The above photo shows the interior of the Mueller Store which was located along the bluff in Wittenberg. This photo was taken sometime around 1930. Joseph Mueller had run this store for many years, but he had died in 1920. A photo of Joseph Mueller can be seen hanging on the wall in the upper right in this photo. A previous blog post was done about Joseph and his family……Yet Another Mueller Question.
Three of the men in the back are Harlan Mueller, Tilden Kieninger, and Gilbert Roth. I do not know which ones they are. Maybe you can help identify them. There are also four other men in the back who are unidentified. The two men in the front are William Kieninger on the left and Rev. R.J. Deye on the right.
We are about to start school around here. I look at this photo and see evidence that they may be having their version of a back-to-school sale.
The photo below shows the exterior of the Mueller Store. It can be seen behind the old chimney of the flour mill. The Mueller house is shown on the left.
We would love to have your input on these photos. What do you notice that you find interesting? Do you have any recollections of this store? Please comment here or on our Facebook page.
I also remember that years after my Father, Wally Mueller sold this store; this store and all buildings along that bluff burned down. It was a huge scary fire. Perhaps the fire was in the 70’s?
The man in the middle with the checkered coat was my grandfather, William Kieninger. His wife was Arthur Muellers sister she died late twenties. I never knew her. My mother was a Boehme. Her father owned the other store in town. I grew up in both of those stores. The FDR program to levee the Missippi in Illinois caused the flooding in Missouri resulting in the destruction of Wittenberg.
My Father, Wally Mueller purchased this store sometime in the late 50’s and reopened it. It was full of merchandise yet. He kept the store open for business for less than a year. Then he decided to sell out. So we had about 5 Saturday auctions. The railroad track ran right in front of the store so the sale was stopped and tracks were cleared of people until the train passed thru. I helped my Mother as a cashier. I remember an old manual typewriter my Mom would use on days we had the store open. Sure wish I could go back and see all those items. Virginia (Mueller) Leimbach.
I too remember the store, bank (mentioned by Alan in above Thoughts), and the chimney. However, I’ll try to make a quick correlation between the just the chimney and the store………There used to be a railroad siding in front of the chimney, where the Frisco RR would leave a boxcar of supplies for the Altenburg Lumber Company. These supplies consisted of numerous different items but, mostly bags of concrete. When the Lumber Company employees, usually led by Barney Schuessler, came to pick up the bags of concrete, they would take a lunch break. Sometimes during this lunch break, Mr. Schuessler would give some of the local kids 10 or 15 cents to load a few bags of concrete on their truck, using a dolly. I would take my share of the proceeds from our effort and purchase a few shotgun shells from Mr. Mueller’s store. If memory serves me correct, I think the going price fro the shells was 5 cents each for a 20 gauge shell? Then, if I was REALLY lucky, I was able to shoot a couple of rabbits and sell them to Bertha Lungwitz (sp?). Mrs. Lungwitz owned the tavern on the opposite end of town. MEMORIES!!!!!…….Enjoy reading your blogs.
I grew up in this store from 1945 through 1950. Rev Dye was my first teacher grades 1 through 4. After Joseph Mueller died his son Arthur owned and operated the store. To the right of the chimney was the Wittenberg Bank, My grandfather William was the cashier until it closed. I don’t remember him having much to do with the operation of the store, other than my grandmother his wife Esther was Arthur’s sister. They had four sons Marvin, Nelson, Willard (my father) and Tilden. Ester died in late 1920s of breast cancer. I do not see Tilden in this photo. Willard is behind the left shoulder of grandpa William. We referred to him as Pa. My father Willard did work in the store and wanted to buy it from Arthur. We were making plans to put living quarter in the store and move in. Arthur would not sell. Dad, looked for a job in St.Louis. Lucky for me.
Thanks for this information. It is very helpful. Please continue to follow our blog and give us input. I know the “Wittenberg Cousins” will be in town in October. We always love to sit down with them to discuss their Wittenberg memories. They, too, have family ties to this Mueller family.