Monday, May 12, 2014

Three Brothers

My Grandfather is pictured here with his two brothers who came to America, from left to right they are Gottlieb, Karl, and William. Gottlieb arrived at age 20 in 1893, he was the family explorer as I see it. He came before other family members came to America.  Then William at age 24 traveled to America in 1904 eleven years after his oldest brother and finally Karl came in 1927 at age 42. Both William and Gottlieb were bakers by trade and owned their own shops.

Karl was born on June 18, 1885 in Langenbrand, Germany. He was the youngest of the three brothers. He lived in Newark which leads me to believe that his older brother William helped to establish him in New Jersey. Karl and his wife, Amelia journeyed to America on the Albert Ballin they arrived on October 31, 1927. Emily was two years younger Karl and was born in Buckenbronnthen. They had last resided in Pforzhein "a town of nearly 120,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Because of that it gained the nickname "Goldstadt" or Golden City." Karl and Amelia had no children but they enjoyed their nephews and nieces.

Karl made his living as a jeweler in a factory. According to his World War II Registration card he listed Carl Restschler as a reference and his employer as Forstner Chain Corp. "The Forstner jewelry company, a classic American jewelry firm, was founded in 1920 in Irvington, New Jersey.  Forstner specialized in gold filled, sterling silver and pure gold accessories. Forstner jewelry was primarily known for snake chains, snake motifs, watch fobs, key chains and overall classic designs in gold and silver. The Forstner Company later changed their name to the Forstner Jewelry Manufacturing Corporation. In 1980, the corporation ceased operations, making all Forstner jewelry rare and highly desirable for collectors." At the time he was 56 and he was 5'5' tall and 170 lbs. according to the registration card with one finger that was permanently bent.

William was the second oldest of the three brother who came to America. He was born on Feb 8, 1879 in Langenbrand, Germany. William married Mary in 1904 the same year that they immigrated to America from Germany. There two children Mildred and William were born in New York in 1923 and 1924. Sometime between 1924 and 1930 they moved to New Jersey. By 1930 Census Karl's first wife Mary had passed away and he remarried. He married Berdie and had a son, Walter in 1928. William ran the bakery for 28 years in Sommerville, NJ until his death which was on Januaary 8, 1934 at age 55. He died of an accidental gas poisoning.


 The picture to the right was taken in the late 1800's or early 1900's and it is my feeling that it is a picture of the four brothers, The fourth brother Johann Frederick remained in Germany. Note the collars on the shirts and how different in style they are from each other. "To combat the problem of infrequent and long wash-days, early shirts came with detachable collars and cuffs, not something found on most shirts today. While a shirt was worn for days or weeks on end, the collars and cuffs were changed and replaced as necessary, perhaps once a week, or more, if needed. The collars and cuffs on shirts were held on with special buttons called studs. There were two studs for the collar (front and back) and additional studs for the cuffs (one stud for each sleeve)." "In 1901, there were 26 collar and cuff makers and 38 laundries in the city. Wearing a detached white collar gave rise to a new working social class, the "white collar" worker who differentiated themselves from the no or "blue" collar factory worker."

 If anyone can identify the photograph please contact me or leave a comment. At the time that Gottlieb left Germany Johann would have been 24, Gottlieb 23, Karl 8, and William 14. The picture if it is of the four brothers was taken when Johann visited America in

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