Theresa Arnheiter Thomy of Brooklyn

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The Early Years of Theresa Arnheiter (*about 1860, +9.06.1912)

We have no record of the birth of Theresa. Her death certificate confirms that she is the daughter of Elisabeth and Carl Arnheiter. It also states she was 49 years old at death, giving her a birth year of about 1863. The various records are in conflict, which was common. It is believed she was probably born about 1860, as then she would then have been eighteen years old when she was married. Marriage younger than eighteen was uncommon in Germany at the time. Theresa was married 31 August 1878 to Friedrich "Fritz" Thomy (*09.12.1854 Frankenthal, Pfalz). The ceremony was at Sankt Dreifaltigkeit (Saint Trinity) Catholic Church in Frankenthal. Frankenthal is about 6 Km (4 miles) south of Worms. It apparently was the home of the Thomy family, as this was the church in which Friedrich had been baptised. He was the son of Carl and Catharina Barbe Thomy. Following his emigration he adopted the American spelling Frederick of his given name.

The family's immigration into the U.S. is another mystery. No passenger lists have been found of their ocean voyage. Fritz and son Eugene were Naturalized on 6 September 1906 in Brooklyn. Per these records, Eugene arrived four days before his father in New York. Fritz arrived on 20 July 1901. Whether Fritz took four days longer to process through immigration, or they were on different ships, is not known. Males were eligible for naturalization as a U.S. citizen five years after they immigrated. There was no naturalizaion process for women.

In the 1905 Census they were enumerated as living at 321 Union Street in Brooklyn. But there are obvious problems with the Census. Fritz is age 48. His daughter Grace is 44. He and his daughter have been married for forty years. Unlikely. His wife Theresa is not listed, or rather she is given the name Grace and identified as a daughter, not a wife. All of his children were enumerated as being born in the United States. In fact they all emigrated as teenagers or older. The 1910 Census says they were all born in Germany. Fritz's occupation is a Livery Stable Keeper. This is likely correct!

The following year Fritz and son Eugene were naturalized. They both gave their address as 195 Rodney Street in Brooklyn. Fritz indicated his occupation as "Boarding House Keeper".

The Census of 1910 has the family living at 141 Penn Street in Brooklyn. They were probably living in boarding houses. If so, that partly explains their frequent change of address. Fritz was by vocation enumerated as an "express driver". Two of their sons were as well. Not sure how "express" it was in 1910 but perhaps Fred owned a business and the sons worked for him. Or the three of them worked for another employer. They also had two boarders living with them in 1910.

But the 1910 Census is also interesting for another reason. As said, the family was living in Brooklyn. Two years later Theresa passed away in Boston as a "widow". It is possible Fred died between 1910 and 1912. But he would have been only 56 years old. And then his wife dies in 1912 at age 49. We do not have a death record for Fred and therefore do not know if Theresia was in fact a widow in 1912.

The death certificate for Theresa spells the maiden name of her mother as Schench. It gives an address for Theresa as 33 Peter Farley Road in Boston. She was most likely visiting her daughter Catherine Thomy Muehleder in Boston, became gravely ill and passed away. Catherine's son Frederick Wilhelm Karl Muehleder was five months old when his grandmother died. Theresa was to be buried in the St. John's Cemetery in Brooklyn NY.

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It should be noted that the sons of Theresa and Fritz Thomy changed the spelling of the family name from Thomy to "Thomey".

Descendants of Theresa Arnheiter Thomy

Children: (4)

4.1.....Unknown (*??)

In the 1910 Census it was enumerated that Theresa had been the mother of four childen, all of whom were living. Based upon the ages of the three children living with their parents in 1910, we speculate the fourth child, if there was one, was the oldest.

4.2.....Catherine Thomy (*1.10.1881 Frankenthal, +)

It is from Catherine's passport application in April 1921 that we learn much information - her birth information, her husband, their son and their residence in Boston, Massachusetts.

Catherine and Friedrich Ernst Muehleder (*25.07.1877 Barmen, Rheinland, +) married. Friedrich had emigrated aboard the SS Finland, departing Antwerp on 9 July 1904. They first lived in Brooklyn after they married. Here in 1908 he made his application for Naturalization in 1908, giving his address as 120 E. 53rd Street and renouncing his allegiance to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.

