ad one daughter, Carolyn, an unmarried (to date) school teacher. My mother’s sister Ada returned to Sweden where she spent the remainder of her life in a mental hospital—no doubt the result of the tension of living in a strange, foreign country (USA).
My mother became a nurse in Chicago[6] and later in life migrated to the far west, following her profession briefly in Goldfield, Nevada and San Francisco. It was in the last named city that she met my father who was a patient at the French Hospital where she was a nurse.
My mother became the private nurse of my father and finally he asked her to marry him. There was, apparently, a dispute over religion, my mother being of Swedish Lutheran background and my father of Irish Catholic background.
My parents were married in the rectory by a Catholic priest on February 29, 1916 in Bakersfield, California.[7] I was born on March 31, 1917[8]—my mother being 44 years old at the time. One of my father’s friends sent him a telegram saying “Congratulations Tim, I would have bet 100 to 1 against you having a child so late in life.” It was my father’s desire that I should be named after him, but my mother insisted on the name John, so I was
baptized in St. Francis Catholic Church, Bakersfield as Timothy Eugene John Sullivan—my cousin Esther Sullivan (Buty) and her fiancé William (Bill) Cannon being the God-parents.[9]
Then the Priest shall take the Child into his hands, and shall say to the Godfathers and Godmothers, Name this Child. And then naming it after them he shall dip it in the water discreetly and warily saying, Timothy Eugene John Sullivan, I baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Publick Baptism of Infants
Book of Common Prayer, 1549
As an only child of middle-aged parents I was spoiled quite badly. There was a pretty little girl who lived across the street from us. Her name was Jessie Lee Hubbard and my mother would arrange for her to come over and visit at my slightest desire to have her do so.
My mother had the habit of going around to many different churches and religious meetings and she took me with her. One evening there was an elderly man who got up and testified: “I love everybody.” I thought he must be a very wonderful person to love everyone.
As I grew up, I made many friends of the boys in the neighborhood. There was John Swett who went to the Episcopal Church and who had a younger sister, Ruth. John played first base on the Franklin School baseball team on which I was only a substitute. Then there were the Stroud brothers, Allan and Bill (who died at 19). Other friends were John (Slink) Muir who had a younger sister Barbara (Snook) and Sargent Eissler and Carl Kamline, another only child whose Lutheran father operated a curtain store. Then there was George Nicholas Rudolph Voll who was a superb athlete and whose widowed mother ran the downtown Euclid Hotel. Other youthful friends were Harvey Nesbit, Terry Fugard (The Master), Tony, and Larry, Jack and Patrick O’Brien, all Irish-American Catholics.
My mother never disciplined me, so far as I can remember, but my father (whom I always called “Daddy”) raised the hairbrush as if to paddle me once and thereafter I always feared and respected him more.
Our kindergarten teacher at Franklin School was Miss Annette Pritzkav and our first grade teacher was Mrs. Laota Snow. I found it very difficult to learn to read and was kept after school with two other slow learners. My daddy helped me with my reading and I gained in confidence by having him teach me.
My friend Carl (Lefty) Kamline and I used to make model toy aeroplanes out of the shavings of his father’s curtain store. One day Carl and I made two small fires in our garage with some of the shavings left over from making model aeroplanes. About that time my mother came out to the garage and we, feeling guilty at having our fire-making discovered, turned our backs to the fire. However, I got too close and my shirt caught fire. My mother snatched the burning shirt from my back and put out the fire, but I was rather badly burned and our family physician, Dr. N.N. Brown, tended my burns and it was very painful when he took the bandages off my back. As a result of this accident I have been rather afraid of matches and fires.
(Note: At the age of eight, Tim went on a trip to Sweden with his mother. Following are messages on postcards written to his father in Bakersfield:)
Dear Daddy,
I received the $five dollars you sent me. Thank you for the $five dollars. I have some wooden shoes. I just got them this morning. I hope you are well.
Love from Tim, July 4th 1925.
Dear Daddy,
We are in Grenna now. But we are going back to Jönkköping today. We rode to an island in a motorboat.
Love from Tim, July 17th, 1925
Dear Daddy,
I and Mama have been in 16 Swedish cities. The picture is of falls that supply waterpower for Sweden.
Love from Tim, August 5th.
(Note: Although Tim did not mention it in his autobiography, photographs taken at about the age of 5 or 6 indicate that he must have contracted polio at some point. One leg was shorter than the other and a special lift was attached to his shoe.)
