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Note: Margery Steen Voutsas sister Ethel sent this letter. It gives a portrayal of the hard life they had. Margery's letter was dated Jan. 7, 1989. There are many grammatical errors, but very few have been changed.
I cleaned out my desk drawers, so am sending it all on to you. I'll be sending you a few more of old time pictures of my grandmother, grandfather and other relatives, all relating to your ancestry, am waiting for them from the photo shop-had to have reprints made and it takes them awhile. I will write down all the names so you will know who is who. We have a very large amount of relatives, as my mothers mother had 9 children, including my mother, Lillian Margaret, she was from first husband (explained on other page). Five girls lived, Caroline, who as you knew her was Aunt Cal, Aunt Rose, Aunt Dorothy, Aunt Clara, all dead now, but lived quite long except my mother died at 49. Clara was five years older than I and lived in New Jersey, was married to Ray Klein (still living) have one son Ray Jr., Married and children. I met Ray Sr. 3 years ago by Margie in Staten Island. No connection with him otherwise. Rose and husband, Fred Nugent and son Fred Jr. lived in New Jersey. Both are dead. I corresponded with her until 5 years ago when she passed on in Florida living with Fred Jr. They lived near the Sarasota Circus area. She and Uncle Fred were the wealthy ones of all the sisters-had beautiful home in New Jersey. Her son, Fred Jr., married to a nurse, have grown son and daughter (just married according to Margie, who is in touch, I'm not. Aunt Dorothy (very sweet person and played piano beautifully), married to a louse of a husband, named Pete, would beat her, chase with other woman. Dora would get fainting spells due to the beatings, had 3 boy babies all died in infancy he put her in Dunning (then a mental institution on West Irving Park, where she died. (It was said they put a pillow over her head). Only he could sign the papers for her release. She was just as normal and they'd give her all the dirty work to do. Mother and Aunt Call took us twice to visit her, would bring her ice cream, she loved it, wanted me to visit (I was only 9 years then) as she loved ma a lot. But my impressions of those days I still have-walking outside the building and seeing like animal cages where me and women in ragged clothes some almost naked, hair like wild men and women hanging on the bars-that was Dunning. A fire broke out a few years later, many dead, investigations changed a lot of that since, but poor Aunt Dora we could never get her out and she died there. So that was her life. Clara was very sweet but because of awful illness in her childhood she was always fragile. She almost died from TB, pneumonia and a bad childhood disease, all at one time. Two doctors gave her up to die. A religious man and his wife used to come into Grandma (?) Schuster's store on Orchard Street. (You saw that building, we walked in the gangway, it was the one north of Grandpa Mayers (Mayer) saloon, that is father's father). His name was Elder Hoffman and his wife offered to take Clara for the summer out to his farm up north in Zion. Grandma consented. They fed Clara most of farm foods and prayed-by end of September brought her back and she was well except for losing one lung and she lived with that until 55 years of age, and even bore one son, Ray Jr. And you know about Aunt Cal, gave up her planned marriage to a 2nd cousin in Buffalo, NY and stayed home to take care of her father and Clara who later married Ray. Grandpa Schuster came home one night married to a widow woman, meant Aunt Cal had to get out, so as she was dating with Stanley Pierce (English) at the time, they ran off and got married. She was about 29 then. They lived together for awhile, they didn't get along so she left and with the clothes she had on her back, she was broke, ----grandpa Greiner (George) my mother's father sent her money-so she came and lived with us for quite awhile, I was in low 20's then.
Grandpa Griener had married grandma (Louise) when he came ---from Germany and settled in Buffalo, my mother was born there. They moved to Chicago where Grandma Louise divorced him and married his stepbrother Carl Schuster. Both had same mother and came over from Germany. They accepted the situation, so no jealousy or anger existed between them. So I knew and was raised with 2 grandfathers and one grandmother on my mother's side. Both were very good to me. Grandma (Louise) died January 1918, year of awful storm and near end of 1st World War. She died of pneumonia. I was 9. Carl S. married a widow 2 or so years younger lived long, died first, property became a hassle selling. She wanted all for her sons, Aunt Cal had a lawyer so a settlement was finally reached, so his daughters including mother, go some from it, but not much. This happened when I was in my mid teens or later teens, I can't remember. When I was about 12 and Margie 3 our mother was having big problems with Grandpa Mayer, as he drank too much and gambled. We sure knew poverty but I'll say never went hungry because grandpa Greiner helped my mother out and we got rent (?) free from dads mother, Grandma Meyer (she spelled her name that way until she died, that was the German way. later her daughter, Aunt Louisa, had it legally changed to Mayer and did I have a hassle in school about it). As grandma had---of property on Orchard Street, You saw it and things needed lots of fixing, when tenants moved out, so mother and dad had to clean, paint, etc. for new tenants, therefore we paid no rent which in those days was only $15 to 21 a month. But there were times I was sent downstairs to her to ask for money for bread or milk, all cheap in those days. I was grandmas favorite and she was good to me, because I could speak and understand German (all she knew) she would have me down for supper and talk and talk, she'd get very lonely. Saturday morning meant helping her clean up and going to store, then going and helping my mother clean up. Grandma Schuster (Breiner, first)(your grandmother) came to Buffalo, NY with 2 sisters-Lena and Kate-they moved to Long Island where their children and grand children now live, they died some years ago, I have pictures of them. I saw them a few times in my teens. Margie living in Staten Island visited a few of them a few years back. One of them was making the family tree on their side. So guess that the extent of my mothers and her side of the family.
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