The Tenor

The next child of Andrew and Cora Halter was Robert Adolfus Halter. Our family has had its share of musical talent, including my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien and his brothers John and Roy. On my wife's side of the tree, her great-grandfather's brother Robert showed his musical skills through singing. Robert entered the US Navy in 1918 and sang in the Navy Glee Club. He later moved to Indianapolis, and possibly participated in the same music circuit as my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien. A 1926 clipping in the Indianapolis News gives a sense of Robert's success as a tenor, describing how he won a spot with the Orpheus Male Chorus of Cleveland to compete in an international singing contest in Swansea, Wales.

Indianapolis News, 20 Jul 1926

Robert must have had quite the trip, sailing from Montreal to Liverpool in July, then returning from Liverpool to Canada in mid August 1926 as a champion. Robert appears on the passenger list from the "Celtic" arriving from Liverpool on 19 August, crossing from Canada into the US on 21 August 1926.

Indianapolis News, 3 Sept 1926.

In October 1926, Robert appeared in the News again, performing with the Paramount Popular Four on the radio program for WFBM.

Indianapolis News, 5 October 1926.

Robert arrived in Indianapolis after leaving the Navy. He married Alma Elizabeth Eaves in 1921, and they welcomed a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, into the household in March 1922. The family appear together in the 1930 US Census in Indianapolis.

There is much more to Robert's story, he lived to be 90 years old. I will have a few more posts on Robert coming up.