(This is Part 2 of a longer blog post. If you have not yet read Part 1, you can find it here.)
Once Elisabetha Pfeil had married and become Elizabeth Gardner (her name in the US was spelled in an American English way), the couple made their home in Chenango County, New York. The couple lived in Guilford from at least 1900 through at least 1920 according to US Federal Censuses. Specifically, the US Federal Census for the years 1900, 1905, 1910. They had four sons, the third dying shortly after birth and unnamed. The surviving sons were:
William Lewis Gardner (born 4 Nov 1890 in Oxford, Chenango, NY)
Charles Anton Gardner (born 21 Sep 1894 in Oxford)
Henry Joseph Gardner (born 20 Dec 1896 in Guilford)
Though the boys bore English sounding names,
Pfeil family bible notes indicate the German versions: William Ludwig (Ludwig was Elisabetha's father's first name), Schalle Anton (Anton was Elisabetha's older brother's name), and Heinrich Josef (Heinrich was her twin brother's name, and Josef was her husband's father's name).
Numerous newspaper clips in the area give a glimpse of the Gardner family's home life. They are mentioned numerous times visiting with Elizabeth's brother Anton Pfeil and his family. One might assume that it was an opportunity to not only spend time with family, but also speak German with others. Two generations later on the line, German would be completely lost save for a few words.
As for Elisabetha's siblings, here is what I have managed to learn about them:
Anton Pfeil (23 March 1859 - 12 Dec 1939) the oldest of the Pfeil siblings, was always married with children at the time of immigration from Germany to the US. He married Susanna Rueber (daughter of Jacob Rueber and Magdalena Groh) around 1883 in Germany, and the couple had three children there: Heinrich/Henry (1884), Elizabeth Katherine (1886), and Emma Rose (1887). After the family's big move to the US, Anna S. was born in 1889. The family made their home in Chenango County, New York. His son Heinrich would marry Marie (Mary) Dorner and have three sons and a daughter. (I need to do descendants research on that line to look for currently-living Pfeils). Elizabeth Katherine would marry Charles Shapley and have one son Henry Charles Shapley. Emma Rosa, sadly died in 1889 after the voyage to New York. Anna would marry Francis William Campbell and have two daughters.
Heinrich Pfeil (26 Feb 1861 - Feb 1908), Elisabetha's twin brother, is someone I know much less about. I have record of his naturalization 10 Sep 1887. A Utica, New York newspaper reports on his February 1908 death in Youngstown, Ohio where he must have moved. I have no idea what inspired the move, or what his life was like, and no record of spouses or children.
Maria Pfeil (31 Dec 1868 - 9 Jan 1869) died shortly after her birth back in Germany.
Rosine Pfeil (1 May 1871 - 24 Mar 1944) was just 17 when she arrived with the rest of the family in America. A few years later she married Ludwig/Lewis Higler (1862-1957), a first cousin through the Frank line, and lived a fairly long life with him, where it seems that both were active with an area Catholic church. I have no record of any children from the marriage. Lewis would outlive her by more than a decade. I have learned more about him than many of the Pfeils and have some fantastic records I would love to share with anyone interested in Higler research.
By 1925, Elisabetha Pfeil and William Gardner had moved to Norwich into a nice home on 10 Morse Avenue (according to US Census records). I had the opportunity on a recent visit to photograph the home currently at 10 Morse Avenue. I am not certain how much the current house or its appearance is like the original, but it was interesting to see the location where the couple lived their later years.
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10 Morse Avenue, Norwich, NY
as of July 2015 |
William died on 13 Apr 1933 in Norwich. Elisabetha would survive more than a decade after. She passed away in March 1945, also in Norwich. Their descendants and the descendants of her siblings are out there "somewhere"... Some I am in touch with and many more not yet. I would love to hear from anyone connected to the Pfeil or related lines, so please don't hesitate to reach out!
