The enigma that was Helen Packhiser

As a child, it is hard to conceive that older people, like your parents and grandparents, might have had brothers and sisters. When you are a child you think of brothers and sisters as something you and your friends have, because it's a package deal. You visit your friends and their brothers and sisters are not far behind. But not so with grown-ups. Except for family gatherings you rarely see them with their brothers and sisters in tow. And at family gatherings, it's your aunts and uncles that show up, not your parents brothers and sisters! We won't even get into why they act so weird (for grown-ups) when they get together.

It never occurs to kids that their parents may have had a childhood similar to theirs; that they may have been bored to death in math class or excelled on the sports field. It is not until we become adults that we can conceive of these ideas...

As a child I recall this mysterious person who lived in a far off land called "Hollywood". Her name was aunt Helen. I vaguely knew that those flickering black and white images on our T.V. screen originated there too.  In fact, the rumor was that my mom was born there! but we knew that must be wrong because we were living in New York, not in Hollywood! (In fact she was born there, but that was inconceivable to our childish minds.)

Aunt Helen was my grandfather, Erwin Packhiser's, sister. Who could believe such a thing?  They even showed us sepia toned family photos. An ancient geezer like my grandfather, with a sister?  I wondered how a little girl with a big bow in her hair, in some far off land could be an Aunt I never met?

The Packhiser Family circa 1912

I think we got some neat gifts from her. I recall a Disney Land punch out book. Remember them? You'd punch out little cardboard shapes and build little buildings and roller coasters...no batteries required!

Disney Land Punch out book

I vaguely remember sometimes hearing the grownups whispering and hearing that magical name...Helen as they discussed the latest gossip. But my most vivid memory was that day in 1965 when my mother got the call that Aunt Helen had died. I wondered why that news would bring such sadness to my parents and grandparents for someone who I never met.

What's In a Name?

Helen or Helene? Emilie, Emiline or Amilia? Packhiser, Caruso or Anderson? What about "Yvonne"?At one time or another she was identified or called herself by each of these names. 

She was born "Helen Emelie Packhiser" on July 22, 1905  at 103 Brookside Ave, Boston, Massachusetts, to German immigrant parents Rudolph (age 36)  and Ottilie A Mialwitz Packhiser (33). Rudolph's occupation is listed as "dyer". [1, 2]  Ottilie's maiden name was misspelled as Mialwitz. The correct German spelling was Muhlwitz but the spelling was "Americanized" to Mealwitz by her brother, Edward, in Boston. Ottilie's middle name is Amelia, which was likely intended for Helen's but confused or misspelled as Emelie when registering her daughters middle name. Most other early records indicate Helen A. Packhiser. The original Amelia that this name is in honor of has been lost to history. (See "Rudolph goes to Boston" for a view of the home she was born in)

Helen A. Packhiser, circa 1907
Photo taken by J. T. Jackson, Spring Street, Newton, N. J.
Photo Courtesy of Dee Terry Archives

By the time she was 3, she had moved, with her family, from the metropolis of Boston  (Pop. 670,000) 260 miles away to a much smaller Middletown N. Y.  (Pop. 15,000). The 1909 Middletown City Directory describes Middletown, Orange County, New York:

"This beautiful, bustling, flourishing, young city is finely located, 67 miles from New York City– nearly in the center of famous Orange County– at a point about midway between the Delaware river on the west, and the majestic Hudson on the east. It is noted for its healthfulness, transportation facilities, educational advantages, thrift and enterprise of its citizens."

A number of manufactories are listed including Bordon's Condensed milk, National Saw Works, foundries, Shirt and hat factories, a brewery, a Piano factory, Cut glass works, several Railroads and two silk mills.  The one thing not listed is a Dye works. Perhaps this is why Rudolph , an experienced silk dyer, saw opportunity here. [3]

The Middletown Dye Works, later Packhiser's Cleaners and Dyers was established at 249 North
Street, Middletown New York in 1908.

Location Of Middletown Dye Works
section of  1922 Birds Eye View of Middletown in Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/item/75694797/

After her birth registration, the first official accounting of Helen is the 1910 U.S. Federal Census. She lived with her parents and older brother Erwin at 248 1/2 North Street , Middletown, New York. Like her name, her address was identified as 248 1/2, 249 and 251. In reality it was a double lot with a house divided into apartments, a showroom for the business and a dry cleaning and dye works in the back. When I was growing up this was simply referred to as "the Plant".

The census confirms her birth in Massachusetts, her age as 4 (on April 16, 1910 when the census was enumerated, she will be 5 on July 22) and her parents births in Germany (which is what they called themselves, although they are sometimes listed as Russian). There is not much more that can be listed for a 4 year old, but we also learn that her father Rudolph is listed as a Dyer working on his "own account" and they lived in a rented house.

Early Life

Few official records exist of Helen's early life and those who were witnesses are long gone and can not tell us first hand. From various sources and family lore I know that Helen's mother,  Ottilie, was hard working and smart. She spoke several languages including German, Polish, Russian, Hebrew and English. She was a trained bookkeeper and kept their books, but also most likely did much of the hands on labour, sharing the burden with her husband Rudolph. An October 19, 1915 article in the Middletown Times-Press describing a gas stove explosion at the dye works support this: " Mr. Packhiser and his wife were working in the cleaning room in the basement of the establishment..." [4]

Ottilie and Helen Packhiser circa 1912

An early photo of Helen with her mother shows a tranquil scene of the pair relaxing in their garden, a swing can be seen behind them. She is holding a pet dog. She is nicely attired, again with the trademark big bow in her hair, and she is wearing stylish and study shoes. Although a candid shot (vs. the studio portrait below) they appear to be the ideal of a successful, middle class family.

