My Father's Story

My father, Charles Robert, "Bob", Spitzer was born on the family farm in Broadway, Rockingham County,Virginia, on September 20, 1894. He was born in "the new house" which had been built in 1894. The "old house", which was the family homestead, was torn down to make room for the current back porch on the new house. His parents, Mary Catherine "Molly"(Ziegler) and Charles Ferdinand, were undoubtedly happy to have another son.Molly died at 59 from thyroid problems after having a goiter removed.


Bob joined his sisters, Maude Elsie (1887- 1984) and Nettie May (1888-1970), and brother Samuel Cyrus (1882-1958). Later, he would be joined by two more brothers, Amos Ziegler ("Mose") (1896-1951), and Daniel Miller, "Mick" (1897-1985). An older brother, David Henry died at 8 months old. My Aunts, Maude and Nettie, would refer to the siblings as "The girls, the boys and the babies." The three younger boys gave themselves nick names; Bob, Mose, Mick. But, their parents and older sisters always called them by their given names, Robert, Amos, and Miller.

As Bob grew up, he participated in the farm chores, eventually becoming the horse herdsman, in charge of the families draft horses. Farm life was interrupted by World War I. Bob and Mose joined the Army and served in combat in France. Dad never spoke much of his combat experience except to say that he was in a Machine Gun Regiment. Mose was in the Army Engineers.

During the war, my grandfather, Charles Ferdinand (October 28,1850-Feb 17, 1929) was ill and turned the operation of the farm over to Uncle Mick. When Bob and uncle Mose came home, they did not want to change Mick's status and looked for work in the area. Upon My grandfather, Charles Ferdinand's death, The three brothers worked out an agreement leaving Mick as owner of the farm, buying out Bob and Mose. No cash changed hands. But, Mick signed a loan payment paper to his brothers. He rigorously paid his debt to his brothers.

Bob and Mose unable to find farm work in Rockingham county,had heard of a company paying workers to harvest wheat from Texas to Minnesota. This was hard, manual, seasonal work, done with teams of horses that also required caring for the animals. The harvest moved north as the season progressed and they would up at the end of the harvest with no more work until late summer. At the first winter, the brothers found temporary work in Colorado. The next year, fate took a hand as they wintered over in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both found work and sweethearts.

Mose went to work for the Milwaukee Transit System as a bus driver. He held that job until his death in 1951. Bob signed on with the Chicago, Milwaukee and North Shore Railroad, an electric commuter train company. He met my mother, Florence Arns, there. She was a ticket agent and he was a conductor. They married in 1926 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Wilmette, Illinois.