Those Places Thursday - Grossbockenheim, Germany

First, can we just acknowledge how awesome the name Grossbockenheim is? It sounds like something you might exclaim emphatically to express great displeasure. Or maybe great delight. Who knows? All I know is it looks even better when spelled the German way - Großbockenheim.

Großbockenheim!

Anyway, this is the town from whence my Stutzmann ancestors hail and where they apparently lived for hundreds of years before good ole' Friedrich decided to come to New York in 1871. The town, which actually doesn't exist anymore as itself, is in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany (or Rheinpfalz, as it is sometimes referred to in German). The Stutzmanns are also said to be from Bavaria, and since a part of Bavaria was incorporated into the Rheinpfalz, that would also be correct. Interesting aside: It took me forever to find Friedrich in a passenger list manifest because whoever transcribed his entry listed his ethnicity as being "Italian," because his recorded place of origin, Pfalz, was incorrectly read by the transcriber as Italy. Those kinds of mistakes happen a lot on Ancestry.com, I've found.

Okay, so this is what Wikipedia says about Grossbockenheim today: Known today as "Bockenheim an der Weinstraße" which means "Bockenheim on the Wine Route," or just Bockenheim for short (not to be confused with Bockenheim district in Frankfurt am Main), the town lies at the north end of the 85 km-long German Wine Route, which connects all the vintner villages in the area. (Being located in wine country, it's no wonder then that Schlegel's describes Friedrich's father Peter Stutzmann as owning a vineyard. Continuing...) "Bockenheim is made up of two smaller centres called Großbockenheim and Kleinbockenheim (groß means “great” and klein “little”), which were merged in 1956. The two places arose from small settlements that themselves had grown out of Frankish estates after the Franks took the land about 500. In 770, Bockenheim had its first documentary mention in the Lorsch codex. In April 1525, in the Palatine Peasants’ War – part of the German Peasants' War – the Bockenheimer Haufen (“Bockenheim Cohort”) was formed, a rabble of peasants who joined the uprising. The village’s appearance is characterized by many old homesteads, of which ever more are being restored. From the 11th century comes the tower at the Romanesque Saint Martin’s Church (Martinskirche), which once stood next to the Emichsburg, a castle belonging to the Counts of Leiningen, after which today’s community centre is named. The castle, after being destroyed many times, was eventually converted into a residential castle, which itself was also destroyed. Its remnants have been incorporated into a winery, which bears the name Schlossgut (“Castle Estate”) in memory of the now mostly vanished complex."

The Stutzmanns were good German Lutherans and in addition to helping his father operate a vineyard, Friedrich Stutzmann, who was educated in the local school, was also a farmer.

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Wordless Wednesday - Outside T. A. Cronin's Bar in Brooklyn

A gathering outside T. A. Cronin's pub in Brooklyn.

T. A. Cronin himself - my great grandfather, Timothy Cronin, standing front and center.

My great grandmother (Timothy's wife), Ellen Casey Cronin, looking out from the first window by the bar's sign.

I'm in the process of trying to narrow down what year this photo might have been taken. I believe it's probably somewhere between 1912-1917...

Tombstone Tuesday - CIA Director William J. Casey

Photo taken by Timothy J. Gorry

My dad is the only person I know who loves cemeteries as much as I do. He took this photo at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, New York on Long Island. William J. Casey was born in 1913 and died in 1987. He was the director of the CIA from 1981-1987. As you can see by his headstone, he was an Irish Catholic - I really like the Celtic cross marker.

Sunday's Obituary - Catherine Corr

CORR - On Sunday, Nov. 5, CATHERINE L., beloved daughter of the late Thomas and Bridget Corr (nee Baxter) and sister of Margaret and Nicholas Corr and Mrs. William Gould, formerly of the 11th Ward, Manhattan.
               Funeral from her late residence, 84 Clinton av., Brooklyn, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 9:30 A.M. thence to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Clermont av., between Park and Flushing avs., where a solemn mass of requiem will be offered for the repose of her soul at 10 A.M. Interment Calvary.

