'Building the American Dream' might be an apt subtitle for Eben William Osterndorff.
...But we should really begin at the beginning. Eben began his life on 27 January 1842 in Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany as the son of a peasant. Little is known about Eben's early life in Germany except that he was originally called Eibehenni and was last living in Dorum when he left his home land at the age of 10 with his family in the late summer of 1853. The sea voyage would carry his father H.W., 42, his mother Maria, 37, sister Friderica, 15, and sister Maria Dorthea, 6, across the Atlantic for six weeks on the 'Itzstein and Welker', departing from Bremen on ~17 July 1853 and arriving in New York's first immigration area - Castle Garden - on 30 August 1853. If there were more individuals in the family, they either did not survive the journey or stayed behind; neither case has any substantial support/evidence.
Roughly the next ten years are a bit obscured but it is enough time for Eben to grow into a young man, learn some English and a bit of business in the area of 110th St and Broadway. Eben will remain in a ten block area surrounding this location for the majority of his life in New York. The amount of formal education Eben or any of his siblings receive is unknown, as is whether the Osterndorff family met with any close relations upon their arrival.
Here is a view of Broadway just as Eben was probably getting his feet wet in the business world.
By 1862 Eibehenni has changed his name to Eben William, usually abbreviating it E.W., and appears in the tax records from 1862-1866 as a retail liquor dealer in Manhattan, New York. By the end of 1866 Eben's business income equals $500.00 with a $25.00 tax and he had entered his application for citizenship to the Common Pleas Court of New York county. There is some question as to whether this extra money was enough to temporarily establish himself elsewhere as the Post Master General of the new Bloomingdale (Essex county, New York) post office the following year. What is strange about this is that the subsequent year, 1868, a 26 year old Eben marries an 18 year old Margaret Blohm on 02 June in St. Michael's Church (99th St and Amsterdam Ave, Manhattan, New York), an Episcopal Church that has been in continual service since 1807 and is located near his same place of residence he has maintained since 1862. (Broadway being one street west of Amsterdam Ave and 99th - 110th St in the area currently referred to as the Upper West Side!) But the question as to why he was in Bloomingdale, if indeed it is Eben Osterndorff, remains a mystery.
Their first daughter, Ida Margaret, is born in February 1869 and surrounded by extended family in her first year of life. Indeed the 1870 US Federal Census (USFC) shows that Eben resides with his burgeoning family in Manhattan with his parents Henry and Mary, and much younger brother Harry. Given that Harry is nearly 20 years Eben's junior, it is quite possible that Eben's mother Maria died young (possibly at 48 years old in 1864) and his father remarried a woman named Veronica Mary Schmults, as noted in Eben's marriage (and death) certificate. Puzzling out this bit of history will have to remain until another post.
The Americanized Osterndorff family follow up this first daughter with a second in September 1871 to the name of Emma Mary. Due to unavailability of state census records for New York county, the last time the Osterndorff family is found together in the records is the 1880 USFC. At this time the patriarch of the family, Henry, has passed away and there are no more recorded children for Eben and Margaret. Perhaps they did have other children who died young or were temporarily unable to have children. Again due to lack of preserved records for the county of New York, the Osterndorff children are not encountered again until the 1900 USFC, when a new child enters the picture. A one May E Osterndorff was said to have been born in Aug 1883, making for a 12 year gap between her and her sister Emma. There is a small hint that there may have been two more daughters, if not perhaps more pregnancies. Speculations as to possible cause(s) for the possible lack children in the intervening decade will be expounded upon in the ensuing post. Having a majority of female children may not have come as a surprise to Eben's wife Margaret, though, as she was one of five daughters!
In the decade leading up to Eben's death, 1880-1891, the city directories indicate that Eben hardly moved, remained in the coal business and even got his brother Henry into the deal for a while. His life seemed also to be filled with at least four charity service works, not limited to the Charity Council No. 878, A.L. of H., Banner Council No. 48 and O.C.F. all of which seem to deal with social reform and support of poor families.
