So I’ve done a little more digging in to Frank Tropp (sr)’s family. As I mentioned last weekend, he was one of 12 children. I’ve tried to dig a little more in to the lives of the 12 children and their offspring. Here’s what I’ve got so far…
Anna
The oldest child was Anna, born 12/26/1884 in Chicago. She married Conrad Pszolinski in 1907, and they lived on Cortez St for a while, but by the 1920 Census they were at 715 Uhland St, which is now Schiller Ave. Conrad and Anna had 4 children; Margaret in 1909 and John in 1910, then Loretta and Anna in 1924 and 1926.
Conrad worked as a chauffeur for the Wholesale Candy Company.
There’s not a lot of detail about the 4 children. Margaret was an order picker at Marshall Field’s in the 1930 census, but still lived at home with Conrad and Anna. In 1930, John was an assistant chauffeur for Wholesale Candy Company with his dad. I can’t find any additional info about Margaret, other than a mention in Loretta’s obituary that she had pre-deceased her, and her last name is listed as Vick.
John married Norene Judge in July, 1940, but the trail goes cold on them as well.
Loretta married Aloysius Rehm, and lived in Morton Grove most of her life. She died in 2012 at age 87. She never had children.
Young Anna died in 1934 at age 8, I can’t find a cause.
So here’s the weird part about the Pszolinski’s. Some time in the 1930’s, they changed their last name to Meyer. All of them. Conrad, Anna, the kids, all changed the last name. It really makes it hard to track down the descendants as a result, since Meyer is a pretty common name and so it starts to get confusing. Strange.
Conrad did in 1942, but Anna lived until 1987, 102 years old.
John
John Tropp was born in 1886, and died at age 8 in 1894. No other detail available.
Frank P Tropp
I already gave some detail on Frank P Tropp I, although the only thing I’ll add is that his middle name was Paulus, according to his birth certificate…
Mathilda
Mathilda Tropp was born May 13, 1890, in Chicago. In the 1900 census, her father records her name as “Tillie”, and it seems clear that she was called Tillie most of her life. She married August Boss in 1913. August was a Chicago native, and was also listed as a Teamster. They lived at 811 S Keeler when he filled out his WWI draft card, and they stayed mostly around that near south side until the 1930 census.
August and Tillie had three children; Joseph Conrad Boss, 1914-1970, William August Boss, 1919-2012, and Regina Elizabeth Boss, 1924-2003. William would have only been a year older than his cousin, Frank P. I wonder if they were buddies as kids?
August died in 1936, Tillie lived until 1977.
It’s really hard to get a lot of detail about the 3 children; Ancestry is great for the 1880-1930 time span, but it loses a lot of its capability once you get past WWII. It does appear that Joseph was never married, as he is buried with his mother and father. William had a daughter, Mary, according to his obituary. He died at age 92, but there’s no mention of grandchildren, so perhaps Mary never had kids. I can’t find anything on her. Regina went by Jean, and married Donald Becker. They had four children, William, Joseph, Michael and Ann Marie. They lived in Niles their whole lives. Ann Marie is the easiest to find, her husband is Dr Michael Caughron, in Glenview. I reached out to her over facebook but no response yet.
George
George was born August 4, 1892. He worked for the family business, never married, and died at age 31 in 1923. No knowledge on how he died.
Joseph
Joseph Benedick Tropp was born on February 10, 1894. He married Theresa Stutzke on June 7, 1919, and worked in the family business. It does not appear that he and Theresa had any children, and they both died young; Joseph in 1936 at age 42, Theresa in 1939 at age 43.
Dorothy
Dorothy Elizabeth Tropp was born on February 18, 1896. She was called Dora most of her life. She never left home, and never married. She died on October 31, 1970. In the 1940 census, she listed no occupation. I can’t find anything else on her.
Anton Jr.
Anton S. Tropp Jr was born October 2, 1897. He married Mary Stancel on May 6, 1922, and they had one child, Robert (Bob), born on Cortez St on April 1, 1923.
Anton worked for the family business, and it would appear that they either sold or closed the business some time during the depression, as by the 1940 census he called himself a “Bundler” and day laborer. They lived on Cortez until some time in the 30’s, when they moved to Wellington St in the Lincoln Park area.
Bob looks remarkably like his cousin Frank P. Follow this link to his obituary site from last year and you’ll see the picture. https://www.modelldarien.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=2729761
Bob attended Schurz High School and married Margaret. He lived in the Western suburbs most of his life, and had 5 children; Bob Jr, James, Kathryn, Peter and Clare. There were a bunch of grandchildren as well. I’ve tried to connect with a couple of them, but have not gotten any responses back. Again, with being so close in age to Frank P, and having lived in the house next door until Frank P was 8, I’m sure they were good buddies as kids. I wonder why we never really heard about him?
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Tropp was born on July 8, 1899. At the 1920 census she was still living at home. She married Charles Kaplan some time before the 1930 census, and had one child, Deloris, born in 1931. She and Charles lived in Kankakee, IL in 1959, which is where the trail runs cold. I can’t find any info on Deloris, except that she may have married a man named Lyle Schroeder. Hard to tell, again because the trail kind of runs cold.
Arthur
Arthur F. Tropp was born on May 12, 1901. He also worked in the family business, and like his brother-in-law Conrad Psolinski / Meyer, became a chauffeur for the Wholesale Candy Company in the 1930’s. He married Louise some time in the 20’s, and in In the 30’s they lived on Damen Ave, but I can’t see the exact address. It does not appear that they had any children, but again that could be just bad data. She died in 1963, he lived until 1973 in Lake Zurich, IL.
Marie
Marie Tropp was born on February 17, 1903. She married Charles Schmidt on May 29, 1924. They had two children, Charles Jr, born in 1925, and Rita, born in 1931. Charles Sr was an engineer, and the family lived at 3919 N. Nordica Ave in Chicago, which is essentially at Harlem & Irving Park. Charles Jr died in 2004 in Bolingbrook, IL. His obituary mentions children William, John, Dee and James and several grandchildren.
Rita married Bud Peterson, but I can’t find any detail on them.
Charles Sr died in Winfield, IL in 1969, Marie in 1977.
Conrad
Not to be confused with Anna’s husband, Conrad, the last of Anton & Regina’s children was Conrad, born October 29, 1904. Conrad was still living at home with Regina in 1930, and listed his occupation as a barber. By 1940, he and his wife, Hariet, are renting a room at 2448 Cortez, the house that Frank and Sadie had lived in a few years earlier. He lists himself as a laborer at a tannery. Eventually, Conrad and Hariet had two children, Agnes and Paul. Agnes is still living, though I have no detail on her, she never married. Paul died about a 11 years ago; his middle daughter, Lisa, and I have traded a few notes and she helped fill in some of the picture. She lives in Bartlett, IL and has two daughters.
Conrad died in 1983, and was living in Niles at the time.
Alright, so that’s what I’ve learned about the Tropp family. There are dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren, many with the Tropp last name, running around Skokie, Niles, and the western suburbs. Pretty crazy! Perhaps one of us will have a chance encounter some day, but in the mean time it’s nice to know they’re out there I guess.
Tropp Family History 