52 Ancestors – Week 2018-26
Hopfe-Bauer Project
By Don Taylor

I often have trouble with locations in Europe and Central Europe in particular. Because of the frequent changes in names, states, and country boundaries, I often become confused. Wolfstein, Germany, changed states frequently. During Anna’s lifetime. In many cases, Wikipedia provides the information that gives me understanding. I entered Wolfstein into Wikipedia and was referred to a disambiguation page. Based upon the response I learned that it is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Reading the “Recent times” I learned that Wolfstein became Bavarian in 1814 and kept the name until 1947 when it became part of the Rhineland-Palatinate. Now I get it.

Hopfe-Bauer 2018 – Ancestor #07

List of Grandparents

• Grandmother: Anna Elizabeth Gunther
• 1^st Great-grandfather: Peter Gunther

Anna Elizabeth[i] (Gunther[ii]) Bauer[iii] (1888-1975)

Immigrant Ancestor – Germany

Anna Elizabeth Gunther was born in Wolfstein, Bavaria, Germany on 25 September 1888 to Peter and Anna Maria (Schick) Gunther. She was baptized two and a half weeks later at the Lutheran Church in Wolfstein, Bavaria on 14 October 1888.

Marriage

Anna Gunther & Karl Bauer c. 1909 – Photo via Ibabeb & Ancestry.com

On 30 December 1909, Anna married Karl Bauer in the Protestant (Lutheran) Church in Wolfstein. They had six children, all born in Wolfstein.

Children of Karl & Anna Bauer

1921 was an extremely bad year with the deaths of the couple’s twin children. Robert died at the age of 3 months and Herbert died at the age of 7 months.

S.S. Columbus – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00383 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, de, Via Wikimedia Commons

In January 1926, Karl emigrated to the United States. Anna and the other children remained in Wolfstein. Karl came by way of Bremen, Germany, and took the SS Columbus to New York. The SS Columbus was a 775-foot, twin screw, two-masted, two-funneled passenger ship. The ship had a capacity of 1750 passengers. Anna, Emilie, Karl, and <Living> followed 16 months later arriving in New York on 13 May 1927. Anna and the three children joined Karl at 299 Bleecher Street, Brooklyn. Finally, Irmgard came to America nearly two years later, April 1929, thus reuniting the family at 299 Bleecher Street.

Anna (Gunther) Bauer

The 1940 Census finds Karl and Anna still living at 299 Bleecher Street. Living with them are their sons, Walter and [Living]. Living with them is Anna’s mother, Anna Gunther. Their oldest child, Emilie, is living with her husband Reinhold Bressler in the same building.  Their other daughter, Irmgard was also living in the same building with her husband Walter Hopfe.

When her son Karl registered for the draft in 1942, Anna was still living at 299 Bleecher.

Sometime between 1942 and 1962, the Karl & Anna moved to Yaphank, New York.

Death & Burial

Marker – Bauer – Karl & Anna. Photo by y Arleen Koello via Find a Grave

Karl died on 28 November 1968; Anna died six and a half years later in May 1975. She was buried with Karl at Yaphank Cemetery, Yaphank, New York.

——–  Disclaimer  ——–

Sources

• 1930 Census (A), Com, Carl Bauer – Brooklyn, Kings, New York. Line 33 – 229 Bleecker St.
• 1940 Census (A), Com, Multiple names: Karl, Anna, Walter, Reinhold Bauer, Anna Gunther, Reinhold & Emmy Bressler, Walter & Irmgard Hopfe. Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Kings, New York; Roll: T627_2608; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 24-2351
• New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940 (Provo, UT, USA, com Operations, Inc., 2013), Ancestry.Com, National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; ARC Title: Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802.
• Find a Grave Memorial, Find a Grave, Anna Bauer – Memorial# 38003134. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38003134.
• Long Island Advance (Suffolk County, NY, ), NY Historic Newspapers, 1968-12-05 – Page 04, Column 1 – KARL BAUER. https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1968-12-05/ed-1/seq-4.pdf.
• New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925­-1957, Family Search, Anna Bauer – S.S. Columbus – Breman – New York 13 May 1927. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXLK-HGC.
• New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Com, Anna Bauer – 13 May 1927 (& Children) – List 15A. Source Citation. Year: 1927; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 4054; Line: 18; Page Number: 199
• New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940, Com, Anna Bauer – Petition #157368. Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; ARC Title: Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940, Com, Karl Bauer – Declaration 113938.
• New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940, Com, Karl Bauer – Petition #153989.
• Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973, Com, Baptism – Anna Elisabetha Günther – No Image.
• Source Information
com. Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
• Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973, Com, Marriage – Karl Bauer & Anna Elisabeth Günther – 30 Dec 1909 – No Image. Ancestry.com. Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. . https://search.ancestry.com/collections/61112/records/980784/.
• S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Ancestry.Com, Anna Bauer – 1888-1975. https://search.ancestry.com/collections/3693/records/3428345/.
• S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Karl Bauer – 16 Jun 1885 – Wolfsein, Germany.

Endnotes

[i] Although baptized as Anna Elizabetha Gunther, all other records that I have found using her middle name call her Elizabeth. I use that name in these records.

[ii] Because English does not have umlaut characters, I use the Anglicized version of the German name Günther.

[iii] Because English does not have umlaut characters, I use the Anglicized version of the German name Baüer.