When I was 10 years old both of my parents died within three weeks of each other. My father (Daddy) was stricken with a heart attack while visiting his friend Tom O’Brien in Lebec. They brought him in an ambulance to the San Joaquin Hospital. My mother and I were at his bedside. Daddy called mother’s name—”Anna”, and she replied “Tim” (I think). That was the last word that Daddy spoke. He died December 23rd[10], just two days before Christmas. His funeral was held in St. Francis Catholic Church.[11] I have no recollection of the funeral, but I believe a large crowd attended it. Mother was soon taken to the ward at Kern General Hospital which is associated with mental illness. My Uncle Dan took me to visit Mother in the hospital. She was so happy, good and kind and seemed so glad to see me. She called me “My dear little boy.” It made me feel good as I thought Mother was getting better. But the next time I visited Mother she was very upset and angry. She said “You will never be anything but a drunken Catholic like the rest of the Sullivans.” At least that is what I seem to remember. I was crestfallen and very sad. I never saw my mother alive again. She was taken to Glendale Sanitarium where she died January 8, 1928.
Mother’s funeral was held in the First Baptist Church where the pastor, The Reverend Frank O. Belden, gave a splendid eulogy. He said if there were more people like Anna Sullivan the world would be a better place.[12]
For a short time after Mother’s death I was taken care of by Anna and Fred Karpe, a devout couple from the Baptist Church. Like my own parents, they had an only son, Milford Karpe, and I can recall Anna Karpe saying “Milford always stays for church.”
Soon after my parents’ death I was placed under the care of my first cousin, Uncle Pat’s daughter, Esther Sullivan Buty, of Seattle, Washington. Esther had two small children, Louis Francis Buty, Jr. (“Little Louis”) and Virginia Buty who was an exceedingly pretty little girl. Louis, Jr. had the Italian nickname of “Pasqual.” It was, I believe, in May 1928 that cousin Esther gave birth to her third child, Francis Xavier Buty who was born in “The old home town” of Bakersfield.
It was fun living with the Butys—the happy time of having two small “brothers” (cousins) and a tiny “sister” (Virginia) to play with. We spent the summer of 1928 and the fall, too, I believe, in Seattle. We had a lovely summer cottage at a place called “Three Tree Point” near Seattle. It was there that I first learned to play tennis. I seem to remember Joe Weber, and McCaffrey and Mahlom Hultgrern (Swedish name) as people I played with. Oddly enough, although naturally left handed, I decided to play tennis right handed which “stance” remained with me as long as I played tennis.
It was fun living in Seattle in the winter. “Big Louis” (cousin Esther’s husband) took me to some of the University of Washington football games where “Big Pat” Jessup, 6 foot 6 inch center, and halfback Merle Hufford were the stars. Also saw some of the Seattle Indians (?) baseball games, starring Pitcher Rudy Kallio and outfielder Dave Barbee.
Now, for the first time I began to take an interest in girls. There was a pretty little Irish American girl who lived across the alley from us. Her name was Maxine Murphy and I learned how to tie a neck tie so as to appear more presentable to her. She had a brother, Bob Murphy and an older sister, Ursula. The Murphys were Catholic as were my cousin Esther and her family. Sometimes the Butys would have big parties on Saturday night, until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. but they would always make it to the late morning Mass. But the time with the Butys was almost too happy to last and the bank (who controlled my estate) decreed that we should live at “2703”, my parents’ home in Bakersfield. For awhile a friend named Aggie Dempsey stayed with us in Bakersfield, but before long the “religious struggle” between Catholic and Protestants came into play with the result that somehow Mrs. W.J. Schultz and the Baptists succeeded in having my cousin Esther’s guardianship terminated. I was sorry to see Esther and the children leave. The first night they were gone I almost tried to sleep in a garden at Klipstein’s house, but finally I got up my nerve enough to ask the kindly Mrs. Swett if I could spend the night with them. Her son Johnny Swett was my best friend and he had a younger sister, Ruth.
Then I went to stay with another friend from the neighborhood, Billy Holmquist. After a few weeks there, Judge Erwin Owen, a kindly old Texas gentleman ruled that Mr. Holmquist should be my guardian, thus starting a new chapter in my youthful struggle to grow up.
*******************
Here ends Tim’s autobiography as written in 1973.
*******************
Part II: Biography
(Note: The following biography was compiled from letters, interviews with family members, newspaper articles, and notations on photographs.)
Legal Problems Concerning Sullivan Estate and Guardianship
Following the death of Tim’s father in 1927, and just prior to the death of his mother about three weeks later, a legal battle began over the estate. A front page article from the Bakersfield Morning Echo of December 29, 1927 reads as follows:
START SULLIVAN ESTATE BATTLE
Widow Taken from Home on Warrant
Forcibly Remove Woman on Insanity Charge Following Funeral Declares Attorney
A bitter legal struggle between Mrs. Timothy E. Sullivan, widow of the late pioneer millionaire and a relative of the deceased was indicated last night by Edward A. Brittan of the firm of Brittan and Brittan, attorneys for the widow, in connection with the application of Mary E. Sullivan, a sister of the late millionaire and aunt of Timothy E. Sullivan, 10-year old son of the decedent, for appointment as guardian of the son and heir, following the removal of his mother from her home on a charge of insanity, preferred by Thomas O’Brien.
