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A 1977 letter that Gran Goetz wrote to Thomas and Anneliese
offers some information we never knew, as kids, about our Goetz family.
That letter, along with photos and information Peggy dug up, give us
the summary here. |
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Our paternal great-grandfather Jacob Goetz was born in Edisheim Germany 8/2/1854.
Jacob Goetz came to the United States in 1875.
Our great-grandmother was Carolina Herzler from Meisenheim Germany.
Her birth: 12 March 1851.
We have an 1869 German church certificate stating what looks to
be Carolina's membership in a Virgin Mary society. Caroline came to the United States
in 1873.
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Great-grandfather Jacob and Great-grandmother Carolina had five children:
Elizabeth (Lizzie) born 1880, Caroline (Carrie), born 1882, Catherine (for whom we have no birth information), Jacob---who changed his name to James---born 1884, and William, our
grandfather, born 1891.
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Great-grandfather Jacob Goetz died in an
"accident" in 1905. Gran Goetz mentions that he worked "for
a gas company in Brooklyn."
We wonder whether the accident was work
related. She also mentions that Carolina and Jacob's son William---our
grandfather---"was 14 years old" when his father died.
Great-grandmother Caroline Herzler Goetz died March 20, 1920. |
Jacob and Caroline's son William---our
grandfather---met Catherine Slade (born in Hoboken New Jersey, January
16, 1894) in 1913. They were married January 21, 1914.
For as long as we knew our grandparents they lived on 54th Avenue in Elmhurst
New York.
William and Catherine had two children: Margaret, born 1922 and William, born
1924.
None of us knows how William and Catherine met. Early photos
seem always to place them on the beach or in the mountains, surrounded by other young
people or family.
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The first photo on the Ancestor page
shows Great-grandmother Caroline Herzler Goetz with her first
grandson: Jacob/James' son Alfred.
Alfred Goetz would be our father's first cousin, Alfred's children would be our second
cousins.
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I can remember Aunt Margaret telling me
a long time ago that the Goetz relatives we never knew---her first
cousins, our second cousins---lived in New York or New Jersey.
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We have some information about
the origins of the Slade portion of our family.
We know our paternal great-great-grandparents on our grandmother Slade-Goetz's side were James McNamara---from King's County
Ireland---and Mary Malone---from Queen's County Ireland. James and
Mary McNamara had three children: Catherine---our
great-grandmother, James, and Annie McNamara.
Catherine McNamara married a man named Slade and seems to have settled with him in
Hoboken. We have come to know the following about our Great-grandfather
Slade: first, his reputation for meanness is monumental; second,
he was a "sheepherder on the hills of Hoboken."
Slade and Catherine McNamara Slade had three children: our grandmother
Catherine, Marie, and George.
We knew our Great-Aunt Marie for a long time. She married John Croudle; they lived in Brooklyn---Greenpoint,
I believe---for years and years, and years. (We visited them in
their walk-up apartment many times.) John and Marie never had children.
George Slade---our great-uncle---served in World War I. Peggy says he died in the 1916 flu
epidemic.
We seven Goetz kids are the only grandchildren from the Slade-McNamara match.
Are there ancestor Slades---related to our great-grandfather Slade--who have descendants
related to us? Could be.
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