Halloween Party 1909

 

Evansville Courier & Press, 27 Oct 1909

The clipping above mentions my great-grandmother, Blanche A. Lamon, attending a Halloween party in 1909. She would have been 22 then, living with her parents in Fort Branch, Gibson County.

From the Underworld on Halloween

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. INAH, Mexico City. 6 Mar 2009.

Swimmer's Eyes

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Venice, CA. 1 Oct 2021.

Succession of Frank Halter, Part 2

The succession file mentioned in Tuesday's post reveals quite a bit about the property and possessions of Frank Halter. I failed to note that the succession was brought forward by John Halter, son of Frank Halter. A description of the real estate owned by Frank is below, and it provides the date he purchased the land on 25 January 1842.

His property also included a four-post bed and bedding, a small armoire, clothing, a safe, 4 tables, 5 chairs, a looking glass, a clock, a hoe and spade, a crosscut saw, 3 hand saws, a foot adze, a plane, crowbar, a hammer and small tools, and 7 colored pictures.

The City of New Orleans filed a challenge on the estate, claiming it had a right to be paid $7.28 in taxes (yes, Seven Dollars and Twenty-Eight Cents) plus $25.00 in drainage taxes, and they had priority to be paid first from the sale of the property. The opposition brought by the City was dismissed.

The Court approved the disposition of the estates on 30 June 1880.

Succession of Frank Halter, Part 1

New Orleans Daily Democrat, 9 Apr 1880.

While searching through the Louisiana Wills and Probates file on Ancestry, I stumbled onto a succession document for Frank Halter (spelled Holter in the document). This was quite a surprise, as it provides his date of death, the date of death for his wife Madeline Weitmann Halter, and their son Hubert Halter. The page below shows that Frank passed away on 3 September 1879, Madeline on 15 February 1860, and Hubert in December 1862. The document also mentions the other children of Frank: Joseph (my wife's 3rd-great-grandfather), Anthony, Marie Therese and Louisa.

Another page below shows that Frank's sister Antoinette paid for the funeral services.

Joseph and Louisa

 

Louisiana Marriages, 3 Feb 1854

After covering the family of Antoinette Halter, I now return to a branch of the Halter family that I've mentioned before. Antoinette's younger brother George Joseph Halter, known as Joseph, was born in Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France in 1830. In 2016, I wrote about Joseph Halter and his marriage to first wife Louisa Elenore Paderas. Louisa was a sister of Dorothea Paderas, wife of Raphael Tudury. Above is a copy of the marriage license from the New Orleans Parish records.

Joseph and Louisa had the following children:

- George Halter, 1855-1904

- Alfred Halter, 1857-1937

- Emma Dora Halter, 1860-1940

Louisa died on 27 November 1864. Joseph remarried to Ida Zimmerer on 6 March 1867. The family appears in the 1870 US Census, with Joseph's occupation listed as wagon driver.

1870 US Census, New Orleans.

Joseph died in July 1874, and his will is available in the Louisiana Wills and Probate records on Ancestry. The will was written in French.

Louisiana Wills, 1874.

Ida was twenty years old when she married Joseph in 1867. After his death, it appears that the children went into the care of Louisa's mother Dorothea Reinke, who served as their tutrix. There is an extensive probate file on the succession of Joseph Halter. Louisa's brother Theodore was quite active in supporting their case, and served as their undertutor. There are about 90 pages in the probate file, so I'll have more to share in a subsequent post.

Josephine and Henry

 

Josephine Kern Zengel-Smith & Henry O. Smith.

As noted yesterday, Josephine Kern Zengel (daughter of Antoinette Halter Kern) married Henry Otto Smith in New Orleans in 1915, when she was 49. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York. From the available records, it appears that they traveled quite often. In 1921, the couple went to San Francisco, and then sailed on the S.S. Manoa of the Matson Lines. Josephine and Henry departed San Francisco on 20 July, arriving in Honolulu on 27 July 1921.

Huntington Library. S.S. Manoa.

Josephine and Henry returned from their Hawaiian vacation on the S.S. Maui, arriving back into San Francisco on 10 August 1921.

In April 1922, Henry applied for a US Passport in order for to travel to Europe. The photo at the top of the post comes from Henry's passport application. Charles Huber, husband of Josephine's step-sister Magdalena, served as a witness on Henry's application. Josephine and Henry departed New York in June 1922, with planned stops in the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Gibraltar and France. They made the voyage with Josephine's niece, Hilda Zengel. Charles Huber also served as a witness on her passport application. Hilda's parents died before 1908, so she had been living with Josephine from before her marriage to Henry. Hilda continued living with them after their marriage.

Hilda Zengel, 1922.

Josephine, Henry and Hilda returned to New York on the S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam from Plymouth, England on 9 September 1922. Their passenger arrival was processed at Ellis Island.

