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Note: A Biography of George Waggener by Phil Waggener, dated December of 1993: (This biography of my father, George Vest Waggener, is based on my recollections of him, of what he told me, and of what I heard from others. It is therefore inevitably flawed by the vagaries of memory and the erosion of that memory over the years that, regrettably, I let go by before attempting this synopsis of his life.) Phil Waggener EARLY CHILDHOOD: George was born on a farm near Festus, Missouri, on June 21, 1885. He was the oldest child of Jesse D. and Annie (Kenner) Waggener. Subsequently they had five other children: Lucetta, Dorothy, Richard, Min, and Harry. He was named after a well-known U.S. Senator from Missouri, George Vest. He had found memories of his childhood and often said he wished I could have had one like it. He was free to roam about the farm alone with his dog, to fish in a nearby creek, to hunt, to ride horseback, and in general to live a carefree existence. One of his favorite stories was about the time he fell in the creek while fishing by himself and his dog jumped in and pulled him to shore by his britches. He also had a special relationship with a frisky stallion on the farm. The stallion would come running from the field whenever he called it, and George would ride him bareback. He also had other pets, including a raccoon and a crow, both of which he rescued as orphaned babies. He delighted in their antics, though his mother did not share the delight. The raccoon loved to poke into closets and drawers, pick up things like thimbles and kitchen utensils, and hide them. The crow was also attracted to shiny objects and would carry them off into nearby trees. I don't recall what happened to the raccoon, but the crow came to a sad end. When it matured, it followed it's natural instinct and tried to join a nearby flock, but the flock would not accept the intruder and instead attacked and killed it. His excitement from his teen years included the excitement of seeing the first automobiles drive along the dirt streets of Festus. Horses pulling buggies and wagons reportedly bolted and ran at the sight and sound of these noisy, smoking vehicles. He was also there when Festus became one of the first towns in the region to get electricity and electric street lights. It would be many years however, before electricity reached any farms in the area. Several aunts and uncles lived in the same vicinity, and George recalled the good times he had at frequent family gatherings at which the tables would be laden with a huge variety of food: several kinds of meat, lots of different vegetables, homemade bread, and a large assortment of fresh-baked pies. He was particularly fond of his Uncle Jim, who he remembered as a man of great intellect and learning. The impression he had as a boy was that Uncle Jim's house was the intellectual center of the surrounding community. He claimed that prominent citizens from all around the area would gather there regularly to debate the issues of the day, and that local, state, and even national politicians would sometimes seek out Uncle Jim's place to join in. Whether these childhood memories were fanciful is hard to say, but the experience certainly left George with a high regard for what he called "deep thinkers." He was also in awe of the power of skillful oratory to sway people's opinion. I heard him tell many times, for example, about hearing William Jennings Bryan speak in his home town one time and feeling the emotional response of the crowd. By some accounts, George's father Jesse was neither enthusiastic, nor particularly adept at farming and longed for something more exciting. His adventurous streak led him to do such rash things as head for the Black Hills of South Dakota during the gold rush there, and later to enlist in the Army during the Spanish-American War. Neither of these escapades ended well. According to stories I heard from relatives, he staked a gold claim in the Black Hills but lost it to a claim-jumper. Jesse reportedly leveled a gun at him, but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger, and so returned home with nothing to show for his effort. His military career also ended abruptly when he had a sun stroke during training and received a medical discharge. With her husband away for long periods, Annie often had to fend for herself and her large family as best she could. According to my Aunt Min, she raised chickens, sold eggs, and peddled ladies hats to rural women by going door to door in a buggy. EARLY ADULTHOOD To help support the family, George quit school in the ninth grade and got a job at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. factory in Crystal City, Missouri, as an apprentice machinist