They Came from Essen-on-Rhine

Antoinette Anna Grossjung Alberque was the youngest child of Wilhelm and Sibilla/Anna Grossjung (actual maiden name was Sibilla Kraemer or Kremer, probably Sibilla Elisabeth Anna but was apparently called Anna), who was born in Nov,1840 in Essen-on-Rhine (C/Krefeld) and died in 1906. Anna's mother (a Castellan-meaning from Spain most likely, but at the time part of Napoleon's empire??) was born in 1811 and was a Lady in Waiting in the French Court and her mother was born in 1776. We do not know any more at this time about who these women were.

Antoinette's father, William (Wilhelm Franz Joseph?) Grossjung, was born May 1834 in the same town and died in 1908 in Ridgefield Park, NJ. 

This is a picture of Antoinette Anna Grossjung's parents, William (Wilhelm Franz) and Anna, taken around 1869 in Germany. Anna was 28 and William was 37.

The Grossjungs in America

The Grossjungs emigrated to the United States in 1870, arriving on Nov. 8 of that year, with three children: William, Anna Maria, and Joseph. They came from the town of K/Crefeld (alternate spellings-German/American) near Essen, in the Rhineland of Prussia. At that time, this part of modern Germany was annexed by the French (Napoleon) and considered part of Alsace-Lorraine. This political geography would help to explain why an uncle fought with Napoleon and why Sibilla/Anna's mother/grandmother was said to be a lady in waiting in the French Court. Records show a Herman Grossjung and a Heinrick Grossjung with wives and children being born around the same time in the town of Krefeld. Apparently, this must have been the 'cradle of the family'.  

The only 1880 census record of a Grossjung is for a "Jos. and Ana Grossjung" in NY but does not list any children. Their ages as listed are slightly off, as well, so one is tempted to ignore the record. However, given that they originally spoken German, and who knows how well the census taker could understand them, it is possible that this record is actually William and Sibilla. Remembering that William's full name was Wilhelm Franz Joseph and Sibilla's was likely Sibilla Elisabeth Anna, it is possible to accept this record as valid, and ascribe errors to language and education issues of both the Grossjungs and the census taker, who perhaps only recorded the last of the three names of each. But the question arises, "Where are the children?"

On the other hand, it is also possible that perhaps this man, Joseph, was a brother of Wilhelm Franz and immigrated around the same time. Since children were frequently named after parents and grandparents and have some of the names the same, one could envision brothers Joseph and Wilhelm both coming to the United States. The identity of "Jos. and Ana" will likely remain a mystery until or if ever original immigration records are found. 

The Grossjung Family

In the US, Wilhelm/William and Sibilla/Anna Grossjung had three more children: Charles, Anna, and Antoinette. They lived in the Bronx for many years where Wilhelm, a weaver by trade, worked in the silk district of NYC, and then they lived in Paterson, NJ, for probably 5 or 6 years, with the older children working in the silk mill with their father. By 1870, Paterson was producing over 50% of all the silk in the United States and many silk mills were still thriving in the Passaic County area of NJ at the time in the 1880's. There would have been plenty of work for all.

The photo at the left is a close up of the 6 people on the right, above. From left to right: Joe, Grandpa William, perhaps daughter Mary, perhaps son William, and perhaps son Charles, or vice versa. The family resemblance suggests this, as well as markings on three of the people in the original photo. (We've inserted a known photo of either William or Charles for comparison. The resemblance is striking.) 

If this is the family then it may have been taken outside the silk mill in Paterson because that is the timeframe when they were all still living and working near each other. Alternatively, the two young women seated in front of the Grossjung men may actually be their sisters, Anna and Antoinette. (Antoinette went to work when she was about 13.) If this is the case then it was taken at a factory in New York sometime around the late 1890's or early 1900's after the family moved back to the New York. (See below.) Furthermore, if this is the case and we know that Antoinette met E.G. Alberque, her future husband and part owner of the factory, at the factory, it may actually be a photo, not only of the Grossjung family, but of Charavay and Bodwin Silk Works on Worth St. in Manhattan.   The man in the background with the hat is unknown although there is a striking resemblance to E.G.'s father, Jacques Ernest. 

