In the Archives: Adolph the Great

I get asked often -- this week in fact -- are you related to So-and-So Steinke? The answer is, if they're from Southwest Michigan, probably, yeah. You know why? The Steinkes have been here for a very long time ... and there have been a lot of us. It all started with Adolph.

As you can see, great-great-great-grandpa Steinke lived a good long time, and had quite the ancestral line. According to his obituary from the Feb. 27, 1923 edition of The News-Palladium, he was 95 years old and had 8 children, 61 grandchildren, 106 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. (Now you can see why the family reunions regularly had 250 to 300 people.)

He was born overseas, but came to America around 1899. He would've been about 71. Can you imagine packing up and moving to a new country at 71? Before retiring (I'm guessing he came here when his working days were done), he was a teacher in Russia.

Despite the late-life move, he was all in when it came to America. According to the Dec. 16, 1909 edition of The Herald-Press, he became an American. I thought great-grandpa August was the first in my family line to become an American, but I guess I was wrong. (The verdict's still out on great-great-grandpa Julius. I still can't find the record of his citizenship.)

Adolph must have been pretty popular (or maybe it was just a slow news day), because they reported on the funeral, too. Adolph was devoted to his large family and their welfare.

I'm not sure where in Benton Harbor Adolph and his wife, Johanna, landed when they came to America, but it appears they lived with the Schlenders on McAllister Avenue for quite awhile. They lived there when Adolph died in 1923, and they were living there when Johanna died in 1911.