ROSA'S KIDS: PART 3 - EDWARD

The third child of Rosa (Ritterhouse) and John Schlereth arrived June 10, 1886.  He was born in Dillon, Illinois (a tiny town in Tazewell County).  His parents named him Edward Charles.  It looks like he probably went by Ed.

He was fairly young when his family made the long journey from Illinois to Kansas in the 1890s.  In 1900 they were in Seneca, Kansas where Ed was attending school at 13.  Reportedly, the highest grade he completed was 5th grade in elementary school.  By 1910, he had moved to Falls City, Nebraska with his family.  At that time he was living with his mother and his brother Elmer, and working as a laborer doing odd jobs.  He was described as tall, of medium build with blue eyes and light-colored hair.

In 1917, at the age of 30, Edward registered for WWI.  According to the Richardson County Draft Registration List of 1917 and his gravestone, he served as a private first class in WWI in the Army.  I haven't been able to determine in which division, where or when he served.

Back home in Falls City after the war, Edward worked as a junk dealer for a junk shop in town for over twenty years..  He lived with his mother her entire life in Nebraska.  She died in 1941, when Ed was about 55 years old.  As far as I can tell, he never married and remained in Falls City the rest of his life.  He died on February 7, 1974.  He's buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Douglas, Nebraska, near his mother's grave.