Wilhelm/William became a naturalized US citizen in Paterson in 1884. Then at some point between 1885 and 1887 the Grossjung family moved back to NY, to Brooklyn, where Antoinette lived with her parents, sister Anna and brother Joseph. William Grossjung is listed in the Brooklyn Directory in 1887 and in the NY Directories as a weaver from 1892-1902 so we know he was there at least in those years. Directory editions after 1902 were not available.

It is said that the family was quite poor and Antoinette had to leave her German grammar school (she learned her alphabet in German) at the 7th grade level to go to work. In fact, she was working in the ribbon department of E.G.'s silk factory in NY, when in December of 1905 within months of E.G.'s wife, Margaret's, death, E.G. approached Antoinette, asking for help in buying Christmas presents for his four young children. He then took her to dinner. Her parents were said to be quite worried because she got home late. They married the following year and lived in Hudson County, NJ, either West Hoboken or Union Hill. (Now combined into Union City.). 

At the same time, the elder Grossjungs moved to West Hoboken and/or Union Hill, as shown by this photo postmarked October 3, 1906 from West Hoboken. Most likely, the elder Grossjungs moved to West Hoboken when E.G. and Antoinette were married in June 1906 because we have Sibilla/Anna buried in Jersey City less than 3 months after the wedding (see adjacent photo of her unmarked grave in Holy Name Cemetery) and we have this postmark from William/Wilhelm dated in October of that same year. The extended family continued to live in the area for another year, although probably moving to "Union Hill" as E.G. and Antoinette's first son, Lester, was born in Union City in May, 1907. (Wilhelm Sr. told Antoinette to name the child 'Lester', meaning 'last' in German, since there were already 4 children in the household. Little did he know that there would be still 3 more children to come!) However, the entire family soon moved to Ridgefield Park where William/Wilhelm died in Feb. 1908 and where their second son, Howard was born in August 1908.  

The Grossjung Children

The Children of Wilhelm and Sibilla The children of William/Wilhelm, Sr., and Sibilla/Anna were: 

Joe and Kitty/Katie had three children: Herman Joseph Grossjung born June 1911 and died Jan 1912; Catherine Marie Grossjung (aka Katherine, Kathryn, Kay) born 3 Jan 1913 and died 15 March 2004; and Helen Grossjung, born 16 Nov 1918 and died in 2007. See adjacent family photo. Interestingly, although he at one point was a watchman for a silk mill, it does not look like Joseph ever worked directly in the silk mill, as many of other family members did.   Herman Krins remained in the household until his death in 1934.  Here are two more family photos. The first is Kay (oldest daughter of Joe and Katie) and Fred Wass on their 50th Anniversary. The second is of Kay when she was a little girl in the yard with her father, Joe Grossjung.

The 1910 census is also interesting in that it lists Charles' occupation as silk worker. We know, however, that he was very active in the union movement, even standing on boxes on street corners talking about organizing for shorter work hours. He became a member of the union, was involved in the strikes and was eventually blacklisted from working in the mills. Ironically, his youngest sister, Antoinette, had married an owner of two NJ silk mills. Eventually, Sybilla/Bella was adopted by E.G. (silk mill owner) and Antoinette Alberque, and later married George Zimmer and moved to Vermont.

An interesting side story about George and Bella Zimmer (see photo at left) in Vermont (thanks to Mike Zimmer, their grandson): Norman Rockwell lived nearby and used both George and Bella as models in his paintings. He especially liked to use George. Here is one of the sketches that Rockwell gave as a gift to his friends, George and Bella. The final version of 'Income Taxes' on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post did not include Bella but had the date of April 15 circled!. 

Bella's brother Charles, who was adopted by Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil Klopy, and lived in Queens, NY, married Martha Washington Narr and lived in Miami. He and Martha are shown at left here, with their son Charles/Chuck and daughter Marion Francis. 

The third child, Adel/Adelaide, was living with her Aunt Lucy Georgi and uncles William and Harry Georgi in the Bronx near her Uncle Edward Georgi and Aunt Cora in1920 (misspelled as Grossgung in the 1920 census) so apparently Charles and Lizzy were still giving away their older children at that time. 