Helen and Erwin Packhiser  Circa 1912
Formal Portrait from Tuthill Studio, Middletown, N. Y.

1915 New York State Census
The 1915 New york state census was enumerated on June 1, 1915 and gives us a narrow peek into the lives of Helen , now age 9, and her parents and brother. Their address is 249 North street and her father is a "Cleaner and Dyer" operating his own business. The enumerator mangled their names, but after some diligent manual searching for their address, I located them. Both Helen and brother Erwin (Irving on the census form) are listed as students while mother Ottilie is listed as a housewife. The enumerator is careless because he listed everyone on the page as a U.S. born citizen living in the U.S. for the same number of years as their respective ages. This is incorrect for Rudolph, Ottilie and Erwin and probably many other immigrants in the census. Two unrelated families are listed as occupying 251 North street, a property the Packhisers later acquire. [5]

Summer Vacation 1916
Newspapers can be a source of interesting information, especially in the early 20th century when social pages tracked the comings and goings of local citizens. Reported in the 27 Jun 1916 Middletown Times-Press: "Miss Helen Packhiser, daughter of Mr and Mrs. R. Packhiser, has gone to Boston to spend time with her relatives". This would be her cousins and her mother's brother, Edward Mealwitz, a grocer who lived at 55 Fuller ave, in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston. Don't worry, the 10 year old Helen wasn't alone because the 18 Sept 1916 Middletown Times-Press reported: "Mrs. R. [Rudolph] Packhiser, has returned home with her daughter, Helen, who spent her summer vacation at Boston."

Early Interest in Music

I am not sure how or why the music bug bit Helen and her older brother Erwin, but they were both performing at an early age and continued throughout their lives. The 2 July 1917 Middletown Times-Press reported that  Helen Packhiser was listed among 10 of Miss Rose K. Martin's advanced piano and vocal students who performed a delightful concert for a large audience at the Circleville Presbyterian Church.

She was also often listed in the St. John's Luthern Church Christmas program. For example in 1917 the Middletown Times-Press reported that  Helen Sang Zum Gebartstage des Helisandes (O, little town of Bethlehem) as a solo and "O, Night Devine" as part of a chorus.

World War One

By the autumn of 1917, American troops were fighting on French soil and the government was turning to it's citizens to fund the war effort through the purchase of war bonds. Wednesday October 24, 1917 was declared "Liberty Loan Campaign" day by a joint act of the President and Governors. Middletown went all out in a push to sell bonds including public meetings and door to door canvassing.

Posters, like this one, encouraged immigrants
to support their new home. German families
were especially diligent in showing their
sympathies lay with the Allies.

 The following day both 12 year old "Helen Emiline Packhiser" and her 19 year old brother Erwin Rudolph Packhiser" appear on the honor roll of Liberty Bond Purchasers of Middletown (Erwin is listed twice). The minimum amount of a liberty bond was $50.00 which could be subscribed to at $1 per week. This was a substantial commitment for children and most likely represented the whole families support of the war effort.

It is interesting to note that their full names are listed, but their parents are not listed at all, even in subsequent days. Helen's middle name Amelia is misspelled "Emiline". The paper said bond purchasers could call the paper to have their name added to the list. Perhaps the person taking the message misspelled Amelia since Helen is usually know as Helen A. Packhiser at this time.

The war went on in Europe and in 1918 Erwin enlisted and was assigned to Columbia University in New York City as part of the Student Army Training Corps. I'm sure Helen was proud the see her brother in Uniform, but the war ended before he completed training and he was discharged in time to be home for Christmas. The Dec 26, 1918 Middletown Times-Press again carried an article about the Christmas Program at St. Johns's Lutheran Church where they both performed.

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census gives us another checkpoint into the life of Helen and her family. It was a bit of a challenge finding them since they were not indexed correctly on Ancestry and so to find them I had to manually search for the correct Census Enumeration district and then find them at 249 North Street. This took the better part of a morning to accomplish. When I finally found them they were correctly handwritten as "Rudolf Packheiser" by the enumerator, but the transcriber had labeled the name as  "Rudolf Pustcherson". Ottilie was identified as Annie by the enumerator, although the transcriber got this perfectly correct, along with Erwin and Helen. Their ages on the enumeration date of 16 January 1920 are Rudolph- 50, Ottilie- 44, Erwin- 21 and Helen-13. Helen is identified as a student and the rest of the family lists their occupation as Dyer. The other change from 1910 is they are now property owners carrying a mortgage on their house. [6]

As a teenager now, Helen can no longer be considered a child. The next blog will explore her blossoming young adulthood and the beginning of her musical career.

Foot Notes

1. Helen Emelie Packhiser Birth Registration listing, Massachusetts, Birth Index, 1901-1960; Volume number-653; Page number-146; Index Volume Number-68; Reference Number-F63.M362 v.68,  from Ancestry.com.

2. Helen Emelie Packhiser Birth Registration listing, "Births Registered in the City Of Boston for the Year 1905"; page 147, no. 6542, found in "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," on Ancestry.com

3. Middletown, New York, City Directory, 1909; researched from Ancestry.com U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 Note: The first directory the Packhiser's appear in is 1910, even though they claim their business was established in 1908. Rudolph appears in the Boston City Directory (available on Ancestry.com) from 1904-1906 as a "Silk Dyer".

4. Middletown Times-Press, 19 Oct 1915, pg 1, "2 Burned as Stove Explodes". Note: Rudolph was attempting an adjustment on the stove to increase gas flow when it exploded. A letter to the editor in the next days paper from the gas company made it clear that customers should not try making adjustments.

