Charles Moser and Elizabeth

1900 U. S. Census

The 1900 Census almost provides more questions than answers. From this one document, we can conclude the following:

• Charles and Elizabeth are still living in the family home at 218 W. 6th Street in Covington.
• They have been married for 13 years.
• They got married in 1887, two years after the death of Francisca.
• Elizabeth claims to have had two children, only one of whom is still living.
• Charles was 47 and Elizabeth was 30 years old when they got married.
• Charles is listed as a naturalized citizen from Germany who came to the United States 35 years earlier.
• His occupation is listed as a "cabinet maker", but he has not worked during the previous two months.
  
• They have one child, Harry, who is listed as being born in September 1882. It would make sense that this was the one child Elizabeth mentions, but I know for a fact that her entire estate was willed to her son, John E. Smith -- so I'm confused.

By this time Anna was married to August VDH and they were already parents of one-year old Virginia. Her younger brother, Henry, would be 21 years old and is not listed as a member of this household.

I know from Aunt Evelyn's recollections that Anna ended up living with her grandparents next door. But there is ample evidence that her father was clearly in the court of his second wife. The fact that his first wife died of cirrhosis of the liver at age 39 leaving him with young children may say something about their marriage, but I found irrefutable evidence of the tension in the family because of a short article published in the newspaper.

Charles died of pneumonia February 1, 1915. Four days later, this short article was published in the Kentucky Times Star.

I couldn't help but try to find a copy of the will. Sure enough -- not only was Elizabeth the beneficiary of the entire estate, but the will includes this section:

If any one of my children should be dissatisfied or endeavor to contest this will, I direct that $5.00/100 Five Dollars shall be paid him or her for his or her share in my estate.

I guess no one contested the will, because upon Elizabeth's death from diabetes in 1925, Charles children finally got their "inheritance" -- if you believe they were only entitled to $25.

In Elizabeth's will, all of her estate was willed to her son John E. Smith of Ft. Thomas. (I've yet to figure out where John came from). Elizabeth's will included this section:

Item II. I give and bequeath to my three step-children, Fred Moser, Joe Moser, both of Chicago, Ill., and Anna Vonderheide of Wyoming, Ohio, twenty-five ($25.00) Dollars each.

Boy, am I underwhelmed. At least we know that by 1925, only three of the children of Charles and Francisca are still alive. I do not know what happened to the others.

Charles and his second wife, Elizabeth, are buried in marked graves at the Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate (Newport), Kentucky in Section 31. Here are pictures of their markers.

A Tale of Two Houses

I realized when I got ready to write about Anna Moser Vonderheide, my great-grandmother, that I knew quite a bit about her as an adult and very little about her as a child. I knew from Aunt Evelyn that she had been raised by her grandparents, the Wockers, and that she is even buried in a plot owned by her grandparents at Mother of God. But what of her parents? I knew very little.

My search took me over to the Kenton County Library to research many clues I had from scanning their data base online. But I had no idea how interesting it was all going to be.Anna's parents were Charles (Karl) Moser and Francisca Wocker. I've now found "Wocker" spelled six different ways in documents. Charles Moser and Francisca "Wacker" (an example of the multiple spellings) were married August 8, 1867 at Holy Trinity Church in Cincinnati. They moved to Kentucky early on where Charles' occupation was most often listed as "cabinet maker."

They had eight children:
Frederick - 1868
Karl - 1869
Joseph - 1873
Geroge - 1875
Anna Catherine - 1876
Henry - 1879
Stillborn Girl - 1880
Adolf - 1881 (lived four weeks)


The majority of their married life, they lived in this home at 218 W. 6th Street in Covington. It was a two-family and they lived in the unit pictured on the right. It is located just down the street from Mother of God Church. Interestingly, Anna's maternal grandparents, Frederick and Catharine Wocker lived right next door at 216 W. 6th Street.






It appears as if all was not well in the Moser household. Anna's mother, Francisca, died at the age of 39 years old. I was able to find a Death Certificate that listed her cause of death on July 14, 1885 as "cirrhosis of the liver." Note that her last two children really didn't survive very long.






Charles remarried and Anna now had a stepmother, Elizabeth. Note that Anna was the only girl among her siblings, and according to Aunt Evelyn, all was not well. Anna's bedroom was in the uninsulated attic. Her stepmother insisted that she wash her "long johns" daily. By the next morning they would not be dry, but Anna was required to put them on anyway. This practice led to Anna becoming quite ill and her grandparents, living next door, agreeing to let Anna move in with them. Thus Anna, following the death of her mother, was largely raised by her grandparents.

As if knowing that was not enough, I found more evidence of "trouble in paradise". I will discuss that in the next post.