at a starting pay of five cents an hour. There he began learning the trade that he was to follow for the next 45 years. One of the skills he had to master as an apprentice was to take a chunk of raw steel and using only a hand file, make a perfect cube. He returned home regularly, often catching rides on freight trains to save money. It was a dangerous way to travel; one day he fell as he was trying to board a moving train and suffered a severe concussion that left him unconscious for several days. (This injury may have been responsible for the seizures that he began to suffer in his early 60's, according to his doctor.) I know very little about George's' life during the years between 1900 and about 1925. I do know that he became a journeyman machinist and later a tool and die maker, and probably worked at several factories, including one in Alton, Illinois. He also enjoyed baseball, and I have a photo of him, probably in his late teens or early twenties, wearing a baseball glove along with some of his fellow workers in front of a factory building. Another photo shows him with his hat at a jaunty angle and a grin on his face. That picture lends credence to hints from Aunt Min that George was a lively young man who was popular with the ladies. It was also during these years that George developed a strong religious faith that was to endure throughout his life. None of the other members of his family- with the possible exception of his mother- shared the intensity of his convictions. Aunt Min told us that even as a young he tried to convert his brothers and sisters to his own rather fundamentalist religious views, and that he openly disapproved of some of their "Worldly" activities. MOVING TO DETROIT Sometime in the mid-1920's, George heard about the high paying jobs opening up in the automobile industry in Detroit and decided to go there. He was soon to be employed in the experimental laboratory of the Studebaker Automobile Co., helping engineers develop new ideas. He like the work because it was creative and did not involve the monotony of a production line. Before long, the rest of the family in Missouri, including his parents, followed him to Detroit to take advantage of the employment opportunities. [Phil was unaware at the time of this writing in 1993, that George's younger brother Dick had actually been the first to move to Detroit, moving there in 1915] Many, if not all, of them lived together at first in a large house in the Highland Park area of Detroit (201 Farrand Park). My father was living there in about 1926 when he met my mother-to-be, Marian McQueen, at the church they both attended: the Woodard Avenue Christian Church. He was about 40 at the time; she was about 23 and a school teacher. She told me that she was attracted by his sense of humor and Christian values. They were married at the church in 1927. HUSBAND AND FATHER The marriage got off to a rocky start. He thought it would be just fine if she would simply move in with him at the Highland Park house and become part of their extended Waggener family. She reluctantly agreed, but there were too many strong wills in the household, including hers, for the arrangement to work for long. She soon gave George an ultimatum: she was moving out and it was up to him whether he came with her. Fortunately for me, he did. I was born on September 1, 1928. Meanwhile, George changed jobs (perhaps more than once) and ended up working for the Siewek Tool Co., a small firm that made special-purpose tools for the automobile industry. He has a special relationship with the owner, who valued George's creativity and skill and allowed him to take time from his regular work to develop ideas for new tools that the company might produce and sell. One of them, a device for quickly clamping materials for machining, became a major product line for the company. Siewek made a verbal promise to reward George appropriately at some point, and he probably meant it, but he procrastinated and eventually died without putting anything in writing, so George never was compensated for his invention. But George's value to Siewek did pay off for him when the Depression started in 1929. Siewek's business was hard hit and he had to lay off most of his work force, but he kept George on a part-time basis to do what few jobs came along. I recall that when I was perhaps four or five years old he took me to the factory with him one day and I watched him work on the only machine that had a light shining on it. All the others stood idle in the gloom, and no one else was there. Evidently the family finances at that time were sufficient to allow them to buy a new house in Pleasant Ridge, a suburb about 10 miles north of downtown Detroit, in about 1931 or 1932 (it cost about $5,000). They chose the location