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- BIOGRAPHY: Benutzername : lorenzbreiner Mein Name : Laurent brener Postanschrift : 8 rue thiboumery - 75015 - Paris - Frankreich Muttersprache : Französisch Verstandenen Sprachen : Ihre E-Mail : laurent.brener@aliceads1.fr Datum der letzten Aktualisierung : 05/21/06 Letztes Anschluss Datum : 01/26/07
BIOGRAPHY:
When Mathew Breiner died of pneumonia in Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn in 1918, he was 66 years old and most of his family was gone. His wife Magdalena had succumbed to stomach cancer six years earlier, and six of their eight children were dead as well.
The only family still living in Brooklyn was Mathew?s son, also named Mathew. The other remaining son, Ferdinand, was estranged from his father. Several years earlier he had left Brooklyn for Cleveland, married and started his own meat business.
The old man had been a drinker. Supposedly he had been successful in business, owned some property, and had seven meat-cutters working for him at one point, but he lost much of it because of his drinking. So one wonders what was going through Mathew?s mind as he lay on his deathbed. He had lived half his life in a village in Germany and half in the bubbling immigrant stew of Brooklyn, N.Y. Did he have any regrets about picking up his young family and moving them across the Atlantic Ocean? Did he have idyllic dreams of the village he had left behind? Did he hope to see the son he had alienated, Ferdinand, one last time?
Here at the end of his life, he listed his occupation as blacksmith. There could not have been much demand for a 66-year-old blacksmith in Brooklyn in 1918. But this was his trade before he left Germany ? "hufschmied" or farrier and "ackerer" or plowman.
He was born Mathaeus Breiner in Bundenthal in southwest Germany in 1851. His grandfather, Balthasar, was a plowman. His father, Peter, was a linen weaver. His mother, Christiane (nee Sarther), was just 23 when she was widowed and left to raise the boy alone.
The village is in a hilly, forested region known as the Pfalz and lies just a mile or two from the French province of Alsatia. Today it is very rural, but the village is home not to farm workers but is a bedroom community for the nearby cities of Pirmasens and Karlsruhe. In the 19th century, the residents were farmers, weavers, carpenters and laborers. The village was part of the German state known as the Bavarian Palatinate, which was rocked by a popular revolt against the monarchy and the land-owning aristocrats in 1848. It was the same popular revolt that swept through France and much of the rest of Europe. Prussian troops were called to put down the revolt in Mathaeus?s home region.
As Mathaeus was coming of age, war, economic strife and social unrest were part of life in the region and throughout Germany. Farm laborers sought to throw off the shackles of the feudal system, still in force, which gave landowners virtually complete authority ? judicial, economic and civil ? over the people who worked their land.
Laborers in the urban factories sought better pay and working conditions. Along with the liberal middle class bourgeoisie, workers were pushing the loose grouping of 39 German states toward liberal democracy and a unified German-speaking nation.
The Protestant northern German states, led by Prussia, vied with the southern Catholic German states, led by Austria, for control. Prussia eventually prevailed and led the rest of the German states into war with France in 1870. Mathaeus was 19 at the time of that war. His world changed significantly the next year. The German states had defeated France, and the victory gave momentum toward unification under a Prussian Kaiser who presided over a national assembly. Catholics in the south, where Mathaeus lived, were considered unruly and untrustworthy. Bismarck, named chancellor by Kaiser William I, placed severe controls on Catholics in his Kulturkampf, or culture struggle. The Jesuits were kicked out of Prussia. In all the German states, priests were forbidden to use their pulpits for political purposes. Priests and nuns were barred from teaching in the schools.
By 1876, the year that Mathaeus Breiner, 24, and Magdalena Deis, 20, were married in Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Bundenthal, 1,400 parishes in Germany lacked priests. By the time Bismarck relented on many of these laws 10 years later, Mathaeus and Magdalena had already left for America.
It is not clear that religion was a factor in their leaving. But it was for some. Many also left for America to avoid serving in the Prussian army. However, most of the people who left during the 1880s ? Mathaeus and Magdalena immigrated with their two oldest boys in 1885 ? sought greater economic opportunity. Germany had undergone a population explosion, especially in the rural areas. There wasn?t enough land to farm and there weren?t enough jobs in the cities to keep everyone employed. The decade of 1881-1890 was the period of greatest German immigration to America ? 1.4 million came in that wave.
