I have been “picking away” at our family tree. For my Dad (Bucky’s) family, my Grandma Myrna was my source of information about her family (the Roberts family) and Grandpa Chalk’s family (the Andrews).
Information on my Mother’s side of the family has been more challenging but I have a friend that digs out family “tree” info as a hobby. With his help here is what I have learned so far about Grandma Alice’s father (my Grandpa Jiggs) and his family.
Grandpa Jiggs (Ervin Stiller) was born in Sheboygan. According to the 1910 census data his mother was Sophia (born 1860 in Wisconsin) and his Dad was Oscar (born in Germany in 1860). Oscar is listed on early census data as “Osher” Stiller but my guess it became Americanized to Oscar. Records also show that Sophia’s father (August) was born in Germany. At this point we have established that the Stiller Clan originated in Germany.
Grandpa Jiggs parents (Oscar and Sophia) were married in 1890 in Sheboygan. They had 5 children. I always thought my namesake (Ervin) had one brother and one sister. Nope there were 5 Stiller siblings. The oldest was Charles (I knew him by the nickname Carl). He was 6ft-6in. tall and owned a farm south of Plymouth. He died while still a farmer in his early 60’s. The second oldest was Martha. She also lived on a farm south of Plymouth. The farms were about 5 miles apart. When her older brother died, Martha bought Carl’s farm. Yep, she became a land barron. Martha didn’t trust anyone so she “squirreled” away large amounts of cash in her home.
Third in the chain of Stiller siblings was Clara. She lived in Chicago and came to visit Martha occasionaly. I never met her. She was just part of family stories.
The fourth Stiller was my Grandpa Ervin. He never took up farming but did own Plymouth Spring Bottling Co. in Plymouth famous for many types of soda. The soda “line” had many flavors which gave it market clout. Grape, orange, root beer, and my favorite creme. Jiggs ran into sugar supply problems during World War II and couldn’t wait to sell the business and retire to the north woods of Wisconsin. He bought Wildwood Lodge and rented cabins and served as a tour guide for muskee fishermen.
Last of Stiller children (No.5) was Alvina. I think this is where the Klokow family comes into the picture which would bring Valerie and Mike into the equation. The operative word is “think” because I’m not sure about the connection. I only know one “Alvina”?
To wrap up this journey about the Stiller family tree, My Grandpa Ervin (Jiggs) was born July 31, 1897 in Sheboygan and died May 13, 1966 in Plymouth.
At the time of the 1910 Census Data, Charles (Carl) Stiller was 19 years old followed by Martha at 17, Clara 15, Ervin 12, and Alvina 9.
Now you know as much as I do about the Stillers. It looks like you’ll have to go to Germany to find out more about the Stiller ancestry.
Love,
Dad