at least in part because of the good school system there- and in retrospect, I realize that the schools were indeed first rate. George had to commute to work at first, but before long the Siewek Tool Co./ moved to a new location about two miles from our house, so George could- and did- walk to work. He walked no matter what the weather, and it was a matter of pride to him that he never caught a cold or the flu. Siewek's business soon picked up, and George was working full time again. Full time then meant 10-hour days, six days a week, with no paid vacations. It was a big day at our house when George announced that the union had successfully bargained to get a 5-1/2 day work week and he would now have his Saturday afternoons free. George was a loyal union member, and more that once his fellow workers tried to elect him to be the shop steward- their representative in negotiations with the company management and in relations with union officials. But he always declined. One of the highlights of George's career at Siewek's was being chosen to demonstrate the company's wares in a trade show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. My mother bought five new white shirts for him so he would have a fresh one to wear on each day of the show. During our years in Pleasant Ridge, George's life outside work continued to focus mainly on religious activities. He and my mother were active in a nearby Church of Christ congregation, attending both morning and evening services on Sundays and often mid-week prayer meetings as well. I know he taught adult classes there, and he may have been Sunday School superintendent at one time. At home, his reading, beyond the newspaper, was limited largely to the Bible and religious books. He also felt called to share his convictions with others, particularly members of his family. One of my childhood memories is of my father giving religious talks to relatives and friends gathered at our house. He used a visual aid: a complicated multicolor chart perhaps six feet wide and four feet high. It was drawn on a piece of oilcloth so it could be rolled up for carrying. As I recall, the chart depicted what he called the "Seven Dispensations" representing God's past, present, and future relationships with man. My religious training was also high on his priorities. When he tucked me in at night (which he almost always did), he would recite Bible passages such as the 23rd Psalm or tell Bible stories. I loved those times and would ask for the same passages and stories over and over. He did have other interests, however. He followed baseball, and took me to see the Tigers play at the old Navin Field in downtown Detroit. He also spent a lot of time helping me learn to throw, catch and bat. He had hopes at first that I might develop a good curve and fast ball, but he concealed whatever disappointment he felt when it became evident that the potential just wasn't there. He also spent quite a bit of time in his basement workshop, where he worked on ideas for new inventions. One was an electric lawn mower that operated on the principle of a bandsaw with a flexible, toothed cutting blade. He built a prototype and tested it on our lawn, but he never perfected it to the point where he though he could patent it. He also developed an improved locking device as a follow-on to the one he created for Siewek and engaged a patent attorney to take steps toward a patent. I don't know whether it was ever actually patented, but in any event, it never went further. Another project was an attempt to refine another inventor's design for a semiautomatic automobile transmission that would allow a driver to shift gears without using a clutch. He bought the patent and a working model from the inventor and worked on it on and off for several years. But by then fully automatic transmissions were starting to appear, and he abandoned the idea. He also did things for fun in the workshop. One project was a small two-cylinder steam engine made from metal scraps. It had no boiler of its own, so to operate it he connected a copper pipe to one of the steam pipes coming out of the furnace. To get enough steam pressure, we had to turn off all the radiators in the house and weight down the safety valve on the boiler. My mother got upset when the house cooled off, so we couldn't run the engine very long. I suspect it wasn't a smart idea to build up that much pressure in the boiler either, but there were no mishaps. One other enthusiasm that George had during those years was traveling. Nearly every summer that I can remember, we took off in the car for a trip, sometimes for five of six weeks at a time. We hit all but two or three of the 48 states during those trips- not a small feat in the days before interstate highways. At one point George