Primary Selections from Special Collections

The first soap operas began as radio programs in 1930. People soon became absorbed in the lives, and scandals, of these fictional radio characters. It was a welcome break from life in the Great Depression. In 1933, the citizens of Davenport found the lives of three ordinary residents began to resemble an almost fictional storyline that could have been part of a radio soap opera.

Adolph and Lottie Steenbock were a middle-aged married couple who had immigrated to Davenport from the Hamburg region of Germany in 1926. They arrived on December 9, 1926 to New York. The records from Ellis Island state that Adolph was 46 in 1926. He was 5’9″ with brown hair and eyes. Lotte (as it was spelled) was 43 years old, 5’7″ with blonde hair and brown eyes. Both stated Davenport, Iowa as their final destination and they both planned to become citizens.

We were able to locate their marriage record on Ancestry.com. The couple married in Hamburg, Germany on June 22, 1915. Any previous marriages were not found in our online search.

We do know that Adolph had a son named Walter who was born in July 1907 in Hamburg. Walter had immigrated to the Seattle, Washington area with a cousin in 1923. He joined his father and stepmother in Davenport after their immigration and they lived in a house at 1936 Dixwell Street.

Tragedy struck the family less than a year later when Walter and his friend, William Reese, were killed in an auto accident on their way home from work on September 9, 1927. The two young men were driving home from Frank Foundries when Walter’s car collided with the car of James H. Barner at an intersection. The collision caused Walter’s car to flip over. Steenbock died instantly while Reese survived only a few hours. The Coroner’s Inquest would find the incident an accident. Walter and William Reese had been friends in Hamburg and Reese had recently immigrated to work with his friend in Davenport.

Walter Steenbock was cremated at the Fairmount Cemetery crematorium. The newspapers listed Walter as the only child of his father and stepmother. William Reese was buried at Fairmount Cemetery. He left behind an uncle and aunt he had been living with in Davenport and his parents and siblings in Germany.

By 1933, Adolph and Lottie lived at 1940 W. 1^st Street in Davenport. Adolph was listed in the Davenport City Directory that year as a pipefitter. Lottie ran the household and took in boarders to supplement the family income.

It was in July 1933 that the couple made local news. On the evening of July 17, 1933, Adolph went to the Davenport Police Department to report his wife and $1,000 the couple had hidden in the basement missing. Adolph said he had returned home after work, greeted his wife, and went to the basement to hide money in a crock the couple kept hidden there. Upon finding the crock empty, Adolph went to his wife who said the $1,500 she kept hidden (obtained from rent money and doing people’s laundry) was missing as well. Adolph returned to the basement to search again. When he came upstairs, Lottie was gone.

Local newspapers reported that Lottie returned the next day to hand Adolph divorce papers and a decree from a judge that he was not allowed to be in the house. The $1,000 had been turned over to the courts who immediately took $300 from it to pay the attorneys the couple hired to represent them.

During the time Lottie was missing, a boarder named William Pohlers was brought to the police station for questioning as Adolph felt Pohlers may know about the money and Lottie. He was known to be Lottie’s “Star Boarder”.

William Pohlers was born in 1905 in the Amana Colonies in Iowa. He moved to Davenport about 1928 and had boarded at 106 Division Street with Mrs. Dorothea Ebel, a widow with four sons. Mrs. Ebel died on December 18, 1932, and it appears that William became a boarder of Lottie Steenbock after Mrs. Ebel’s passing.

Mr. Pohlers had made his own news headlines in Davenport. On August 15, 1928, William was arrested in Davenport for having improper relations with a 14-year-old girl. He was 23 years old. Her father had discovered their interactions and contacted the police. No charges were pursued when Pohlers married the girl, Mary (or Maria) Solbrig, on August 20, 1928, in Davenport with her parents’ permission.

On April 7, 1930, The Daily Times wrote that Mary had been granted a divorce on grounds of cruelty and had her maiden name restored. Her legal status had become an adult when she married. Upon divorce, the 15-year-old was once again viewed as a minor.

By 1933, William Pohlers was working for Ralston Purina, single, and boarding with Adolph and Lottie Steenbock.

After Lottie reappeared on July 18, 1933, the police apologized to William Pohlers for holding him in Lottie’s disappearance and the missing money. Adolph Steenbock was not allowed back in his house though he claimed to not make enough money to support himself without living in the home. Adolph turned to family and friends for support.

