Daily Herald 

(Chicago, Illinois)

  11 Apr 1919, Fri  • Page 9

Otto was one of the census takers for the 1920 census in Wheeling. He recorded his family on January 21, 1920. He and Jennie lived with their kids Lorraine, Frank, and Arthur on a farm they owned, not rented. It lists Jennie's occupation as "None". Maybe she was no longer the postmistress because she was pregnant and would give birth to Richard the following month. Otto was a butcher who owned his own shop at the time, but according to newspaper ads, the following April he sold all his stock and leased the store to the Co-Operative Society of America.

On February 14, 1923 Dr. Edward Larsen started to care for Jennie when she contracted pneumonia. She was also pregnant again and a baby boy was stillborn on February 23. The following Friday the newspaper, which came out once a week, reported that Jennie had been very sick with pneumonia and other complications but was slightly improved. This improvement was short lived, however, as she died 6 days later on March 8, 1923.

Jean Smith Utpadel death certificate

It's really hard to read this copy of her death certificate that I ordered from Salt Lake City. It says the informant is Frank Forke, the undertaker. I'm not sure if he just signed in the wrong spot of if he really did provide details about her. Whoever did provide the information got her mother's name wrong though. The certificate says her mother was born in Ireland and her name was Jennie Cardlewood or Catherwood. It was actually her paternal GRANDMOTHER who was named Jennie Catherwood, not her mother.

Richard's son Jerry sent me this picture. He was told it is Jennie.

Ralph Utpadel

A couple months after Frank was appointed sheriff, he received a letter that just addressed to:

Sheriff Frank Utpadel 

Washburn, Wisconsin

There was no actual street address or zip code on the envelope.The return address said it was from a Ralph Utpadel in Menominee, WI. The letter read:

  
Mr. Utpadel,

  A few weeks ago we noticed your name in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and ever since have been wanting to write to you.
  It is the first time we have seen or heard of the name outside of our immediate family. There are a couple of our relatives in southern Minnesota, but other than that we know of none.
  Perhaps there are many by that name, but we just haven't heard of any.
  I wonder if people there have as hard a time pronouncing your name as they have where ever I've been.
  We have three boys and a girl so the name should be a bit more prominent later on.

Sincerely,
Ralph Utpadel.

Frank answered him with the following typed letter:

I did Ralph's family tree recently and didn't find an obvious connection, but I don't have much information past Frank's grandfather, Albert. Albert's father was Charles Friedrich Andreas "Andrew" Utpadel and Andrew's father was Johann Michael Utpadel, but I don't know any brothers of either of them and that's where the connection could be.

Interestingly, Ralph's grandmother was also a Krueger. His grandparents were married in Germany and came to the US around 1875. They first settled in Iowa then moved to Minnesota. Ralph's father moved his family to Wisconsin in the late 1920s.

Helper Suzy

I recently found this article and had never seen it before. It was in the Minneapolis Star on Mon, Apr 22, 1957 (and probably other papers too if it made it all the way over there).

Sheriff

Have you ever seen a real telegram?

Grandpa Frank Utpadel was the deputy sheriff of Bayfield County. In February 1957, the governor of Wisconsin appointed him sheriff when the former sheriff, Joe DeMars, died. 

His term ran until January 1959. He campaigned to stay on but he was defeated.

In July of 1958, there were a couple of fugitives in Wisconsin and word on the street was that they were in the Presque Isle area. Grandpa enlisted the help of his wife, Alice, grabbed his machine gun, and the rest is history.

He said he received a certificate from J. Edgar Hoover but it hasn't been seen in years.