Brother Bill

From the Busse autograph collection.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

"Brother Bill" was Adeline's older brother, William John Busse, and he was 19 years old when he wrote this cynical advice. The 1910 Census found him with no job, but by the time of the Great War he had moved to Chicago and was employed by Wells Fargo (WWI Draft Cards). However, he was back in Hobart in time for the 1920 Census, and I think he remained there until his death. He is buried in Hobart Cemetery.

So far as I can tell, he did indeed paddle his own canoe through life, in a sense, for he never loved and trusted anyone outside his family enough to marry.