Chasing the Elusive: Mathilda Radtke

Every so often I revisit branches of my tree I may not have covered well in the past, and my Radtke branch is one of them.  As it stands right now, it consists of just one person; my paternal grandmother's paternal grandmother Mathilda Pauline Radtke.

What I know about her consists of just a few facts, gleaned mostly from sources created after her death. What is elusive about her is her origin.

Mathilda was likely born with the German spelling Mathilde, in some part of Prussia.  Because I know I have some Polish ancestry thanks to DNA testing, my assumption has been that she likely is my Polish ancestress, as she could have been born in Danzig, in what is now Poland but was part of Prussia for awhile.  However, I really have no proof of where in Prussia she was born.

I do know that she went by the nickname of "Tillie" most of her life.

Mathilda immigrated to the United States via Bremen and New York City aboard the S. S. Donau, which arrived at New York City on 8 May 1876 and was listed on the ship's manifest as Mathilda Rathke.  She came with an 18 year old Katherine Rathke, who was likely related to her in some way.  Because they were two young women traveling, it is possible that someone else on the manifest was also related to her, though at present it is difficult to determine who.

Tillie has been lost on documents until the 1880 census enumeration, so it is not known when or how she arrived in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  She does appear on the 1880 census working as a servant in the household of Daniel and Sophie Gehlbach, who lived 292 Franklin Street in the Sixth Ward of Allegheny City.  Sophie was the slightly elder sister of Christian Adam Pfeiffer Jr., who Mathilda married just a few years later.  At present, it is presumed the couple met because of the Gehlbachs.

Tillie and Adam, as he was known, were wed likely in late 1884, but it is possible they were married in 1885 as well.  Adam was the eldest son and third child born to Christian Adam Pfeiffer Sr. and Wilhemine Karoline Wild.  He was born 28 May 1853 in Kleinsachsenheim, Neckarkreis, Baden-Württemberg but had immigrated at the age of seven to the United States with his family.

Adam worked in the iron and steel mills that made Pittsburgh famous, working mostly as a mill laborer and a puddler.  Tillie kept the house.  The couple lived in what is now the Shadeland neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh, but was then the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny City.  They first lived on Cliff Avenue, and then Shady Avenue before finally moving to Courtland Street, all in Allegheny City.

The couple had six children, but their two eldest children met with sad endings early on.  Their eldest, Mary, was born sometime in April 1885 and died 25 November 1885 from tabes mesenterica (tuberculosis caused by drinking tainted cow's milk).  Their second eldest was Christian Adam (the third) who was born August 1887 and died 28 January 1888 from convulsions.  Both children were buried at Union Dale Cemetery near Adam's parents.

The last four children fared better, and lived into their adult years. Adolph Reinhart (who went by his middle name his entire life) was born on 15 June 1888. Mathilda was born 4 January 1890.  John Frederick was born 4 June 1891.  The youngest son, Joseph, was born 22 September 1893.

Tillie's last known entry in a public record before her death was the 1910 Federal Census enumeration, where she was listed as the mother of six children, four of whom were living.  She had been married for 26 years, and had immigrated in 1876.  Her native tongue was German, as she is listed as having been from Germany (which technically was correct, given that Prussia had become part of a united Germany in 1871).

In November of that year, Tillie was stricken with cancer in her toe.  While treatable today, it was not as treatable in 1910, and by Christmas she had also come down with toxemia (blood poisoning) and on Christmas Day, 1910, she finally succumbed to her condition.

Her funeral was three days later, and was held at St. Thomas German Lutheran Church on Brighton Road.  A Rev. Dietrich presided as minister over her services.  She was then buried in Highwood Cemetery.

Not much is known about Mathilda aside from records, as the only link to her I had was my grandmother, who was born 11 years after Mathilda died.  She only had a few memories passed down from her family to give me.

Adam outlived his wife for 16 years, continuing to work as he was able and continuing to reside in their owned home on Courtland Street (the street was named Courtright Street in the aftermath of the annexation of Allegheny City to Pittsburgh in 1909 because apparently Pittsburgh already had a Courtland Street).  He died on 24 November 1926 from bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by myocarditis and chronic bronchitis.  He was buried two days later after a funeral service held at his home, in which members of the Northside Lodge no. 75, Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of America were invited along with family and friends.