5. "New York, State Census, 1915"; Ancestry.com (accessed 22 January 2016), Packhiser, Rudolph and family, Middletown, N. Y., Ward 01, A.D. 02, E.D. 03, pg. 3, 249 North St.

6. 1920 US Federal Census reviewed Ancestry.com, Middletown. N.Y., Enumeration District 0111, Pg 8, Lines 20-23, Packhiser

Research time:

In order to keep track of my time and give readers an idea of how long it takes to locate, research and document Genealogical information, I am tracking my time for each blog post. I found everything for this post online at the $ubscription website ancestry,com and also using other free internet sources and my Packhiser family history notebook, where I record everything I am finding. I spent about x hours working on this posting.

1/8/2016- 1 hour (setup and birth)

1/21/2016 5 hours

1/22/2016 4 hrs

1/23/2016 2 hours

Visiting the G's and GG's

copyright (c)2014 Rick Walton

Last month, while visiting my parents and sisters, I made a side trip to visit my Grandparents and Great Grandparents. They were all coveniently together, waiting for me, at the Wallkill Cemetery in Middletown, N. Y.



I recall visiting the cemetery as a youngster, and attending both  Grossies (1984) and Ami's (1995) funeral there. I had been back several times to photograph the Packhiser graves, But I don't ever recalling visiting the Kroll Grave site before.


Dad drove me over to the Cemetery during my visit and Mom came along. The cemetery looks small from the road, but once you enter and drive up the road and over the hill, the Cemetery spreads out before you in a sea of headstones, some old and leaning as if tired by their long existence, some new and shiny granite, standing squat and solid in the grassy meadow.

 The Packhiser Graves are to the left, near the front edge. Cars and trucks whiz by down nearby Rt. 17 unaware of this peaceful oasis.

 The Kroll's are to the right...somewhere, at least Mom and Dad thought so.... We drove up and down in making ever widening circles, but their headstone remained unseen. Mom and Dad couldn't recall exactly where it was located but felt we were in the right area. Where did it go? I got out of the car and walked through the center lane of headstones we couldn't read as Dad continued to drive up and around.  Turning down the rear most road, as I was walking down the line of middle headstones, they spotted the Kroll's first. I was a row or two way and heading in that direction.

I had been planning this visit for weeks, but at the last minute I came empty handed. I had planned to take a garden shovel , some clippers, maybe a scrub brush and a spray bottle of water, but in the end I had forgotten my tools. A search of Mom and Dad's car turned up empty except for a snow scraper and brush, which worked surprisingly well to scrape off the Lichen, push away the weeds and sweep away the leaves.

At this Location I found my Great Grandparents, Julius and Ottilie (Herzke) Kroll. Along with their three unmarried daughters. They had a total of Eleven children, some buried here and others scattered across the country.

Someone had visited recently because a smooth  riverstone had been left on the headstone. I left it in place as I took photos and lamented my lack of planning. Fresh flowers would have been a nice touch. The Names of their daughters buried here are pictured below.

After shooting the Kroll Headstone and closeups of the individual names,  I took some broader pictures to help us remember where the grave site is relative to other markers.

We next headed over to the Packhiser's grave site. where I did a quick cleanup and shot some photos, trying to beat the imminent rain. I almost made it, but rain drops splashed down on Ami's grave as I took my final shots.

Again lamenting my lack of planning... I would really have liked to spend a good 30 minutes or so  clearing away the weeds and spiffing up the markers. Fresh flowers would be nice too. Maybe next visit...until then...Rest in PEACE

Raise your Stein to Charles Packer

A.K.A. Erwin Packhiser circa 1926

Copyright (c )2014 Frederick Walton

When I was a boy, I loved to sit next to my grandfather, Erwin Packhiser, in church. His strong, flawless baritone made the hymns come to life. Rolling his R’s,  he sang with a seriousness and passion that made me wonder why he was not up front with the choir. When I was older, I learned he had already spent a lifetime in the choir and as a singer. A lifetime before grandkids, before children, even before he met my grandmother. By 1926 he had made it to New York's BROADWAY

To me and my siblings he was simply Grossie, that's what we called him. It derived from the German word for grandfather...Grosspapa. To theatre audiences in 1926 he was Charles Packer.  

Recently, while scanning some old photographs of him, I noticed writing on the back. My grandmother had labeled some “Student Prince- 1926”.  To family members these pictures are not new news...I'm sure you have seen them dozens of times over the years. It was also no secret that Grossie sang on Broadway,  so on a whim I googled it. I was amazed to find a a Jan 1926 Playbill cover for The Student Prince at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre. I was even more surprised to find Grossie in it!

source: http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/6245/The-Student-Prince

Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre opened in 1921 at 932 Seventh Avenue, designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp. The Shubert brothers named their new theatre in honor of Al Jolson, who starred in the opening production Bombo. This would be his first and last appearance at the theatre. 

 Five inside pages where also scanned including, on the third scan, a page listing “Students at Heidelberg”. Among the student I found one “Charles Packer”. This was the professional stage name used by Erwin Packhiser. The "students" formed part of the chorus and performed “The Drinking Song”, “to the Inn We’re Marching”, “Serenade” and “Finale”.

The website can be seen here: http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/6245/The-Student-Prince

Source: http://www.playbillvault.com/images/whos_who/T/h/The-Student-Prince-01-26-3.jpg

The Operetta is about a  German prince who falls for a waitress while completing his university education in a small town in 1860. I recall seeing the movie version with Mario Lanza and the students seemed to have been spending more time with their beers steins than their books :

             Drink! Drink! Drink!

