Anton Arnheiter

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Anton Arnheiter (*11.04.1868 Offstein, +1.07.1946 Queens NY)

Before Anton Arnheiter emigrated to Amerika he and Maria Anna Fink (*28.06.1871 Dirmstein, Pfalz, +1.09.1938 Manhattan NY)) married in Germany. The date of the marriage was 10 February 1892. Maria was the daughter of Georg and Katharina Diehl Fink. She was baptised on 2 July 1871 in the Catholic Church in Dirmstein.

Perhaps Anton and Maria made their plans to emigrate but then Anna became pregnant. They decided that Anton would emigrate, with Anna and child to follow at a later date. On 25 September 1895 Anton was processed through the immigration center at Ellis Island, New York. His passage had been on the ship Crefeld from Bremen, Germany. He was 29 years old, married and a butcher.

Maria and Johanna then emigrated seven months later. They arrived in New York City on 8 April 1896, having been on board the ship Friesland which sailed from Antwerp, Belgium. Their family name was Arnheiter and Maria was recorded as being married.

Maria Anna Arnheiter circa 1923 Click to enlarge

The next information we have about the Arnheiters is then from 1906 when Anton became a naturalized citizen on the United States. From the card prepared at the time we see that the family was living at 860 Third Avenue in Manhattan. Anton worked as a "stable keeper". It is interesting to notice that the card gives a date of immigration for Anton of September, 1894. This disagrees with the transcription from the Ellis Island record above which says 1895. The Ellis Island record is undoubtedly correct. Anton emigrated when Johanna was six months old, not when Maria was two months pregnant.

In 1908 Anton was making plans for the family to return to Germany for a visit. He applied for a passport for himself, Maria and their daughter Johanna. Again, the information in the application is in disagreement with the death record for Maria as to her date of birth. But the application does ask for dates "on or about". Other dates in the passport application are in conflict with other documents as well. In support of his application he submitted a testamonial to his identity. It is written by Karl Fink, certainly a relative of Maria's and perhaps a brother. Anton was 5'8 1/2" tall with a "prominent nose" moustache and mixed gray hair

The Arnheiters returned to Germany in 1909 or 1910, arriving back in the United States on 12 April 1910. The voyage back to New York was on the ship Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm. Returning with them and emigrating was Elisabeth Arnheiter (*1892) , Anton's niece and the daughter of Karl Arnheiter (*1866) who was already in New York.

Two weeks later they were enumerated in the 1910 Federal Census. Living with Anton and Maria were both Elisabeth and her brother Anton, the children of Karl (*1866) who was living somewhere in New York. Anton and his family were living at 163 East 65th Street in Manhattan. Anton was enumerated as a "chauffeur in a taxi cab". Maria was a "keeper of a rooming house" with the boarders listed below.

Anton and his family appear again in the 1915 New York State Census as well as the 1920 Federal Census. Their address in 1920 was 409 East 61st Street in Manhattan. Their niece and nephew were no longer living with them in 1920. While the record is difficult to read, it appears that both Anton and Maria are operating the boarding house. To get a better look, click on the Census Link in LiveLinks at the bottom of this page.

For a few years in the 1920s the passenger lists of those coming across the Atlantic to New York included a column indicating who had paid for their ticket. Specifically for Nephew Armin (*1902), Niece Elisabeth (*1904) and Niece Eugenie (*1901) for example, it shows that "Uncle Anton" or "Aunt Mary" had bought their tickets. Most likely several of the family who were already in Amerika contributed and Uncle Anton and Aunt Mary acted as the collector of funds and buyer of the tickets.

Five years following the end of World War I Maria applied for a passport to visit Germany. Her object of the visit was "health and travel". Whether the health was hers or relatives in Germnay is not known. Maria was 5'1" tall with a small nose. She and Anton were still at the 61st Street address. She was to sail on the SS President Harding on 23 October 1923. The passport was issued by the U.S. State Department on 6 October 1923. Apparently she did sail on the President Harding for she was processed through Ellis Island on her return on 15 December 1923. Her stay in Germany was a little more than a month, returning on the SS America from Bremen.

Mary passed away 1 September 1938 in Manhattan at the age of sixty-six. She shares a grave with her daughter Johanna and her granddaughter Alvine Marie. They are buried in St. Mary's Star of the Sea Cemetery in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York.

Anton died eight years after Mary on 1 July 1946. His address was given as 316 Beach 45th Street in Queens. He was a "restaurant owner - retired". He too was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery.

As seen below, Anton and Maria had a difficult time having a family. Mary bore two children. Their daughter Johanna married and had two children. Their son Karl Anton passed away at two days old. Of Johanna's two children, Alvine Maria died at age 13 years and daughter Pearl at age 4 months. There are no living descendants.

Images of parts of Census pages are provided as Links as we tell the story. In most cases the entire Census page is available at the very bottom of this page under Live Links.

Descendants of Anton Arnheiter (*1868)

Children: (2)

2.1.....Johanna Arnheiter (*14.03.1895 Germany, +22.05.1972 New York)

At twenty years of age Johanna was living at home and a "saleslady". She is enumerated on Line 26 of the 1915 New York State Census. Four years later she was married to Wenzel Wajerski (*28.09.1894 Schmentau Germany, +01.1966 Brooklyn NY). The ceremony was on 11 October 1924 in Manhattan. Wenzel, from German Prussia (today Poland), had emigrated ten years prior, arriving in New York on the SS Hamburg.

In 1917 with the U.S. entry into World War II, Wenzel was required to register for the Draft. He lived at 2919 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. He was employed by the Simplex Moving Picture Company in Morris Park, Long Island as a machinist, single and 26 years old. He had left Germany three years prior! He was typical German, medium height and build, blue eyes and light colored hair.

The 1920 Census shows Wenzel Wajerski living in a boarding house in Brooklyn. No occupation is shown. From the full Census page (see LiveLinks below) Wenzel is enumerated on line 15 of the page. The boarding house is located at 2957 Fulton Street.

The Wajerskis returned to Europe on a holiday. Their return was on the SS Hamburg, arriving in January 1937. Their passports had been issued in October 1936. They lived in Brooklyn at 75 Hill Street. They were shown in the passenger list from the Holland-American vessel.

Then again in 1942 with the U.S. entry into World War II Wenzel registered again. He and Johanna were living at 4414 Far Rockaway, in Edgemere, Queens. He was self-employed with a restaurant.

Wenzel passed away in Brooklyn in January 1966. Johanna died 22 May 1972. She joined her mother and daughter in St. Mary's Cemetery in Lawrence. While we do not have a record of Wenzel's burial, we assume he is with the females in the plot.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Alvine Maria Wajerski (*20.07.1926 New York, +30.04.1939 Brooklyn NY)

Alvine was buried as a thirteen year old with her grandmother Maria. Thirty-three years later her mother was interred with them at St. Mary's Cemetery in Nassau County NY.

2.2.....Pearl Wajerski (*11.08.1928 New York, +18.12.1928 Manhattan NY)

Pearl passed away at age four months.

2.2.....Karl Anton Arnheiter (*11.05.1903 Manhattan NY, +13.05.1903 Manhattan NY)

Karl Anton died two days after his birth.

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