Buckman and the outlaws

A few years ago, my friend/relative Fran gave me three copies of the Morrison County Atlases from 1970, 1978 and 1987. No, they're not at all rare books. The photos in the atlases are tiny, like postage stamps, but they scan and enlarge amazingly well.  We've published lots of photos from them since, especially the oldest pics.

Ok, so Fran was a Zenner, and she married Bernie Weber.  Just keep that thought; we'll get back to it, promise.

Now, this week, Larry found another genealogy website with a new old photo that we hadn't seen before--this time, it's three men in front of a garage, in Pierz:

It says John Weber, Alfred Dietz and Louie Gottwalt in about 1934.

Of course, I zoomed in on Louie, since his mom was a Hesch (Grandpa Anton's sister Rose).  But Larry took a different direction.  He searched for the other two names.  Turns out they were in business together--Weber-Dietz Battery & Tire Repair.  And, there was a whole genealogy of who these guys were.  The grandson of John Weber, one Frank Weber, happens to be "a forensic psychologist whose award winning forensic and clinical work includes assessment and expert witness testimony for homicide, sexual assault, and physical assault cases" and the author of a suspense novel called "Murder Book".  The quote is from Frank's web page, where he explains his family history.  Look for names like Suess, Sitzman, Kapsner & Brixius, not to mention Weber and Dietz. Here's the pic from his page:

Could be the same place, right? I mean, they repaired and sold tires, and gas, looks like. Frank says it's now Red's Auto.
About the first paragraph up there--Fran and Bernie Weber?  Bernie was John Weber's son, so they were Frank's Uncle Bernie and Aunt Fran.  

Now here's some frosting on the cake--If you peruse Franks page, you'll read about a couple by the name of Young: 

"Rosetta [Frank's mom] lived with Mabel Young.  Clarence and Mabel Young came from Illinois with the last name “Younger”, but changed their name as they no longer wanted to be associated with their cousins Cole Younger and Cole’s brothers Jim, John and Bob  (Jesse James cohorts)". There's much more about Jesse James and the Younger gang.  Fascinating, huh?

Oh MAN I'm glad Larry's back online! 😊