As we saw in the last post, the 1940s saw all the children of Julius Adler married except for one, Julius’ second child with his first wife Edith, his daughter Chrystal. Chrystal married Oliver Kenneth Boyd on October 20, 1955, according to one tree on Ancestry, and they had one child.¹

While Chrystal was beginning married life, her brother Roland’s marriage to Verna Pataky seems to have ended sometime after 1957. At some point later, Roland married his second wife, Auda Marie Randle. Auda was born in Shannon County, Missouri, to Fred Randle and Wilbur Mae Widener on May 9 or 10, 1932.² I cannot locate a marriage record for Roland and Auda. Auda had several children from an earlier marriage who took the Adler surname. I don’t know whether Roland officially adopted those children or when he married Auda. Lots of unanswered questions…

Minnie Hankins Adler, second wife of Julius Adler from whom he appears to have been separated for many years, died on April 15, 1970, in St. Louis; she is buried at Our Redeemer Cemetery in St. Louis.³ Notice that her death certificate lists Julius Adler as her surviving spouse, but her informant was her adopted son Ronald Adler.

Minnie Hankins Adler death certificate,Certificate Number 18131 URL https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/Archives/ArchivesMvc/DeathCertificates#searchDB,  Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1971

Julius Adler died three years later on June 4, 1873, also in St. Louis. Although he is also buried in St. Louis, he is not buried with Minnie. He is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery.⁴ His death certificate lists his marital status as widowed, not divorced. And interestingly it lists his parents as Martin Adler and Marie Rotich.

WHO?? Did I have the wrong person all along? Was this not the son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler and the brother of Louis and Sigmund Adler? I searched and searched for a Martin Adler and for a Marie Rotich. I didn’t find anything that seemed relevant. Could Julius have forgotten his parents’ names or disassociated from them? Julius did not identify himself as Jewish as far as I can tell and he is buried in a Catholic cemetery, so names like Moses and Sara might have given away his Jewish parentage. He might have changed Martin from Moses and Sara to Marie. And “Rotich” could be a confused spelling of Rothschild. I will keep looking for Martin and Marie, but for now I am convinced that Julius was the son of Moses Adler and Sara Rothschild based on (1) the fact that he was born on the same day as their son named Joseph (and had a middle initial “J”) and (2) he was clearly the brother of Louis Adler, identified as such on the 1920 census. But I am open to hearing the doubts and questions of my readers.

Joseph Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7413, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Louis Adler 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109,
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

Julius Adler death certificate, found at https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1973/1973_00204787.PDF

Julius was survived by his six children, three born to his first wife Edith: Roland, Chrystal, and Irene. And three by his second wife Minnie: Milton, Alice Marjorie, and Warren.

The three younger children all predeceased their three older half-siblings. Milton died on October 4, 1984, in Missouri; he was only 63.⁵ His brother Warren was 69 when he died on January 20, 1994, in St. Louis.⁶ Interestingly Warren’s obituary described him as the father of Ronald Adler, the son who’d been adopted by Minnie, Warren’s mother, and as the grandfather of Ronald’s daughter.⁷ Milton and Warren’s full sister Alice Marjorie died almost two years after Warren on December 5, 1995, in Phoenix; she was 73.⁸

Julius’ three children with his first wife Edith had greater longevity than their younger half-siblings. Roland died on May 6, 1999, in St. Louis, Missouri; he was 87.⁹ Irene died a year later on June 6, 2000, in St. Louis; she was 84.¹⁰ Chrystal was 90 when she died in St. Louis on June 1, 2004.¹¹ In addition, Ronald Adler, the child adopted by Minnie Hankins Adler and also identified as the son of Warren Adler, died at age 81 on January 3, 2021, St. Peters, Missouri.¹²

Born Joseph Adler in 1887 in Germany, Julius Adler came to the US as a teenager and lived in Wisconsin, working as a baker, before moving with his three young children to Leavenworth, Kansas, to live with his older brother Louis after his first wife Edith died in 1919. He then married his second wife Minnie in 1920 and had three more children. He and Minnie and the six children bounced around quite a bit among different cities in Kansas and Missouri during the 1920s and 1930s before finally separating sometime before 1940. Neither ever remarried, but it also appears that they never reconciled. It must not have been an easy life for Julius, but he has many descendants who carry on the Adler name.

We saw at the end of the last blog post that in 1940 Julius Adler and his wife Minnie were living almost 300 miles apart—-Julius on a farm in Leavenworth, Kansas, and Minnie in St. Louis with their three children. Two of Julius’ children from his first marriage—Roland and Irene—were married and living with their spouses, also in St. Louis. I could not locate Chrystal, the third child from Julius’ first marriage on the 1940 census or anywhere else between 1930 and 1940.

So why was Julius living so far apart from his wife Minnie and his children in 1940? Was it just economics, or was there a problem with the marriage?