            Ein zwei drei vier

            Lift your stein and drink your beer

Oddly, Grossie never really talked about this part of his life when I was growing up. There were plenty of reminders, from the concert grand piano in the living room, to trunks of stage clothes and old photos in the attic. I wish now that I asked him to tell me about this part of his life. But it's too late, so my memories of him singing are now often stirred when I stand to sing a hymn in Church...and I hope there are words starting with R in the hymn... so I can try to sing like Grossie! 

Happy Easter Circa 1957

Copyright (C) 2014 Frederick Walton

Middletown, N.Y.-  The developing stamp on the back of the photos below is dated June 1957, however looking at the bare trees and clothing, this obviously wasn’t taken June. In our family, I rarely recall photos being rushed to development anyway. In some cases a roll of film may have lasted half a year or more. Unlike today, people in 1957 generally had a reason to take a picture. Like a holiday , anniversary or birthday. Today the only reason required is being bored... like waiting for the waiter to bring dinner... so they snap a picture of the salt shaker or an unflattering selfie up their nose and post it on Facebook! Gee Thanks!

In 1957 they dressed up for their picture and they looked GREAT! I would guess these photos were taken in the spring , maybe 1957, maybe even earlier. Dee or Jeanne & Fred...do you remember when?

I'm guessing It is most likely Easter (April 21, 1957)...So I send them out to you with Warm EASTER GREETINGS.

Bonus question 1: Whose car is in the background? What was the year and model?
Answer- per Dee: "The car in the background belonged to John McClelland, (Glick), the guy I was dating at the time.  His mother and Ami were friends. "

Bonus Question 2: When did the tree come down and why? All I remember was a giant stump.

Happy Easter, from 1957

Jeanne (24)  and Dianne (16) Packhiser in front of their home at
115 Monhagen Avenue, Middletown, New York , probably April 21, 1957 

Fred Walton (27) and Miss Jeanne (24) Packhiser in front of Jeanne's home at 115 Monhagen Avenue, Middletown, New York , probably April 21, 1957. They would be married a little more than a month later on June 1, 1957 

The Packhiser Family- Dianne (16), Lydia (53), Erwin (59), and Jeanne (24)  Packhiser in front of their home at 115 Monhagen Avenue, Middletown, New York , probably April 21, 1957.
This may be the last "Packhiser" family photo before Jeanne became Mrs. Walton.

Ami's Stories: How She Hooked Grossie

Copyright (C) 2014 by Frederick Walton

My grandfather, Erwin Packhiser, had a reputation as an accomplished sportsman. He loved to hunt and fish. His mounted trophies tastefully enhanced the decor of their lovely Monhagen avenue home. Deer heads hung on the wall and colorful, soft feathered, Pheasants were frozen in motion on end tables. I remember a large Snapping turtle shell on the sunporch as well as a couple of large dried up open mouth bass. I don't recall other mounted fish trophies, but I do recall once when I was ten or twelve years old discovering his fishing poles and tackle in the attic. It was like discovering Aladin's treasure. A forbidden treasure too, because we could not touch Grossies things, even though, up to that point in my life, I don't ever recall him using them.

Erwin and Lydia Packhiser In California circa 1932

When I was born in 1958, my Grandfather turned 60. He owned a successful and thriving Dry cleaning business, was active in church and civic organizations and well known around the relatively small town he lived in. He worked long and hard. He wasn't doing much fishing then, but neither was he ready to retire. Whenever I visited, he was long gone before I ever woke up.  His car would pull in and he'd come in the back door ready for breakfast around 8:30 or so, after getting the dry cleaning "plant" up and running.

My grandmother, Ami, would always tell us stories. She was actively involved with the girl scouts and taught nature courses at the girl scout camp. She knew everything about nature, and always had funny stories about why certain leaves were shaped the way they where or why certain flowers bloom when they do. Her sometimes nonsensical stories come back to me even now when I see a aspen leaf quaking in the wind, or see a forget-me-not's bright blue pedals.

One story she used to tell us was about the time when Grossie took her fishing. They were young, and still dating. She had gone along with him even though she had no interest in fishing, but she did have an interest in him. What he caught that day was more than he bargained for. He was casting his line when the hook caught Ami's ear lobe. He took no notice of this since she was some distance behind him and he was looking forward toward the water. As he completed his cast Ami ran forward yelling in pain for him to stop.

 "Irv! Irv! You've hooked my ear!"  she yelled.

He stopped just in time to prevent any serious damage and sheepishly removed the hook. Even in the picture you can see he is a big, goofy, oaf! Although in many other photos he could easily be a handsome leading man.

Anyway, as a result, they fell in love and lived happily ever after...or something like that.

Even as kids, we had our doubts about this story, but she told it to us many times, until we got a little older and more inquisitive.

"Did it Hurt?"

"How did you get it out"

"You're lucky it didn't go into your eye!"

What started as a tale of romance  became on object lesson for us to be careful when we went fishing. Of course growing up on a daily diet go the Three Stooges, it became just the opposite. Whenever we went fishing we would "accidentally" try to hook each other.  We ARE lucky we didn't put an eye out!

I had forgotten about this story and those sunny summer days of fishing along the Wallkill River with my grandfather and my brothers. Recently while scanning some old family photos from Dee I came across the one pictured above. I have lots of fishing photos of Grossie and his catches, but none that back up Ami's story. Look what she wrote on the back:

"Grossie and Ami fishing in Calif.  Grossie was fly casting and his fishhook got caught in my earlobe."

Maybe her stories aren't all fiction. You got to wonder what happened in the woods that day 82 years ago. Did Grossie catch Ami, or did she catch him?

I welcome comments from family members who recall this story or may have something to add. If you already have a Google account you can sign in and add your comments directly. 

