Born: 10 December 1882
Died: 22 January 1932
Married: Margaret Ellen Cushing, called "Ella," 10 December 1907
Children: John and Ella had five children; their fourth child, Dorothy Louise, was born in April of 1917.
John Adelbert Berwald cured in Saranac Lake in the spring of 1917. His stay was never spoken about in the family, but discovered through a postcard that he sent to his eldest daughter, Eleanor Josephine. A beautiful picture postcard of Lake Flower was addressed to "Sis", noting that "Daddy's house" looked out on the lake. It was discovered by her daughter, Sharon Lynn, and sent digitally to me this past year. He arrived per report below 23 May 1917 and left the "cure cottage" prior to the early spring of 1918, according to the established family timeline.
The brief record in Saranac Lake shows that John A. Berwald of Cleveland, Ohio was seen by Dr. J. Woods Price on 23 May 1917. This would have been shortly after the birth of his fourth child, Dorothy Louise. He was 36 years old and was staying, only temporarily, at the Grand Union Hotel near the Union Depot. His postcard indicates that by May 31 he had found a room in a cure cottage looking out on Lake Flower.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he was one of nine children born to German immigrants, Dr. and Mrs. Ernst Siegfried Berwald. After working briefly as a grocer's salesman and an insurance agent for American Steel and Wire Company, Mr. Berwald was appointed in 1904 to the Cleveland Police Department, becoming sergeant in 1915. He and Ella, Margaret Ellen, married in 1907. According to his World War I draft registration, in September of 1918, the family was living in Denver, Colorado "located here at present for health". This was prior to the birth of their fifth and last child, John Joseph, born on 31 December 1918. According to family lore and photographs, upon arriving in Los Angeles, California, in early 1919 they "camped on the beach for six months with two children in diapers". It was said to be done for health reasons. They are recorded in the US Census 1920 as living in Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Berwald worked for the Automobile Association of Southern California as a fraud investigator, running for Sheriff of Los Angeles County in 1930. Campaign signs stated: "John A. Berwald has Best Qualifications For Sheriff. For 25 Years He Has Been in Criminal Work Without a Single Criticism. He is Honest Efficient and Clean." He died in 1932 from "surgical shock" after surgery for carcinoma of the stomach.
Source: J. A. Berwald's granddaughter, Peggy McQuade
©Copyright Peggy McQuade, 2013 
