In 1887 William Bramwell Sizer went to Milwaukee to workwith the Kunkel Furniture Company. Two years later he was accepted on the MilwaukeePolice force in which capacity he remained for 23 years.

I was born at midnight March 13, 1888, My father always gavemy birth date as March 14th but the birth records show March 13. My parents wereMinnie R. Maechtle Sizer and William Bramwell Sizer. My mother was baptised RosinaWilhelmina but always was known as Minnie. My father was named after a noted preacheras his parents were very religious people..

The house where I was born still stands on the south east corner of 23rd & GalenaSt. We lived in an upper flat. From there we moved to 19th Street between Walnutand Vine. My earliest recollections are when we lived in a cottage on 24 _ Streeta few doors north of Brown Street. Lightening struck the house and left Mothe andI dazed a bit, but being a cold stroke no harm was done to us.

I was always very fearful of dogs and it is said that I came running to home crying" The dog across the street was just a bitten me". The next move was to622 18th Street (old number) which was in a lower (cold water) flat with toilet in the basement. This place was between Walnut and Vine on the north side of 18th Street.Here my youngest brother Arthur Edwin was born and at the age of 2-1/2 years diedof Spinal Meningitis. During the summer he was ill Walter, my older brother, andI stayed out on the farm of our Grandmother Maechtle which was 4 miles north of PortWashington, Wisconsin on County Trunk line K. The farm still run by Maechtle descendants.

When I was four years old I wanted to go to school. There were no kindergartens in the school on 24th and Brown at the time so I was put in the into the Baby class.The schools were just as crowded at that time as they are now and the Baby Classwas held in the front room of a cottage near by on Brown Street. A class picturecan be found in our picture books.

Mother never got over the loss of her little boy and wanted to get away, so a lotwas purchased on 33rd and Lloyd Streets. The old house number was 731 — 33rd Street.It is the third house of Lloyd Street on the west side of the street. (By the waywe paid $10.00 a month for the 18th Street flat.) Aunt Helen Maechtle, Mother's oldestsister bought two lots just south of our place which gave us a nice place to playin.

A carpenter by the name of Hunholz who lived in back of us on 34th Street built acottage for us at the cost of $1000.00. It had 5 rooms, stove heat, outside toilet,wood foundation and a dry well which we had to pump out during wet weather. Yearslater a stone foundation was laid for the basement and attic room built. Aunt Helensold 15 feet of her 60 foot lot in order to rent it for return on her investment,We were the first house on the west side of the street between Lisbon and North Avenues.There were wooden sidewalks but the street was not made. We really were way out in the country. Walter and I first attended public school on 27th and Elm Streets (nowknown as Garfield). We had to cross the Railroad Tracks by crawling though the wirefence and many times crawled under freight cars standing on the siding. The trackshave since been depressed. We were the first group of children who were transferredto the new school on 31st and Brown Streets Well I remember when we all marched upto the new school, by that time they had a crossing over the tracks at Brown Street.

By the time spring came Walter and I would beg to out into the country so the folkswould give in and let us go without finishing up the school year. This was bad forme for it always pit me behind in may classes and made me very self conscious becauseI could not keep up.. But the folks seemed to think being out in the country wasbetter for me than the education.

When we lived on 18th Street I was 5 and 6 years old. The children of the neighborhood went to Schlitz Park on Sunday afternoons to hear the band concert. SchlitzPark was located on 9th and Walnut where Roosevelt Junior High School now is. Therewere a lot of trees and on the hill was a Pavilion and a lot of tables outside andalso inside where beer was dispensed. The price of admission was 2 cents for children.They could walk along the paths and hear the concert. One Sunday upon returning fromchurch wearing a very pretty dress which Aunt Helen had bought for me which was greatlyadmired by the girls of the neighborhood I was invited to go to Schlitz Park withthem. I was able to get the admission price alright but mother said that I wouldhave to put on my dark blue calico dress if I went. The girls were waiting for meoutside and when I came out with the old dress on they would not take me along andI had to stay home. Needless to say I cried. This was my first disillusionment ofthe female sex.

The neighborhood was full of people who came to this country just recently. Germanwas spoken more than English in the whole city. It had very common usage in the marketplaces. Our neighbors to the north were Bohemian. I remember walking along the railof the picket fence which divided the yard and as I jumped off my dress caught ona picket and I was suspended in mid-air. I came in the house crying because the Bohemianman picked me off.

To the rear of us was a family from Pomerainia who had several older boys. I wasdeathly afraid of the Pomers. My mothers cousin Fred Maechtle had a shoe store onWalnut Street west of 20th Street. This building has been torn down and at the presenttime is a vacant lot with a small cottage just east of the place. An Irish familylived in the cottage who we enjoyed very much, Mrs. Strokeman was so witty. Therewere a number of children but I remember playing with Ursula who was my age. Thefamily later moved to Hammond, Indiana where the father was employed in the chemicalfactory.

Needless to say our shoes were always bought at cousin Fred's Our families alwayswere very good friends. I still correspond with cousin Fred's daughter, Mrs. OliverMaechtle Armantrout of Highland Park, Illinois. Cousin Fred's brother and sisterlived in Highland Park and were doing very well in the contracting business. Hissister was married to a man by the name of Streiber. The shoe business in Milwaukeedid turn out to good after which cousin Fred had a saloon in the building which didnot turn out any better financially. The change was for the best. But we missed ourfriends greatly. I remember during a Catholic and Protestant fund Fred's son Albertwho was older walked down Walnut Street with all the little tots trailing behind,singing at the top of his voice — "Ta ra ra ra bum di a my father is an A.P.A,he kills a Catholic every day Ta ra ra ra bum dia."

When ever I went to the saloon with neighbor girls to get a pail of beer for theirfamilies. I always got razzed when I got home. The saloons always gave the childrenpretzels when they came in. so when ever I came home eating a pretzel the familyalways knew where I was

The first birthday party I ever had was in the new house on 33rd Street. All theneighbors and friends were invited. I still have a little cup and saucer which Ireceived from Lila Rhode, the daughter of the minister that baptised me.

When I was born the folks attended the German Evangelical Church on 21st & CherryStreets, which still stands. Later they joined Sherman Street Methodist Church on11th and Sherman, now abandoned and used at the present time by a Jewish group.