Mamie and Henry Wichern's Story

Mamie and Henry's Story

Here is the only existing photo of Henry and Mamie Wichern.  Their boys are Alfred (left) and Leonard (right).  It was probably taken in 1910, so the boys are 5 and 9.


Mamie Wichern was the daughter of Adam and Mary Holzschneider.  Adam came to New York from Bayern (Bavaria), Germany   Mamie's mother Mary was from Baden, Germany.

Adam Holzschneider, his wife Mary and children Hannah and August are listed in the 1870 Federal Census.  Their address is given as 643 Fifth Street, Manhattan, New York.  Adam's occupation is "Tailor," birthplace: Germany.

1870 Federal Census

Adam arrived alone in  New York on April 7, 1859 from Le Havre, France on the sailing ship "David Hoadley"  Class: steerage, Occupation: <blank>.  The David Hoadley had a mishap 1n 1880.



Here is Adam's timeline.


From about 1870 - 1880 and on the Holzschneider family lived at 643 E Fifth Street, Manhattan.

Henry Wichern was born in New York City circa 1879 but both his parents were from Germany.
Three months after their son, Leonard was born Mamie Holzschneider (24) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wichern (22), saying that he promised to marry her.

The Evening World - July 17 1901

GIRL FILES SUIT FOR $50,000.

Miss Holls-Schneider Says Wichern Promised to Wed Her

Papers were filed to-day in the office of the County Clerk of Kings County, in the suit for breach of promise brought by Miss Mamie Holls-Schneider of Manhattan against Henry C Wichern of Brooklyn.  Miss Holls-Schneider asks for $50,000 damages.

Wichern has been arrested on a sheriff's warrant, and he is now out on $1,000 bail.

In her complaint Mamie Holls-Schneider says that Wichern promised to marry her two years ago and alleges that he betrayed her in August, 1900, promising then that he would marry her within a week.

They already had one son, Leonard, born April 28, 1901 -- Three months before the lawsuit was filed.  Howard and I think Henry was reluctant to marry Mamie, that's why she filed the lawsuit.  

Well, Henry and Mamie did get married, and their second son Alfred was born February 7, 1905.   By 1910 Leonard Wichern, Mamie, the two boys and Hanna (Mamie's older sister) were living at 391 Grand Avenue in Brooklyn, not to be confused with Grand Avenue in the Bronx, or Grand Concourse where the Steins and Epsteins lived.  Here is the 1910 Federal Census confirming that they were married, with two sons.  Henry's occupation is: "Truck driver."  "Widowed" is probably a transcription error.  Henry was 31, and was married to Mamie for eight years.

Howard Stein commented:

"Uncle Len always had odd cars.  A Nash.  Then a Kaiser Traveler.  I was with him when he ran into a LaSalle on the brand new Taconic Parkway with the Kaiser.  Then a 1950 Chrysler Imperial that got wrecked while double parked on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.  Then a 1959 huge Cadillac, yellow I think; stolen; he loved that car.  Then a Buick Wildcat and a secondhand Kaiser Traveler again when Aunt Gerry began driving again.  (She stopped after driving into the Housatonic River in Great Barrington in the late 1930s or early 40s: there is a Berkshire Eagle article about that)."

We don't know much about Alfred Wichern, but you can find more about Len and Gerry's story here.