Sources Used
"1900 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Adam Peiffer and family, Year: 1900, Census Place: Allegheny Ward 11 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1357, Page: 22B, Enumeration District: 0089, and FHL microfilm: 1241357; citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

"1910 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Christian A. Pfeifer and family, Year: 1910, Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 27 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: T624_1308, Page: 13A, Enumeration District: 0657, and FHL microfilm: 1375321; citing Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Christian Adam Peiffer entry, Registration of deaths in the city of Allegheny, 1876-1907, v. 3: Page 188, Allegheny County City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Death Notices," death notice, The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 November 1926, Page 44. Death notice for C. Adam Pfeiffer; online images, Google News (https://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 6 August 2016).

"Death Notices," death notice, The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 December 1910, page 14. Death Notice for Mathilda Pfeiffer; online images, Google News (https://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 13 August 2016). 

"Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898," database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Christian Adam , 05 Jun 1853; FHL microfilm 1,184,623. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLMJ-FZ6).

Find A Grave, database with images (www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 August 2016), memorial page for C Adam Pfeiffer, Find A Grave Memorial # 62605678, citing Highwood Cemetery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), memorial created by Sharon Deanne Kieffer, photograph by Rob and Debi Felten and Richard Boyer.

Find A Grave, database with images (www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 August 2016), memorial page for Mathilda P Ratdke Pfeiffer, Find A Grave Memorial # 62605777, citing Highwood Cemetery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), memorial created by Sharon Deanne Kieffer, photograph by Rob and Debi Felten, also Richard Boyer.

John F. Pfeiffer and Elizabeth M. Bupp, (22 June 1921), Allegheny County Marriage Licenses: cn 6781; Department of Court Records, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Groom's parents listed as Christian and Mathilda Radke Pfeiffer. Father born in Germany and residing in Pittsburgh. Mother deceased.

Mary Pfeifer entry, Registration of deaths in the city of Allegheny, 1876-1907, V. 2: Page 181, Allegheny County City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 August), Entry for Adam Pfeifer and family; Year: 1861; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 210; Line: 30; List Number: 376; Place of Origin: Württemberg. Port of Departure: Le Havre, France. Destination: United States of America.Port of Arrival: New York, New York. Ship Name: Zurich. The family is numbers 71-77.

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 August 2016), Entry for Mathilde Rathke; Year: 1876; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 403; Line: 13; List Number: 374.

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Adam Pfeiffer; died 24 Nov 1926; Certificate Number: 109152; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 August 2016), Entry for Mathilda Pfeiffer, died 25 Dec 1910, Certificate number 126335; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania Death Indices," online index, Pennsylvania Historical Museum Research Commission (http://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Death-Indices.aspx : accessed 6 August 2016), "Pfeiffer, Christian A; ---- 101952; Pgh; Nov. 24."

"Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 August 2016), Entry for Adam Pfeiffer; Probate date: 24 Nov 1926; Estate and Proceedings Indexes, 1788-1971; Author: Allegheny County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Allegheny, Pennsylvania; citing Pennsylvania County District and Probate Courts.

"Pennsylvania, WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for John F Pfeiffer, application number 112525 filed 13 Feb 1934, North Side, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948. RG 19, Series 19.91. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg Pennsylvania; Parents listed as father Adam C. Pfeiffer (deceased) and mother Mathilda Pauline Radtke (deceased), on son John's application.

Pfeiffer, Richard. Christian Adam Pfeiffer 1853-1926, Typed Family Tree of Adam Pfeiffer Sr.; supplied by Pfeiffer, Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, 2002. Sent via mail to Kelley Wood-Davis in 2002.

"United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897," database online, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 August 2016), Entry for Adam Pfeifer, 04 May 1861; citing Germans to America Passenger Data file, 1850-1897, Ship Zurich, departed from Havre, arrived in New York, New York, New York, United States (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD78-DHG); Citing NARA NAID 566634. National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

"United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897," database online, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 August 2016), Entry for Mathilde Rathke, 08 May 1876; citing Germans to America Passenger Data file, 1850-1897, Ship Donau, departed from Bremen & Southampton, arrived in New York, New York, New York, United States (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD72-94C).

Various Pittsburgh area directories found on Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org).  Contact blogger for entries 

Wood, Elizabeth Pfeiffer. North Carolina, to Kelley Wood-Davis, email, 31 December 2011, "Re: Hi!,"; privately held by Wood-Davis, 2018. emails from grandmother to granddaughter regarding questions.  References to Mathilda Pfeiffer being long gone before Gram's birth.

"Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Christian Adam Pfeiffer, Taufe (Baptism) 5 Jun 1853; Page 71; Custodian: Evangelische Kirche Kleinsachsenheim (OA. Vaihingen); citing Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1500-1985. Various sources.