Josephine and Henry took another trip to Europe in 1928. They appear on a passenger arrival list at Ellis Island arriving on the S.S. Stavangerfjord of the Norwegian America Line from Oslo on 10 September 1928. Curiously, the arrival list has Josephine's birth date as 14 March 1870, but the New Orleans Birth Records have her birth date as 28 February 1866.

Source: Gjenvick Archives.

Josephine and Hilda took a trip to Europe in 1932, arriving back in New York on 3 August 1932 on the S.S. Europa from Bremen.

Josephine passed away on 6 August 1940 in New Orleans.

New Orleans Times-Picayune, 7 Aug 1940.

Antoinette's Children

Picking up from yesterday's post, I'm following the family of Antoinette Halter Vollrath Kern. The New Orleans records keep revealing interesting connections and travels as I extend down this side of the tree.

Antoinette's first son, Philip Vollrath, married Mary Agnes Cary in 1897. He worked as a dairyman and laborer, and died on 16 May 1918. Antoinette's second son, Henry Vollrath, had an unexpected connection to Francois Halter (my wife's 4th-great-grandfather, and Henry's uncle). Henry married Catherine Myers in New Orleans on 4 October 1876. Francois witnessed the marriage, signing the license as Franz Halter (and also written by the Justice of the Peace as Frank Halter). The license was also witnessed by Filippo Ciofalo, first husband of Magdalene Vollrath, Henry's sister.

New Orleans Marriage Records, 1876.

Antoinette's first daughter, Magdalena Vollrath, married Sicilian immigrant Filippo Ciofalo on 17 November 1874. He worked for many years as a barber, but died without children on 1 March 1888. Magdalena remarried on 5 June 1893 to Charles Huber, a Swiss immigrant and sugar maker.

Charles appears in several travel records. He visited in Havana, Cuba in 1903. 

In 1911, Charles, Magdalena and Josephine Kern Zengel (Magdalena's step-sister) took a trip to Europe to visit Charles' ancestral home in Switzerland. The departed Le Havre on 30 September 1911, and arrived in New York on the S.S. Chicago on 10 October 1911. Josephine had married Frank Zengel on 16 September 1902. He was a prominent lawyer in New Orleans. He died on 22 October 1909.

S.S. Chicago arrival into NY, 10 Oct 1911

S.S. Chicago, 10 Oct 1911

Josephine's Swiss Emigration Form shows that she visited Altdorf in the Canton of Shaffhausen, Switzerland, along the Swiss-German border. Magdalena and Charles' Swiss Emigration Forms shows that they visited the village of Wynau in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland.

Frank and Josephine visited Havana, Cuba in February 1905. They appear on the ship manifest arriving into New Orleans on 2 March 1905.

Josephine married Henry Otto Smith on 12 October 1915 in New Orleans. I will have more on their travels in another post.

Magdalena died on 29 August 1939 in New Orleans without children of her own. Josephine died on 6 August 1940. 

Antoinette

Continuing with the Halter family in New Orleans, I'm shifting attention to Antoinette Halter, younger sister of Francois Halter. She was born in Bas Rhin, France in 1829. Antoinette immigrated to New Orleans, and first married Jacob Vollrath. They had three children:

- Philip Vollrath, 1852-1918

- Magdalene Vollrath, 1854-1939

- Henry Vollrath, 1859-1920

Antoinette later married George Kern, a German dairyman on 26 May 1862. They had two children:

- Joseph Kern, 1864-1907

- Josephine Kern, 1866-1940

Antoinette executed a will on 1 August 1887, naming George as executor and providing for her five children. She died on 21 October 1887. There is an extensive probate file available on Ancestry which provides substantial detail on her real estate and property holdings in New Orleans. I have pulled a few selections from the probate file to include with this post.

Source: Ancestry. Louisiana Wills, 1887.

 

The file provides a wealth of family history detail on Antoinette's family, mentioning her children, their husbands, her property, and containing signatures.

Frank Zengel, husband of Josephine Kern, provided his legal services as part of settling the estate. Antoinette's daughter Magdalene also chose to have her own counsel.

George Kern died on 24 May 1907. His will transferred some of the property that originally belonged to Antoinette down to his daughter Josephine. Joseph Kern, son of George, died on 20 June 1907.

My next post will follow Antoinette's children.

A Witness to a Marriage

I am continuing my look into New Orleans records, but shifting to the other side of the family tree. I previously wrote about my wife's 4th-great-grandfather Francois Halter in 2015. His signature appears on the marriage record of his daughter Louisa to Jean Baptiste Carbonetto (also spelled Carbonneti) in 1867.

New Orleans Marriages, 5 Feb 1867.

Like Francois, Jean Baptiste was also a gardener. He and Louisa appear in the 1870 US Census.

Source: Ancestry. 1870 US Census, New Orleans.

