The
American Melting Pot
Thomas Edward Mullin (b. 1916 in Bedford,
Taylor County, Iowa) grew up in a predominantly Irish and Black neighborhood
adjacent to Goose Hollow in
Davenport
.
He told stories of attending the
AME
Church
in the neighborhood with his Black friends
and of taking them with him to St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Tom attended
grammar school at St. Anthony's and graduated from
St.
Ambrose
Academy
in the 1934. Having suffered from
near-sightedness his whole life, Tom memorized the eye chart to enlist in the
Navy during WWII. He served with a marked lack of distinction with the 45th
Seabees in
Alaska
and
Hawaii
until
1946. Of note, Tom never knew a single day of unemployment in his life. The day
after he returned home from the war, he awoke early and reported to the loading
dock at the Quad-City Times for work. He continued to work until suffering an
accidental fall at age seventy-nine. Tom is perhaps best know as having been a
realtor for Frederick's Company and then Mel Foster.
Marion Emma Stamer (b. 1915 in
Davenport
,
Iowa
) is the daughter of
Wilhelm Fritz Stamer and Dorothea Wiese. Wilhelm (b. 1884 in
Kiel
,
Schleswig-Holstein
,
Germany
)
migrated by himself to
Davenport
,
Iowa
,
arriving at
Ellis
Island
,
New York
, in 1907.
Wilhelm is noted as an exception to the previous histories, as he migrated to
America
for
economic opportunity instead of fleeing war or starvation. Dora Wiese (b. 1879
in
Davenport
,
Iowa
)
was the descendant of the Wiese-Arp family of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein (now
Germany
).
These ethnic German immigrants came to
America
beginning
in 1858 prior to German unification in 1871. The Wiese-Arp family were highly
successful farmers, living in Eldridge, Probstei, and
Bettendorf
,
Iowa
.
Tom was known to be an exceptionally
outgoing person. The fact that he met
Marion
is not amazing; however, the fact that
Marion
's mother, Dora, allowed
Marion
to date a "black" Irishman like Tom is amazing. Tom married
Marion
in 1944 during WWII. They reared five
children–three of whom now live in
Davenport
,
Iowa
; one of whom lives in
Gadsden
,
Alabama
; and one of whom
lives in
Fairfax County
,
Virginia
.