A Rose Between Two Thorns

A Rose Between Two Thorns 

Lydia Kroll (Packhiser) in 1925

Copyright (C) 2014 Frederick Walton, Family Historian

January 23,2014- Ancestry.com recently added seven new New York collections to their site. Since all four of my grandparents lived in NY for most of their lives and raised their families there, I thought they might help me solve some unanswered questions. I eagerly investigated these new resources but, unfortunately, most of them are just beyond the date ranges that would be useful to me. However it did prompt me to search a little harder for my maternal grandparents, whom I had not spent as much time on in the past.

 Lydia H. Kroll- Ami

Theresa Kruger, Lydia Kroll and Margaret Kroll, 

somewhere in New York, exact location unknown. 

Lydia wrote on this photo: “Wall nuts!! 1925”  and “a Rose between two thorns!” 

I called my maternal grandmother “Ami” when I was a baby because I couldn’t say “Oma”, the German word for grandmother. Being the first grandchild,  Lydia became Ami for all the rest of her seven grandchildren.

I started my search with the 1925 New York State Census. Lydia Kroll (b.1904) would have been a young adult and I expected her to pop up instantly. Kroll is not exactly a common name so there shouldn’t be thousands of results to search through. She was not there. Where are you Ami? 

1925 New York Census. 

According to Ancestry, the New York state censuses were taken every ten years from 1825-1875, in 1892, and then again from 1905-1925. State censuses like the 1925 census are useful because they fall in between Federal census years and provide an interim look at a population.

Of course I was searching for Lydia Kroll not Ami. I did find her parents and a couple of siblings (Conrad- 15 and Dorethea- 5) still living at the family farm, but the older siblings had gotten on with their lives and moved out, including, apparently, the 20 year old Lydia. 

My mother, Jeanne, told me that Ami had moved out when she was about 14 (1918) and boarded with a family in Middletown, N. Y. as a Nanny to their young children. Meanwhile her older sister, Elsie, had been sent to college at New Paltz to become a teacher. Lydia felt cheated out of an education and a chance to be a career woman but was determined to do so on her own. She saved enough money to buy a typewriter and enrolled in secretarial school. Misfortune struck when her typewriter was stolen and she had to drop out. She ended up working as a “sales lady” in a high end woman's clothing store called L. Stern Co. Apparently she never got over this disappointment. As a child I could sense a certain tension between the sisters, as close as they usually where. (I always thought Aunt Elsie, was jealous of Ami! Elsie never married and I thought she was jealous of her sister for her husband, children and grandchildren.)

Although not found in the 1925 New York Census, Lydia was listed in the 1920 Federal Census (taken on January 21, 1920). Lydia H. Kroll, age 15, is living with her parents and 9 siblings on Chester Road in Blooming Grove, NY. She is listed as born in NY, although some of her siblings were born in Germany or Illinois. Her father. Julius, is listed as a dairy farmer and the farm they live on is rented. Her older siblings, aged 19-25, hold a variety of jobs while sister Elsie, age 16, Lydia, and her younger siblings are listed as attending school. Its not clear from this single record how the nanny story fits in.  

I decided to dig deeper using the Middletown City directories. When did Ami show up in Middletown?

I searched the Middletown City Directory from 1918-1930. No Kroll’s were listed from 1918 through 1925, but I did find  Ami starting in 1926 where she was listed as:

Kroll Lydia clk 11 North r 36 1/2 Albert

meaning she was a clerk at 11 North street and resided at 36 1/2 Albert street. 

I looked up the street address for 11-15 North street and found a listing for the Stern’s Building and the store: Stern L Co. , Cloaks and suits. That address is now a vacant lot, and, ironically, the building was next to where my Father managed an HFC office in the 1960s and 70s. I passed it regularly without knowing this is where my grandmother once worked.

This eight word directory listing confirms several things my Mom told me about her Mother. She did work as a clerk (or sales-lady per the 1930 census) at Stern’s which was located at 11 North Street. She lived in Middletown, at least after 1926 and Her residence was 36 1/2 Albert Street.

Circa 1880 two-family home at 36 1/2 Albert st. , Middletown, N. Y.
where Ami Lived in 1926.

The only other Kroll listed in the 1926 Middletown City Directory is her older sister, Margaret, residing at 42 East Ave. 

Albert street is off Wickham Avenue/West Main Street. This was a road I drove, probably, thousands of times when going from my childhood house to Ami’s house, to church, to college or practically anywhere else in Middletown. Until today, I never knew Ami had lived there. This area used  be known as little Italy, when I was a teen. Chances are that I drove by where she once lived at least once in my travels.

Now I know where she was in 1926…so where was she in 1925? Maybe If I could find her landlord, I could find him in the 1925 census and see if Lydia is listed as a boarder under a butchered or illegible name.

I looked up the 36 1/2 Albert Street in the back section of 1926 city directory, and found William B. Wolfe listed at 36 Albert, and W. [Warren] Leigh Adams listed at 36 1/2.  When looking up these names in the front section of the 1926 directory I found:

William B & Rose M. Wolfe. Condr O&M h 36 Albert

Adams, Warren L (Florence S.) barber 354 North 36 1/2 Albert 

Note: r means the person listed resides at the address listed and h means the person listed is the home owner. Therefore Warren Adams was the home owner and Ami’s land lord and the Wolfes were her neighbors in 1926. 

