Joseph Schmitt
DOB 1832 (Greenwood Cemetery records), Passport application 30 Oct 1869 lists birthday as 22 May 1831, Bavaria.
Arr NY 28 Aug 1849 on ship St. Charles in company of J. Bott (John or Johannes). John Bott is 27, Joseph Schmitt is 18.
Marries Margaretha Vollmer (Folmer) in KY 12 Aug 1852, witnessed by John Bott and A. Schildhelm. First child Anna is born 1852 in KY. This seems like a very short time after August wedding date. Was Anna actually Joseph’s daughter or did he help to get Margaretha out of a jam somehow? Why KY?
(Joseph’s father Philip becomes naturalized citizen Mar 6, 1856, dies 14 Oct 1856. Address is 181 Hester St. (matches naturalization papers and address listed on Greenwood vital records at time of death). Joseph has 3 sisters and a brother: Marie A. Schmitt b. Dec 1829 in Bavaria, Christine Schmitt b. 21 Dec 1832 Bavaria/Bayern, Catherine Schmitt b. 1835 Germany, and John Schmitt b. 1836 Prussia.)
(NY state census 1855 lists Margaretha Vollmer as a servant aged 20 years in the Coons household. Note a 4 year age gap between Anna and the next child Joseph Jr. Did Joseph Sr. and Margaretha live apart during that time? Who took care of Anna?)
Is Joseph Schmitt in 1860 US census or in the 1855 or 65 NY census?
1870 US Census—Joseph is head of household, Jersey City, Ward 15, Hudson, NJ. He is a prosperous cigar manufacturer, value of property $3000. Home address is likely 191 Pearl St. where the business was located.
Joseph 39 Segar manufacturer Bavaria
Margaret 38 keeping house Bavaria
Anna 18 Keeping House KY
Joseph 14 at school NYC
Matilda 12 in school NYC
Rosa 10 in school NYC
Charlotte 8 NYC
Ameila 7 NYC
Julia 6 NYC
Christina 37 sister Bavaria
Lena Bouynie 22 servant Bavaria
Article from The World, New York, NY, Sat June 7, 1880—history of cigar business. Schmitt & Storm start cigar manufacturing business at 191 Pearl St. 1861 (Joseph Schmitt and George Storm). John Straiton joins the firm in 1868 and Joseph Schmitt retires in 1872, leaving firm of Straiton & Storm. John Straiton withdraws from the firm in 1887 but leaves the use of his name. Firm is later renamed the Owl Cigar Company.
From NY Times FYI in 1999: George’s brother Frederic joins the firm as treasurer in 1865. In 1872 Frederic arranges purchase of land in Queens where they build a 3-story factory (NW corner of Bell Blvd and 43rd Ave.) which survives until destroyed by fire in 1990.
1867 NY business directory lists Schmitt & Storm at 191 Pearl St.
1894—Frederic Storm is Chair of Queens Co. Republican Party, goes on to be elected to the NY legislature.
1880 US Census—896 Third Ave., NYC, NY
Joseph 49 Retired segar dealer Bavaria
Margaret 49 keeping house Bavaria
Joseph 24 bookkeeper NYC
Matilda 22 without occupation NYC
Rosa 19 milliner NYC
Charlotte 18 sewing NYC
Ameila 17 learning milinery NYC
Julia 15 NYC
Joseph 1 grandchild NYC
Anna has left home by now, married to George Miller (Mueller) and moved to San Francisco. Joseph Jr. married Wilhemina Hug (from SF) who died shortly after giving birth to Joseph 3rd who is living in the family household with his father.
Joseph Schmitt’s mother Marie A. Schmitt (Philip’s wife) died 21 October 1864. This triggered the purchase by Joseph of a family burial plot in the Greenwood Cemetary in Brooklyn, NY, where his mother was interred on 22 October 1864. Several other burials were moved from plots in the public area—Philipp Schmitt, Frederick (infant son of Joseph and Margareta), John Bott (died 4 Aug 1864, moved to the family plot on 11 Dec 1864), Anna Stief (infant child of Catherine Schmitt Steif, Joseph’s sister) also on 11 Dec 1864. Other burials in this time include Wilhelmina Hug Schmitt 23 July 1879, Henry Bott (John’s son) 1881, Joseph Stary (second husband of John Bott’s wife) 1885, Louisa Schmitt (infant child of Joseph and Margareta probably) 1873.
Joseph Schmitt died on 26 June (January?) 1887 from cancer of the stomach and was interred in the plot on 28 January 1887.
The really interesting thing about all of this is the many many family connections. First there’s the relationship between John Bott and Joseph Schmitt. John Bott married Joseph’s sister Marie A. After John died, Marie remarried Joseph Stary and continued the dressmaking business. It gets a bit confusing as so many people have similar names but things are a little clearer when you look at Marie’s will (sister Christine is the executor, Catherine Stief nee Schmitt went back to Germany and brother John is in Connecticut). Unfortunately Joseph Schmitt died without a will which is a bit of a puzzle for a man of business, but maybe he wasn’t a very good businessman. He seems to have raised a pretty good family.
There is a wonderful tin type of a woman with her 5 daughters which I believe is Margaretha with Matilda, Rosa, Charlotte, Amelia, and Julia. Anna was already gone off to CA when this photo was taken. It looks like it’s probably from right around 1880 when the family was probably fairly well to do.
There are a couple of mysteries. First is whether Anna was Joseph’s daughter. I suspect not as her photo doesn’t look much like the rest of the family. I also look at that 4-year gap between Anna and Joseph Jr., along with the possible separation between Margareta and Joseph (might that have been economic in origin?) It would probably take DNA analysis to figure it out (looking at the Miller line, if I could even identify later generations there—George Miller is a pretty common name and it’s hard to move down the line very far). Second mystery is where Joseph Jr. disappears to between the 1880 census and when his father died in 1887. I found a couple of records of men named Joseph Schmitt in the 1880’s and also a death certificate for a man of the right age with a mother identified as M. Schmitt so I suspect that’s Joseph. The person died of tuberculosis (“phthisis,” over a 6 month period) and was listed as a laborer, date of death 11 Dec 1889. I have this feeling that Joseph blotted his copybook badly enough that the family wrote him off. He’s buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery, not the family plot.
The relationship with the Storm family carried on into the next generation. Rosa’s husband Henry Holpp was in business with Frederick Storm (son or grandson of the man who was part of the Schmitt & Storm firm). The family story is that their partnership went bust and Frederick absconded with the proceeds and took his family to Europe instead of paying off the creditors—he was blamed for Henry Holpp’s failure as a businessman. True? Not true? Don’t know.