52 Ancestors: Earliest

This weeks' blog prompt is Earliest.  At first I was stumped - should I write about the earliest document I have, the earliest ancestor I have documented, or earliest memory I have of one of my ancestors?  Wait - how about the earliest photo I have of my ancestors?  So here we go.....

Paternal side

3x great grandmother, Hannah (Plotzky) Steen, 1828-1909

2x great grandmother, Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz, 1848-1918

2x great grandfather, Louis Schwartz, 1834-1893

2x great grandfather, Ferdinand Gunzendorfer, 1838-1907

2x great grandmother, Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer, 1848-1910

Great Grandmother, Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer, 1872-1950

Great grandfather, Abraham Gunzendorfer, 1869-1944

Great grandfather, Herman Levy, 1856-1918

Great grandmother, Goldie (Benas) Levy, 1864-1926

Grandmother, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy, 1896-1982

Grandfather, Sigmund Levy, 1888-1968

Father, Gordon Levy, 1927-2005

Maternal Side

2x great grandmother, Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson, 1836-1923

2x great grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy, 1845-1928

2x great grandfather, Mathew Fitzgerald, 1850-1905

Great grandmother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, 1883-1966

Great grandfather, Edward Fitzgerald, 1879-1968

Great grandmother, Frances (Brooks) Martin, 1860-1936

Grandmother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, 1903-1987

Grandfather, Earle Martin, 1900-1986

Mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, 1928-2013

And last but not least - ME!

I'm missing a few and hope to one day find them but I feel like I have a pretty good collection!

SNGF: Female Ancestors' Age at Death

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (okay, so I’m a day late) from Randy Seaver is to review your pedigree chart and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least 5 generations.  You can read about it HERE. 

What’s interesting about this exercise is that I’ve actually given it quite a bit of thought as when my mother died at the age of 84, I thought back to her mother, and her mother, and her mother and I thought they were all about the same age.  It made me realize that I’d really like to go from age 83 to about age 85 and just bypass those ages altogether. 

So an added exercise for me was to identify the ages of those women, in addition to five generations.

My mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, died 15 days before her 85th birthday.  So 84 years old.

Her mother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, died at the age of 84.  Uh-oh.

Geraldine (Martin) Levy & Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter

 

Clara’s mother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, died at the age of 83 years, 5 months.

Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald

 

Mabel’s mother, Rebecca (Waller), died at the age of 83 years, 2 months.

 

Rebecca (Waller) McAboy

See?  I’m turning 83 and then poof – I’m gonna be 85! 

Okay, so back to the original exercise.  Some of my math might not look correct as I took into account the age at their last birthday.

Mother
Geraldine (Martin) Levy – 1928-2013 – 84 years

Grandmothers
Clara Maxine (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter – 1903-1987 – 84 years
Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy – 1896-1982 – 86 years

Great Grandmothers
Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald – 1883-1966 – 83 years
Frances Maria (Brooks) Martin – 1860-1936 – 75 years
Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer – 1872-1950 – 78 years
Goldie (Benas) Levy – 1864-1926 – 62 years

2nd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Waller) McAboy – 1845-1928 – 83 years
Julia (Horgan) Fitzgerald – 1849-1886 – 37 years
Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson – 1836-1923 – 86 years
Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz – 1848-1918 – 70 years
Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer – 1848-1910 – 62 years
Fredericka (Wilzinski) Benas – 1840-1915 – 75 years
Millicent (Moore) Martin – 1827-1884 – 56 years
Unknown ( ) Levy

3rd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Parker) Waller – 1814-1845 – 30 years
Margaret (Finley) Miller – 1812-1884 – 72 years
Monima (Williams) Brooks – 1801-1867 – 66 years
Hannah (Plotzkey) Steen – 1828-1909 – 80 years
Margaret (Callahn) Horgan – Unknown
Sarah (Frankel) Goldstein – 1838-1897 – 59 years
Sarah (Mann) McAboy – 1825-1910 – 85 years
Margaret (Cullen) Fitzgerald – Unknown
Amelia (Jackson) Wilzinski – 1816-1902 – 86 years
Elizabeth (McDaniel) Moore – 1808-1867 – 59 years
Tabitha (Rodgers) Martin – 1800-1860 – 60 years
Unknown x 5

The female ancestor to live the longest was Sarah Jane (Miller) Brooks Anderson at 31,586 days.  Sarah’s first husband (and my 2nd great grandfather) was killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg and at one point she moved across country from South Carolina to California – what stories she would have had!

