The birthday boy for today’s post is Olga Justine Selma Meister, who was born on July 22, 1886. That means today would be Olga’s 140th birthday. Meister is the German word for “master”. Olga was the daughter of Emil and Selma (Lange) Meister. Emil and Selma had come to this country aboard the ship, Main, in 1880. We see them on that ship’s passenger list below.

Olga was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. We find this information about Olga in the St. John’s Lutheran Church binder that we have.

Another record found in that binder demonstrates that the Meister family were members of that congregation from 1880 until 1886, the year that Olga was born.

When Olga appears in the first census entry we can view in 1900, her family was no longer living in Missouri. We find the Meister’s living in Leavenworth, Kansas. Olga was 13 years old, and her father was a day laborer.

Olga got married before the 1910 census was taken, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was John Joseph Reardon, who was born on September 10, 1884 in Bayside, New York, a municipality of New York City. John was the son of James and Jennie (McCann) Reardon. I located this New York birth record for John which I will display it in 2 images.

I failed to find the Reardon’s in the 1900 census, and then John’s father died in 1904, and a veteran’s death record says he died in Leavenworth, Kansas. I have little proof, but I will speculate that the Reardon’s moved to Leavenworth as a result of John’s father being active in the military and may have gotten stationed there. James also enlisted in the military at about this time. His military record shown below says he served our country from 1901 through 1904.

During those years of John’s service, the military action in which America was involved was the Philippine/American War which took place between 1899 and 1902. Perhaps John was sent overseas for active service during that war. I will display a photo below of U.S. soldiers involved in that war. I will also point out that John’s father was in the military from 1880 all the way until his death in 1904.

John Reardon married Olga Meister on October 30, 1907. I am only able to display a transcription of a Kansas marriage record for this event. They were married in Leavenworth.

Family Search lists 8 children born to John and Olga. When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Reardon’s with one child. John was called a manager of a fair goods business. You can see that John was born in New York, Olga was born in Missouri, and their child was born in Kansas.

John had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He is given a Leavenworth address, and he was employed as a factory foreman for the Hamilton & Company in their glove factory.

Next, we find the Reardon’s in the 1920 census with 4 children. Once again, John was a foreman at a glove factory in Leavenworth.

I found some information online that says the Hamilton Manufacturing Company had plants around the Midwest, and different ones made specialized products. I also found that there was a Boss Glove factory located in Leavenworth at one time. It appears that Boss gloves, which are still made today, were also manufactured in different places throughout the Midwest. I am thinking the Boss gloves were made in one of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company plants.

In the 1930 census, there were 8 children in the Reardon household. Both John and John, Jr. were working at a glove factory, with John, Sr. being a foreman.

The Reardon’s are found in the 1940 census with 4 remaining children, ages 13-20. John was called a cutter at a glove business.

John had his World War II draft card completed when America entered that war, even though he was 58 years old and had already served time in the military. It says he was still working for the Hamilton Manufacturing Company.

Olga Reardon died in 1944 at the age of 58. So, when the 1950 census was taken, we find John as a widower. He was still living in Leavenworth with just one single son. John is called retired at the age of 65.

John Reardon died in 1959 at the age of 74. Both John and Olga are buried in the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Leavenworth. There is a Reardon family stone along with individual grave markers for family members.

John Reardon worked for a lot of years at the Hamilton Manufacturing Company where I think they made Boss gloves. Below is a photo of a pair of Boss gloves that you can buy today.

If John made Boss gloves, then the Boss man married his Meister (master) wife who had her roots in Pocahontas, Missouri. And, by the way, Olga’s father is not the only Emil Meister to be found in our German Family Tree. A previous story has been already written about that Emil Meister titled, Meister Bauer, if you want to read another Meister story. I do not think there was any connection between these 2 Emil Meister’s.

Olga Meister may be a record winner. She may be the person who spent the least amount of time in this area before spending the rest of her life elsewhere.