My dad found this obit in his parents' house and since they seemed to hold on to all kinds of obits, I never really paid this one much attention. Then we got the death certificate for my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Gorry - her next of kin apparently did not know her parents' first names, but they did know something even more helpful - her maiden name, Corr. So, Mary Corr was my third great grandmother and we had an obit for a Catherine Corr, which meant they were probably related, and it turns out, they were. The info in Catherine's obit helped me find info on Mary Corr and her family - Catherine's father, Thomas, was Mary's brother and the Corrs, between passenger list records, banking records, census records, and, of course, obituaries, has actually turned out to be the Irish branch of my family that I know the most about.

Taking a tour of historic Freeport - Village Hall

Freeport, Long Island, New York is where I grew up and where my maternal immigrant ancestor Edward Raynor settled in 1659. In 1853, the name of the town was changed from Raynortown (formerly Raynor South) to Freeport, and in 1892 it became an incorporated village in the Town of Hempstead. This incarnation of Village Hall was built in 1928 and according to the sign, is also known as "the municipal building. It was built to replicate Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Enlarged 1973."

The first thing I think is funny is that the Raynors, who founded Freeport, were actually Loyalists during the American Revolution - the whole Hempstead area was full of British sympathizers, including my Raynor family. Lords knows they were probably rolling over in their graves when Village Hall was built. The second thing I find funny is that I've heard my whole life how Village Hall was built to look like Independence Hall and 31 years later, today, I finally looked - and they're right! Exactly the same! History - it's everywhere, people! :)

Freeport Village Hall, photo taken 21 October 2010

Freeport Village Hall, photo taken 21 October 2010

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Those Places Thursday - the Berg house at 475 Front Street, Hempstead, New York Part Two

Ok, so I had a bit more info on the Berg house at 475 Front Street, so to keep the post from getting too long, here's part II!!

This next image is from the U.S. Indexed County Land Ownership Maps from 1906, courtesy of Ancestry.com, which shows the property and even the house outline of "T. P." Berg on Front Street on the corner of Attorney Street. (I highlighted it in yellow to make it a little easier to see)

What I think is so interesting is this is exactly what that corner of Hempstead looks like today, with some street name changes and residential-to-commercial changes of course - Cross Street, in the top lefthand corner of the image, is still there, only now it's Peninsula Blvd. The best part for me, though, is that, despite the years that have passed and the many changes to the face of the neighborhood, the Berg house at 475 Front Street is still there. It now houses a medical practice, but if you look at this image from Google maps, you can see the outline of the house, just as it was more than 100 years ago.


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Those Places Thursday - the Berg house at 475 Front Street, Hempstead, New York Part One

Theodore Peterson Berg and Delia Dauch Berg were my great-great grandparents. According to a family history that was written up several years ago, Theodore and Delia lived "in  East  Meadow (New York) until  shortly  before 1895, when they moved to Hempstead (a few towns over).  It is told by her daughter (Amelia Berg Raynor, my great grandmother) that her mother and father were out buggy riding one day, when they passed the house at 475 Front Street, which was very large and beautiful, on the corner of Front and Attorney Streets.  She said how much she would love to live in that house.  A few days later, Theodore came in and handed Delia a deed to that property, where they lived for many, many years.  Their youngest son, Royal Howard Berg, was born in that house.  The house had two large living rooms and a large dining room.  On the wall of the dining room was an ornamental wall hanging, with a Bible verse for each week of the year.  The children memorized a new verse each week, which undoubtedly had some influence on their lives."

 

Theodore Peterson Berg and Delia Dauch Berg were my great-great grandparents. According to a family history that was written up several years ago, Theodore and Delia lived I don't know what year this is from but this is a picture of what the house looked like. Delia died in 1932 and Theodore in 1944, so they were in this house for quite a few years, more then 30 years. This was the house in which they raised their family, in which they grew old together.

Theodore and Delia Berg