Person Page - 378

     Therese was born on 20 June 1946 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. She was the daughter of John Stanley Halter and Rosie C. Alessandri. Therese A. Halter died on 22 June 2001 at age 55.² She was buried at All Saints Cemetery, Northfield, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.³

     Victoria was born on 2 November 1890 at Warsaw, Poland.¹ She was the daughter of Vincent Halter and Antonia Szymankiewicz. She married Walter Smolinski, son of John Smolinski and Felicia (--?--), on 29 January 1913 at St. Stanislas Church, Cleveland, Ohio.² Victoria died on 11 April 1984 at Loudonville, Ashland Co., Ohio, at age 93.³ Her body was buried in April 1984 at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.⁴
     
Biography of Victoria Felicia Halter:

On 29 Apr 1982, my Aunt Victoria wrote the author a letter which contained what she remembered of her family history. The history is transcribed below verbatum:

     VICTORIA FELICIA HALTER SMOLINSKI BIOGRAPHY

      "My parents, Vincent Halter and Antonia Szymankewicz, were living in Warsaw, Poland when they met. My father was a machinist and my mother was a dress maker."

      "Antonia had a younger sister named Mamie."

      "Grandma Katherine Vonc had an older sister who was married to Halter. He was Polish-Catholic. Granny helped her sister and lived with them, and when her sister died, she loved her sister's children so much that she married her brother-in-law, even though she didn't love him. The three children were my father, Vincent, Apolonia, and Emilia. Grandfather Halter's second wife, Katherine, later became a very religious Catholic."

      "My father and mother were married in 1888. Their first child, John, was born in 1888, and I, Victoria, was born on November 2, 1890. I was born at Aleje Jerozolimskie Przy Wysle, in Warsaw, Polska, which was under Russian domination at the time. My father had relatives in the U.S.A. Who wrote to him to come to Cleveland, telling him that he would do better here as a machinist. These cousins were German Lutheran Halters and spoke German and Polish. Dad decided to go to America one month after I was born, leaving Warsaw, traveling to London, then taking a ship to U.S.A. Uncle Andrew Sobon went with him, and when they arrived in Cleveland, they went to live with their German cousins on the west side of Cleveland. The cousins helped Dad find work at the White Motor on St. Clair Avenue at E. 79th Street. When he finally sent for my mother, my brother, John was about one and a half years old and I was eight months old. Aunt Emily Halter was about seventeen years old and single and accompanied my mother. It was a good thing she did, because I was very frail and ill during the whole ocean voyage, so her ability to speak German made it possible for her to communicate with the German kitchen staff. I was kept alive with chicken broth through the entire trip."

      "Our first home was on the west side of Cleveland with the German cousins. I believe my sister, Kate was born while we lived there. Next we moved to a Polish district called "Warszawa" (Warsaw). We lived on Osmond near St. Stanislaw Church. Next we lived on Fleet near E. 65th. The landlady had a drygood store, where Aunt Emily Halter was hired to work. My uncle, Andrew Sobon and My aunt, Emily Halter were married and started their married life in one room, which Mrs. Marlewski, the owner of the store, offered to them. I remember one time when I was a very little girl, my uncle came home to find me in his garden doing something which upset him. I don't know til this day what I did, but he was so angry that he tied me next to the milk cow in the barn. Everytime the cow swished her tail I would scream in fear but no one heard me. Finally Mrs. Marlewski's mother came to milk the cow, and surprised to find me tied up, asked me what happened. When I told her that my uncle had put me there and I didn't know why, she felt very sorry for me and quickly untied me. I ran as fast as I could to get away from that cow."

      "The next child in our family was Antonia, born at Fleet Avenue and E. 65th Street. Then we moved to Forman Avenue where Vincent was born. Shortly after Uncle Andrew and Aunt Emily Sobon moved to Forman Avenue and my aunt opened her dry goods business in her living room. She was so successful that she bought a business property on the west side at Storer and West 65th and continued her business."

      "Uncle Sobon was a sick man and was not able to work steady but I remember him best as a person who loved us children very much. He was a fun-loving man who enjoyed having us come over to play games with him. In the summer he'd arrange a special treat. There were no swimming pools in those days, so during the hottest time of the year he would get great big barrels, fill them with water, and one week would be girls' week and the the other would be for the boys. We didn't have inside bathtubs at that time so this was great fun."