Sadly Eben William Osterndorff's ends at the rather young age of 49 years, 10 months and 23 days, with the primary cause of death being paralysis on the 19 November 1891 at 5 PM. Funeral services were held at St. Michael's Church, with members of his charities groups invited to attend. His burial was then received in Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, New York) on 22 November 1891, in the same lot and section number as some of his relations.
Note: Any comments, questions or points of error are welcome in the space provided below.
Sources:
Green-Wood Cemetery Services
Osterndorff EW. Certificate of Death. State of New York. 20 November 1891.
Osterndorff EW. Obituary. New York Herald. Sunday, 22 November 1891. Issue 326, pp. 24.
Osterndorff EW. Post Master. New York Herald-Tribune. 23 July 1867.
St.Michael's Church photos and building information at daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com
Trow's New York City Directory. 1883-1903.
US Federal Census 1870-1880, 1900. All Manhattan.
...But we should really begin at the beginning. Eben began his life on 27 January 1842 in Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany as the son of a peasant. Little is known about Eben's early life in Germany except that he was originally called Eibehenni and was last living in Dorum when he left his home land at the age of 10 with his family in the late summer of 1853. The sea voyage would carry his father H.W., 42, his mother Maria, 37, sister Friderica, 15, and sister Maria Dorthea, 6, across the Atlantic for six weeks on the 'Itzstein and Welker', departing from Bremen on ~17 July 1853 and arriving in New York's first immigration area - Castle Garden - on 30 August 1853. If there were more individuals in the family, they either did not survive the journey or stayed behind; neither case has any substantial support/evidence.
 |
| Photo from CastleGarden.org |
Here is a view of Broadway just as Eben was probably getting his feet wet in the business world.
 |
| Stereoscopic view of Broadway, New York City, c 1860. Photographer: E H Anthony (c) National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library |
Their first daughter, Ida Margaret, is born in February 1869 and surrounded by extended family in her first year of life. Indeed the 1870 US Federal Census (USFC) shows that Eben resides with his burgeoning family in Manhattan with his parents Henry and Mary, and much younger brother Harry. Given that Harry is nearly 20 years Eben's junior, it is quite possible that Eben's mother Maria died young (possibly at 48 years old in 1864) and his father remarried a woman named Veronica Mary Schmults, as noted in Eben's marriage (and death) certificate. Puzzling out this bit of history will have to remain until another post.
The Americanized Osterndorff family follow up this first daughter with a second in September 1871 to the name of Emma Mary. Due to unavailability of state census records for New York county, the last time the Osterndorff family is found together in the records is the 1880 USFC. At this time the patriarch of the family, Henry, has passed away and there are no more recorded children for Eben and Margaret. Perhaps they did have other children who died young or were temporarily unable to have children. Again due to lack of preserved records for the county of New York, the Osterndorff children are not encountered again until the 1900 USFC, when a new child enters the picture. A one May E Osterndorff was said to have been born in Aug 1883, making for a 12 year gap between her and her sister Emma. There is a small hint that there may have been two more daughters, if not perhaps more pregnancies. Speculations as to possible cause(s) for the possible lack children in the intervening decade will be expounded upon in the ensuing post. Having a majority of female children may not have come as a surprise to Eben's wife Margaret, though, as she was one of five daughters!
 |
| The church as it would have appeared in Eben's life. |
Sadly Eben William Osterndorff's ends at the rather young age of 49 years, 10 months and 23 days, with the primary cause of death being paralysis on the 19 November 1891 at 5 PM. Funeral services were held at St. Michael's Church, with members of his charities groups invited to attend. His burial was then received in Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, New York) on 22 November 1891, in the same lot and section number as some of his relations.
Note: Any comments, questions or points of error are welcome in the space provided below.
Sources:
Green-Wood Cemetery Services
Osterndorff EW. Certificate of Death. State of New York. 20 November 1891.
Osterndorff EW. Obituary. New York Herald. Sunday, 22 November 1891. Issue 326, pp. 24.
Osterndorff EW. Post Master. New York Herald-Tribune. 23 July 1867.
St.Michael's Church photos and building information at daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com
Trow's New York City Directory. 1883-1903.
US Federal Census 1870-1880, 1900. All Manhattan.