The Muehleders were enumerated in the 1910 Census. His name was given as Ernest. He was a bookkeeper for a chemical company. Catherine was shown to have had one child who was not living.

Their address in Boston was given as 33 Peter Parley Road in his Petition for Naturalization in 1912. He was a bookkeeper. He was naturalized in Boston on 14 April 1913.

Friedrich Ernst Muehleder (*1877) Click to enlarge

The reason for Friedrich applying for a passport in 1913 perhaps related to his work. But the family of three was going to Germany together. They returned to the United States, arriving on the SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie (Crown Princess Cecilie) for processing at Ellis Island on 29 July 1913.

The following year World War I commenced, although the United States did not enter the War until 1917. In September of 1918 Frederick (Fred) registered for the Draft. They lived at 95 Price Street in Jamaica Plain. Fred was a manager for Bayer Co. Inc. located at 32 India Street in Boston. It is not known whether he served in the military.

Friedrich again applied for a passport in 1920 after the War was over. Together with the attached accompanying letter, we see Friedrich was the Treasurer of Chromophor Co. in Boston.

The purpose for Catherine's passport in 1921 was that she was embarking on a trip to Europe on the SS Rotterdam on 25 June 1921. The destinations identified in the application were Holland (The Netherlands) and Switzerland. In Holland she would be "settling an estate". Their nine year old son Frederick Wilhelm accompanied her, as shown in their immigration paperwork upon their arrival in New York on 24 October 1921. They had sailed on the SS America from Bremen on their return.

Between 1921 and 1928 the family moved from Boston to Johnson City, Tennessee. In 1928 the three again went to Europe, returning from Hamburg on the SS Albert Ballin on 20 July. Their address in Johnson City was 1114 S. West Avenue.

The 1930 Census has them living in Johnson City. Frederick's occupation was "commercial manager for a rayon plant". But then by 1940 Fred and Catherine (entered in the Census as Caroline) had returned to New York State. They were living in Hempstead in Nassau County (Long Island). They gave their last place of residence, which would have been in 1935, as Woodside, Queens. Frederick was a bookkeeper for an "animal importer".

Children: (2)

2.1.....Frederick Ernest Muehleder (*10.01.1908, +06.08.1908 Brooklyn NY)

Frederick Junior died at the age of six months.

2.2.....Frederick Wilhelm Karl Muehleder (*12.01.1912 Boston MA, +02.01.1971 New York)

Their second son, named Frederick Wilhelm, was married on 22 May 1936 in Manhattan NY to Catherine M.C. Carter (*1913 New York City). Or so it would seem from the record. Then the following year is another marriage record to Ms. Carter with somewhat different information. Catherine Carter was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Hancock Carter.

In the 1940 Census Fred and Catherine (listed as Caroline in the Census) were living with Catherine's mother in Babylon, Suffolk County NY on Long Island. They had no children. Fred was a fireman. Catherine worked as an office clerk at Railway Express.

Soon thereafter Fred enlisted in the U.S. Army. The record dated March 1941 shows him with one year of college education. The United States entered World War II nine months later. We are not aware of any children. Fred passed away at the age of 59.

4.3.....Frederick Thomy Jr (*10.10.1883 Frankenthal/Pfalz, +1956 Melville, Suffolk Cty NY)

Frederick Thomy Jr. is enumerated in the 1905 New York State Census and the 1910 United States Census. While we do not have an immigration record for Fred Jr., the 1910 Census gives him a year of 1902, or a year after his parents. As seen below, there are additional records which confirm his immigration to have been in 1902. He was 18 at the time his parents emigrated and 19 when he followed a year later.

In about 1914 Fred married Lillian Veronica Gee (*19.03.1892 Manhattan NY, +6.07.1936 Queens NY). Lillian had been previously married in Manhattan to a William Collins in 1911. As we do not have a record of the marriage of Fred and Lillian we do not know if she had divorced Collins or was a widow in 1914. Lillian was the daughter of Jacob and Jennie Gee.

It should be noted that in the marriage record of Lillian to Collins it states her mother's name was Yenid Ruchty. This appears to be a different Lillian Gee. However, Lillian's death record again gives a family name of Ruhtig. It appears to be the same Lillian Gee.

