Hopfe-Futterer
52 Ancestors – Week 2018-29
By Don Taylor

I have come to expect considerable flexibility in the names of individuals. They are reliant upon the hearing of clerks, the penmanship of those clerks, and the interpretation of various records written by many individuals over the years. However, this is only the second time I’ve seen a person’s birthdate change. (My mother’s birthdate was the first I encountered.) The German records I have found all indicate Henriette was born on 30 October 1887, while all of the United States records indicate she was born on 28 October 1887.

Hopfe-Bauer 2018 – Ancestor #HB-05

List of Grandparents

• Grandmother: Henriette Wilhelmina Futterer[i]
• 1^st Great-grandfather: Karl Heimrich Futterer
• 2^nd Great-grandfather: Johan Christoph Futterer

Henriette Wilhelmina Futterer (1887-1991)

Henriette was born on either 28 October 1887 or 30 October 1887 in Sennfeld, Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. She was the third (known) child of Karl Heinrich and Johanna Maria (Zopf) Futterer. She was baptized as “Jette” on 20 November 1887 at the Lutheran Parish in Sennfeld. She also appears as Henrietta[ii] in several documents. Her four known siblings are:

• Johan Heinrich Futterer – Born 4 Jan 1879
• Luise Caroline Futterer – Born 27 Oct 1883
• Fredrich Futterer – Born 28 Jul 1889
• Marie Christine Futterer – Born 13 Oct 1892

The late 1800s was a difficult time in Bavaria. Ludwig II was declared insane 1886 and was removed from ruling Bavaria. His brother, Otto, became king but never actively ruled because of mental illness. Rather, Otto was served by regents (his uncle and his cousin) until 1913 when he was deposed by his cousin, Ludwig.

Flag of Bavaria

Henriette is an immigrant ancestor. It is unclear exactly when she first came to the United State. It was probably in 1905, when she was 18-years old, but she may have come in 1903[iii]. In either event, she returned to Germany sometime in 1909 and came back to the United States aboard the S.S. Amerika entering at Ellis Island on Halloween 1909. The 22-year-old, 5’3” tall, blond haired, blue eyed woman indicated she was working as a maid and was going to visit her friend, Emiel Butcher at 3967 154st Street in New York.

Marriage

On 20 May 1911, Henriette married Erdman Max Hopfe (who always went by “Max”) in Manhattan. The young couple settled in Brooklyn.

Children of Max and Henriette (Futterer) Hopfe

• Walter Carl Hopfe – Born 27 March 1914.
• Marion Henriette Hopfe – Born 18 Feb 1922.

Adulthood

In 1912, Max became naturalized. In doing so, Henriette also became a U.S. citizen.

In 1915 they lived at 314 Central Ave where they lived until after Max registered for the draft in 1917. Today, 314 Central Avenue is a 1960s apartment building.

79 Avenue A today – Image by Robert I. via FourSquare.

By 1920 they had moved to 79 Ave A, where Max operated a delicatessen which also served as their home. Today, 79 Avenue A is Kamaran Deli & Grocery.

In 1924, Max and Henriette visited Germany returning to the states on 1 September 1924 aboard the S.S. Hansa out of Hamburg.

Max died on 2 October 1926 and was buried in Lutheran Cemetery. Henriette acted as executrix for the estate which was worth $31,611 (gross). She was living at that time at 217 Wyckoff Street.

Henriette Hopfe (from passport)

After settling Max’s estate, Henriette returned to Germany for a visit, probably in relation to her father’s death in May 1929. Henriette returned to the United States aboard the S.S. York arriving in New York on 1 September 1929. She settled in at 229 Bleecker Street in Brooklyn.

Second Marriage

On 23 January 1935, Henriette married William Floesser. The couple remained at 229 Bleecker Street which became filled with family. Besides her daughter, Marion who lived with them, according to the 1940 Census the following people lived at the same address:

• Her son Walter with his wife, Irmgard.
• Her son’s father-in-law, Karl with his wife Anna and their two children.
• Her son’s father-in-law’s mother-in-law, Anna Gunther.
• Her son’s sister-in-law, Emilie (Bauer) Bressler

It appears that Henriette’s husband, William, owned the property and all of the others living there paid rent. Today, 229 Bleecker Street is a parking lot across the street from a New York City police precinct.

Sign – All Faiths Cemetery (Formerly Lutheran Cemetery)

Henriette’s second husband, William Floesser, died in June 1968. He was buried in All Faith’s Cemetery with Henriette’s first husband (same plot).

Death

Henriette lived to reach 103 years of age. She died on 29 January 1991. She is buried with her two husbands at [Lutheran] All Faith’s Cemetery, Lot 10217, Middle Village, New York.

Further Actions / Follow-up

• Work on getting copies of original documents.

Sources

————–  Disclaimer  ————–

[i] In many records, Futterer has an umlaut and spelled Fütterer. Occasionally, the surname is also spelled, Fuetterer. I prefer to use the Anglicized spelling, Futterer.

[ii] I use Henriette rather than Henrietta because Henriette is the name she was known as in the Social Security records and is the name used in her burial records.

[iii] The 1920 Census indicates she arrived in the United States in 1903, however, her 1909 travel records indicate she was in New York from 1905 until 1909.