Back to the 1925 Census. I tried to find the landlord- Warren L or Florence Adams in the 1925 census thinking that Lydia may be listed as a boarder. I could not find them. Next I looked up Wolfe to see if this would get me back to the Albert Street address in 1925. The census is written in a a ledger type bound notebook and the addresses are, for the most part, written in order. William Wolfe (52) lived with his wife, Rose (50) and his step daughter Nora E Lyons (26) at 36 Albert Street. Nora lists her occupation as Saleslady.  I wondered if she worked at Stern’s? maybe this is how Ami ended up finding a place at this address. I looked her up in the 1925 directory but she is only listed as clk without the work address listed.

The next Census entry, 361/2 Albert is occupied by Stanley Cox (23) an auto machinist and his wife Alice E. (19). Neither the Adam’s or Lydia Kroll are listed there in 1925.  

So where are they? I decided to look up Warren at his 354 North Street Barber shop.

I found 354 North street in the 1925 Census but no mention of a barber shop or Adams, or Lydia Kroll. The residents were the Dibble and Abdoo families. 

In the 1925 City directory the street address for 354 North has 3 entries, the barber shop, Dibble and Abdoo. The Barber shop is listed under W. L. Adams, Barber, shop at 354 North Street. Still no mention of Lydia Kroll. 

In the 1925 City directory, in the names section, Adams is listed as: 

Adams Warren L. barber 354 North h 3741/2 do

This means his business is at 354 North street but he owns a home (h) at 374 1/2 North Street. I looked this street address up in the Directory and, oddly, it lists 3 names, none of which is Warren Adams.

Back to the 1925 Census, I manually searched page by page for 374 1/2 North street and finally found it in ED 1, Ward 2. There are fourteen residents listed including a boarder named Lee Adams, Female!, age 32 who lists his occupation as a barber. no wonder I couldn’t find him when searching for Warren or Leigh. It looks like he is not yet married since there is no sign of Florence or Lydia.

Lydia Kroll in Middletown, N.Y. 1928

Perhaps this all boils down to a  a timing issue since I don’t really know when the City Directory data was gathered or when it was published.

For my final search. I entered  only the name Lydia, and the location Middletown, NY in the 1925 Census which yielded over 100 names to search. I scanned through them looking for obvious transcription errors, like Krill or Roll. I found a Lydia Roe, but her whole family was named Roe, so that was not Ami. Like wise a Lydia Cole turned out to be …a Cole!

I repeated this search on the name Margaret with similar results.

I tried the same search in the 1925 Middletown city directory which returned 24 Lydias. None of which were remotely close to being my Ami.

In summary, I found Ami, in Middletown, from 1926 to 1930 at several addresses. I did NOT find her in Middletown between 1918 and 1925, either listed by her name, or at any of the later addresses or with any of the landlords from her later addresses. 

We know she was working at Sterns from 1926 to 1930, but I am unable to determine when she started. Sterns is long out of business. If she was in Middletown, working at Sterns, or attending typing school, Then she may simply have not been at home when the census taker visited and was therefore overlooked. 

I don’t know where she was when the 1925 census was taken, but she doesn’t seem to have been counted by the state of New York. If you locate her…please let me know!

Citations available upon request

1903- Ottilie and Erwin Come to America

By Frederick Erwin Walton Copyright (C) 2013

Column from The New York Sun, July 1, 1903

On July 1, 1903 Ottilie (Mühlwitz) Packheiser led her 5 year old son Erwin across the crowded North German Lloyd (Norddeutscher Lloyd or NDL) pier in Hoboken, N. J., directly across the Hudson river from Manhattan, New York. NDL owned 3 large docks in Hoboken, reconstructed after a disastrous 1900 fire. This was considered their "New York" home. [1]

The hot July sun, beating down on a busy pier, bustling with activity, had heated the air into the high 80's. Storms the previous night brought with it a high pressure system that swept warmer breezes up from the southern states and the heat was expected to last for the next several days.[2] Welcome to America! Northern Germany seldom got this hot. Ottilie and Erwin had finally arrived in New York after enduring a week long ocean voyage from Bremen, Germany on the luxury passenger steamship Kronprinz Wilhelm, the same ship that brought her husband, Rudolph, here nearly one year previously.

Erwin Rudolph Packhieser 
about age 7 

Ottilie and Erwin traveled as second class passengers and would have enjoyed some of the comforts the ship had to offer, including a private room. This would have made traveling with a young child healthier, safer and easier than a cheaper passage in third class (I.E. "Steerage"), where privacy and space were not always guaranteed. They also avoided the scrutiny of intrusive and humiliating inspections out on Ellis Island, since it was assumed that immigrants that could afford the higher fares of first or second class were less risky and were not "likely to become a public charge". This was one immigration concern of Americans in 1903. If you could not take care of yourself and your family, America didn't want you. There was no public welfare system and the government was careful not to overload religious charities and poor houses with needy foreigners  This was tricky ground for president Theodore Roosevelt and his commissioner of immigration, William Williams. As America entered the 20th Century, it did not want to totally prevent immigration, but it planned to use Ellis Island and other ports of entry as a way to screen out undesirable immigrants. Roosevelt supported immigration law that would let in "really good immigrants" that would continue to build America's future, but sift out "very unhealthy elements" that would drag down our society and pollute the gene pool for generations to come. [3]

Ships arriving in New York from Europe would dock at the Hudson or East River piers. The first and second class passengers would disembark, pass through Customs at the piers and enter the United States. Steerage or third class passengers were then transported from the piers by ferry or barge to Ellis Island, where they would undergo a medical and legal inspection before being allowed to enter the country or "land", a process that normally took 4 or 5 hours, but could result in a longer stay if there were any issues. Even though an Immigrant was physically standing in America, on Ellis Island, they were still considered "outside" U.S. boundaries. Passengers who failed these inspections would be sent back to Europe and not allowed to land in America. [4]

Perhaps Rudolph's detention at Ellis Island, the previous year, prompted him to pay the higher fare for his family, to spare them from a similar or worse fate than he may have experienced spending a night in the stuffy dormitories in the humid heat of a New York July night. [5]

An example of a typical second class cabin of the period 

But the trade-off was a significant increase in cost. The question one has to ask is, could the Packheiser's afford this luxury? Did Ottilie and Erwin follow a year later so they could have time to save up for the more expensive cost of second class passage? Or did Ottilie have a sponsor that helped defray the cost? A ticket to America in Steerage may have cost as little as $10-$25, second class was as much as double that and First class was significantly more. [6] By 1915 the rates for first class where between $85 to $120, Second class (or Cabin) $50-$60 and Steerage  $35-$46. [7]. What a  HUGE difference that extra $20 or $30 dollars would make in the quality of your treatment and comfort...if you could afford it!

