Newark, my home town!
Let me start by thanking Jules Spohn for the picture of St. Ann’s
Church. I attended St. Ann’s from the age of 6 to 13. Along with
my brother and sister I made my communion, was confirmed in St.
Ann’s. I was married to Francesca in that church.
As it turned out Francesca’s sister married John Geisheimer. John’s
father Gus is a cousin of Glenn Geisheimer.
Back in 1945 living on 12th street between 16th ave. and 18th ave.
was a different world. Each morning I would walk down 16th ave.
to school at St. Ann’s. The street would be filled with kids walking
to to school. There was a public school on 10th street(I think).
The #1 Newark bus was on it’s way downtown to Broad and Market street.
Brown bagging was the order of the day. Sun, Rain, or shine we would
walk to school past the synagogue on 10th street, and Paul’s barber
shop near 7th street.
16th Ave was filled with people all weekend. On Saturday people
would be walking to the synagogue. Sunday people would be walking
to St. Ann’s. A suit and tie was mandatory on The Sabbath.
I lived on 12th street next to Star Beverage soda factory. Star
Beverage was a small factory but it gave Hoffman (The Bottle on
South Orange Ave) a run for their money. It saddened me greatly
to turn on the news one night and see the house I was raised in,
in flames. The last time I was to 12th street (About 15 years ago)
the street on which I lived my youth was gone. Blocked off on both
16th and 18th ave the houses were all gone.
During the summer West Side park was my second home. The park provided
pick up baseball, football, and basket ball. Weekends the base ball
leagues would take over the field on 16th ave and 13th street side
of the park. When we got tired of playing ball the lake offered
hours of fun trying to catch goldfish. Free Concerts and dances
were held in the park all summer. The concerts were by the the band
that played at Olympic Park. Wish I could remember their name.
When I finished St. Ann’s I went to Madison junior high and from
there to West Side High. Met my wife at West Side. Next year my
wife and I will attend our 50 year reunion of West Side. While at
West Side I worked part time in Colliers Clothing store on Broad
street. I remember riding the 31 South Orange bus downtown.
Wanna know how a nice boy like me got to live in Newark? Even if
you don’t want to know I’m going to tell you.
Freiderich and Friedericka of Merchingen Baden Germany had a son
Louis George back in the late 19th century. Louis saw fit to join
his sisters already in Newark early in the 20th century. His sister
had married Fred Krueger (No not the movie Freddy Krueger) a relative
of the famous Krueger Beer Krueger It seems Fred was also from Merchingen.
Louis George had apprenticed as a black smith while in Germany,
and opened his own shop on Hunterdon st and 15th ave. in Newark.
My father told me a story about my grandfather taking care of the
fire horses from the fire house on Springfield and 16th ave. He
would walk the horses up and down Hunterdon street to exercise them
so they would not get lazy.
Louis George met Elizabeth and had 12 (That's right 12) kids. My
father was one of them. Dad met Mary (Mary lived on High St. near
the Court House) and that's how I got here. As an aside Mary's grandfather
was from Austria. I met Fran when she lived on Gladstone ave. under
the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign on South Orange Ave. We married and moved
to my father-in-laws house on Alexander street. Our sons went to
Alexander street and were baptized at Sacred Heart Church on South
Orange Ave.
Louis and Elizabeth are buried in Fairmount cemetery across the
street from Hoffman/Pabst, . I will finish on a sad note. I was
driven out of Newark under automatic gun fire. My ancestry is held
hostage by the destruction of an Historic City.
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