Notable Women: Fredericka Pfeiffer Richards

Occasionally I tend to focus on some of the notable women in my family tree and since re-starting this blog I wanted to write about their stories. One such woman is Fredericka Pfeiffer Richards, who was one of my paternal second great grandaunts.  She had a story that needed to be shared.

Fredericka was born Johanne Friederike Pfeiffer in the tiny village of Kleinsachsenheim in the district of Neckarkries, in Württemberg on 9 December 1856 as the fourth child and third daughter born to Christian Adam Pfeiffer and Wilhelmine Karoline Wild. She was baptized on 14 December in the only church in the village.  She went by her middle name of Fredericka, which was spelled a variety of ways.

With her parents and siblings, she made the voyage to the United States in 1861, having traveled to Le Havre, France from her native village, where on 23 March 1861, the packet ship Zurich left port, captained by one H. Oldaker.  The ship arrived in port in New York City on 3 May 1861, and the family disembarked the next day.  The Pfeiffers made their way to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, likely by train, and settled first in Temperanceville, where the family lived for almost ten years before moving across the Ohio River into Allegheny City.  The family settled in the same neighborhood that ropemaker Jacob Bupp's family lived in.  Fredericka's father, who went by Adam his entire adult life, made his living as a laborer, and her elder brother Adam (who was named for his father) worked the nearby steel and iron mills.

In 1880, Rickie, as she was called (though she also went by Ricka), was employed as a servant for Dr. and Mrs. Herman Hechelmann, a position she held for most of her adult life.  The family consisted of Dr. Hechelmann, his wife Emma (whose maiden name was Rinerman) and their daughters Ilma, Lucy and Esta.  While it can't be proven she lived with them consistently, she was enumerated with the family in both the 1880 and 1900 Federal Censuses, so it is likely she remained with them throughout that time.  Her younger brother,John, also worked there as the family's driver.

In 1905, at the age of forty-nine, Rickie placed an advertisement looking for a husband, according to newspaper accounts.  She had saved up a considerable amount of money and was looking to retire, comfortably with someone to share her waning years with.

A young man in his thirties answered her advertisement.  His name was James Carter Richards, and he claimed to be worth $100,000, most of which came from a gold mine in Colorado.  The couple were wed sometime in June 1905, either in Brooklyn or Yonkers, New York (Newspapers have stated both, though no record has been located despite searching) and took up residence in a boarding house.  Around the first of July, shortly after they wed, James claimed he needed to check up on his gold mine, but that he needed to borrow his wife's savings of $12,000 to do so.  Rickie gave him the funds, minus what she would need to live on for the duration, and off he went.  He never returned.

In late July of 1905, Rickie went to the police.  She had contacted the Denver police via letter, who had never heard of the man nor the mine, though they did do a search for him.  A New York police detective by the name of Inspector Cross read the story as it was printed in the newspapers and wondered if James Carter Richards was actually Frederick E. Carlton, a man Inspector Cross had been chasing for years and had just arrested.  Carlton was a con man and a serial bigamist who ran off with his poor wives' savings shortly after marrying them.  He had been suspected of murdering one of his wives by poison.  Cross sent men to Rickie's residence in Rockaway Beach, New York to ask her to come identify Carlton.  However, she had returned to back to Allegheny City to live with her sister before the police found her.  It was never found out if Richards and Carlton were one in the same, though it could be true.  If not, she was conned by another man with similar motives.

*Note here:  If at a later date I find evidence that proves Carter and Carlton were the same man, I will likely do a piece on Carlton, as his story is scandalous and pretty fascinating in itself.  Heck, I may write it just the same anyway.*

One has to wonder how she felt making that trip back to Pennsylvania and back to her old life she thought she was done with.

Rickie ended up returning to her old job working for the Hechelman family. She continued to do work for the family until at least 1930, moving to Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey with Esta Heschelmann when she became the wife of Herbert Clark.  It was there in 1920 that both she and brother John were enumerated as servants on the Federal Census, and then Rickie alone again in 1930.  Both times, she was enumerated with the name Rickie Richards.  She was also listed in three directories in Paterson, under the name of Mrs. Rickie Richards.

As for her marriage to John Carter Richards, in 1913 she filed a petition in the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas asking for the privileges and rights of a femme sole trader, as she had come to inherit some real estate and wanted to see to it without permission of her husband.  The legal notice was printed on New Year's Day and then again on the 8th of January, and the case was to be presented on 13 January 1913.  Her petition was granted, as paperwork attests.

What is interesting to note is that both the 1920 and 1940 census enumerations do state she was widowed and were the only records found thus far to note her marital status as such.

