Thomas Andreas Abele - Biography

His godfather was the single man, Thomas Bauer. As a young boy, Tom would run errands around Dahenfeld. Later he had an after school job running telegrams from Dahenfeld to Neckarsulm. When Tom was 12, his schoolmaster recommended him as an apprentice gardener at Kaiser Wilhem's summer estate located on the Bodensee (Lake Konstanz). The head gardener at the summer estate was named Bruno Mattes. Tom enjoyed working at the estate as he learned a lot about gardening. Sometimes Bruno would teach Tom how to hunt as the estate was a large place where the Kaiser entertained government and military officials. Tom had Sundays off and enjoyed fishing in the big lake. He would get up early and throw three or four lines out. By 10:00 a.m. he would have a sufficient catch to supply a group of customers he had acquired. He also whittled wooden stirring spoons and accumulated enough money for his passage to America. Working at the estate only provided room and board. Bruno also used Tom to run messages to Switzerland, just a few miles away. Through the years Tom became well enough known to the border guards that he could come and go without formal papers. As Tom approached his 18th birthday, compulsary military duty loomed in his future. One day, Bruno gave him a heavy coat, packed him a lunch and arranged for him to deliver a message as on previous occasions. However, this time Tom took a train through France and then a ship to America. Tom was able to visit his mother one last time before leaving for America but did not tell his siblings of his plan for fear that if the authorities found out he would be put in the military immediately. Tom worked with several Saginaw florists until opening his own gardening and vegetable shop in 1890. Later he specialized as a wholesale florist. In 1903, Tom opened a store at 3500 Wadsworth road. He retired from there around 1951, leaving the operation of the store to his son Edward. Tom was a member of the Saginaw Valley Florist Association, Michigan State Florist Association and the Society of American Florists. At one time he was an officer of the Star School Board (Buena Vista 3). Tom's aunt, Margarethe Abele, was the second wife of Ignatz Grohmann, who was an uncle of Tom's wife, Josephine.