A close runner-up was my grandmother whom I’ve written so much about, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy at 31,519 days.  Besides my parents, I probably know more about her than any other ancestor.

The ancestor to live the least amount of time was Rebecca (Parker) Waller, my 3rd great grandmother.  Rebecca died at the age of 30, within days of giving birth to my 2nd great Grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy.

The average age of the 23 women I know the age for at the time of their death was about 70 years old.

It sure is hard to see how many of these women died at an age younger than I am today.  But I’m not dwelling on that, at least not until I get to be 83 years old!

Fannie Goldstein Gunzendorfer

I don’t know a lot about my 2nd great grandmother, Fannie Goldstein Gunzendorfer, but my interest in all things Gunzendorfer has been piqued this week due to connecting with not one but TWO Gunzendorfer cousins.  I wrote last week about my first connection here and through her, I’ve connected with her first cousin – both are descendants of Jacob Gunzendorfer, younger brother of my great grandfather, Abraham Gunzendorfer.  Their grandmother, Irene Gunzendorfer Sherwin, was my grandmother’s (Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy) first cousin.  I remember hearing about Irene and her daughters (and even met the daughters) but I never paid too much attention to how they were related.  But that’s changed now!

Our direct ancestors are Fannie Goldstein and Ferdinand Gunzendorfer, our 2nd great grandparents.  One of my first blog posts was about Ferdinand (here) so now it’s time to add Fannie to the mix.

I’ve seen quite a few birth dates and places for Fannie but I’m going to go with 6 March 1848 in Poland since that’s what it shows on her death certificate and grave.  I’ve also seen 1846 and 1847 and Prussia and Germany.  According to the Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1893), Fannie was united in marriage with Ferdinand Gunzendorfer in 1863, which means she was somewhere between 15 and 17 years old.  And then there’s a big gap of Fannie on her own – just census records and City Directories showing her with Ferdinand.  Which isn’t really nothing since she was with her husband and children but it doesn’t really tell me much about her. 

While sharing photos with my new-found cousins, I came across this.



Look closely –that’s Fannie and Ferdinand in the buggy!  Fannie is driving and Ferdinand is sitting in the back seat - could he be giving her a driving lesson?  I love thinking about them out for a Sunday “drive” and wonder where they might have gone.



Uh-oh, Fannie had a bit of a checkered past.  What would have made her dump the contents of a slop jar (ewwww) on Miss Johnson’s trunk?  It would be interesting to know THAT story!

Santa Cruz Sentinel 30 May 1897, page 3

A few months later, Fannie’s mother, Sarah Frankel Goldstein, died.  It is this obituary from the San Francisco Call that helped me determine that Sarah’s maiden name was Frankel.  I also find it interesting that the Goldstein’s had daughters by the names of Fannie and Francis – I can imagine that got confusing.

San Francisco Call 27 December 1897

By 1907, Fannie was on her own after Ferdinand’s sudden death on 20 October 1907 in Monterey.  Fannie left Monterey for San Francisco, maybe because it was too painful for her to stay in Monterey and several of her sons were in San Francisco.  It looks like she bought property on Clay Street from Mr. and Mrs. Warren G. Bailey.

San Francisco Call 23 June 1908, First Edition

And by 1910, she was listed in the City Directory at 3126 Clay Street.  I haven’t been able to find her (or the house) in the 1910 census enumerated on 15 April 1910 – the census page lists 3124 Clay Street and then skips to 3126.  Was the house empty so no one stopped?  Where was Fannie?

A few months later, 22 July 1910, Fannie Goldstein Gunzendorfer died at Mt. Zion Hospital from an Incarcerated Hernia with a contributory cause of death of Peritonitis.  I’m sure today a patient with that type of diagnosis would be rushed into surgery but I’m guessing that option wasn’t available in 1910.  What’s interesting to note, and this if for my new-found cousin, is that in that time period Mt. Zion Hospital was strictly a Jewish hospital.  The hospital had been formed in 1887 by 43 members of the San Francisco Jewish Community and remained a Jewish hospital for nearly 100 years.  Which makes me believe that Fannie was a practicing Jew at the time of her death, although I don’t know if she was Jewish by birth or marriage.