From a note that was received from someone in Atlanta: "My great-aunt Loretta Toepfer married William Grossjung (the fifth child) probably around 1925. Loretta was born in New York in 1904. They had one child who's name is William Jr. William Jr. had 3 children, Diane, Mark and Eric. These children may have been with a spouse of whom I've not been told as this section of the chart shows a Jane Mirabella as William Jr's spouse with no children."  

By 1930, the three youngest children, sons Joseph, Frederick and daughter Antoinette, were living together in Queens. (Their mother Lizzie had died TBD and their father Charles had remarried to a woman named Jessie. Charles died in NY TBD.)  Frederick later married Muriel and moved to Florida, as well. (See above.) The photo at left includes, left to right: Frederick, Charles, Joseph, Antoinette, and William. Not shown: Adele and Sybilla. At right is Joseph with his new wife, Anna Stacia, on their wedding day. 

Chronology Summary

The following chronology is our best guess as to where they lived and when:

1870 arrival in NYC from Germany (Wm Sr, Sibilla, Wm Jr, Mary, Joe). First American residence assumed to be NYC.
1874 Birth of Charles in NYC.
1876 Birth of Anna in NYC.
1879-1885 Paterson NJ (see directories, below).
1884 Birth of Antoinette in Paterson, NJ.
1884 Naturalization of Wilhelm/William in Paterson, NJ
1887 Brooklyn Directory, "Grossfung Wm, silkweaver, h 382 Wallabout" (note misspelled name).
1899 Naturalization of Joseph
1892 Naturalization of Wm. Jr., Oct. 22, Superior Court, NY County.
1892-1902 NYC Directory entries for William Grossjung, weaver, E. 148th St, and 620 Courtlandt Ave, Bronx
1900  Bronx, NYC-- census (Wm & Sibilla; Joe, Anna, Antoinette).
1906 EG Alberque marries Antoinette and move to "Union Hill" 1906 West Hoboken - Wilhelm and Sibilla live there.
1906 August death of Sibilla.
1908 Ridgefield Park -living with daughter Antoinette and EG Alberque, February death of Wm Sr.
1910 Sons William and Joe in Paterson, NJ; son Charles in Bronx, NY; daughters Anna and Antoinette in             Ridgefield  Park, NJ. Daughter Anna Maria/Mary whereabouts unknown.

The following entries can be found in Paterson City directories, 1879-1885:
1879-1880 Grossjung, William, weaver, 24 Cross
1880-1881 Grossjung, William, weaver, 9 Green
1881-1882 Grossjung, William, weaver, 7 Peach
1883-1884 Grosyung, William, weaver, 621 Main
1884-1885 Grossyung, Joseph, clerk, h 621 Main
                    Grossyung, Mary, silkworker, h 621 Main
                    Grossyung, William, weaver, H 621 Main

Note the variations in the spelling of the last name. Also, this is the last reference we have found anywhere for Mary.

There are many Grossjungs listed in various directories and white pages today. We have received word from Mark Adelburt Koenig, grandson of Anna and Joseph Koenig and son of Joseph Koenig, Jr. We have also heard from the great granddaughter of Anna and Joseph Koenig and granddaughter of Sybilla Koenig's Bouse and daughter of Ann Marie Bouse, Carolyn. Recently, the Wass branch of the family (Linda and Ron) joined us in researching the Grossjung tree. Finally, the Walbert branch, descendants from Charles, are researching their branch and helped us find a badly misspelled Grossjung as "Groschen" on an old census record. [To date, we have found the following misspellings for the name Grossjung: Grossyung, Grossgung, Grossging, Grossfung, and Groschen. ]

2010 Update!

One day this summer there was an Ancestry.com message from an Anne Schafer inquiring about the Grossjung/Groschen records. After exchanging a few emails we found out that Anne was the daughter of Joseph, and the granddaughter of Charles and Lizzie. Anne was able to provide a lot of valuable information about that branch of the family. Thank you, Anne!

Turns out that Anne lives in Florida and coincidentally she and hubby, Chris, would be visiting Tarpon Springs the following week! Small world. 15 minutes from the house!! We had a delightful morning together visiting with each other, along with learning more about the story of the Grossjungs in America, together with the history of the Greek sponge diving industry of Tarpon Springs. Here's Kathy, Anne and Chris, just minutes after we had met for the very first time.