When Julius registered for the World War II draft in 1942, he was back in St. Louis, working at a bakery, but interestingly he listed his son Roland as his contact person, not his wife Minnie. Notice also that Julius listed his birth date as July 27, 1887, which lines up with the birth record I found for Joseph Adler, son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler. But notice also that this document lists his birthplace as St. Louis, Missouri, not Germany.

Julius J Adler World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 754, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Minnie and Julius were still not living at the same address in 1942, as Julius was living in Sappington, Missouri, and Minnie, according to their son Milton’s draft registration, was living 2857 Pestalozzi Street in St. Louis, or about 14 miles apart.

Milton Adler World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Missouri, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

Milton enlisted in the US Army on March 11, 1943, and served until January 21, 1946. He identified himself as single on the enlistment record. He served in Central Europe and the Rhineland and was awarded Bronze Stars for his service in those campaigns.¹

Milton T. Adler, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge, found at Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14579954/milton_theadore-adler: accessed December 26, 2025), memorial page for Milton Theadore Adler (15 Apr 1921–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14579954, citing Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Mark Utley (contributor 47178748).

Sometime after 1940, Milton married Mary Virginia Piper, who was born on March 31, 1924, in Missouri, to Daniel W. Piper and Norien Klepper.² I could not locate a marriage record for Milton and Mary Virginia (she seemed to use both names). In 1950 he and his wife and their two children were living in St. Louis, and Milton was working as a real estate salesman.”³ Milton and Mary Virginia would have two more children in the 1950s.

Julius and Minnie’s daughter Marjorie Alice (or Alice Marjorie) also married in the 1940s. She married Adrian Pettus Williamson on July 14, 1946, in St. Louis. Adrian, then serving as a gunner’s mate in the US Navy, was born on April 9, 1924, in Eagletown, Oklahoma, to Harry Claret Williamson and Swayne Pettus.⁴ I found it interesting that the article about the wedding gave one address for Julius and Minnie and described the reception for the wedding as taking place at the home of the “bride’s parents.” So perhaps Julius and Minnie were back living under one roof at the time?

“Alice Marjorie Adler Is Married At Church,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1946, p. 60.

The article also stated that the bridegroom would be returning to Brooklyn where he was stationed after the honeymoon, but that the bride would be returning to St. Louis.

Adrian and Alice seem to have had a second marriage ceremony a year later on September 11, 1947, in Coconino, Arizona:

Marriage record of Alice Marjorie Adler and Adrian Williamson in Arizona, Description: Marriage Certificates/Licenses – Books 11, 12, 13, 1941-1948, Ancestry.com. Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972

I have no idea why—perhaps to have a second celebration in Arizona where Adrian’s family lived?

Adrian and Alice did not have any children together. In fact, the marriage did not last very long, and on September 10, 1951, Alice married Eugene Ocamb in Pinal, Arizona. Eugene was the son of Joseph Wesley Ocamb and Irene Emma Van Bach; he was born on September 20, 1908, in Kansas City, Kansas.⁵ On the 1950 census, they had already listed themselves as married, living in Phoenix, Arizona, where Eugene was the owner of a retail auto parts store and Alice was a cashier in a jewelry store.⁶

Alice Marjorie Adler Williamson marriage to Eugene Ocamb, Licenses – Marriage, 1949 – 1954
Ancestry.com. Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972

Alice and Eugene would have two children together.

Thus, by 1950 four of Julius Adler’s six children were married: Roland, Irene, Milton, and Alice. I could not locate Roland on the 1950 census, but Irene was living in St. Louis with her husband John, who was an inspector and auditor for the National Guard.⁷ Milton was in St. Louis and Alice was in Phoenix with their respective spouses, as noted above.

Julius Adler was living with his oldest daughter Chrystal in St. Louis. Julius was working as a baker, and Chrystal was working as a clerical worker for a petroleum pipeline company. Julius listed his marital status as a widower, and Chrystal was single.⁸

Despite Julius claiming to be a widower, Minnie was not dead; she was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1950 with a ten-year-old boy she identified as her son; his name was Ronald Adler, and he was born on August 8, 1939, in St. Louis.⁹ According to his obituary, he was adopted by Minnie shortly after he was born.¹⁰ Minnie continued to list her marital status as married on the census. I assume that Minnie moved to Phoenix to be closer to her daughter Alice Marjorie.

Minnie Adler 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; Roll: 577; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 15-75, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

The sixth child of Julius Adler, his son Warren, had enlisted in the US Army on March 3, 1943, and was discharged on February 16, 1946.¹¹ In 1950 he was living as a lodger with a family in St. Louis, working as an office clerk in the accounting department of a railroad company. He was single and 26 years old.¹² As far as I’ve been able to determine, Warren never married.

My next post will wind up the story of the family of Julius Adler before I move on to the remaining children of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, the three who did not come to the US before the rise of Hitler in Germany.

My next post will be in 2026. Happy New Year, everyone!