If you haven’t read part I of this series we invite you to do so now.
When we ended Part I of this blog series, Adolph and Lottie Steenbock had their divorce finalized on October 26, 1933. Lottie had received all the household furnishings, was allowed to keep the $1500 in savings she had, and was given back her maiden name of Nickelson. She returned to their home at 1940 West First Street in Davenport to continue the boarding house she had been running. William F. Pohlers, her “star boarder” as he was referred to during the divorce trial, still lived in the house as well. Adolph Steenbock found a room to rent with a family on Claussen Street, not far from his old home on West First Street. All he received from the divorce was $193.85 from the $1,000 he had hidden in the basement that Lottie had taken and given to the court to use as payment for court services.
Many were struggling in 1933 finding work during the Great Depression. Adolph struggled to make ends meet as a gardener while William Pohlers had changed jobs from Ralston Purina to a job with the Peoples’ Light Company laying a pipe line in west Davenport. By early December he left the pipe line job to began work with the Civil Works Administration (CWA) on local labor projects. Lottie Steenbock still supported herself by taking in boarders at 1940 West First Street.
The Steenbock divorce quickly fell from the newspaper headlines as October turned into November and early December. The accusations of abuse, theft, and adulatory forgotten as everyone went back to the struggles of the depression and other interests took over the headlines.
But it wasn’t over for one of the three. Adolph Steenbock was angry over the money Lottie had taken from him. While she retained the $1,500 she had stashed away in the house, he only had $193.85. Adolph had stated in divorce court that he struggled to support himself on his gardener’s salary and he needed the $1,000 to survive. He also indicated in court his anger at William Pohlers who he felt caused the break-up of his marriage to Lottie.
On December 5, 1933, Adolph Steenbock finally let his anger overwhelm him. That morning he left the house where he was renting a room with his luggage and went to see his sister, Mrs. Fritz Ebendorf, at her home at 307 Lincoln Avenue in Davenport. He visited with her before departing in the late afternoon, leaving his luggage with his sister.
His destination soon became clear. He approached 1940 West First Street slightly before 4:00 p.m. and walked in the back kitchen door. His ex-wife was in the kitchen and William Pohlers was in the dining room near a radio.
As soon as he walked in, Adolph began demanding the return of his money and a key to his trunk he insisted Lottie had kept from him. Lottie would later tell police that Adolph acted like he had been drinking. As he was shouting at her, Lottie ran into the dining room where William Pohlers stood. Adolph followed her. Upon seeing William, Adolph pulled two revolvers from his coat. He shouted for Pohlers to put up his hands and began to walk towards the dining room table that separated the two men. Lottie, near a hallway, ran for the front door. As she opened the door, she would tell the police she heard a gun shot and William Pohlers say “Oh, that hurts”.
Lottie ran to a neighbor’s house. They called the police who quickly responded. Inside, the police found William Pohlers collapsed in a rocking chair he had been standing in front of when Adolph Steenbock entered the room. He was dead from a gunshot wound near the heart. Adolph Steenbock was dead on the floor near the dining room table. He had shot himself. The police found his coat pockets full of bullets.
Sadly, William Pohlers was not normally home at that time of day. His job transfer from the Peoples’ Light Company pipe line to the CWA project meant he now got home before 4:00 p.m. and not after 5:00 p.m. like his previous job. The job change occurred only a few days before December 5, 1933. It is not known if he was an original target of Adolph Steenbock or a victim of circumstance.
Both bodies were sent to the Hill & Fredericks Mortuary. The Scott County, Iowa Coroner reviewed the police and witness statements and did not call for an inquest as the information provided was conclusive that Adolph Steenbock had shot William Pohlers and then himself.
Both men were buried at Fairmount Cemetery on the same day. Adolph Steenbock in the Public Grounds and William Pohlers in a plot that was purchased by Lottie Steenbock. Lottie not only had William buried there, but interred the cremains of her stepson, Walter, as well. Lottie arranged everything without including William Pohlers’ family in the planning. There were also rumors that Lottie had William take out a life insurance policy with her as the beneficiary, but that was never confirmed.
