52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
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| Do you have Schilling Spices in your pantry? They may have significance to you if you do. |
What do Schilling Spices, the San Francisco Naval Yard, military service in the 1920’s as well as WWII, 6 wives, and 3 children all have in common….one man Glen Millard Fueston (1909-1988)
From the above description it sounds like he had a full life but in the end it is really sad to read his obituary and know he died without family around him in spite of the fact his three children, and a large number of his adult grandchildren were still living. All lived and worked within a few hours of where he died and was buried. He had no relationship to speak of with his grown children and certainly not with my father, his son Robert Glen Fueston (1933-2006) or his daughter Ann Glenda Fueston (1938-2005) aka "Aunt Dinky". So this story which starts at the end, then go the the early parts of his story and finally I'll fill in the rest of his surprisingly interesting life.
Sat Oct 15, 1988, page 22. Accessed 2021
As mentioned, Glen had no known ongoing relationships with his adult children. His daughter Mary Haghenbeck (1940-2021) tried to rekindle the "father-daughter" relationship sometime in the mid 1970's. She met up with her father at my first wedding. This is interesting because even though he and his wife signed the guest book of my wedding I do not clearly recall him being there. This meeting would have been the one and only time I'd seen him since I was probably 4 or 5 year old. There are no known pictures of that wedding to consult. Several of my cousins do remember him there though. According to Mary's daughter, Lorna it was at this wedding of mine that Mary rekindled a relationship with her father Glen. Lorna, her brother Gerald aka Skeeter and mother visited Glen and his would be wife #6 in Salinas. Glen and #6 to be all went to Nevada together for Mary's marriage to Donald Haghenbeck in 1977. While there celebrating the union of Mary and Donald, Glen decided to get married as well. Lorna recalls this did not make her mother very happy. It is unclear what put a damper on the rekindled relationship as they didn't see each other much more after the wedding, but perhaps this was why.
What is clear is what caused the fractures within a family very early on with this man. He had had inappropriate relations with his daughter, Aunt Dinky, when she was very young, perhaps as young as 10 years old. This was witnessed by his son, my father, Robert. His daughter Mary had to testify in court about the situation sometime before Mary was the age of 15. Vicky, Aunt Dinky's daughter, is not sure how long this inappropriate behavior took place but she feels that is was probably the catalyst to many years of inner torment for her mother starting perhaps at the tender young age of 10.
This situation alone would create an environment where my parents and my cousins parents, understandably, kept him away from us and at a distance. He was placed at such a distance that when I asked about family history my father would always say to me there was "nothing to tell". And even eluded to the fact that his father was "adopted". I now know that isn't so and have uncovered a lot about my/our grandfather Glen that I'll share next.
Now for the rest of his story....
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| Photo is courtesy of FamilySearch.com |
1909 May 13-BORN in Spokane, Washington. His parents lived at 0126 Stone St in Spokane, WA. At the time of his birth his father Robert Clemens Fueston was 50 years old and his mother Dora Haskins (1881-1936) was 26 years old. Dora was Robert's second wife. It appears from records that Ursley Fueston (1838-1915), Glen's grandmother, and family arrived in Spokane, WA in 1909, the year Glen was born. They had migrated to Washington from Missouri. It appears Glen's father and his "Fueston Gang of Brothers" were not welcomed in Missouri and could be why they migrated to Washington.
Glen’s father was born in Kentucky and worked as a laborer, while is mother Dora was born in Missouri and was a housewife. Glen is the 4th son of Robert Clemens Fueston (1858-1948) and the 3rd son of Dora Haskins (1881-1936). Robert Clemens had 5 sons all together in this order: James Porter Fueston (whose mother is Kate Baird) and then 4 sons with his second wife Dora; Leonard, Cecil Ellsworth, Glen Millard and Robert Clem.
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| Washington State Board of Health, Vital Statistics, birth certificate: record # 911, File 8603, registered # 901, Washington Vitals records online, accessed 2022. Glen Millard Fueston. |
At 9 years old he had been sent home from school because he had small pox. Glen had to spend time at the Rivercrest Contagion Hospital where people with small pox were contained. There is no mention if his brothers had to go to the Rivercrest too only that the older brother had "exposed the high school".
The 1920 census in Spokane show that Glen then 10 y/o is living with his divorced father and his 3 brothers. When he was 12 years old he was picked up for running away from home with another boy -one of them had a rifle. The Spokane Newspaper didn't say which boy had the rifle. My guess would be that Glen had the rifle because you know "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". You'll hear about that in another story about his father.
In 1926 when Glen is recruited into the service from Washington state he is transferred to the Presidio in Monterey. He remains at the Presidio in Monterey during his military service and is classified as a Private in troop "F", of the 11th calvary. When he first discharges from the service he is living with his father back in Spokane, Washington.
