Alma and Mayme Ruth - The Single Sisters

Alma and Mayme both lived in the Milwaukee area in the early 1920s.  Alma, age 24 in the 1920 census, was a saleslady in the heart of Milwaukee but by the 1930 census, she was back in Clintonville.  Mother Ruth was becoming feeble and Alma came to live with her.  Mayme, age 51 in 1930, was still a servant in Shorewood near Milwaukee at that time but she was having problems with an infection in her leg.  It was weeping and she always kept it wrapped.  Both of the girls were of the Christian Science faith and neither would go to a doctor.  This leg problem brought Mayme back home some time after that.  Alma got a job at the Clintonville Mercantile so that brought in a little money to live on during the estate crisis.  The two of them cared for Mother Ruth until her death in 1943.  Although money was scarce, Alma always managed to give a dollar bill to each of Esther’s two children, Ruth and Carl, whenever they came to visit.  Alma and Mayme were both sweethearts.

F. Gustav Ruth With his Daughter, Esther Edna Ruth

Gustav Ruth stands on the porch with his youngest daughter, Esther.  The photo appears to have been taken about 1918 to 1920, shortly before his death.  Esther was born October 17, 1898, the only child of his second marriage to Bertha (Ziebell) Rosnow.

Ruth Family Photos

These photos were all taken in about 1918 or 1919, judging from little Karl R. Feise’s apparent age.  He appears to be at least 4 or 5 years old on them.

TOP:  Gustav and Bertha Ruth sit on the top steps with their children and grandchildren.  Clara (Ruth) Brady and Alma Ruth sit on the left of the next step with Elizabeth (Ruth) Feise and Fred Emil Ruth (all children of Gustav) on the right.  Fred’s twin daughters, Myma and Mildred Ruth, sit in the middle of the next step.  Marie (Trier) Ruth (Aud Ruth’s wife) sits on the left of the lower step next to Mayme Ruth, Esther (Ruth) Krieser, little Karl R. Feise (son of Elizabeth), and finally Adolph (Aud) Ruth.

MIDDLE:  These were all of the living children of Gustav at that time (left to right): Aud, Alma, Esther, Clara, Marie (Mayme), Elizabeth and Fred.

BOTTOM:  Standing are Alma, Bertha (step-mother who virtually raised the family), Elizabeth, Fred and Aud with his wife Marie.  Sitting are Mayme, Myma and Mildred (Fred’s twin daughters), Clara, Karl Feise and Esther.  Elizabeth was only 7 when Gustav (a widower) married Bertha, so she raised all of the girls.  Even the boys called her Mother Ruth.  They never considered her their stepmother, nor did they consider Esther a stepsister.  They were all just one big family.  Bertha was a widow when her parents called her home from Oshkosh, Wisconsin to arrange a marriage with Gustav and she complied.  Gustav needed a good wife to raise all his children.  Although at first it was a marriage of convenience, not love, she did a wonderful job in raising the family.  Mixed families of today could well take note of this.

TOP LEFT:  Gustav and Bertha with their grandchildren.

MIDDLE LEFT:  Standing are Aud, Elizabeth holding her son Karl, Alma, Mother Bertha Ruth, Fred and Aud’s wife, Marie.  Seated are Mayme, twins Myma and Mildred, Clara and Esther.

BOTTOM LEFT:  The Ruth home on Brix Street in Clintonville with its lovely Bittersweet vine.

TOP RIGHT:  The Ruth’s children (lacking Clara) are Adolph (Aud), Marie (Mayme), Alma, Esther who is pregnant with her future son, Carl, Elizabeth and Fred.

BOTTOM RIGHT:  Fred, Esther, Mayme, Alma, Elizabeth and Aud.  Esther’s son Carl Krieser was born 24 April 1929.  There’s no snow on the ground in the photo so she’s close to delivering and the finger waive hairdo’s were “in” then.