Fannie is interred in the Gunzendorfer plot at Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, California.

It starts with a photo…..

For anyone who has researched their family, is an amateur or professional genealogist, or anyone with just a basic curiosity of where they came from, often times it starts with a photo.  You know what I mean – you see a photo, figure out who it is, start to research him/her, and 743 hours later, you’ve accumulated more information than you ever dreamed would be out there.  And all the while you know you should be cleaning the toilet, finishing the laundry, or doing something other than sitting in front of your computer looking for things.  But you just can’t stop.

And that’s where I’ve been for the last 24 hours.  My brain is spinning with what if’s, if only I knew, and more questions than I had when I awoke yesterday morning.

The culprit.





Now I’ve seen several personalized post cards in my grandmother’s collection so can only assume this is another one.  I know that Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Gunzendorfer were my great grandparents and they did, in fact, live in Monterey, California in 1905 after spending about 8 years in San Francisco.  I also know that Abe’s brother was Adolph, also known as A.G., and that he was in Los Angeles between about 1901 and 1907.  So it would make sense that he would write a card to his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children, one of whom was my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer.

What I can’t be sure of is if the man looking silly on the card was, indeed, Adolph Gunzendorfer.  I have only run across one other photo of Adolph when he posed for a family photo in about 1896.

Back row – Abraham, Gustave, Minnie Dauterman ?, Adolph ?, Jacob? Center row – Bertha Schwartz (holding Loraine), Ferdinand, Fannie Goldstein, Inez Steinberger (holding Mervyn) Front row – Irene Gunzendorfer

I’ve made some assumptions on this photo but I’m about 99% sure I’m accurate.  I’m positive that is Abraham on the left, nearly certain next is Gustave, assume it is Gustave’s wife Minnie standing next to him, and then I know the next two are either Adolph and Jacob…..or Jacob and Adolph.  But since Adolph wasn’t married at the time and Jacob was, I can assume the woman sitting in front of whom I think is Jacob is his wife, Inez, holding their young son, Mervyn.  And I know that is Bertha on the left (I’d know her ANYWHERE) holding my grandmother, Ferdinand and Fannie in the center, and then little Irene in the front.  And since my grandmother was born in January, 1896 and Mervyn was born just 3 months later, I can be certain this photo was taken some time in 1896.  And then came the goofy photo from Adolph above which makes me really think Adolph is second from the right in the family photo.

So then what?  Let’s see what I know about Adolph.

He was born in February, 1866 in California.  I don’t know the exact date or city but hope to be able to figure that out.  I have found a marriage record from 23 Mar 1887 showing his marriage to Emma Schoen in Monterey.  I have found NO other reference to Emma so I hope to be able to figure out what happened to her – did she die, did they divorce, or what?  From 1888 to 1896, I know Adolph was in Monterey working in the family business, The White House.  And that’s where things started to get a little more interesting.

By 1901 Adolph was a “manager” in Los Angeles.  And by 1904, the city directory shows that he is a Manager in billiards.  Huh?  Each year thereafter his occupation remains unchanged and finally he is linked to the Casino Billiard Parlor at 344 S. Spring in Los Angeles.  And during that time he decided to send a goofy post card to his brother back home in Monterey.

It must have taken some time to get the Casino Billiard Parlor up and running as the Grand Opening was held on 15 Dec 1903.

Los Angeles Herald Volume XXXI, Number 76 15 Dec 1903

There were lots of other ‘amusements’ in Los Angeles at that time but I can imagine this grand opening was quite an attraction.

In 1904, Adolph was a “backer” in a group of well known gold mines In Kern County operated by E.W. Doss.  $10,000 was a lot of money in 1904!  (Los Angeles Herald, Volume XXXII, Number 56, 26 Nov 1904)

But by 1908 things didn’t seem to be going so well for the parlor.

Los Angeles Herald Volume XXXV, Number 274 City Hall Notes 2 Jul 1908

Now that’s interesting.  And even more interesting that by 1910 Adolph was back in San Francisco with his wife, Charlotte White.  What happened in Los Angeles to cause him to come back to the northern part of the state?  I know that from 1910 until the end of his life in 1932, Adolph was a fixture in San Francisco where it looked like he worked in an international specialty company. 

