This is Arno Wolff Meyers, my great-grandfather. He was considered very handsome. As an adult, he was a traveling salesman and a bit of a rogue. Perhaps a hot head also, as a tantalizing newspaper article implies. As I was researching Arno for this post, I realized there's a lot of details about his life I don't know. He pops up occasionally in various records but then disappears again.
Arno Wolff Meyers was born July 22, 1883, in Rochester New York, the eldest child and only son of Benjamin and Estella Wolff Meyers. Arno's middle name is his mother's maiden name, but Wolf was also the name of Benjamin Meyers' father.
I haven't found any information about Arno's childhood or schooling.
This September1904 newspaper article tells about 21-year old Arno's cross country trip on a bet. The article says Arno was recently a member of the hospital corps of the US Navy. I have a record that confirms Arno's military service during WW I. There's an entry from the Veteran's Administration on his death certificate noting he served during the Spanish-American conflict and WW1.
I don't know if Arno won his bet, but he was back in Rochester with his parents in June 1905.
The next record I have of Arno is this wedding invitation to his marriage to Rena Cohen in March1907, in Chicago Illinois. I would love to know how they met.
This is Arno and Rena's wedding picture.
Their daughter Miriam Rena Meyers was born 16 months later in June 1908 in Los Angeles, California.
Rena died 10 days later from complications of child birth.
Arno's parents (Benjamin and Estella) traveled to California and brought Miriam back to Rochester to raise. I don't know when this trip occurred or the details.
There's a family story (I have no evidence) that Arno kidnapped baby or toddler Miriam (or tried to) from his parents house in order to extort money from them.
The next record I have of Arno is this 1915 newspaper article. Arno is living in Philadelphia and was arrested for criticizing Germany after its sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915.
Arno joined the United States Navy in March 1917 and was on active duty from April 6, 1917 to December 21, 1918. He served as a Storekeeper on the USS De Kalb from May 19, 1917 to February 15, 1918. Interestingly, the USS De Kalb was a German mail ship that was seized by US Customs in Philadelphia, transferred to the Navy, and converted to a US troop ship.
His next assignment was on the USS Orizaba, another troop transport ship, from May 27, 1918 to the end of the war on November 11, 1918. Arno was honorably discharged March 18, 1921.
In March 1922 married Henrietta Davis of Philadelphia. I found this newspaper article titled "Not Sure of Romance: Business is Business". As the copy is a bit blurry, the text of the article is:
"Philadelphia, May 9 - Abe Corning is not altogether certain that romance is romance, but there is no doubt in his mind that business is business. Not long ago Corning cashed a $77 check for his erstwhile friend, Arno W. Meyers, who was eager to begin a honeymoon. The day after he cashed the check, Corning discovered that it was worthless. The honeymooners returned yesterday and Corning demanded that his friend make good or else answer a charge of forgery. Meyers pleaded that he had no funds and begged Corning to desist from bringing suit in order not to shock his new bride. "Business is business," answered Corning, and today the new bridegroom was held by Magistrate Coward in $500 bail."
Arno and Henrietta's daughter Charlotte was born in Orlando, Florida 1924. In1930 the family was in Philadelphia again. Henrietta died in 1947. In 1950, Arno is living with his daughter Charlotte and her husband Martin Glick in Philadelphia. Arno passed away May 27, 1962 at the VA hospital in Coral Gables, Florida. He is buried next to Henrietta in Mt. Sharon Cemetery, Springfield, PA. In 2002, I was in nearby Valley Forge, PA, taking a training class for work. I visited the cemetery and took this photo.
