Reprinted with permission of The Iron Master - Posted on NaturalStrength.com on 30 June 1999
It is our privilege to present the story of the first official A.A.U. Mr. America, Roland Joseph Essmaker, as told by Roland himself...
I will be 80 years old on March 24, 1996. Subtract 80 from 1996 and you will find that I was born in 1916 in Richmond, Indiana.
My mother, Anna Kutter Essmaker died July 4, 1919, as a result of the 1918 flu epidemic. One year later, my father, Harry Joseph Essmaker, out of necessity place my older brother Alvin, and me in St. Vincent's orphanage in Vincennes, Indiana, while he studied Chiropractic under Dr. Palmer, founder of the Palmer Method of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. I was 4 years old at the time and my brother was 6.
After my father completed the Chiropractic course, some 3+ years later he returned to Richmond, Indiana and opened his office. Shortly after, he brought my brother and me back to Richmond to live with him. He never remarried.
Times were tough then, Chiropractic was new and dad's business was poor, but we managed to get by. Then cam the "Great Depression," I helped with expenses the best I could. I had a newspaper route and sold magazines from house to house, but still we got behind in rent. *** CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE ***
NaturalStrength.com is an online think-tank, dedicated to truthful drug-free strength training information, (weight training, weightlifting, olympic lifting, powerlifting, strongman (competitive), bodybuilding, physical culture & iron game). Good articles about weight training, strength research, the harmful effects of steroids, the mental aspects of training, and iron game - physical culture history are always wanted. Email articles to the editor: bobwhelan@naturalstrength.com