| William Herboldt worked at the TKWM as a helper, a laborer, a carder and in the finishing room. His wife and many members of his family also worked at the woolen mill.
William Herboldt was born to Conrad Herboldt and Elisabetha Christina [Matthis] Herboldt on 7 Feb 1884 in Germany. He was the youngest of six children born to the couple. We have not found what happened to William’s biological father but he either died or disappeared before the family made the trip to America.
William’s mother Christina married a second time to Henry Semke, and it is believed they made the trip from Germany with her six children in 1885: William only being one year old. Henry and Christina had one daughter together, Helena Semke born in Michigan in 1885. Henry Semke raised the other children as well. Those children were sometimes documented with the surname of Semke and woolen mill records. Henry Semke was a weaver at the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. Henry’s brother Fred Semke may also have worked at the mill for a brief period.
William’s sister Martha Herboldt Ettner Brand worked as a weaver at the TKWM alongside her husband Andrew Ettner for many years. Their two children, Bessie and William John Ettner were also weavers at TKWM. William’s brother John Herboldt also worked as a laborer at the mill in 1897 and had hours recorded in an 1898-1902 time book.
William spent his early childhood with his family in Crystal Falls, Iron, Michigan. We know from records of his stepfather that worked at TKWM, that the family moved west and were in Salem, OR by 1896. By 1902 William was a helper at the woolen mill.
In 1905 William was a carder for TKWM and a young lady named Grace Rockhill was a weaver. A romance blossomed and on 21 Jul 1905 William Hughes and Grace were issued a marriage permit. They married around that time, but no marriage record has been found.
The couple’s first child, Walter Roy Herboldt, was born in July 1906. Their second son Arthur Wallace was born in Sep 1907 and their daughter Alpha Mae in Sep 1908. Needless to say, William and Grace were busy having and raising children during this time. William continued to work diligently at the TKWM Co. to support his growing family.
By 1906 William was working in the Finishing Room at TKWM. He remained in that position for about three years but was recorded in the 1909 city directories as a carder. With his background at the woolen mill, he worked in many different areas at different times, depending on the need.
Tragically William Herboldt passed away suddenly on 17 Dec 1909 at the age of 25. His death certificate listed his occupation as a woolen mill employee and gave the cause of death as diabetes. William was buried in City View Cemetery in Salem, OR. No gravestone was placed.
This left Grace with three very young children to raise, ages one, two and three. She returned to work at TKWM as a weaver to support her family and remained there until the 1920s. Grace remarried in 1918 to a Salem barber named Charles Luke Riley. He had a young son named William “Willis” Riley who was born in 1907, and about the same age as Grace’s children. They combined their families and then added a daughter, Francis Marie Riley in 1920.
Tragedy struck the family again in 1923 when Grace came down with diphtheria. She passed away at her home near Aumsville, OR on 1 Jul 1923. She was buried next to her first husband William in City View Cemetery. William and Grace’s three children were put under the guardianship of William J. Ettner, the son of William’s sister Martha.
Grace’s second husband Charles Riley raised their daughter, and remarried at the age of 72, in 1947. He passed away 7 Mar 1959 and was buried at the Aumsville Cemetery. |