     God Bless you and your Family

     Love,
     
     (Signed)Your Aunt Victoria Smolinski

      Victoria yearned for an education and when her father hired a private tutor for his first son, John, she protested that she, too, deserved a chance to earn a high school diploma. Unfortunately, her father was adamant, telling his oldest daughter to learn to cook and to sew and stop pleading with him. That block to her burning desire to learn seemed to spark the beginning of her quest for education. Her father had shut the schoolhouse door in her face after she had only completed sixth grade - this made her angry and determined to show him she could learn. In a heart-to-heart talk with her mother, she vowed to, indeed, learn to sew better than anything he imagined. Victoria confided that she had an ambition to design and sew the most fashionable clothes of the day. Her mother listened, empathetic, understanding Victoria's frustration, for she knew that when her husband made up his mind he was immovable. As they discussed Victoria's dreams, Antonia devised a plan to have Victoria work for the "Chajkowski" girls, spinsters who had a dressmaking business on Fleet Avenue. Victoria was ecstatic, knowing that their clients were some of the wealthiest women in Cleveland. My mother referred to each of them as Aunt Chajkowska, but I'm not sure if they were blood relatives or friends who were called Aunt out of respect. At any rate, Victoria, under their tutelage, created silk hand tucked blouses, flowing gowns of fine imported materials and learned to embroider and work with French lace. In her early twenties, probably, twenty-two years of age she decided that since she had no steady beau she would most certainly remain a spinster, so it was time to consider opening her own business. Conveniently, Aunt Emily Sobon owned a store which she graciously offered to rent to Victoria who eagerly became an entrepreneur. (Recollections as told to Eleanor Smolinski
Brysacz )

      Victoria lived to be 93 years old. She died in 1984 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland next to her husband, Walter.

     Vincent was born on 22 October 1866 at Poland.¹ He was the son of Maurice Halter and (?) Wunsch. He married Antonia Szymankiewicz, daughter of Julius Szymankiewicz and Victoria Frankel, in 1888 at Poland.² Vincent died on 16 May 1916 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, at age 49.³ His body was buried on 19 May 1916 at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.⁴
     Vincent's occupation: Machinist.
Biography of Vincent Halter:

Vincent (or Wincenty) was trained as a machinist in Poland. At the encouragement of Halter cousins in Cleveland, Ohio, he left his young family in Poland and went to Cleveland. He was 24 years old when he arrived in the United States at the Port of Baltimore on 3 Jan 1891 aboard the vessel SS America. He was listed as passenger No. 260, a citizen of Russia, having one piece of luggage, his calling was laborer and his intended destination was Pennsylvania. If he went to Pennsylvania, he didn't stay long as in early 1891 he sent for his family who came to Cleveland 15 May 1891.

      Vincent filed a declaration to become a United States citizen on 26 Jun 1893 with the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County Ohio. On 28 Sept 1896 he filed a petition to become a citizen, which was granted.

      Victoria, being the second child, had a vivid recollection of her father, remembering him as an ambitious, fun-loving, energetic, mechanically talented, and emotional man with a quick temper. In terms of education for the children, Vincent believed that boys needed a high school education, but for the girls, elementary school education would suffice. [Recollections of Victoria Halter Smolinski as told to her daughter Eleanor Smolinski Brysacz.]

      Vincent worked as a machinist, a plumber and was operating a hardware store at the time of his death in 1916. He is buried with his wife in Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland.

     Vincent was born on 22 February 1896 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.¹ He was the son of Vincent Halter and Antonia Szymankiewicz. He married Pauline Jelinek, daughter of Mathew Jelinek and Anna Hruby, on 10 September 1919 at Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.² Vincent died on 23 January 1957 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, at age 60.³ His body was buried on 26 January 1957 at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.⁴
     
Biography of Vincent Halter:

Vincent enlisted in the U. S. Army on 1 April 1918 at the age of 22. He was assigned to the 331 Infantry to Aug 1918; then Co D 117 Infantry until Discharge. He was promoted to Private, first class on 19 Nov 1918. He particpated in the Somme Offensive; Ypres-Lys; Defensive Sector. American Expeditionary Forces 5 June 1918 to 27 March 1919. He recieved an honorable discharge 14 Apr 1919.

     Vincent was born on 27 August 1926 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. He was the son of Vincent Halter and Pauline Jelinek. Vincent Halter died on 27 April 2005 at Salinas, Monterey Co., California, at age 78; Vincent died of cardiac arrest at his home in Salinas. He was cremated in May 2005 at Salinas, Monterey Co., California; Vincent's ashes were scattered over the Pacific Oceon off of the San Francisco Bridge on 27 May 2005.
     Vincent's occupation: Electronics.

     Viola was born in March 1916 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.¹ She was the daughter of Paul C. Halter and Bertha L. Metzdorf. She married George F. Lembke, son of Fred Lembke and Louise Woost, on 19 August 1939 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.²
     Viola's occupation: Stenographer.

     Wendelin was born circa 1819 at Oryzim, Poland.¹ He was the son of Jozef Halter and Antonia (--?--). He married Fryderyka Wagner, daughter of Jan Marcin Wagner and Magdalena Augusta Boeker, on 21 April 1844 at Warsawskiego, Warsaw, Poland.^2,3 Wendelin died circa 1860 at Warsaw, Poland.⁴

     William was born in September 1883 at Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.¹ He was the son of Joseph L. Halter and Odelia Weber. He married Margaret E. (--?--), , circa 1906.

     Annie was born in 1886.¹ She was the daughter of John W. Ham and Millie Ann Zilphy Powell. She married David Matthews Harrell, .¹

     Jessie was born in 1890.¹ He was the son of John W. Ham and Millie Ann Zilphy Powell.