Court House
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1917: The court house was built in 1912, so here the building is quite new. Also new are the Model T Ford automobiles that were just beginning to take over the landscape of America in general and Houston in particular. Most Houstonians were still taking the electrical trolley from neighborhoods like Brunner on the Western boundary of town (Washington near Westcott), Houston Heights and Woodland Heights northwest of downtown.
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12 November 2010: The grand oak tree in the foreground at the corner, as well as the ones further east on Preston, are still in situ, but have grown into Giants. The electric trolley no longer runs on Preston Street, but rail was brought back to town, running down Main Street rendered down to a single lane. The Court House itself has been faithfully renovated to resemble its initial configuration by the removal of partitions in the rotunda and relocation of those offices to other buildings in the vicinity.
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William Emil Schloan was a 25 year old machinist and millwright working for Service Machine Corporation at 1770 Berteau in Chicago when he was sent this postcard in 1917. He was a married man, and although still very young, he had already faced daunting challenges. When he was not even two months old, his mother Anna was left a widow in 1892 when her husband, William, Sr., drowned himself in the Chicago River. Prolonging the sadness, the father disappeared on January 25th and but his body was not discovered until March 23, leaving the family in limbo for three months. In addition to infant William, she was responsible for his brother Frederick Charles, just a toddler at age 4. She had lost another infant son in 1890 who did not live long enough to be named.
For a time, Anna lived with her father Charles Harder, an immigrant cigar maker from Germany, but about 1901 she married George Dewald [Stewald], a tailor who provided a living for the family. In 1910 when the boys were older they contributed their income, Fred working as a taxi driver, and William as a die maker in the very embryonic moving picture industry, a job which certainly led to his later career as a machinist.
William Emil Schloan continued to work at the same firm for decades, renamed J. C. Deogan, Inc. some time before 1940. He and Elizabeth J. had two daughters, Ruth E., and Eleanor A. He died on 5 May, 1951 in Chicago, but his burial site has not been located.
The sender of the postcard is apparently “B. Eklan,” whose identity has been elusive. He may have been a son or other relation of Ole Eklin, an immigrant stockyard laborer from Sweden who resided at 3553 S. Robey St., about a block from the Schloan household at 3737 North Drake. Unfortunately, no such relation has been found who would have been consistent with the sender.
For a time, Anna lived with her father Charles Harder, an immigrant cigar maker from Germany, but about 1901 she married George Dewald [Stewald], a tailor who provided a living for the family. In 1910 when the boys were older they contributed their income, Fred working as a taxi driver, and William as a die maker in the very embryonic moving picture industry, a job which certainly led to his later career as a machinist.
William Emil Schloan continued to work at the same firm for decades, renamed J. C. Deogan, Inc. some time before 1940. He and Elizabeth J. had two daughters, Ruth E., and Eleanor A. He died on 5 May, 1951 in Chicago, but his burial site has not been located.
The sender of the postcard is apparently “B. Eklan,” whose identity has been elusive. He may have been a son or other relation of Ole Eklin, an immigrant stockyard laborer from Sweden who resided at 3553 S. Robey St., about a block from the Schloan household at 3737 North Drake. Unfortunately, no such relation has been found who would have been consistent with the sender.