The funerals were held on December 8, 1933. Lottie attended William’s funeral at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. While the Pohlers family may have attended, they were not listed in the funeral notice. The newspapers noted that Lottie did not attend Adolph’s funeral which was held at 2:00 p.m. from the Hill & Fredericks Mortuary. Nephews and friends served as Adolph’s pall bearers.
After the funeral, Lottie asked William’s recently widowed mother, Anna Pohlers of Amana, to help pay for the burial plot and headstone. William’s two uncles visited the grave to see the headstone and found a large expensive stone monument with Lottie, Walter, and William’s names all engraved on it. William’s name not only had the wrong middle initial, but used the last name Steenbock instead of Pohlers. The family refused to pay for the plot or headstone and the two uncles purchased a small cement headstone with William’s correct name and information that was placed over his resting spot.
After the deaths of Adolph and William, Lottie continued her boarding house. She married widower Thure Carlson of Cambridge, Illinois on November 4, 1934. She was married under her restored maiden name of Nickelsen. Thure died in Davenport on August 6, 1936 of tuberculosis after a two year illness. He was survived by Lottie and three sons by his first marriage along with other relatives.
Lottie worked as a housekeeper until she married for a third time to widower Charles Verniest of Rock Island, Illinois on July 8, 1939. Lottie put down that this marriage was her second instead of third with her maiden name of Necklesen. She would become a naturalized citizen in 1941. One of her complaints during her divorce from Adolph was her desire to become a citizen, but Adolph refused she had said.
Through the 1940s into the 1950s, Lottie and Charles appeared in local newspapers related to church and club activities while living in Rock island. That all changed on October 5, 1954 when The Daily Times and other newspapers ran an article on Lottie finding her long lost older brother only 25 miles from Rock Island.
The article tells how Hans Henningsen had immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was 32 years old and eventually lost contact with his younger sister who was 19 years old when he left. Hans eventually settled in Grand Mound, Iowa while Lottie settled in Davenport and Rock Island. Lottie one day told Herman Johansen who she bought eggs from about her long lost brother. Herman’s sister, Catherine, was married to Hans and the two were happily reunited.
In the newspaper article, Lottie keeps some facts as we know them through primary resources. She was born in Germany, was a nurse in World War I, married a patient, then immigrated to Davenport in 1926. In this article, there was no Adolph Steenbock or Thure Carlson, but only Charles Verniest as her World War I husband who she married in Germany and moved to Davenport with. Records indicate Charles was born in Belgium and immigrated to the United States in 1900 with no mention of being in World War I in his obituary. We can guess that Lottie wanted to remove any connection to Adolph, their divorce, and the tragedy that followed.
As for the connection to Hans Henningsen, we only have guesses as we have not found evidence in German records currently online. Two theories, one is the records, as many records all over the world, are just not online. The second theory, we know Lottie lived near or in Hamburg which sustained heavy bombing in World War II resulting in a loss of documents. So for now, we can only use knowledge we have from genealogical research over the years.
We found that Lottie’s parents names were Johann/John and Maria/Margaretha/Mary Nickelson (or various spellings of the last name). Hans Henningsen’s father’s name was also Johann/John, but his mother’s name was Roth Jensen. It may be a possibility that John Nickelson and Roth Henningsen both passed away and Hans and Maria married making Hans and Lottie stepbrother and stepsister. The “step” may just not have seemed important to the reporting of the story.
Charles Verniest passed away on May 9, 1955 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Rock Island, Illinois.
Lottie Nickelson Steenbock Carlson Verniest passed away on March 29, 1958. In her obituary, her maiden name was no longer Nickelson, but Henningsen. The only husband mentioned was Charles Verniest. Lottie was buried in Calvary Cemetery with Charles and his first wife, Pelagie. Her estate at the time of her death was $12,500 (slightly over $136,000 in present day currency) and bequeathed to four nephews and two nieces.
We don’t know if it was intentional, but Lottie had dissolved any connection from the events of 1933 over the years. She was not buried with Walter and William in the same cemetery as her ex-husband. Instead, choosing to embrace her new life and identity even in death.
(posted by Amy D.)
