Harry, date unknown
Harry was born to William and Helena Atwell in Racine, Wisconsin in 1908 and any information regarding his childhood is pretty much non-existent. However, Harry did talk to his son, Bill, about how difficult life was during The Depression and obtaining food was a difficult task and often times they had to take a wagon to do so. Once all they had left was canned peaches which was their meal for a full week. During interviews with his children I have found that they, too, know very little and that the "Atwell's" weren't a close knit family. I write the last name "Atwell" like this because, well....it's not really our last name! Harry's father's name was originally William Henry Stone at birth and the Atwell surname was added when William became the foster child of James & Vice Atwell. He was never officially adopted but he use the last name Atwell but also keeping the name Stone, however, his children including Harry never used the surname Stone. Again, the circumstances of William living with the Atwell's are unknown and probably the main reason for the lack of information is that William just didn't want to talk about HIS childhood, therefore, his children didn't either.
Harry & Marie, date unknown.
Harry married Marie Willing in 1930, briefly living in Kenosha and Manitowoc before settling in Milwaukee for the remainder of their lives living in rental homes on Elgin Lane, Walker Street before finally fulfilling their dream of owning a home on 35th Street. They had 4 children Joan, Marlene, William (my father) and Don.
Billy in one of his Dad's hand built rowboats.
My father remembers his father as "a happy person but one who was not happy with his current job and always trying to come up with an idea to improve our life". The "current job" would have been as an artist/painter of tavern and business signs. Over the years, his jobs included painting the Liberty Bakery trucks, a picture for a March of Dimes campaign, theatre signs and designing logos for a steel company and Knight's Popcorn (which are still in use today) and printing press operator. Harry was also an inventor and patent holder of a toy called "Jiggin' Jim, a one man boat loader (my father still has a complete version) and a fishing bait called "The Croaker". Harry also built small rowboats for children, selling about 8 of them. His last project was a Model A Ford built to scale and I personally remember riding in this in the alley! (There is even a photo somewhere that I am trying to locate.)
Harry and his Saturday afternoon catch.
Theatre sign painted by Harry Atwell.
Harry loved to fish, generally heading to the lake every Saturday in the summer and often taking Bill and Don. However, Don was diagnosed with diabetes as a child and often was too sickly to attend. He had the latest equipment, owning some of the first spinning reels on the market and after years of renting a boat, finally built his own, with the help of his sons. Harry eventually learned taxidermy to mount his own catches and to tie flies for fishing.
Sunday's were generally reserved for picnics and swimming or a trip to visit Marie's family in Racine where Harry enjoyed his extended family. Harry and Marie also enjoyed playing cards, often inviting the neighbors over while playing bartender and fixing "highballs with powdered sugar" and also dancing - both of them were "light on their feet".
As in life, times were not always great. About the late 1940's Harry removed his mentally ill mother from a nursing home in Libertyville, Illinois and brought her home to Milwaukee. While his intentions were
good, this made a small rental home even smaller, displacing children and putting a large amount of stress on his wife, who already had a full plate with four children, one of which had a serious illness.
Family Fun. Clockwise from top: Bill, Don, Jim & Howie (Harry's son-in-laws) and Harry. Back right: Marie and granddaughter, Kathy, circa late 1950's.
Harry had bouts of heavy drinking and the atmosphere in the house was unstable. Eventually, after grandma, and then the children, moved out Harry and Marie moved to 35th Street and things improved. Unfortunately, it wasn't long after that Marie died suddenly and Harry never adjusted to living alone. Like his mother, he suffered from depression and would never seek help. Eventually he agreed to live in a nursing home something which must have terrified him after seeing the conditions his mother lived in while in a nursing home.
Harry died in 1985. I miss him along with all my other grandparents. I wanted to post these two photos, which I really enjoy. The one to the right labeled "Family Fun" because my Grandpa is having so much fun and I like to remember him this way and the other labeled "Portrait" because it's the last photo I took of my Grandpa. He said he thought it was his best. I'm not so sure, but glad he said so.
Portrait of Harry, circa 1980's.