I am guessing that a lot of the regular readers of this blog are experiencing brutally hot temperatures these days. I know that I heard from local Perry County residents that yesterday’s heat index was as high as 114 degrees. It’s supposed to even get worse as the week proceeds. So, when I ran across a possible story of a man named Winter, I jumped at the chance to tell his story. I figured it might make me feel at least a bit cooler if I was reminded of winters with snow and ice.

Edwin Theobald Winter was born on August 22, 1894, so today would be his 129th birthday. Edwin was the daughter of Martin and Maria (Bellmann) Winter. A prior post was written about Edwin’s parents titled, A Winter’s Tale. Edwin was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at his baptism record.

Edwin is found in his first census in 1900 at the age of 5. His father was called a salesman.

I figure Edwin’s father was a salesman at the Walther Store which was located south of Altenburg near the Apple Creek. Here is a photo of that store which no longer stands.

There is a piece of property found in the 1915 plat maps for a M. Winters which is very near where the Walther store was located.

Edwin’s family moved to Fruitland during the next decade. Edwin’s father became the postmaster in Fruitland in 1905, which indicates he was likely still involved in working in a store. When Edwin was confirmed in 1908, his confirmation record is found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Then, we find him back living in Perry County and “working out” as a farm laborer. He was living in the Henry Bellmann household, but he was likely working for John Bellmann, who is called the farmer in this household. You can also find a parcel of land owned by John Bellmann in the plat map shown above.

It is at this point that we see Edwin Winter crossing paths with the Frentzel family from Uniontown. It is also at about this time that Edwin made a move to St. Louis where he spent the rest of his life. When Edwin had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917, he was living in St. Louis where he was a clerk in the G.H.C. Frentzel Store. I wrote the story of Gotthilf Frentzel in the post, Another Grocer with Perry County Roots. In that post, we discovered that Gotthilf operated a grocery store in St. Louis.

Edwin did get called into service during World War I. His military record during that war is shown below. It indicates that he spent almost a year overseas.

On a military transport passenger list, we discover that Edwin was an MP…military policeman. It also gives his father’s address as Fruitland. He arrived back in this country in 1919 aboard the U.S.S. America.

After getting back to America, Edwin made his way to Wellsville, Missouri. That is where we find him in the 1920 census living in the L.S. Winter household. I tried unsuccessfully to find a family connection between L.S. and Edwin Winter. Edwin is called a mechanic in a garage. That is, if this is the correct Edwin Winter.

I found Edwin Winter in a 1929 St. Louis city directory that mentions “Winter & Frentzel”. I believe that Edwin was involved in operating a grocery store in St. Louis. This will be backed up by the 1930 census. However, I will point out that there is no wife given in this entry, and wives are usually given in parentheses is such directories.

I think Edwin Winter got married at about this time. In the 1930 census, we do find Edwin listed with a wife named Bonnabelle. Also included in his household were Henry and Ione Frentzel. Henry would also have been a cousin of the Gotthilf Frentzel mentioned earlier. Edwin is called the proprietor of a grocery store, and Henry is called the chauffeur for that store.

Let’s backtrack to find out who Bonnabelle was. She was either Bonnabelle Goodale or Bonnabelle Dyer. Bonnabelle was born on June 27, 1892 in Paw Paw, Michigan, which is near Kalamazoo. As near as I can tell, Bonnabelle was the daughter of Edward and Justine (Maury) Goodale, but in 1899, her parents divorced and Justine then married Oscar Dyer. Bonnabelle mostly went by the name Bonnabelle Dyer. In the 1900 census, we find Bonnabelle living in Kalamazoo, Her mother, Justine, still has the surname Goodale, but she is called divorced. I think she got married again later in 1900. Bonnabelle was 7 years old at the time.

Next, we find Bonnabelle living in St. Louis when the 1910 census was taken. This is a somewhat puzzling census entry. Bonnabelle’s brother, Ralph, was the head of the household that also included Justine, the mother. Justine is still called married, but her husband, Oscar, is not in the entry. He was still alive at the time, but not living with his wife and children. I found him in a later census, and he is still called married, but living by himself. There were also two lodgers in this St. Louis Dyer household, Henry Herring and Benjamin Koch.

Next, we find Bonnabelle in the 1920 census. She was living with her mother, and she was a school teacher.

In a St. Louis city directory for the same year, we find that Bonnabelle was a teacher at the Kings Highway School.

I could not find a marriage record for Edwin Winter and Bonnabelle Dyer anywhere. I have come to the conclusion that one of the worst places to find marriage records is in St. Louis. The Missouri marriage licenses I often display on this blog can be found for almost any county in Missouri, but not in St. Louis County. I think they got married in about 1929 or 1930. They had their only child in 1931, a daughter named Rosemary. When the 1940 census was taken, we find Edwin, Bonnabelle, and Rosemary, along with a lodger named Edwin Ross. Edwin Ross happened to be another Perry County native. In the column that gives a person’s address in 1935, it says Edwin Ross had lived in Frohna. Edwin Winter was still called the proprietor of a grocery store.

In 1942, Edwin had his World War II draft card completed. It says his grocery store was located at 4069 Lincoln Ave.

I did a map search for 4069 Lincoln Ave. and found a streetside view. The building shown below must have been the location of the Winter Grocery Store. It was one of those neighborhood corner grocery stores that could be found all around St. Louis in those days.

In another previous post about William Frentzel, who also operated a grocery store in St. Louis, the photo below was displayed. It was another corner grocery store.

We can find Edwin and Bonnabelle in one more census in 1950. In addition to the 3 Winter’s, was a 40 year-old cousin, Eileen Kieninger, who was originally from Pocahontas. This time Edwin was called a meatcutter.

Bonnabelle Winter died in 1967 at the age of 73. Her death certificate says her father’s surname was Dyer, but I think it was likely Goodale. She is called a school teacher on this form.

Edwin Winter died in 1988 at the age of 93. He died too recently to view his death certificate. Both Edwin and Bonnabelle are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in St. Louis, but there are no gravestone photos on Findagrave.com. I know that cemetery is not well documented with photos. Only 28% of their sites are photographed.

Edwin’s Winter family has several members that became involved in working in stores. As you can see, the Frentzel family was also involved in operating grocery stores in St. Louis. In yet another similar story, Gaebler the Grocer, the story was told about yet another local native ended up operating a St. Louis grocery store in the building shown below. Look familiar?

Supermarkets put an end to such neighborhood grocery stores. I think that’s kind of sad. Now I have to go make myself a braunschweiger sandwich. The braunschweiger came from Altenburg’s version of a neighborhood grocery, the River Hills Grocery.