rigged up our car so that back of the rear eat could be removed to allow he and Marian to sleep with their head on the rear seat and their feet in the trunk; I was small enough to sleep on the front seat. We always traveled economically, and I recall my parents boasting that a six-week trip had cost a total of only $300. With paid vacations still a thing of the future, George would simply quit his job when it was time for a trip and reapply when he returned, confident that Siewek would always rehire him back. MOVING TO ARIZONA During the early 1940's, my mother began having a problem with arthritis. When a doctor suggested that the drier climate in Arizona might help, she decided to try it. So in the summer of 1945, we headed for Tucson, where we lived in a motel and looked around for ways to make a living if we decided to stay. The climate did indeed help, and my mother wanted to move there. George did not, but he recognized how much my mother was helped by being there and relented. We returned to Pleasant Ridge to sell our house, allow me to finish my last semester in high school, and prepare for the move. The house sold readily for about $11,000. We used some of the money to buy a 26-foot house trailer, had a trailer hitch installed on our 1942 Oldsmobile, and in the spring of 1946 drove to Tucson again with the trailer in tow, taking with us only those possessions that would fit in the trailer. My mother had already determined that, for our livelihood, she was going to fulfill a long standing ambition to own a restaurant. Again, George was not enthusiastic, but she prevailed once more, and they used the remaining money from the house to buy the El Merendero Dining Room in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. (The story of my mother’s subsequent career as a restaurateur will be left for recounting elsewhere.) We parked the house trailer behind the restaurant and lived there to save expenses, but within a few months we moved into a small apartment. (Meanwhile, I had enrolled in the University of Arizona, commuting daily by motor scooter and helping daily at the restaurant in my spare time. The drastic change proved to be hard on George, who by then was 61 years old. He did not feel ready to retire yet, but there were no jobs in Tucson at that time for machinists or tool and die makers. He made himself useful at the restaurant by taking care of much of the maintenance and doing other chores, but he clearly felt out of his element there. He even returned to the Detroit area by himself at one point to try to resume his old trade, but stayed only a short time. One night in 1947, I was awakened by strange sounds coming from my parents’ bedroom. I rushed in to find George in the throes of an epileptic-like seizure. It was the first of many he was to have in coming years. (As mentioned earlier, his doctor thought that the head injury he suffered as a young man might have been the underlying cause.) Thankfully, new medications were becoming available then that greatly reduced both the frequency and severity of the seizures, but he was never entirely free of them. The seizures were debilitating, though the endearing parts of his personality- his gentleness and contagious sense of humor- remained. In later years he seemed to reconcile himself to his situation and made the best of it. He was helped, no doubt, by his strong religious faith. He continued to study the Bible and to talk about the gospel message to anyone who would listen. One of his targets was the Chinese owner of a neighborhood grocery store, Mr. Wong. George visited him regularly for many years to try to convert him to Christianity. Mr. Wong always listened politely, but I suspect he went to his grave still a Buddhist. In about 1962, George fell while on one of his frequent long walks and broke his hip. He had surgery to repair it, but was left with a limp. As soon as he could, he resumed walking, but a few months later another fall broke the hip again. This time complications set in, and he was confined to bed. My mother took care of him at home as long as she could, but eventually had to put him in a nursing home. He died there in September 1963 at age 78. A SON’S REMEMBRANCE The father I remember was a gentle, good-hearted person who cared about me, encouraged me, and did much to bolster my self-esteem. He nourished hopes that I would emulate some of his idols and become a powerful orator or a star baseball player, but never expressed any disapproval or disappointment when it became evident that I would be neither. He was a person of great integrity who believed in the value and dignity of honest work- particularly skilled manual work- and was true to his religious convictions. These convictions included a fundamentalist belief in the