A few other interesting tidbits about Adolph will show up soon – stay tuned for more of the story!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My 16 Great Grandparents

Photo by Tomorrow Never Knows

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Randy Seaver at genea-musings for the Saturday night challenge of listing our 16 great great grandparents.  I've been in a "blog fog" (where I can't think of anything to write about) for the last few weeks and now I have something to blog about.  I will admit it is Sunday night and I'm 24 hours late but I've been out of town this weekend so I get a free pass :-)

The challenge was:

1)  List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).  [Hint - you might use an Ancestral Name List from your software for this.]

2)  Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.

3)  For extra credit, go make a "Heritage Pie" chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the  chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]

I'm not going for extra credit as I'm too tired and too technically challenged but here goes:

1.  William Warren McAboy:  Born 12 December, 1842 in DeWitt County, Illinois.  Died 12 January, 1925 in Santa Cruz, California.  Married 10 January 1864 in DeWitt County, Illinois to....

2.  Rebecca Moriah Waller:  Born 7 February, 1845 in Warren County, Ohio.  Died 23 October 1928 in Fresno, California.

3.  Matthew Fitzgerald:  Born 10 September 1850 in Ireland.  Died 24 August 1905 in Fresno, California.  Married June 1869 in Derryleagh, Cork, Ireland to....

4.  Julia Horgan:  Born 1849 in Derryleagh, Cork, Ireland.  Died 4 August 1886 in Black, Yolo County, California.

5.  Lewis Saxon Martin:  Born 9 April 1820 in South Carolina.  Died 19 July 1903 in Laurens County, South Carolina.  Married 12 April 1848 in Laurens County, South Carolina (second marriage) to....

6.  Millicent Moore:  Born 6 October 1827 in South Carolina.  Died 3 January 1884 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

7.  William J. Brooks:  Born 1835 in South Carolina.  Died 1862 in Fredericksburg, Virgina.  (I need to research this - I just realized he must have died at the battle of Fredericksburg).  Married to.....

8.  Sarah Jane Miller:  Born November 1836 in South Carolina.  Died 30 April 1923 in Fresno, California.

9.  Louis Schwartz:  Born 28 December 1834 in Shildberg, Prussia.  Died 23 May 1893 in Byron Springs, Contra Costa County, California.  Married 15 October 1865 in California to....

10.  Rebecca Steen:  Born 8 February 1848 in Poland.  Died 7 January 1918 in Oakland, California.

11.  Ferdinand Gunzendorfer:  Born 1 August 1838 in Adelsdorf, Bavaria.  Died 20 October 1907 in Montery, California.  Married in 1863 in California to....

12.  Fannie Goldstein:  Born 6 March 1848 in Poland.  Died 22 July 1910 in San Francisco, California.

13.  Benjamin Benas:  Born 26? December, 1826 in Posen, Germany.  Died 17 April 1892 in Vallejo, California.  Married before 1870 in California to....

14.  Fredericka Wilzinski:  Born 20 April 1840 in Prussia or Germany.  Died 14 October 1915 in San Francisco, California.

And that's all I've got.  I do not know the parents of my paternal great grandfather, Herman Levy.  I've hit a bit of a brick wall so I've put them aside.  For now.

Ferdinand Gunzendorfer

Ferdinand Gunzendorfer

Ferdinand was the first of my Gunzendorfers to be born outside of the United States.  He was born in Adelsdorf, Bavaria, Germany on August 1, 1838 and emigrated to the United States in 1849 (could that be right - he came here at age 11?).  He was unknown and without much money and struggled for two years in the Eastern part of the country.  When he learned of the discovery of gold in California, he headed west in early 1851 (again, only 13?) via Panama.  After arriving in San Francisco, he headed to Monterey and entered into business for himself.  Beginning in 1884, the firm was known as F. Gunzendorfer & Son and was well known throughout Monterey county.  To the locals he was known as "Don Francisco"!

Ferdinand took Fannie Goldstein as his wife in 1863 and they raised four sons, Gustave (a prosecuting attorney in San Francisco), Adolph, Abraham and Jacob.  He had such confidence in the stability and future of Monterey that he invested largely in local realty.  In the 1890's he erected a business block on Alvarado Street and the building was an architectural wonder, spacious in size and incorporating modern improvements and conveniences for a dry-goods and clothing store.

