Afterward - Background Information

Fun Facts

Sophie later used the name Dorothy. We all knew her as Aunt Dorothy. The name Sophie is used in the newspaper articles and early legal documents from the orphanage and the court. I chose to use Sophie in the story for that reason. She married Mike Chestnut and had 3 children. Her son James was a Colonel in the USAF and a decorated fighter pilot and war hero in Vietnam.

Frank actually did become a professional wrestler for a time. He was a very big man with a very big presence. He later became the co-owner of Waldorf Beer Distributing Company, a very successful company. He had 3 children.

Annie was a spinster who in World War II became a proverbial "Rosie the Riveter" for the American cause.

William (Billy) graduated from Ohio State University with a law degree and was employed as an Attorney for Toledo Citizen's Bank. Stanley and Frank fit the bill and put him through college. He and his wife had 2 children.

Stella later remarried and had another daughter, Helen. Helen became the youngest of the siblings and later became a nurse. She had 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters.

The speakeasy, Sophie's Fine Foods is a fictitious place, but it is based on an actual bar Stanley owned for several years, wild women included. EmmaMae put a stop to it all pulling Stanley away from the destructive road he was headed down. The setting was fictitious, but the story aspect was real.

The story of the three thugs who jumped Stanley is true. He exacted his revenge on each by hunting them down individually. He actually did launch one of them over a balcony at a theater.

The bum that jumped Stanley after he arrived in Chicago is a true story. He always said he needed the overcoat he took from him to protect himself from the bitter cold.

The farm was 98.5 acres and was purchased for $12,000 on August 29, 1919.