I recently spoke to my mother, Jeanne Ottilie (Packhiser) Walton, who was named for her grandmother. She recalled stories about the Mühlwitz's being somewhat wealthy. They owned some sort of business in their hometown of  Königsberg in East Prussia. Perhaps future research will help us identify this. As an indicator of their wealth, my mother recalled that they owned their own pew in the church and had a carriage. Neither may sound very impressive today, but a century ago, most people couldn't afford these luxuries. [8]

Reading room in the Kronprinz Wilhelm

While researching the ship they came over on, I was surprised to find an abundance of information on the internet. (which you can find too if you Google "Kronprinz Wilhelm".) Much is written about the beautiful appointments and luxuries for the non steerage passengers, like the reading room pictured above. Ruthann and I love to cruise and have taken many vacations aboard ship. When not exploring ports, we wander around the ship and try to see as much as we can. I always wander down the hallway where the luxury staterooms are on the off chance that the door is open for cleaning and I can sneak a peak inside. I wonder if my great-grandmother was as nosy as me? Perhaps she peaked in this lovely reading room (above) or as a second class passenger, could she simply have taken  a seat and made herself at home? Her dinners would be served to her on china in the second class dining room, not slopped onto a tin plate in a "soup line" in steerage. Her room may have had a port hole to allow fresh air into her private compartment and she could have taken walks on the segregated and reserved passenger deck rather than suffering in the stifling heat and bearing the unspeakable smells of the hundreds of passengers packed into the tight space in steerage.

Looking at her immigration manifest (transcribed below), you may notice it is slightly different than the one in use only the year before. (See Rudolph's manifest). Her age is listed as 28 (field 3) which means she would have been born in 1875. Her newspaper obituary lists her birth date as "15 November 1872". [9]  Her grave stone lists 1872 as well. If this is correct, then her age at immigration should have been 31. But who can blame her for this "mistake". She would not be the first woman to shave off a few years off her age on her way to start a new life in America.

She listed herself as married (field 5) and she listed Michalowo, located in present day Poland near the Russian border, as her last residence (field 10). According to records in the Packheiser family bible in my mother's possession.[10] Michalowo is where they got married, I would guess this was their village. The nearest big city was Bialystok, which Rudolph claimed as his last residence the year before when he arrived. Bialystok had a textile industry, so perhaps this is where he worked as a silk dyer. Ottilie married Rudolph Packheiser on 18 May 1896. Their son Erwin was born on March 26, 1898.

Rudolph and Ottilie Packheiser's 1896 Wedding Photo

Reverse of Photo Showing where it was Taken

 This made me ponder, how did the Bible and these photos get to America? Did Rudolph or Ottilie hand carry them when they immigrated? Were they sent later? How much luggage did they travel with? One often thinks of immigrants as impoverished,  arriving with only the clothes on their back, but as a second class passenger, I doubt Ottilie and Erwin fit this bill. They would have had luggage, maybe even a trunk. Again the question of cost arises. If she could afford to pay a porter, then she may have brought many things with her.

One object that was passed down to my mother was a large, brass Russian Samovar or Tea urn. Was this brought to America by the Packheisers, purchased here or sent to them after they were settled?  These questions may never be answered but I will discuss them with Jeanne and Dee to see if we can come up with a list of Packheiser heirlooms from the old country and speculate how they got here.

The scanty official records leave many other questions unanswered. Was Rudolph waiting for his bride and their son when she arrived? If not how did they get to Boston? We know her final destination is Boston because this is also specified on her manifest (Field 16):  Husb[and] Rudolph Packhiser, 112 Brookside Ave, Jamiaca Plains [Boston] 

For Erwin entry it simply says "father".

Columns showing amount of money Ottilie Packheiser Carried ($6) and her destination

Speaking of money, Ottilie arrived with just $6.00 (Field 14). This doesn't seem like a lot of money today, but what was it worth relative to the cost of living in 1903?  I found several price surveys on the web for 1903, the following is a sample.

• Average annual salary, postal worker: $924
• Average annual salary, schoolteacher: $358
• A night in a hotel: $2
• Houses for rent-Morristown, NJ, 7 rooms and bath, $12.50/month
• Men's suit, serge, $5.75-6.50/each
• Beef, sirloin steak, .20/lb
• Soda, Hire's, ginger ale, .09/bottle
• Couch, $4.00-5.00/each
• Refrigerator, $4.75-15.00/each
• Railroad tickets, Newark-San Francisco, $67.00/round trip ticket
• One pound coffee: 13 cents
• Loaf of bread: 5 cents
• Stamp: 2 cents

A more useful comparison may result from  analyzing what her fellow passengers brought with them. I reviewed a number of randomly chosen second class manifests and found a wide range, from $6 to several thousand dollars. Ottilie was among those passengers with the least amount of money. At least, the smallest amount declared. Did she have an emergency fund sewn in the lining of her coat perhaps? The most common amount declared seemed to be in the $20 to $50 range. By 1909, Commissioner Williams had specified a minimum of $25 was needed to prove the immigrant would not become a public charge. [11]

The manifest tells us where they were going, but not how they got there. She didn't have a prepaid ticket to her final destination (field 12). Was one waiting for her and her young son? What mode of transportation took her on the final leg of her journey? The July 2, 1903 "New York Sun" contained an ad for a railroad "Parlor car" [12] from NY to Boston for a fare of $7, one dollar more than she had reported. The same paper also advertised steamship tickets to Boston and a Special 4th of July vacation trip to Boston for $3. We may never know how she decided to travel, but it would be a long, hot journey before she was finally reunited with her husband, after a year of being apart.

