The following was sent by Elma (Buehler) Lehmann to her cousin Walter Johnston's son Wesley in 1987. I have added some square-bracketed notations and reformatted the text for easier reading. Elma's mother Marie (Staack) Buehler was the daughter of Fred Staack.

He was seventeen years old when he came to the United States in 1882. At the age of twenty-four he became a U. S. citizen at the U. S. District Court of Northern Illinois in Chicago.

Fred was a carpenter, and his first and only job was with Libby & McNeil & Libby Co. located at the Union Stockyards at 43rd and Halsted Street in Chicago. He retired in 1925.

He married Katherine Schaumburg on June 4, 1880 [WJ: the correct year was 1887] in Chicago, Il. He was twenty-two and she was nineteen. Witnesses to their marriage were Nina [WJ: actually Fina] Blohm, Augustis [WJ: actually Auguste] Gohr, and Arthur Kondors [WJ: actually August Schaumburg & Hermann Konsoer]. Children were Fred, John, Marie Buehler, Anna Staack, Minnie Vandre-Terrouso [WJ: actually Taruscio], Henrietta Johnston and Viola Abraham. They celebrated fifty years of mariage with Pastor Hoctor [WJ: probably Hoelter], friends and relatives. Their marriage lasted for fifty-three years altogether.

At the year of the 1900 Census they lived at 977 W. 21st Place. The Census Taker's name was Bernard Kahn. Neighbors were John Seeberger, Will Swanson, Louis Hansoff, John Hodum and John Hoffman. [WJ: see the image of this census in the Media Gallery]

They then moved to 3527 S Mozart Street in Chicago. There neighbor was the Higgies. After all the children were married they bought a small house at 8817 S Euclid Ave in Chicago. Their son John lived next door to them and a daughter Henrietta Johnston lived next door to her brother John.

In 1925 Dr. Healy took care of him for Hypostard Pneumonia and in 1927 for onset of Hemeplogia. Doctor's office was 807 W. Garfield Blvd. The only way he could get around was in a wheelchair.

Dr. Healy was there at time of death from a Cemeberal Hemorrhage February 3, 1934. Informant was son-in-law Walter Johnston.

Funeral home was Lain & Son at 316 W 63rd St Chicago. Burial was at the family plot in Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park, Il. [WJ: see cemetery maps in Media Gallery]

His will was read 1934. It was contested for personal reasons by a member of the family. Can be found in court records in Chicago.

My memories of Grandpa

When I stayed for a week in the summer time, I played with my cousins Stanley and Fred Staack and Martha, Victor and Walter Johnston. I would push Grandpa in his wheelchair to pick up empty cigarette packages and chewing gum wrappers because they were lined with silver paper. He would then roll them up into a big silver ball and sell it to make a few cents. Then Grandpa would eat Limburger cheese on rye bread and then he wanted to give us a kiss. We didn't want to kiss him because the cheese smell was terrible.