Bundenthal lies close to the Rhine River. For those leaving southwest Germany, the Rhine was a great highway, and they rode steamboats north in the first stage of emigration. The boats took them to the seaport of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. From there, steamships of the day made the Atlantic crossing in a matter of weeks.
This was the likely route that our ancestors took. We don?t have a record yet of the ship they took. Their voyage predated Ellis Island by seven years. Their names don?t show up in a 66-volume compilation of passenger lists of German immigrants from that era.
The year they made the voyage Mathaeus was 34 and Magdalena was 30. Taking this step in their lives must have been a difficult decision. The couple had two boys, Peter, 8, named after his grandfather, and Frederick, 5. What did they take with them and what did they leave behind? It is possible that they had relatives or friends in Brooklyn, N.Y., already. Did anyone meet them at the dock?
The very first record of the family in Brooklyn is an entry in the 1887 city directory (like a phone book before there were phones) two years after they arrived. It lists Mathew Breiner, occupation peddler, living at 80 Graham Ave. Mathew and Magdalena and their children ? a third child, Mathew, was born this year (he is Uncle Matt, Grandpa Breiner?s brother) -- were living in the heart of a bustling immigrant district. There were several Roman Catholic churches nearby whose parishioners were primarily German. But the neighborhood mixed in a rich stew of Italians, Irish and Jews as well. The building, perhaps their first home in America, is still standing. It is a four-story brick structure on a busy corner with a storefront on the first floor.
Today the area, known as East Williamsburg, teems with commercial activity. The streets are filled with people shopping at the neighborhood retailers that line Graham Avenue, which is also known as the Avenue of Puerto Rico. More than a century later it is still a good place for newcomers, mostly Hispanic, to get started.
In 1892 the city directory shows Mathew a few blocks away on Montrose Avenue. His occupation is listed as "cigars." Perhaps he was still a peddler. Perhaps he had a store. Perhaps he was working in one of the many cigar-making workshops set up by German immigrants that made New York at that time the world capital of cigar-making.
Their home on Montrose is gone, but the address is a half-block away from Most Holy Trinity Church and school, both of which served primarily German parishioners. The Breiner family must have attended church there; when their son Ferdinand (this is our grandfather, who was later known as Fred) was born in 1895, he was baptized in the church that still stands on the site. Probably their boys went to school next door. (School attendance records don?t go back that far.)
Today Most Holy Trinity is also known by its Spanish name, Santisima Trinidad, since the parishioners are mainly Hispanic. It is thriving with its new immigrants.
Mathew had evidently found his niche as a merchant. In America, everyone was in business. The densely populated neighborhoods offered great opportunities for anyone selling anything that people needed or wanted. Brooklyn had about 800,000 residents at that time.
By 1897, 12 years after their arrival in Brooklyn, Mathew Breiner is listed as a grocer in the city directory. The address at that time was in the neighborhood known as Bushwick and was within walking distance of the earlier residences and Most Holy Trinity Church. The trade of storekeeper would be in line with the trade all four of his sons eventually adopted ? butcher.
Coincidentally, in the same year, another Breiner appears in the Brooklyn city directory listed as a grocer. Frederick Breiner, 28, was 18 years younger than Mathew, but he immigrated from the same village in Germany three years after Mathew. They were not brothers, but perhaps they were cousins. Frederick lived in the same area of Brooklyn. Did they know each other? Possibly. Were they in business together, since they both appear as grocers in 1897 for the first time? It?s interesting to speculate.
The census taker who stopped by the home of Mathew and Magdalena on June 12, 1900, provides an interesting snapshot of the family 15 years after their arrival in this country. The family had grown to six. Still living at home were sons Peter, 23, a butcher, and Frederick, 20, also a butcher. The census taker listed "butcher (boy)" as the occupation for 13-year-old Mathew. Ferdinand, the fourth son (our grandfather), was 5.
Magdalena?s occupation was listed as "home." The elder Mathew?s occupation was listed as "book agent." Considerable research in historical census documents has yielded nothing definitive on the meaning of this occupation. Evidently, it meant the obvious: Mathew sold books.
By now he supposedly was able to speak English, according to the census; his wife could not. All members of the family could read and write, according to the census. Magdalena reported that she had given birth to eight children, only four of whom were still living. This poignant detail about her life may explain the special feeling that developed between her and her youngest surviving child, Ferdinand. (It?s not known if the four children who didn?t survive were born in Germany or in New York.)