Fannie Goldstein

Ferdinand was an accomplished musician and was regarded as an expert.  In the early days he was the director of a band in Monterey.  While Ferdinand excelled at the clarinet, his sons also mastered instruments with Gustave a fine pianist, Adolph a violinist, Jacob on the piccolo, and Abe following in his father's footsteps on the clarinet.  Ferdinand was also fluent in several languages.

He was one of Monterey's most energetic citizens and was a member of the Board of Trade (note - need to find out about this organization) as a director and was active in helping to increase the progress of the city.  He also devoted himself to fraternal societies and for more than 25 years was a member of the Masonic Lodge and A.O.U.W. (Ancient Order of United Workers). 

Ferdinand was known as the "father of the Merchants Association" and had been the president since its organization.  He was elected to that position five times, all without opposition.  He was always interested in anything that stood for the advancement of Monterey.

In 1907, Jacob and his family came from San Francisco for a visit with his parents.  They enjoyed a nice meal and conversation and before retiring at around midnight, Ferdinand went into the back yard.  After some time he returned and told his family he'd fallen down due to a fainting spell.  When he started to undress before going to bed, he fell to the floor.  His family did what they could to provide aid, summoned a doctor but before the doctor arrived, Ferdinand was gone.

Ferdinand died on October 20, 1907 at the age of 69.  His remains were taken to Hills of Eternity in Colma for burial.  Ferdinand's Memorial  

Next up - The White House

Gunzendorfer

So being that I was challenged with the Gunzendorfer line, that was my first stop.  And always will be my first stop because, well, there just aren't that many of them.  Whenever I'm trying something out and want to do a quick search, I always type in Gunzendorfer.  And if the results are in English, they're one of two tribes.

My Gunzendorfer line comes from my paternal grandmother, Mildred Loraine.  Loraine was the daughter of Abraham and his wife, Bertha Schwartz.  Abe was the third of four sons of Ferdinand Gunzendorfer and Fannie Goldstein and they were a prominent family in California, primarily San Francisco and Monterey.

Loraine was quite a character and as a child I remember she was always nagging for us to do one thing or another.  As kids we spent quite a bit of time with her and Grandpa Sig, most memorably at their house in Fresno.  It was a huge house with many nooks and crannies and we loved exploring the little room off the garage with Sig.

Back to the rest of the clan.  Ferdinand came to California sometime between 1852 and 1854 from Adelsdorf, Bavaria, Germany and married a cute little Polish girl, Fannie, in 1863.  Ferdinand was a successful business owner in Monterey and owned/operated The White House, a mercantile on Alvarado Street.  With the exception of the oldest boy, Gustave, who became a lawyer, the boys (Adolph, Abe, and Jacob) followed in the family business.

What's interesting is that while searching the Gunzendorfers I found Adolph in New York.  After much research, I discovered this must be a different Adolph Gunzendorfer.  Was it really possible that there could be two Adolph Gunzendorfers born in Germany in the 1866-1867 time frame?  I've since connected with the great granddaughter of the New York Adolph Gunzendorfer and in my heart, I know we're related.  My gut tells me the New York Adolph's father, Bernhard, was the brother of my Ferdinand.  Could it be that they both came to the United States separately and both named their sons Adolph?  Maybe their father was named Adolph?  That little project is on hold for now but one day, I'll solve that mystery.

Abraham Gunzendorfer

Now on to my great grandfather, Abraham Gunzendorfer.  Abe was a native of Monterey, California and lived most of his life there.  Upon his father's death in 1907, Abe took over the White House department store until his retirement in 1941.  He was one of California's earliest amateur photographers and during a visit by President Benjamin Harrison, Abe took his photograph and later received a personal note of thanks (boy, would I love to get my hands on that document).  In 1891, Abe organized the first hook and ladder company in Monterey and was later made a lifetime member of that city's fire department.

Abe and Bertha were married September 9, 1894 and their two children (Mildred Loraine and Wilton) joined the family before the end of the century.   They raised the children in Monterey and lived for many years on Pacific Street.  When he wasn't busy running the business, he spent time collecting early-day newspapers and interesting old coins. 

His many friends were deeply shocked when they learned of his death on May 4, 1944.  His health had been poor for several years and he had been mostly confined to his home but he continued with his keen interest in local and world affairs.  He is interred at Hills of Eternity in Colma, California  Abe's Memorial

Next up - Ferdinand Gunzendorfer