Louis and Elizabeth Locketz in Minnesota
Liberty Garment Manufacturing Company, the Locketz family business which lasted for three generations until 1989, deserves its own essay. But one can safely say that the seeds of the company were sewn in the years that Louis and Elizabeth were first back in Minneapolis.
Seymour was born on February 15, 1918 in Minneapolis. February 1918 was literally the month the 1918 Flu Pandemic began. One can imagine the stress they must have felt with newborn Seymour. Not to mention World War I was going on. Here is Louis’ registration card for the draft. Note he was in protest of the war under the signature. On question 12, he claimed exemption because of, “sciatic rheumatism, support of wife.” This is dated June 15, 1917 and lists 31 Highland as their address. And that he worked for the Kingston Company. Maybe that is who they bought out in order to start Liberty Garment in 1920?
The 1920 Census, with data taken on January 10th, 1920, lists Louis, Elizabeth and Seymour still living on Highland. That would change very soon as the corporate minutes for Liberty Garment showing its establishment on June 3, 1920.
Signed by the Secretary of State, June 3, 1920
And so in 1920, Louis and Elizabeth began life in Fergus Falls, MN.
That is me on a cold February Day in 2022 when Debbie and I visited Fergus Falls.
In the public record, Louis again is far more researchable than Elizabeth. As more letters are translated, we will no doubt learn more about Elizabeth. We can learn about what animated Louis by googling him. He wrote dozens of letters to the editors of various papers with positions on immigration, term limits, Zionism, Jewish Settlement in Russia, and politics. I have attached many of these to the tree that will eventually be available. Here is an example.
Sidney Sherwood Locketz was born in Fergus Falls on Dec. 6, 1920
Harold David Locketz was born in Fergus’s Falls, March 30, 1925
Here are photos of Louis, Elizabeth and Seymour. My guess this is the first Summer they lived in Fergus Falls - 1920 because Sidney was born in December.
Including this photo of Elizabeth because it must have been taken during the Fergus Falls period and it is a great photo.
To be clear, this has largely been an exercise so far in biography. There is a lot of history to dig into to understand not just the lives of our ancestors, but the world they lived in and what they lived through. And how we can honor it, learn from it, and make the world better and better through what we have to give. It starts with the spark of life with which one generation ignites the next.
Louis and Elizabeth moved to Minneapolis in 1933. One likely reason was that Liberty Garment went through a transition in ownership, and Louis, in re-establishing the business now as President wanted to be closer to the customer base. There is also a family legend that Louis and Elizabeth wanted to be in a tighter knit Jewish community for the boys.