They had at least two children:

- Appolonia Pauline Carboneti, 1871

- Catherine Carboneti, 1875

Jean Baptiste died on 26 February 1895. It isn't clear what happened to Louisa.

Marriage Annulled

After looking into New Orleans Parish Marriages and news articles I previously missed, I'm taking one last recap on Marguerite Barba, first wife of my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien. After separating from Harry and returning to New Orleans (likely in 1909 or early 1910), Marguerite married Charles LeMore in New Orleans on 14 November 1911. Her sister Leonora was one of the witnesses (listed as Mrs. F. H. Jaubert).

FamilySearch. New Orleans Parish Marriages, 1911.

A problem was that Marguerite was still technically married to Harry. While the divorce had been filed in Illinois on 24 June 1911, the petition was not granted by the court until 28 November 1911. Marguerite did not learn of this until January 1913. By then her marriage to LeMore was also over, but she still had this problem to resolve. According to a news article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune from 22 January 1915, Marguerite petitioned the court in New Orleans to dissolve her marriage to LeMore.

New Orleans Times-Picayune, 22 Jan 1915.

Marguerite continued living with her mother, operating their home with rooms for rent. Her mother passed away on 28 June 1945.

Marguerite died in New Orleans in August 1982, almost 98 years old.

A Change of Name

I have been looking back through historic New Orleans records on FamilySearch, uncovering records that either were not previously available or records that I missed on prior searches. My latest search uncovered what happened to Leonora Barba, sister of Marguerite Barba. When I last wrote about Leonora in 2015, I wrote about her brief scandalous marriage to Frank Fuller in 1903, while she was living in New York City to be an actress. Leonora returned to New Orleans, and was living in the same home as her mother and sister at 708 Carondelet in the 1910 US Census. The 1910 Census record indicated that Leonora was divorced, but I didn't realize she had been twice-divorced by then. The FamilySearch scans of the Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1937-1957 revealed another previously overlooked marriage in 1908, which uncovered the rest of her story.

FamilySearch. New Orleans, 1908.

The image above shows the marriage of Berthold Marno Le Moult to Eleonor Barba on 23 September 1908. Berthold had only been in New Orleans for a year, as seen in this news clipping from September 1907 below.

New Orleans Times-Democrat, 8 Sept 1907.

This marriage appears to have been short-lived, as young Marno returned to Germany and remarried in 1911.

Leonora's third marriage stuck. She met Frank H. Jaubert, likely in New Orleans, and they married in Biloxi, Mississippi over Labor Day weekend in 1911. From this point on, she went by Eleonor (or Eleanor). Interestingly, their marriage record in Harrison County, Mississippi lists her full name as Leonor Barba Fuller and includes her signature.

Biloxi Sun Herald, 8 Sep 1911.

Eleonor appears on a list of US citizens returning from Cuba on the S.S. Atenas, arriving in New Orleans on 25 September 1916. I can picture them spending an anniversary trip in Cuba during the summer of 1916. Or perhaps Frank had regular business there. Frank appears on various New Orleans passenger records between 1916-1926, returning from trips to the Panama Canal Zone and Cuba.

Eleonor was listed on Frank's WWI draft registration card in 1917. This record shows them living in Shreveport, Louisiana. They appear together on a passenger list arriving into New Orleans on 7 September 1925 (see below), perhaps again for another anniversary trip. The S.S. Heredia departed Havana on 5 September 1925.

Source: Ancestry. New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1925.

Frank and Eleanor appear in the New Orleans voter registration records between 1935-1947. She wrote her name as Mrs. Frank H. Jaubert in the voter registration records (1935, 1939, 1940, 1945, 1947). In 1947, they were living in a stately home at 504 Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter. Eleanor's sister Marguerite later moved into the same address.

Frank Hastings Jaubert died in New Orleans on 28 April 1947. His obituary names her as Countess Leonor Barba Le Moult, which is interesting given how briefly she was married to Marno Le Moult.

New Orleans States, 29 Apr 1947.

Eleanor passed away on 10 November 1956. As far as I can tell, she had no children. It is nice to uncover this thread and highlight her story, even if it is tangentially connected to my own family history. I imagine my great-grandfather Harry had quite a few interactions with Leonora, later Eleanor, during his years in New Orleans. 

Harry's New Orleans Voter Registration

 

FamilySearch, Louisiana Voter Registration, 1906.

Well this is quite the find. I knew that my great-grandfather Harry E. O'Brien had moved to New Orleans to play music and attend Soule Business College. I wasn't entirely sure when he arrived in the city. This new-to-me record puts an earlier date on his arrival. According to his voter registration, Harry arrived in 1902, at the young age of 18, straight out of high school, but other records I've seen show him still in Illinois in 1903. This document also shows his address as 708 Carondelet, the boarding house owned by the mother of his first wife, Marguerite Barba.