I was re-reading this installment when I came across a familiar name...photographer Eugene Armbruster. Since I last read any of your work, a historian sent me a photo taken by Armbruster in his 1922 collection. The photo is titled "Zoeller House - former College Point Hotel." It even has an address - 4th Avenue, corner of 17th Street. This is fascinating to me because the Zoellers are my great-grandparents and they lived in College Point.
Not in 1922, however. My Gertrude and Theodore lived in College Point from the late 1860s to the late 1880s. They only had 1 son, and he lived elsewhere in College Point in the 1900s. However, they operated a boarding house, and this photo looks like a boarding house or hotel. Neither the 1870 nor 1880 census give their address, and they are not in any city directories.
Do you have any good ideas of how I can find out if the house in the photo belonged to Gertrude and Theodore? The historian who sent it to me said he couldn't find any info about it.
So I have now spent a lot of time playing with maps, censuses, addresses…
In 1880 my great-grandparents had 12 boarders (including their future in-laws). I never thought before how big a house would have to be. I had just thought how much work Gertrude would have to do.
I found a map from 1873 that shows T. Zoeller as the owner of the hotel at that corner. So that photograph is of the building they owned, and probably lived in. The current street names for that location would be 18th and 126th.
Oh my goodness I cannot thank you enough! I am crying now.
I have had no more information about where they lived than I did in 1978 when I started looking; I was 14 then.
J. M. Donnelly, oc, T. Zoeller, ow. I guess occupant and owner? And it even says College Point Hotel!
It looks huge! They must have had a lot of money. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
My great-grandfather, Jacob Sulzbach, immigrated to the US in 1871. His son, also Jacob, joined him in 1879. They both lived in the Zoeller boarding house. 3 years later, my grandfather married the boarding house keeper's daughter, my grandmother Arabella.
Ooooh, an Episcopal priest living in New York City during the Revolution...Benjamin was a Loyalist!
I am taking a class on ancestors in the Revolution now, and I learned that Episcopal/Anglican priests were automatically Loyalists because they had already taken an oath of allegiance to the King, the head of the Church.
I have 18 Loyalist ancestors, 9 of them from New York. Yes, including the Krankheit family who lived in Newtown for a while. I have written about some of them, but going backwards in time from the present because I am including my research and discoveries, and there are still so many unanswered questions. Oh! I can start posting stories here.
Yeah. And without any electrical appliances.
I was re-reading this installment when I came across a familiar name...photographer Eugene Armbruster. Since I last read any of your work, a historian sent me a photo taken by Armbruster in his 1922 collection. The photo is titled "Zoeller House - former College Point Hotel." It even has an address - 4th Avenue, corner of 17th Street. This is fascinating to me because the Zoellers are my great-grandparents and they lived in College Point.
Not in 1922, however. My Gertrude and Theodore lived in College Point from the late 1860s to the late 1880s. They only had 1 son, and he lived elsewhere in College Point in the 1900s. However, they operated a boarding house, and this photo looks like a boarding house or hotel. Neither the 1870 nor 1880 census give their address, and they are not in any city directories.
Do you have any good ideas of how I can find out if the house in the photo belonged to Gertrude and Theodore? The historian who sent it to me said he couldn't find any info about it.
Here is the picture: https://dcmny.org/do/2d8ff008-40d2-42ff-97d8-685baeb74e3c
Thanks for any ideas you may have.
Happy to help. I hope this opens a few new doors for you.
So I have now spent a lot of time playing with maps, censuses, addresses…
In 1880 my great-grandparents had 12 boarders (including their future in-laws). I never thought before how big a house would have to be. I had just thought how much work Gertrude would have to do.
I found a map from 1873 that shows T. Zoeller as the owner of the hotel at that corner. So that photograph is of the building they owned, and probably lived in. The current street names for that location would be 18th and 126th.
https://davidrumsey.oldmapsonline.org/maps/8f0645a9-14ae-563c-b42c-8a843de80663/view
I hope this is useful to you.
Oh my goodness I cannot thank you enough! I am crying now.
I have had no more information about where they lived than I did in 1978 when I started looking; I was 14 then.
J. M. Donnelly, oc, T. Zoeller, ow. I guess occupant and owner? And it even says College Point Hotel!
It looks huge! They must have had a lot of money. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
My great-grandfather, Jacob Sulzbach, immigrated to the US in 1871. His son, also Jacob, joined him in 1879. They both lived in the Zoeller boarding house. 3 years later, my grandfather married the boarding house keeper's daughter, my grandmother Arabella.
I can't even think properly.
I descend through Gersham Moore, then his son, John Gersham Moore.
I have a few interesting tidbits for next week’s chapter.
I can't wait to find out what Benjamin and his family do! When is the next installment coming out?
Ooooh, an Episcopal priest living in New York City during the Revolution...Benjamin was a Loyalist!
I am taking a class on ancestors in the Revolution now, and I learned that Episcopal/Anglican priests were automatically Loyalists because they had already taken an oath of allegiance to the King, the head of the Church.
I have 18 Loyalist ancestors, 9 of them from New York. Yes, including the Krankheit family who lived in Newtown for a while. I have written about some of them, but going backwards in time from the present because I am including my research and discoveries, and there are still so many unanswered questions. Oh! I can start posting stories here.
One is https://grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/2020/06/today-in-history.html
On a side note, which one of Reverend John Moore's children do you descend from?