infallibility of the Bible and a Calvinistic view of mankind as essentially sinful and dependent on the grace of God for forgiveness and salvation. He believed that one should resist worldly temptations and emphasize spiritual development. But there was another side of him that was fun loving, jolly, and humorous. He enjoyed telling jokes so much that sometimes he had trouble getting to the punch line because he was already starting to laugh. The last time I saw him, a few weeks before he died, I asked him, "How do you feel dad?" Without hesitation, he answered "With my hands, of course!" During that last visit I also asked whether I could do anything for him. He thought a minute and then said with a grin, "You don’t have a Kool on you, do you?" I had known that he smoked since I was a small boy, but he did it in private; never let me see him with a cigarette in his mouth and warned me repeatedly not to get started on this evil habit like he had. Now the time to be fatherly mentor was past, and here was the one thing he could still enjoy and that I could do for him. So, for the first and last time, I went out and bought a package of Kools, lit one for him, and sat by his bedside while he smoked it all the way down to the filter tip. ================= From Ancestry.com. Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Missouri Birth Records [Microfilm]. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Name: Vest Waggener Birth Date: 21 Jun 1885 Birth County: Jefferson Birth Location: Rush Tower, Mo. Race/Ethnicity: White Gender: M (Male) Mother's Name: Anna Waggener Mother's Age: 24 Maiden name: Anna Kenner Mother's birth location: Missouri Father's Name: Jesse D Waggener Father's Age: 33 Father's birth location: Rush Tower, Mo. Father's occupation: farmer Doctor: L.T. Bradfield M.D.; Rush Tower, Mo. ================= From "The Jefferson Democrat" newspaper of Hillsboro, Jefferson, Missouri; sent to me courtesy of Charlotte Maness. (Although they apparently spelled his mother's name wrong, this is the announcement of George Vest's birth): ****** WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 1885 - DEATHS and BIRTHS - BIRTHS Date Name of mother Sex June 21 Mrs. James D. WAGGNER boy ================ From the 1900 Federal Census of St. Francois County, Missouri, Perry Township, (not a city), taken June 4, 1900, District #95, page 4A; ancestry.com, St. Francois #95, image 7 of 56. Vest is listed in the household of his parents: Household #67, family #70, no address listed; ----- Vest G; son, male, born June 1885, age- 16, single, born- Missouri, parents born- Missouri, 8 months in school, r/w's ================ From the Jefferson County, Missouri; Official Directory- 1907; Edited by Dave Hallemann; reprinted by Jefferson County Historical Society: ****** Listed in Festus: "Waggoner, Vest, machinist, r. and p. o. Festus." Vest would have been 22 years old at the time. ================ From the 1910 Federal Census of the City of Festus, Joachim Township, Jefferson County, Missouri, district 33, sheet 26a, page 136, taken May 12, 1910, household 552; from genealogy.com. George is listed in the household of his parents: ------ George V.; son, male, age- 24, single, born- Missouri, parents born- Missouri, occupation- Machinist/ factory, r/w's ================ From Jefferson County Record, March 6, 1913, place on-line by Linda G.: Festus ****** Vest WAGGONER of Alton, Ill. visited his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jess WAGGONER Sunday. ================ From Ancestry.com. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18 [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002. National Archives and Records Administration. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. M1509, 4,277 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.: Serial number: 1256; Order number: A993 Name: George Vest Waggener Address: 985 John R., Detroit, Wayne, Mich. Age: 33 Date of birth: June 21, 1885 Race: white Citizenship: native born Occupation: tool maker Employer: Siewek Bros. Place of employment: 75 Baltimore, Detroit, Wayne, Mich. Nearest relative: (father) Jesse D. Waggener Address: 985 John R., Detroit, Wayne, Mich. Height: tall Build: slender Color of eyes: brown Color of hair: dark brown Date of registration: September 12, 1918 ================ From the 1920 Federal Census of Detroit City, District 14 (part of), 4th Ward (part of), Wayne County, Michigan, district 147, sheet 8A, taken January 19-20, 1920, household 164, address- 208 Bethune Ave. West; from ancestry.com, image 15 of 17. George is listed in the household of his parents: ------ George V.; son, male, age- 33, single, r/w's, born- Missouri, parents born- Missouri, occupation- Tool maker/ Auto Parts ================ From the Polk's City Directory for Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, 1920-21, page 2241: Waggener, George V.; toolmaker, boards 201 Farrand Ave., Highland Park (Also listed as living there are Dorothy, Minnie, Harry, Jesse, and Lucetta.