The apartment they were renting was in a three-story brick building that had 12 windows on the front and 23 people living inside. All were of German parentage. The building was in a block of similar structures and is still standing 100 years later with a fresh façade of siding. A stone cornice has been removed from the top, but otherwise it looks much as it must have then. Their landlady, a German-speaking widow of 64 named Deiss (Magdalena?s maiden name was Deis) lived at that address along with her two grown sons.
Interestingly enough the city directory for that year shows the Breiners living at another address as well. It was an accepted part of life in New York to move every few years, especially in the areas packed with apartment buildings. On April 30 every year, most leases expired. With rents rising, the population growing and people on the move, tenants used the annual lease expiration as an opportunity to find a better deal, and landlords, for their part, took the opportunity to kick out their worst tenants. May 1 was known as Moving Day or Flitting Day in New York, and articles and cartoons from the period depict the chaos in the streets that prevailed on that day.
A family may have had a few pieces of furniture, some clothing and cooking utensils, but a move would not have been as complicated as it is today. A houseful of strong sons would have made it easier.
There is a wonderful picture taken a few years later that shows the men of that household together. They are all behind a meat counter with some huge animal parts laid out in front of them. A couple have knives in their hands. The elder Mathew is standing in the back, clearly presiding over the scene. The picture likely shows the business known as Breiner Brothers Meat, which appears in the 1903 and 1904 city directories. The business was on the corner of Central and Linden, first on one side of the street, the next year on the other (businesses moved frequently as well). Peter Breiner was in his mid-20s at that time, Frederick was in his early 20s and Mathew was 16 or 17. Only young Ferdinand, probably 8 or 9 years at the time of the picture, is not present. The elder Mathew may have been the owner or an investor in the business. Maybe he owned the buildings. In any case, it is a telling detail that in this picture, he is the only one not wearing a butcher?s apron or holding a knife.
The original buildings housing these shops are gone. A city health department building and public housing project occupy the two street corners. But photos of the original buildings exist in the photographic archives of the tax collection arm of the city of New York. These photos, taken in 1939-40, show two three-story buildings, one brick and one wood frame, with storefronts on the first floor, one of them a café and one a paint store.
The business known as Breiner Brothers Meat doesn?t appear in the city directory after 1904. The directories are not always complete. But maybe the name disappeared because Peter, the oldest brother, died the following year. Peter, who was 28 and single, was attended for five days by Dr. William Runge before he died of pneumonia on June 2, 1905. He was buried nearby in Holy Trinity Cemetery.
Five weeks after this sad event for the family was a joyous one. Frederick Breiner, 25, the next oldest son, married Frances Miltner, 22, the Brooklyn-born daughter of German immigrants Anton Miltner and Bertha Radtke. The ceremony was held in the lovely baroque St. Barbara?s Roman Catholic Church, just a few blocks down Central Avenue from the brothers? meat market.
It is possible that brothers Mathew and Frederick continued in the meat business together. They both continued to live in the same neighborhood over the next several years.
By 1909, however, the younger Mathew (the man we knew as Uncle Matt) had moved about five miles from his parents to the neighborhood south of Prospect Park, where he was to eventually raise his family. He also seems to have parted ways with Frederick in the meat business. That year, Mathew, 22, married Mary Braband, 23, daughter of German immigrants John and Mary Braband at St. Leonard?s Church in Brooklyn.
Ferdinand (our grandfather) was now the only son still living with his parents. On April 12, 1910, the census taker stopped by the apartment of Ferdinand and his parents on 152 George St. and recorded a snapshot of their lives. It was four days before Ferdinand?s 15th birthday. The census taker asked if the boy had attended school at any time since the previous September and was told yes. A 14- or 15-year-old making normal progress in school would have been in about the eighth or ninth grade. (Ferdinand much later told his family that he had finished only the sixth grade.)
Ferdinand?s occupation was listed as apprentice butcher. Likely he was working for his brother Frederick, who had his own meat business and lived much closer than his brother Mathew.
The elder Mathew, 58, reported in the census that he was a self-employed real estate broker. In the family?s oral history, Mathew was described as an owner of property, but the census shows they were renting on George Street. Magdalena, 54, had been in this country 25 years by this time but still reported that she was unable to speak English. Ferdinand would have had to speak German with her at home.