“The widow, Anna S. Sullivan, was forcibly taken from her home and is being held under an insanity charge preferred by Thomas O’Brien of Lebec,” said
Attorney Brittan, “while the Sullivans, who came here from the north to attend the funeral have taken possession of her home. Mary E. Sullivan, an aunt of the boy, has applied for appointment as guardian of Timothy E. Sullivan, Jr.”
“We have asked the Security Trust Company, named executor of the will, to immediately repossess the house,” said the attorney, “as it is the personal property of Mrs. Sullivan, to which they have no right of occupancy.”
“The Security Trust Company has also been requested to apply for special letters of administration to protect the estate,” said the attorney.
The action for appointment of a guardian for the boy and the granting of special letters of administration is being heard before Judge H. A. Peairs of the Superior court, proceedings being started yesterday.
“The arrest of Mrs. Sullivan upon an insanity charge took place at her home on Tuesday afternoon, following the funeral of her husband in the morning,” said Mrs. Richard Apsley, a neighbor and friend of the family. “This action,” she said, “aroused much criticism in the neighborhood owing to the fact that it appears to be part of a plan to part the mother and her son.”
“It seems as if a woman of such prominence, and known kindliness of character, would have been given more considerate treatment,” said Mrs. Apsley, “for she has been noted in this city for years for her charities, and sincere desire to serve the unfortunate.”
“She has been a devoted wife and mother, and if through illness and strain she has broken it seems as if she should be given the same gentle consideration
“Mrs. Clara Peterson of San Francisco, an old-time friend of Mrs. Sullivan, who was herself formerly a nurse, was among the callers upon Mrs. Sullivan yesterday. She reported that the woman should be in her own home, with a private nurse,” stated Mrs. Apsley. Miss Peterson is one of the head nurses at the Southern Pacific hospital at San Francisco.
Besides the sister, Mary E. Sullivan of San Jose, there are three brothers, John Sullivan of San Jose, Thomas Sullivan of Seattle, and Patrick Sullivan of Bakersfield.
On the following day, December 30, 1927, the following article appeared on the front page of the Bakersfield Morning Echo:
Security Bank to Administer Sullivan Estate
Special Writ Handed Down in Will Case
Administrator Ordered to Take Immediate Possession of Estate; Other Hearings Set
Special letters of administration of the estate of the late Timothy E. Sullivan, valued at more than $200,000 in a will made in 1918, were granted the Security Bank and Trust Company yesterday by Judge E.W. Owen of Kern County superior court upon petition of Attorneys Harvey and Heard representing the bank. Under the terms of the will the bank was named as guardian of the estate and the person of the son.
The hearing as to the guardianship of the bank was set by Judge H.A. Peairs for January 9 at 2 o’clock and the hearing on the application of Mary E. Sullivan, an aunt, for guardianship of the son Timothy E. J. Sullivan, Jr., was set for January 3.
Hearing of insanity charges against Anna S. Sullivan, widow of the decedent, was set for Saturday before Judge Owens.…
Under the terms of a codicil of the will, dated June 6, 1922, it was declared that substantial gifts had been made to the wife and the clause in the will leaving her the residue of the estate was revoked, and instead the son was made heir to the residue of the estate.…
To the widow, Anna Sophia Sullivan the east half block of 430, together with the improvements, was bequeathed according to the terms of the will.
The will also provided $35,000 in Liberty bonds and two 40-acre tracts and an 80-acre tract in Kern County as special bequests to the son T.E.J. Sullivan. Later in the codicil the residue of the estate was bequeathed to the son.
In the will the estate was valued at more than $200,000 and in the codicil it was valued at more than $10.000 according to the documents filed with F.E. Smith, county clerk, in the probate proceedings.
Anna Sullivan went to Los Angeles on December 30, 1927 and was admitted to a hospital under the care of Dr. Ross Moore. He stated in a letter dated January 28, 1928 to Oscar A. Swanson, relative of Anna, living in Chicago, that
“Mrs. Anna Sophia Sullivan came under my professional care December 30th 1927. At that time she was very much exhausted from the long ambulance journey from Bakersfield to Los Angeles. This exhaustion was both physical and nervous. It manifested itself in great mental confusion and excitement. During the first few days her condition was quite precarious on account of this acute exhaustion. Then for two or three days her condition seemed to take a turn for the better. The nervous excitement subsided and she became mentally clear enough to talk with the nurses for a few minutes at a time about her son. This improvement was brought about by first class psychiatric nursing and the use of neutral baths to control nervousness and excitement.