The couple resurfaced in August of 1933 as Lottie sent petitions to court and Adolph responded with cross-petitions. The divorce was acrimonious and soon made the news once again.

Lottie charged that she suffered cruel and inhuman treatment during the marriage. Adolph had never held a job in three or four years, was physically abusive, and that she was forced to take in boarders to help her family survive. She also accused him of being pro-German. Refusing to become a United States citizen and constantly talking about the greatness of Germany compared to the United States. Lottie claimed she wanted to become a naturalized citizen, but could not because of Adolph. She was a broken person by all his actions.

Adolph responded that he had always been employed, but some jobs had not paid well. He never struck Lottie, but treated her well despite her nagging and demands that he buy her luxury items he could not afford. It was her idea to take in boarders and then she invited the boarders’ friends over for loud parties that lasted all night. He had to leave to try to sleep at night. What was worse, she had taken up with a man to humiliate Adolph. Then she had stolen his money and removed him from his own house. This had reduced him to an anxious person unable to do anything.

Lottie responded in her next petition that she invited boarders’ friends over so they would feel at home. That Adolph encouraged the parties and enjoyed them. The household items and furniture were all purchased by Lottie. She needed them to support herself. And if Adolph thought she had another man then he should name him!

Adolph responded that his income had purchased household items and furniture while Lottie hid her boarders’ money from him. He never wanted parties at his house. He couldn’t sleep and went to relatives in the hope of a quiet night’s rest. And if Lottie wanted a name then Adolph would supply it. It was star boarder William Pohlers!

With every petition and cross-petition, the newspapers printed every lurid detail. The accusations ran into September and then October.

As the trial started on October 16, 1933, spectators and newspaper writers were prepared for continuing drama between the couple and they were not disappointed. Mrs. Steenbock was brought to the stand to testify about her marriage to Mr. Steenbock in Germany and in Davenport. On October 17^th, William Pohlers, who attended the trial and sat near Lottie Steenbock, was reprimanded by the judge for continuously coaching Lottie with her answers.

Lottie testified she worked as a nurse in Germany, in fact, that was how she met Adolph. She was a nurse in World War I and treated an injured soldier, Adolph Steenbock. They married while on furlough in June of 1915.

It was she who continued to earn money for the family as a nurse. Adolph, though he came from money she claimed, never held jobs. She sold some of their furniture in Germany for $300 and that money was used to purchase second-hand furniture in Davenport when they moved here. The $1500 she had saved and hidden was her work as was the $1,000 hidden in the crock in the basement. Adolph contributed nothing.

It was on Friday, October 20, 1933, that Lottie was once again called to the stand. This being her third time being questioned. It was during this session as she was describing the enormous appetite of her husband in which he could eat a dozen eggs at once, that she began to feel ill and was taken home where it was thought she had suffered either a heart attack or collapse from stress. Court was adjourned until the following Tuesday.

Adolph took the stand when the trial resumed on the following Tuesday. He reported that Lottie had three children of her own when he met her in 1915. The newspapers did not report what had happened to them, but they did not immigrate with the couple in 1926.

Under questioning, Adolph talked of a wife who had become unhappy with what he could earn. She wanted unending amounts of luxuries and berated him when he could not buy them. Lottie had insisted on bringing in boarders so she could buy whatever she wanted. Adolph had worked hard to buy household items and furniture, but it was never enough. His breaking point was the humiliation he felt when Lottie took up with William Pohlers in his own house. His concern was for the $1,000 he had saved and felt Lottie had stolen. Without that money, he would be unable to start over.

In the final days of the trial, William Pohlers was brought to the stand to testify. He denied any romantic involvement with Lottie. He simply viewed her as a friend who needed help.

On October 26, 1933, Judge W. R. Maines finalized the divorce of Adolph and Lottie Steenbock in favor of Lottie’s petition of inhuman treatment. Lottie received all household goods and furniture plus the $1500 she had saved. She returned to 1940 W. 1^st Street to resume her boarding house with William Pohlers as her “Star Boarder”.

Adolph received what remained of the $1,000 he had saved that had been held by the court. After all court costs were taken from it, Adolph received $193.85. His cross-petition charging Lottie with indiscretions with William Pohler was dismissed. Adolph was heard to say, despite everything, it was worth it to finally be divorced.

As with most soap opera storylines, there is usually something unexpected that arises when everything seems to be settled. The story of Adolph, Lottie, and William is not done. Part II of their story will continue on October 31, 2024.

(posted by Amy D.)