In 1940, she was living as a boarder with two other widows in the home of William and Alma Thomas at 58 Craftmont Place in the 28th Ward of Pittsburgh.

By 1943, Rickie had moved to Fort Worth, Texas. She died there on 9 February 1944 from cardiovascular disease at 3717 College Place. The informant on her death record was Mrs. J.D. Thomas, who lived at the same address. After her death, her body was shipped back to Pittsburgh.  The funeral was held at the James Lowrie Memorial Home at 1407 Chateau Street in Pittsburgh on 12 February 1944.  It is not known where her final resting place was, as there are several cemeteries in which the Pfeiffer family rests.

Sources Used

"1870 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 August 2016), Entry for Adam Pifer and family; Year: 1870, Census Place: Millvale Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: M593_1294, Page: 204B, Image: 342800, and Family History Library Film: 552793.

"1900 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 August 1900), Entry for Ricka Pfeiffer, Year: 1900, Census Place: Allegheny Ward 4 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1355, Page: 12B, Enumeration District: 0041, and FHL microfilm: 1241355. 

"1910 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 August 2016), Entry for Fredricka Richards; Year: 1910, Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 23 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: T624_1306, Page: 2B, Enumeration District: 0592, and FHL microfilm: 1375319.

"1920 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for Richie Richards, Year: 1920, Census Place: Paterson Ward 5 Passaic, New Jersey, Roll: T625_1064, Page: 10A, Enumeration District: 107, and Image: 446.

"1930 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for Rickie Richards; Year: 1930, Census Place: Paterson Passaic, New Jersey, Roll: 1381, Page: 18A, Enumeration District: 0084, Image: 708.0, and FHL microfilm: 2341116.

"1940 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for Richie Richards; Year: 1940, Census Place: Pittsburgh Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: T627_3676, Page: 61B, and Enumeration District: 69-813.

"Albert Barnes Smith," legal notice, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 8 January 1913, page 16; notice of Petition for Fredericka Richards for rights and privileges of sole femme trade; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 January 2019).

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "1880 United States Federal Census," database online with images, Ancestry.com Operation, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for Richal Pifer, Year: 1880, Census Place: Allegheny Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: 1086, Family History Film: 1255086, Page: 369D, Enumeration District: 014, and Image: 0746.

"Back to Her Old Job With Her Money Gone," Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 24 July 1905, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 August 2016).

"Bridegroom and Money Fled," The Semi-Weekly New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), 29 July 1905, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 January 2020).

"The Carlton Charges," Evening Star (Washington D.C.), 25 July 1905, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 January 2020).

"Good Bye, Little Girl, Good Bye," Denver Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado), 23 July 1905, page 25; online images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 14 January 2020).

"Husband and Money Missing," The Sun (New York, New York), 24 July 1905, First Edition, Page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 August 2016).

"Marine Intelligence," The New York Times (New York, New York), 4 May 1861, page 8; Under Arrived. "Ship Zurich, Aldaker, Havre, March 23, with mdse, and 294 passengers to Samuel M. Fox & bros. Had two births and one death."; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 January 2019).

"Mrs. Richards Back in City," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 25 July 1905, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 August 2016).

"New York Prisoner Believed to Be New Jersey Man Who Stole Wife's Savings," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California), 25 July 1905, First Edition, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 August 2016).

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 August 2016), Year: 1861; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 210; Line: 30; List Number: 376; Place of Origin: Württemberg. Port of Departure: Le Havre, France. Destination: United States of America.Port of Arrival: New York, New York. Ship Name: Zurich. The family is numbers 71-77.

"Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2016), Entry for Fredericka Pfeiffer Richards, date of death 9 February 1944; Certificate number: 10439; citing Texas Department of State Health Services. "Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982". iArchives, Orem, Utah.

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2020), Entry for Mrs. Rickie Richards; Paterson, New Jersey, City Directory, 1926; page 592 "rem to Pittsburgh"; citing a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties in various years.

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2020), Entry for Mrs. Rickie Richards; Paterson, New Jersey, City Directory, 1927, page 632 "rem to Pittsburgh"; citing a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties in various years.

"U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2020), Entry for Mrs. Rikie Richards; Paterson, New Jersey, City Directory, 1929, page 683; citing a collection of directories for U.S. cities and counties in various years.

"Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 August 2016), Entry for Johanna Friederike Pfeiffer; Taufe (Baptism) 14 Dez 1856 (14 Dec 1856); Page 89; Custodian: Evangelische Kirche Kleinsachsenheim (OA. Vaihingen); citing Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1500-1985. Various sources.