Two years later Fred filed his Declaration of Intention to be naturalized as a U.S. Citizen. From it we see that he has changed the spelling of the family name to "Thomey". In addition there is much additional information on page 2 and page 3. Fred was a chauffeur, had been born in Frankenthal in the Pfalz and he lived at 228 East 67th Street in Manhattan. Furthermore he had emigrated in 1902 on the ship Columbia. It is interesting that on page 2 he gives a different address (42 West 64th Street) for Lillian. Unlike the naturalization applications from the 19th Century, in 1914 the Declaration was much more detailed. "Seventh. I am not a disbeliever in or opposed to organized government ........" World War I began months later, although the United States did not formally enter the War for another four years.

The U.S. military draft was in 1918. Fred and Lillian were living at 42 West 64th Street in Manhattan. Fred was a chauffeur and auto mechanic by profession. He was six feet tall, medium build with black hair.

We do not have a Census record for Fred and Lillian for 1920. In 1925 Fred was enumerated in the New York State Census. Then again in the U.S. Census in 1930 when Fred was a proprietor of a garage and Lillian working as a waitress in a restaurant. They had no children. They rented their apartment at 4739 47th Street in Queens. Lillian's mother Jennie Gee, a widow, was living with them.

At the time of her death in 1936 Lillian and Fred were living at 47-39 47th Street in Woodside, Queens. She was to be buried at St. John's Cemetery.

Fred then married for the second time on 17 October 1936. This marriage too was in Manhattan. His wife was Bertha Lohse (*1898 Germany, +1959 Queens NY), daughter of Wilhelm and Martha Muhlbach Lohse. Bertha had emigrated in 1923, processing through Ellis Island on 9 November after arrival on the ship Yorck (perhaps York?). She was from Chemnitz, Germany and would be living with her sister Hedwig at 141 West 109th Street in New York. In 1930 Bertha was single and had been living in Manhattan. She was a nurse working for a private family.

In the 1940 Census Fred and Bertha continued living in Queens. Fred was 55 years old, Bertha 41. Fred was a manager in a public garage. He had worked 50 weeks in 1939, the prior year.

Fred was required to register again for the draft in 1942 as the United States entered World War II against Fred's birthland. They were living at 45-45 46th Street in Woodside, Queens. He was 59 years old and self employed. Fred had bulked up in his later years, weighing 240 pounds and six feet tall.

Fred passed away in 1956 and was buried in the Melville Cemetery, Melville, Suffolk County NY. Bertha died three years later and was buried with Fred. Fred fathered no children.

4.4.....Eugene Thomy (*01.05.1886, +09.1969 Queens NY)

Eugene emigrated with his parents but perhaps was finished with his processing at Ellis Island a few days before. His date of arrival is shown as 16 July 1901 on his Naturalization card. He was an "express driver" in 1905, and the same in the 1910 Census.

Sometime prior to 1915 Eugene, like his older brother Fred, changed the spelling of the family name from Thomy to "Thomey". He also married a woman by the name of Florence (*1884 New York, +) whose family name is not known. The marriage information also comes from the Census. We do not have a record of his registration for the U.S. military draft in 1918 but he certainly must have done so.

In the 1920 Census Eugene and Florence were living in Manhattan. He was a chauffeur and taxi driver. But by 1930 Eugene and Florence had divorced. Eugene had changed his profession and was now an "instructor in a private club".

Eugene and Elizabeth "Lillie" Giles Kerrigan (*1895 New York, +) were married on 14 October 1935. Elizabeth was a widow from her first husband Benjamin Kerrigan (*1884, +1927). In the 1940 Census Eugene and Elizabeth are living in Manhattan. He is back in the automobile business as a "forman in a garage". For the year 1939 Eugene had worked every week, earning $1700, a good income during the latter years of the Great Depression.

They then moved out of Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens, just across the Midtown Bridge from Manhattan. Eugene worked at the Redball Garage at 142-256 E. 31st Street in Manhattan. He was a little shorter than his brother Fred but weighed 35 pounds less. His distinguishing characteristic was that he had 4 1/2 fingers on his left hand, probably from a mishap working on a car or truck.

Eugene passed away at the age of 83 and was buried in the Saint John Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens NY.

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