Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975)

Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975) aka Tony Winblad, aka Anthony Winblad; Postmaster, Santa Barbara, Isle of Pines, Cuba; Building Superintendent, Bronx, New York; and Plumber at US Naval Shipyards, Long Beach, California, USA (b. April 05, 1886, 540 Canal Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, 10013-1304, USA - d. March 27, 1975, 11:20 am, Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Fontana, San Bernardino County, California, 92335, USA) Social Security Number 562097554.

Birth:
Anton was the son of John Edward Winblad (1856-1914) and Salmine Sophia Severine Pedersen (1862-1914) aka Salmine Olsdatter.

Siblings:
His siblings include: Theodora Winblad (1888) who died as an infant; Mary Winblad (1889) who died as an infant; Otto Edward Winblad (1892) who died as an infant; Marie (Mae) Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) who married Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968); John (Eddie) Edward Winblad II (1897-1899) who died as a youth from pertussis; and Otto Perry Winblad (1902-1977) who was born in New Jersey and married Helen Louise Hollenbach (1905-1928) and Helen died giving birth to their only child, later Otto married Leah Maria Way (1901-1986).

Jersey City, New Jersey:
Anton was born in Greenwich Village, New York in 1886 and around 1898-1899 his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey into a newly constructed two-family house on Wayne Street. The family appears on the 1900 Census living on Wayne Street and Anton is "learning making candy" as his occupation at age 14. Living in the household is a baorder: Anton Pederson, b. October 1872, married 4 years, immigration 1892, working as a longshoreman. It is most likely a friend of Anton senior, and not a relative from Farsund.

Isle of Pines, Cuba:
His father, John Edward Winblad moved the family to a ranch near Santa Barbara, on the Isle of Pines in Cuba around 1909-1910. Anton met Eva Ariel Lattin (1892-1939) in Cuba and they married on Long Island on April 17, 1910. They had their first two children in Cuba, Norman Edward Winblad (1911-1980) and Anthony (Roy) LeRoy Winblad (1912-1970). Many pictures survive of the family in Cuba. Anton's father didn't do well as a citrus farmer and both his father and mother died on a trip back to Norway in 1914. Anton was working as the postmaster at Santa Barbara, but he returned to the US in 1915 after his parent's death.

Return to USA:
Anton appears on two ship's manifests arriving from Havana: May 19, 1915 where he is incorrectly listed as "Anthony J. Wimblad"; and again on July 06, 1915 arriving with Norman Winblad and Dewey Lattin. Anton's last child: Earl Vincent Winblad (1916-2004) was born in New York on October 09, 1916. Anton registered for the draft on September 16, 1918 when he was living at East 144th Street in the Bronx and was working as an "indexer" at New York Edison Company in the Bronx. He listed his birthday as "April 17, 1886" which conflicts with his birth certificate. He appears on the 1920 Census living at 163 East 144th Street in the Bronx and also appears in the City Directory. He is recorded in the 1930 Census also living in the Bronx. He worked as a building superintendent.

California:
His wife Eva went to California in 1936 for a family wedding and enjoyed California so much both her and her husband moved there that year.

Death of Wife:
Eva died in 1939 in California.

Second Marriage:
Within a year, Anton married Marguerite Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1891-1972) aka Margie Van Rensselaer Schuyler, a friend of Eva's from New York.

Occupation:
Anton worked at the Anderson Die Casting and Engineering Corporation and later worked as a plumber at the US Naval Shipyards in Long Beach, California. During the War he was sent to Hawaii, as a civilan, to repair ships.

Alzheimer's Disease:
He started to show signs of Alzheimer's disease in 1973-1974.

Memories of Anton Winblad:
Carol Eleanore Winblad (1946- ) said in January 1999: "My grandfather lived in Los Angeles and then moved to Desert Hot Springs, California. One New Year's Eve we were visiting and we went outside to yell "happy new year" and grandad pulled us back inside the house because it was a retirement community and everyone was already asleep. I hated going there, because there were no kids. My parents would threaten to send me there when I was caught drinking. My granddad had Alzheimer's Disease, but it was diagnosed as 'hardening of the arteries' back then, and he was put in a home. One time I was staying at his house and he couldn't remember my name. He raised his cane up to block me from going to see why my baby was crying. My dad made the decision to put him in a home when he caught him threatening my child with his cane. He had taken the kids for a weekend and my granddad was standing over the crib with his cane raised as if to hit the child. Granddad died shortly after that. Occasionally he start remembering things and start telling rambling childhood memories."

Death:
In 1975 he died of "cardiac arrest with diabetes mellitus and prostatic carcinoma" while in a nursing home.

Burial:
He was buried with Marge, his second wife in Desert Memorial Park Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.

Relationship:
Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975) was the granduncle of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).