Charles Schwanke married Lulu Worman on July 27, 1899. To this union two sons were born:
Paul, born June 16, 1900, died 1970, interred at Plymouth, Illinois.
Orin Frederick, born August 16, 1902, died March 5, 1979, interred
Mason, Texas.
Orin & Paul dressed as princes.
Charles and Lu Schwanke about 1928 or 1929
Belle Twidwell & Charles Schwanke, Married September 28, 1935
A Very Short Bio
Carl Frederick Schwanke, Grandpa to me, Uncle Charlie to Lois, liked to be known as Charles or Charlie. He was born in LaPrairie, confirmed in the Luthern Church, educated there and then taught for a few years there.
He was a telegraph operator and station agent for the Burlington Railroad from 1893 until 1917 with the exception of three years when he farmed near Augusta, Illinois. He then worked for the Tri-County State Bank in Plymouth, the State Bank in Tennessee, IL and the Plymouth Post Office. In 1943, during World War II he returned to his railroad work as station agent, retiring on March 31, 1947.
He was married to Lulu Worman on July 27, 1898 and they had two sons, Paul and Orin. Mrs. Schwanke, Grandmother Lu to us, passed away October 29, 1929 and was interred at Plymouth.
At about the time of Grandmother Lu's passing, my Dad, Orin Schwanke was managing a Sears store in LaFayette, Indiana and when the stock market crashed the store closed. We, as a family, moved in with Grandpa and Dad worked at odd jobs and selling to make a living. I completed the first three grades of school there in Plymouth. Grandfather was a member of the Congregational Church there and that is where we attended. We stayed there until 1933 and then moved to Oklahoma to find work in the oil fields.
After we left, Grandpa was again alone and he and Belle Twidwell were married on September 28, 1935. Her husband had passed away earlier also.
They had a happy 15 years together before she passed away on August 16, 1950. Both enjoyed gardening and spent much time at that during the Spring and Summer months.
After Belle passed away, Grandpa spent much time with Dad and Mother who lived in Witchita Falls, Texas, or with Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruby who lived in Galesburg, Illinois. He died on September 27, 1954 after spending the Summer in the Thomas Nursing Home in Plymouth, followed by three days in the hospital in Carthage, Illinois.
During all the years that I knew him, I never knew him to drive an automobile, or own one. Perhaps he did earlier on. His house was only a couple of blocks off the square in Plymouth and about six or so from the Depot. The Congregational Church was only about a block away. So they walked. He had a lifetime pass on the railroad which included his family and if they wanted to go to Quincy they simply got on the train. I went Christmas shopping with Belle in Quincy when I returned home from overseas and we rode the train. That was their only transportation.
Depot Agent, Charles Schwanke and his nameless flunky.
S. S. Huston
J. M. Bennett
The C. F. Schwanke residence in Plymouth, Illinois. This picture was taken in October, 2002. The leaves had just fallen. Now owned by a family named Edwards, it appears much the same externally as it has for years. I'm sure it has been modernized and air-conditioners can be seen in the gables. The little garage behind the tree on the left looks exactly the same as it did when we lived there with him in the early '30's. We lived there three years at least and I never saw inside that garage.
Two slightly different views. It amazes me just how little the house has changed in the nearly 70 years since we lived there. I went to the first three grades of school in Plymouth before we went to Oklahoma to seek employment in the oil fields in 1933. The rear of the house is exactly the same. The little door on the left leads irectly down into the basement or you can turn right up a few steps to the rear porch. There was a pitcher pump on the right hand end of that porch that drew water from a large cistern beneath the house. The hardest whipping I ever received was done by Dad with a limb about the size of your finger, cut from that large maple on the right. I was always late getting home from school at noon and after school was out because I would play on the way.
Mother worried, Dad corrected the problem.
The back yard has changed the most of all. As long as Granddad and Belle lived there almost the entire back yard was garden, grape arbor, gooseberry shrubs or something that produced food. Then too, there was always the little house at then end of the path near the alley.
