| Notes |
- PA Birth Certificate No. 355680 lists birth place as 520 West Jefferson St, 25th Ward. Parents are Chas Drollinger and Carrie Ullman, father's profession is piano tuner.
My father was baptized probably at Trinity Lutheran but their early records are gone so proof is non existant. He was confirmed 28 March 1926 at that church.
His brother, Wilbert, was baptized at St John's Lutheran Church which was known as the Rooster church. Probably because of the cock on top of the weather vane. This church is no longer in existence. My father attended Trinity Lutheran Church on Stockton and Arch Streets. This church was torn down to redevelop the north side. And a new building was erected on North Ave.
As a child my father had polio and as a result his arches were abnormally high. While sled riding as a young boy, he slid out into the street and hit a delivery truck fracturing his skull. The pieces of bone were removed but since he was so young, there was no plate put in to cover the missing skull. He talked his mother into buying a dump truck so he could get work throught the WPA. Like most all government projects there was a hook in the game. Since he owned the truck he was not eligible for work. During the depression in his early years he and his brothers, Wilbert and Charles, had a coal and ice company that delivered coal to residential areas. Louis started work for Greyhound Bus Company as a mechanic in 1939. When the Greyhound Company closed the Pittsburgh garage, he went to Washington D.C. to work. Later when the D.C. garage was down sized he went to Chicago. His dream was to have a cottage in the woods. He built his cottage at Slippery Rock in 1956. He took early retirement at 55 and worked as a chauffeur for Henry Phipps Hoffstott of the Phipps family until he could draw his social security. Some of the stories he related about working for Hoffstott were unbelievable. Hoffstott was so tight with a dollar for having so much money. He once left a note for my dad with a dollar bill explaining he drove the Bently to work and dad was to pick it up and then pick him up after work. The firsts words he spoke getting into the Bently were "don't you owe me some change?." My dad was not a man to waste words and replied, "how do you think I got to the car, walk?" Meaning he had to take a bus and there was no change!
1930 census list occupation as packer magazine company. People used to say of my father, "Ask Lou, he knows." He knew quite a bit about the city and could tell you many little known facts. As I was growing up he always talked about the members of the family who had passed on so I guess it was hearing about "selling whiskey to the Indians" and other such stuff that kindled my interest in the family history. That and my mother filling my empty head with tales of the Irish being of the race of kings. My aunt Claire used to tell of Captain William McGinnis coming home and the kids would pull off his boots and the gold pieces would roll on the floor. My dad always said that was a tall tale and he was poor as a church mouse. His grandfather, Peter Ullmann used to call him "dreck Pater (long A sound" It wasn't until I found out about the German custom of calling people by their middle name that I figured out he would have been Peter to great grandfather. Hence dirty Peter or dirty little boy.
As a child of the depression my father never threw any thing away. You never knew when that broken item could be utilized to repair some thing else. Also my father was very frugal with his money. He never spent any foolishly. Instead of Levis I had to wear plain old off brand blue jeans. He hated to see me spend money on him and if it was an expensive gift he would berate me for being foolish and extravagant. In 1980 I bought him a Sears riding mower through their catelog sales. When Sears called to deliver I sure got an earfull! It was well worth it as the Slippery Rock neighbors said he sure liked it.
My father was a contradiction of sorts. He disliked the Jews as a group yet had Jewish friends he did business with. He would say at times he would rather do business with a Jew as they were more trustworthy. The shake of a hand was better than a written contract as the Jew kept their part of the bargin. He had one friend that ran a tailor shop on 5th Avenue, Art or to him Artie Schlessinger. I had my first suit made there and saw the shake of the hand deal. This was during a time residual hate and persecution of Jewish people. Outside of the borough of Millvale are a lot of Jewish cemeteries, stones all lined up and facing in one direction. It was my father that told me the reason they were here was because city ordinance didn't permit burial of Jews within the city limits. In todays world that is rather unthinkable.
He also explained to me in my teens that you registered democrat as if you needed or asked for any city or county services the first place they looked was the voter registration. Allegheny county where we lived had been democrat since 1932. With the Sherrif's office being the county police force in 62 other counties, ours also had a county police force. Plus a county fire department that doesn't fight fires. In addition there are all the county patronage jobs so the republican party is about non existant. For state and federal elections you vote your issues and not by party. I have to say he was correct.
Home in 1930: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Household Members:
Name Age
Charles Drollinger 56
Carrie Drollinger 56
Wilbert Drollinger 25
Louis P Drollinger 18
Home in 1920: Pittsburgh Ward 25, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Household Members:
Name Age
Charles A Drollinger 45
Carrie Drollinger 45
Charles F Drollinger 19
Wilbur J Drollinger 15
Louis P Drollinger 8
Peter Ullmann 77
From the writings in the Klosters Reichenau in the time of 919 to 934 the name Alsminda. 200 years later it became Almentingen about1289 it became Ellmendingen. First traces of a village are from 90 AD as a Roman settlement.
This book was written by Heinz Hower who I met on my first visits. A jolly man who spoke 5 languages and was full of life. His widow runs the Heimat museum in Ellmendingen open by appointment. He told a few stories about having to polish the brass instruments of the french soldiers of the occupation army and peeing in them when no one was watching. He also served as a Flakwillig (volunteer ammo bearer) for the Luftwaffe. When I got there in 1982 he had some patches on the walls of the church removed to reveal the murals were still there. Catholic churches had murals while protestant were plain. I did get my dad over for a visit while I was stationed in Germany. He invited my dad for a Black Forest breakfast, ham, farmers bread (brown) and beer.
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1911 - 1988 (76 years)
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