The remaining items in the manifest either have fairly predictable answers or are useful for confirming what we may already know. I have transcribed their complete manifest below.

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Immigration Service
form 1500 A.

Saloon, Cabin and Steerage Aliens must be Completely Manifested.

This sheet is for Second Cabin Passengers 

_______

List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port Of Arrival

List No. __ 30

Required by the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, under Act of Congress approved March 3, 1903, to be delivered to the U.S. Immigration Officer by the Commanding officer of any vessel having such passengers on board upon arrival at a port in the United States.

SS Kronprinz Wilhelm sailing from Bremen, June 23rd 1903 Arriving at Port of New York [ June 30, 1903]

Field Name	Data: Ottilie  Data: Erwin (if different)	My Comments
(1) No. On List:	8 9	This is on a page labeled "List Number 30" There are 30 names on this page
(2) Name In Full:	Ottilie Packheiser Erwin "
(3) Age	28 5	my records indicate Ottilie  is born in 1872 which  would make her 31.  Erwin was born in 1898
(4) Sex	F M
(5) Married or Single	M S	Married 18 May 1896
(6)Calling or Occupation	None
(7) Able to read/write	Yes/Yes
(8) Nationality (country of last permanent residence)	Russia	Probably considered himself German. In my research,all Passengers from Bialystok are labeled Russian, even though they came from diverse cultures
(9) * Race or People	German	New question on the 1902 form. Race was intended to indicate a  cultural bias rather than a color.
(10) Last Residence	Michalowo, hezbulka ?	Located within Russian Empire in 1903,  Rudolph answered Bialistock in 1902
(11) Final Destination  (State, City or town)	Boston, Mass.
(12) Whether having a ticket  to such final destination	No
(13) By Whom was passage paid	Self Mother
(14) Whether in Possession of  $50, and if less,how much?	$ 6.00
(15) Whether ever before in US	No
(16) Whether going to join a relative and  if so what relative or friend ,  their number and address	husb Rudolph Packheiser 112 Brookside Ave Jamaica Plain, Mass father
(17) Ever in Prison, Almshouse or supported by Charity	No	standard answer
(18) Whether a Polygamist	No	standard answer
(19) Whether an Anarchist	No	standard answer
(20) Whether coming by reason of any offer, solicitation, promise, or agreement, express or implied, to labor in the  United States.	No	standard answer.  Labor Unions did not want  employers to import  cheap foreign labor.
(21) condition of Health	good	standard answer. Americans had a  real fear that immigrants would  bring disease and plagues to  their cities if not inspected.
(22) Deformed or Crippled	No	standard answer

* "Race or People" is to be determined by the stock from which they sprang and the language they speak. List of Races will be found on back of this sheet.

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"Race or people" is to be determined by the stock from which aliens sprang and the language they speak.  The original stock or blood shall be the basis of the classification, the mother tongue to be used only to assist in determining the original stock.

LIST OF RACES OR PEOPLES

African (black). Armenian. Bohemian. Bosnian. Bulgarian. Chinese. Croatian. Cuban. Dalmatian. Dutch. East Indian. English. Finnish. Flemish. French. German.

Greek. Hebrew. Herzegovinian. Irish. Italian (North). Italian (South). Japanese. Korean. Lithuanian. Magyar. Mexican. Montenegrin. Moravian. Pacific Islander. Polish. Portuguese.

Roumanian. Russian. Ruthenian (Russniak). Scandinavian (Norwegians,  Danes, and Swedes). Scotch. Servian. Slovak. Slovenian. Spanish. Spanish American. Syrian. Turkish. Welsh. West Indian (other than  Cuban).

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 Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norddeutscher_Lloyd
2.  The New York Sun, July 2, 1903, Page 3, Weather
3.  Cannato, Vincent J.,American Passage, The History of Ellis Island, 2009, Harper Collins, NY, pg 129
4.  www.ellisisland.org
5  Record of Detained Alien Passengers, SS KronPrinx Wm, July 22, 1902, Sheet 151,  Line 29, Packhieser, Rudolf (sic)  www.ellisisland.org
6.  http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/kpw.html,
7.  Cannato, Vincent J.,American Passage, The History of Ellis Island, 2009, Harper Collins, NY, pg 299
8. Phone conversation with Jeanne Ottilie (Packhiser)  Walton  on 19 Jan. 2013
9. Middletown Times Herald, Middletown, NY, September 3, 1949,  Page 3, deaths and Funerals, Mrs. Rudolph Packhiser.
10. Packhiser family bible in  possession of Jeanne Walton. Photos may be seen at https://picasaweb.google.com/104920865641639603179/PackhiserFamilyGermanBible?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOrg_4mxmNPpVQ&feat=directlink
11. Cannato, Vincent J.,American Passage, The History of Ellis Island, 2009, Harper Collins, NY, pg 196-197
12. Parlor Car- A railroad car for day travel fitted with individual reserved seats.