The Breiners were among 31 people, mostly Germans with a mix of Italians, renting space in this building. The ethnic makeup of the building reflected other streets in the neighborhood.
Ferdinand?s life was rocked by two events soon after. His mother, Magdalena, died Jan. 17, 1912, of gastric carcinoma (stomach cancer). She was buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery, where son Peter was buried seven years before.
Ferdinand and his father were now living alone in a one-story brick building at 93 Starr St. The building is small but must have seemed smaller. Ferdinand, now 16, didn?t get along with his father. It was about this time, according to the family oral history, that Ferdinand left Brooklyn forever. He was working at his brother?s meat market and they had a big quarrel. Ferdinand rode his bicycle home, parked it and then took a train to Cleveland. Ferdinand later told his children that he arrived in Cleveland with 15 cents in his pocket.
He lived with an uncle for six weeks before he was kicked out. One of the first jobs he had was driving a horse and wagon to make deliveries for the Higbee Company department store. But he knew the meat business, and eventually he borrowed $500 and opened a store with a partner, Artie Strawhacker, who had also put in $500. After six months, Ferdinand bought out his partner.
His landlady?s niece, Magdalena Frowerk, daughter of German immigrants, met this up-and-comer from New York City and was rather taken with him. It was Magdalena?s parents who had loaned him the $500 to start the meat business. They were married Sept. 12, 1916. Ferdinand was 21, Magdalena 20.
One wonders if anyone from Brooklyn came to this Cleveland wedding. The only family Ferdinand had left were his brother, Matt, and his father. Matt had his own business to run and young children at home. It would have been difficult to travel.
His brother Frederick had died in 1913 at age 34 after spending 16 days in St. Peter?s Hospital, Brooklyn, battling pulmonary phthisis (the contemporary description for tuberculosis of the lungs). Frederick was buried in Lutheran Cemetery. He and his wife, who were living with her widowed mother at the time, had at least two children, Frances, 7, and Frederick T., 6.
Ferdinand, who was known as "Fernie" in his family, eventually took to using the name Fred, his older brother?s name. Ferdinand and Magdalena had four children eventually ? Richard, born in 1919, Patricia, 1922, Elaine, 1926, and Robert, 1931. Elaine died of injuries suffered in a fall when she was 18 months old.
Back in Brooklyn, Matt Breiner had left the old neighborhood and followed the more prosperous immigrants to the newer middle class neighborhoods of rowhouses, some of which had yards and trees lining the streets. He was living south of Prospect Park and he eventually set up his meat business on Kings Highway, even further south toward Coney Island and Brighton Beach. A photograph from that era shows a delivery truck advertising "Sanitary Market, M. Breiner, 1118 Kings Highway, Tel. Midwood 10140."
In 1920, he and Mary and their five children were living at 129 Cortelyou Road, a rowhouse that was relatively new at the time. The census lists their children as Mathew, 10, John, 7, Mary, 4, Gerard, 2, and Madeleine, 6 months. In 1942, Matt and his wife were still living in that rowhouse when Sam Marcus, who was assigned by the Navy to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, paid a visit. Sam was dating Patricia Breiner, daughter of Ferdinand and Magdalena, and went to visit the Brooklyn branch of the family at her suggestion. Sam showed up unannounced. Matt was sitting on the front steps. "Are you Matt Breiner," Sam said. "Who wants to know?" was the gruff reply. Sam recalls that he and Matt chatted while Matt occupied himself with a flyswatter killing cockroaches in the house. (The house is still there.)
After retiring from the meat business, Matt took an interest in horse racing and owned some horses, which he occasionally brought to Thistledown Race Track in Cleveland. He would take the opportunity to visit his younger brother. He attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Fred and Magdalena in 1966. Matt was living in Sparta, N.J. when he died in 1972.
The Cleveland and Brooklyn branches of the family did not have much contact and have long since lost track of each other. Robert, Ferdinand?s son, believes that one of Matt?s sons rose to a high executive level at Texaco in New York.
With some further research, it might be possible to make connections with the descendants of the children of Ferdinand?s brothers Frederick and Mathew.
Additional information about this story
Description this story came from Jim Breiner, grandson of Ferdinanc.
Date
Location
Attached to Rose Breiner (1867 - ) spx?
Other trees this object is saved to
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1851 - 1918 (66 years)
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