He is first seen on documents in San Francisco in 1931 with his father on Andover St in the City and then again at a future date at the same address with his mother. He eventually meets Ann Olsen (nee) Piatz. She is living on Day street in San Francisco while Glen is with his mom on Andover. They marry 18 Feb 1933. This is Ann's aka "Nana's" second marriage. She was married to Leo Piatz and had a daughter Barbara Piatz in that marriage whom she brought into her marriage to Glen. The last name for aunt Barbara has not yet been proved to be either Piatz, Piazza, or Piaza.
The new little family moves to a home at 240 Winfield in the City. A lot happens while they live here. Glen and Nana have 3 children together and live on Winfield until 1944. In 1940 Glen is re-enlisted, perhaps drafted and serves in WWII from Nov 1942 until Nov 1945. He works on a ship that goes out over the ocean and resupplies submarines. I am pretty certain he was on this ship as it cruised under the Golden Gate in 1943.
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| https://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux/AS/holland2-08.jpg |
His children are small when he is drafted in 1942. Their approximate ages would be: Barbara, his step-daughter 17, Robert 10, Ann 5 and Mary 2. He serves in the Navy on the USS Holland (AS-3) and later the USS Fulton (AS 11). When he discharges in 1945 he is classified as a ship fitter 3rd class
This is about the time things begin to spiral into a different direction for him- then a family man serving his country. He gets divorced from his first wife, Nana and goes on to marry 5 more times.
The marriage to his second wife Nora takes place a little over a month after he is discharged from the navy. He is discharged 10 Nov 1945 and marries Nora 18 Dec 1945. She filed for divorce twice before filing a 3rd time and finally receiving a final decree divorce in 1955. They were married 10 years. Glen's kids probably had visitation with their father and step mother. Mary is 15 when they divorce and we know she had to testify against her father on behalf of her sister Ann for his inappropriate behavior before she was 15. Perhaps this was why Nora divorced him.
He remarries pretty quickly in 1956 to Anita, wife #3. Then he marries Thelma wife #4 in 1959. I haven't found any evidence of divorce from Anita and she doesn't die for several more years. He moves to Salinas with wife #4 and remains there working for Shilling Spice which is the company he retires from. Wife #4 Thelma passes and he marries wife #5 Mary Packer both events happen in 1972. He remains married to Mary Packer until she dies and he marries her sister wife #6 Ethel Packer in 1977. She is probably who Glen married at the same time he went to Nevada with Mary for her wedding day.
A little recap of marriages:
#1 Ann Olsen -married 1933 -divorced unknown but before 1945
#2 Nora Clark -married 1945 -divorced 1955
#3 Anita Topeye -married 1956 -divorced unknown, she doesn't die until much later
#4 Thelma Jones -married 1959 -died 1972
$5 Mary Packer -married 1972 -died 1976
#6 Ethel Packer -married 1977 -died 1987
Interesting to note is that the 'sisters' were both members who appeared very rooted in the LDS, Mormon church and were the cousin to one of the presidents of the church. This raises all kinds of questions about these sisters, also possible sister wives at the same time? Did Glen attend the LDS church?
One thing is for certain, he lived a life that tires me just writing about it. It has taken several months and many hours of research to uncover information about a grandfather that there was "nothing to tell" about when asked. Imagine the shock of finding him serving in the military not once but twice, once in WWII, and finding the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and finally 6th wife. He had no other biological children that I've found. There are still questions though. One is where was he from 1959-1969 (was he serving time in jail?) he marries in 1959 in Sacramento but doesn't resurface until 1969 when he shows up in Salinas with the same wife whom he stays married to until 1972. The photo of him here is the only one I've seen of him. Are there military photos yet to uncover?
After all these life events, he is finally laid to rest next to wife #6 Ethel, in Fairfield, Solano, California. It is understandable why family wasn't notified when he died, his #6 died a year before he did and if her children or grandchildren are living, which I believe Lorna and Skeeter may have met in the 70's, they probably didn't know if any of Glen's family were alive or where they were since there had been no contact for a good number of years. His headstone is inscribed: "Beloved Husband"
Glen's final outcome is different in appearance compared to his cousin's Charles LeRoy Fueston(1908-1980). Charles LeRoy's ashes remain unclaimed to this day in a mausoleum in Spokane, Washington. Charles parents are buried in the cemetery attached to the mausoleum his ashes are stored at. Charles had inappropriate relations with an 8 y/o girl and was sterilized and in-prisoned for the rest of his life.
This story was difficult to research and write. One to the next one.....
Robert Clemens Fueston (1858-1948).