Mrs. Sullivan’s general physical condition was poor and had been so for some months previous to her death. The improvement which we succeeded in bringing about was therefore only temporary. She began to fail and died within a few days. Looking back over the case I am inclined to feel that nothing was left undone which might have brought about a different result.”
Prior to receiving the above letter, Oscar A. Swanson had traveled to Bakersfield on January 7, 1927 to try and determine the circumstances regarding the estate and the insanity hearing for Anna. Arriving back in Los Angeles on the evening of the 7th it was too late to see Anna. She died early in the morning of the 8th before Oscar was able to see her.
While in Bakersfield Oscar tried to find out as much as he could about the case. He was told that two hours after Mr. Sullivan’s funeral Anna was locked up on an insanity charge, and that immediately thereafter “Mary Sullivan and her gang took possession of the house and they immediately got good and drunk on T.E.S.’s private stock which all went.” Oscar talked to young Tim who asked him, “Who will get me if Mama dies?”
Following his return to Chicago, Oscar Swanson received several letters from friends in Bakersfield keeping him posted on Tim’s situation. From a reading of several letters it appears that Mr. & Mrs. Karpe took care of Tim for a short time prior to the arrival of Tim’s cousin, Esther Sullivan Buty. Eva L. Schultz[13], one of the correspondents, reported that when Mrs. Buty “…and two little heathens arrived, the eldest greeted Mrs. Karpe with “This is our home. What are you doing here?” In that same letter, Mrs. Schultz indicated that Timothy had united with the Baptist Church on January 22nd and that he would be baptized the following Sunday. She said that Tim came forward of his own accord and presented himself. She hoped that Tim would become a minister.
Writing to Oscar a few months later, Mrs. Schultz had a more favorable report, stating that Mrs. Buty seems to be very fond of Tim and that she wants to do the right thing by him. She felt that “Mrs. Buty had won over the folks around here.” She said that Tim had gained in weight and that he had more “child life than ever before.” Mrs. Schultz also indicated that Tim had been received into the Baptist Church and had been baptized and attended Sunday School and church.
Timothy Eugene John Sullivan, I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Dr. Frank O. Belden
Defend, O Lord, this Thy Child with Thy heavenly grace, that he may continue Thine for ever: and daily increase in Thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come into Thy everlasting kingdon. Amen
The Order of Confirmation
Book of Common Prayer, 1549
In August of 1929, after Mrs. Buty had gone to Seattle with Tim and her own children, a friend of Oscar Swanson visited the Buty family and Tim. A good report was given, including the fact that Tim was attending a Baptist church in the Seattle area.
The next we hear is a letter of May 13, 1930 from Matilda Smeitzer[14] to Oscar Swanson. She reported that Esther Buty had been removed from the guardianship of Tim because of charges of gross immorality brought by Dan Sullivan, Esther’s uncle. She was asked to resign, which she eventually did and she left Bakersfield.
Eva Schultz, writing a few days later, informed Oscar that the judge planned to appoint a new guardian within a few days. It was at this point that George and Agnes Holmquist became responsible for Tim.
The High School Years
While attending Kern County Union High School Tim began what plainly turned out to be a lifelong love of writing about any and all topics. Sending and receiving correspondence of the social kind was his passion, and he did not hesitate to read others’ personal mail if he could lay his hands on it. This “fault” of his became the cause of much distress on the part of his new “siblings” after his marriage to Reinette. This ardor for writing expressed itself in high school where he served as Editor of the school newspaper, the Blue & White , in 1934 and 1935. During this period the newspaper was acclaimed the best high school newspaper in the San Joaquin Valley. Tim was a member of the Press Club and played on the football team, the “Drillers”, who were county champs in 1934; his number was “48.” He graduated from high school on June 7, 1935.
The following year Tim attended the 1936 Olympics in Germany where he had the opportunity of seeing Jesse Owens’ outstanding performance, an accomplishment that confounded Adolph Hitler. Perhaps this experience of being a spectator at an international event explains why throughout his adult life Tim took a special interest in the Olympics and attended a number of these games.
Stanford University (1935-1938)
Entering Stanford University in the fall of 1935, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta. In the summer of 1936 Tim and a friend from Stanford made a bicycle tour of Europe, followed by a visit to relatives in Sweden. Gustof Dahllöf went to pick him up at Herrljunga Station but didn’t recognize him. “No one could travel all the way from the U.S. and not wear a hat!” Gustof said.
In the fall of 1936 Tim began a second year at Stanford, enrolling for independent study, but the strenous bike travel of the summer before had taken its toll on Tim’s energy and his health broke down causing him to spend about two years recovering at the Livermore Sanitarium. During the time he was a resident at Livermore Mr. Holmquist faithfully visited him every few weeks.
Out of the depths have I called to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
If you, LORD were to note what is done amiss, O LORD who could stand?
For there is forgiveness with you; therefore you shall be feared.
I wait for the LORD; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.
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