Letter from Bruce Wallace, April 1997

In 1997 I started researching my Great Grandmother, Antoinette Gebauer, after learning her name when I received a photocopy of my Grandpa Wallace's Social Security Application. At that time I had just purchased some family tree CD's from the makers of Family Tree Maker, they were trees that had been done by other researchers. I typed in Antoinette's name and found a tree submitted by a Bruce Cameron Wallace. I was able to contact him and we did a little corresponding. I was excited to get this information as I had no recollection of hearing my grandfather talk about his family only when he would get after my grandmother for giving me too many baths during the week or even day if I had gotten into something. Then he would claim she was going to make me sick with all the baths she gave me, he'd go on to say that he only had one bath a week, on Saturday and it was a shared bath with all his brothers and sisters, I would ask how many brothers and sisters he had and I thought I remembered him saying with him there were 12, but in the 1910 census there were 8 children, I also know in the 1900 census there was a child named that wasn't there in the 1910 census and my grandfather had his name as his middle name. So that would have been 9. So the following are excerpts from his letters that talk about Antoinette. 

Gebauer -- By Bruce Cameron Wallace --

The earliest record I have of the Gebauers is from the Albany City Directory of 1874.  It listed Ernest Gebauer as a shoemaker with a shop on Madison Avenue in Albany.  His home was at 11 Broad Street, Albany.  The City Directories at that time did not list spouses or children.  In the 1881 city Directory, he was listed as the owner of a Lager Beer Saloon located at 466 Madison Ave in Albany.  My father had told me that Ernest Gebauer was a tavern owner in Albany.  At that time, Albany had a rather large German population.

  From my father, I learned that Ernest Gebauer and his wife had two daughters, one of whom was Antoinette.  Ernest Gebauer's wife died suddenly, probably in 1884 or early 1885.  He became so disconsolate that he padlocked the tavern and took the two daughters back to Germany, never to return.  Antoinette was 16 at the time, I learned from my Aunt Anna Bisgrove, one of my father's sisters.  The City Directory of 1885 had no mention of Ernest Gebauer.

  A few years later, Antoinette returned to Albany probably after she became 21. By that time, the city or state had taken the tavern property and their was nothing left.  At one time Antoinette worked on ocean liners sailing between the US and Germany.  I don't know if this was before she came back to Albany or afterward.  Her father never forgave her for returning to Albany and would not correspond with her for the rest of his life.  At any rate, Antoinette became a domestic in a large home on New Scotland Ave, Albany.  It was here that she met Christopher Wallace, a mailman.

Bruce Wallace goes on to say: The only vivid memories I have of the Vly Road house is of family Christmas get togethers always held the Sunday before Christmas.  Grandma Wallace opened up the "parlor" which was kept closed the rest of the year.  The house became pretty crowded with all grandchildren.  I remember that we kids all had dinner in a kind of dinette off the kitchen while the grown-ups ate in the dining room.  I can only vaguely remember Christopher but I remember Grandma Wallace.  She was a very stern, strict woman who wore these long dark serge skirts with lavender blouses.  We children were all kind of frightened of her.

Grandma Wallace died in 1938 .. a week before I graduated from Junior High.

What I know about Antoinette Gebauer

Tonight, March 17, 2012 I was chatting on Facebook after posting an image of my grandpa Wallaces' social security card application, with a family friend who is from Germany, and she was telling me that the name Gebauer sounds Sachsen or Bavarian. Brigitte also said "I grew up right in that area of sachsen. The bavarians and sachsens are sworn enemies. We even have our own fight song (but I cant remember it). Even so the towns are close together the dialects are completely different. Face it, we are waring tribes LOL" she also says "my Gmas maiden name was bauer." If you look closely at the application form, bauer is clearly written in for his mothers maiden name. Also said she could have her family do some research for me.

 So, what do I know about Antoinette?

1872 Donau ships passenger list. (at ancestry.com image)
According to a ships passenger list at Ancestry.com. Antoine Gebauer, age 3, arrived in New York, 8 Jul 1872 from Bremen, Germany and Southampton, England, aboard a ship named Donau. She was traveling with her father, Ernst Gebauer, her mother, Therese, her sister Olga and grandmother, Caroline.

1880 new york census (ancestry.com image)
"Antony" age 11 born about 1869 in Saxony Germany is living with her father, Ernst Gebauer age 39 born about 1841 in Saxony Germany and listed as saloon keeper, her mother Tharisa age 39 born about 1841 in Saxony Germany, her sister Olga age nine and her Grandmother Caroline Gebauer age 63 and listed as head of house born about 1817 in Saxony Germany.

How to decide on the spelling of Antoinette's name

Antonette T. GEBAUER Wallace, a great grandmother on my mothers side, she was my grandpa Wallace's mother. I have found her name spelled; Antoine on a ships passenger list with her parents, Antony 1880 census, Antonella 1900 census, Antoinet 1910 census. But on a photocopy of my grandpa's social security application he wrote his mother's name as Antoinette T. So for now I will spell my great grandmothers name Antoinette.