-RW) =============== From the Polk's City Directory for Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, 1921-22, page 1973: Waggener, George V., toolmaker, boards 201 Farrand Pk., Highland Park (Also listed as living there are Minnie, Dorothy, Harry, Jesse, and Lucetta.-RW) =============== From the 1930 Federal Census of Pleasant Ridge City, Oakland County, Michigan, district 53-43, sheet 16a, taken April 11, 1930, household 368, address- 51 Fairwood Blvd.; from ancestry.com, image 31 of 60: Waggener, George V.; head of household, owns home/ value $7,500, radio in home, male, age- 44, married, 42 years old at 1st marriage, r/w's, born- Missouri, parents born- Missouri, occupation- Machinist/ Tool Shop, wage worker, currently employed, not a veteran ------ Marion H.; wife/ head, female, age- 28, married, 25 years old at 1st marriage, r/w's, born- Michigan, parents born- Michigan, occupation- Teacher/ Public School, wage worker, currently employed ------ Philip A.; son, male, age- 1 7/12, born- Michigan, father born- Missouri, mother born- Michigan (George and Marian are living about a half mile away from the household George's sister Minnie and her husband Weldon Dillman on Maryland St. in Royal Oak, and about 2 and a half miles from the household of his brother James Richard, on Houstonia Ave. in Royal Oak.-RW) ================ From Polk's Directory of Pleasant Ridge, Oakland County, Michigan, 1930, page 811: Waggener, George V. (Marian) toolmaker, household 51 Fairwood Ave. ================ From Polk's Directory of Pleasant Ridge, Oakland County, Michigan, 1933, page 819: Waggener, George V. (Marion) tool maker Siewek Tool and Die Works (Ferndale) household 51 Fairwood Ave. Waggener, Marion Mrs., teacher Harding School (Detroit) household 51 Fairwood Ave. ================ From the Polk's Directory of Pleasant Ricge, Oakland County, Michigan, 1936, page 1004: Waggener, George V (Marian H) tool maker Siewek Took & Die Co. (Ferndale) household 51 Fairwood blvd Waggener, Marian H. Mrs., teacher Harding School (Detroit) resides 51 Fairwood Blvd. ================ From Polk's Directory of Royal Oak and Ferndale, Oakland County, Michigan, 1938; page 838: Waggener, George V (Marian H) toolmaker, household 51 Fairwood Avenue, Pleasant Ridge =============== From the 1940 Federal Census of Pleasant Ridge, Oakland County, Michigan, district 63-65, taken April 22, 1940, address- 51 Fairwood Avenue: Waggener, George; head of household, owns home/ $6,000, male, age- 54, married, highest school grade completed- 3rd year high school, born- Missouri, residence in 1935- same house, worked last week of March (number of hours not listed), occupation- machinist/ tool shop, private worker, worked 50 weeks in 1939, wages and salary- $1899 ----- Marian; wife, female, age- 38, born- Michigan, highest school grade completed- 3rd year college, born- Michigan, residence in 1935- same house, worked last week of March, occupation- teacher/ Board of Education, government worker, worked 38 weeks in 1939, wages and salary- $2326 ------ Philip; son, male, age- 11, in school, highest school grade completed- 7th, born- Michigan, residence in 1935- same house =============== From Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010: Registration Card Serial no. U2110 Name: George Vest Waggener Residence: 51 Fairwood Blvd., Pleasant Ridge Telephone: R.O. 4701 Age: 56 Place of birth: Rush Tower, Mo. Date of birth: June 21, 1885 Person who will always know your address: Philip Waggener, 51 Fairwood Employer: Siewek Tool Co. Place of employment: 2345 Wolcott, Ferndale, Mi. =============== From the Tuscon (Arizona) City Directory 1948, published by the Arizona Directory Co., Tuscon, Arizona; page 519: ****** Waggener Geo (Marian) (El Merendero Restaurant) resides 1917 E. River road rt 6 bx 738 ================ From the Tuscon Daily Citizen (Tuscon, Arizona) Friday September 27, 1963: Waggener, George, 78, of 1938 E. Copper, passed away Sept. 26. Survived by his wife Marian, of Tuscon, son, Phillip, of Chicago, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, and 3 grandchildren. Friends my call at the Parker- Arizona Mortuary, Friday afternoon and evening. Services Saturday, 10 a.m., in the Mortuary Chapel, with the Rev. David Beal, of the 1st Baptist Church, officiating. Interment South Lawn Cemetery. ================ From the Social Security Death Index at ancestry.com: GEORGE WAGGENER SSN 371-05-6054 Born 21 Jun 1885 Died Sep 1963 Issued: MI (Before 1951)
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