Yes I went down a huge rabbit hole last night and this morning. Especially since Facebook wasn’t working for me. As my last post said I visited St. Michael’s Cemetery in Queens and found this gem of a tombstone and the whole Grandma and Grandpa thing threw me. Especially since they died years before poor Florence was even born.

Photo taken by me 13 April 2019 St. Michael’s Cemetery East Elmhurst, NY

I started with finding out who Florence’s parents were by searching for the 1930 and I found, Peter and Lillian Huttel with 3 daughters Louise 15, Florence 13 and Caroline 9. Peter was Butcher and born in Germany.

I then did a search of the 1940 census after a quick search of the NYS death index yielded no results for Florence’s date of death.

The family was enumerated on April 15, 1940. At this time the family consists of Peter, Lillian, Louise 25 and Caroline 19. Peter is still a Butcher and the girls are Salesladies. Poor Florence has already passed by April 15.

Next I did a search of Peter Huttel and found he died in Houston, TX on the 18th of January 1974. He lived to be 88 years old. I love Texas as they put their Death Records online and this gave me a clue onto his parents names.

Peter was born 26 Oct 1885 in Germany to Franz Huttel and Elizabeth we do not know her maiden name yet.

I decided to look for Peter in the 1910 Census because he might possibly be living with his mother, as according to the tombstone his father Franz died in 1909.

The 1910 US Census shows Peter with his Mother Elin living with their Brother-in-Law Ernest (who is listed as a Butcher), his wife Augusta (who is  Elizabeth’s daughter and Peter’s Sister) and their daughter Florence. Elin is listed as a widow which fits with the death date on the tombstone at St. Michaels.

Next up was a search of the 1905 Census see by this point I was really sucked in and wanted to see what else I could find. The 1905 Census

has the Schumacher family and Franz, Elizabeth and Peter Huttel living with them. It also lists that the Huttel’s had only been in the country for 1 year. Time for another search to see if I could find a passenger list.

Success Franz Huttel along with his wife and son appear on the passenger list of the SS Ryndam that arrived June 21, 1904 to New York from Rotterdam. They are on the Record of Aliens held for Special Inquiry.

I don’t know why Franz and Elizabeth Huttel came to NY in their 60’s. I did find quite a few listings for children of Franz and Elizabeth Huttel in Germany but my German is not very good.  I did find who I believe are Franz and Elizabeth in the NYC Death Index for their respective years of death.

A little more research on Peter and Lillian Huttel (Florence’s parents) revealed they applied for a marriage license on 26 of April 1913. Peter also became a naturalized citizen.

By this time I had a couple of little niggling questions. What happened to Lillian Huttel, since her husband died in Texas? Who was John Chartrand, the informant on his Death Certificate?

When I want quick results I generally check out Ancestry family trees for clues and this morning Ancestry did not disappoint. The first result for a search of Peter Huttel was for a Chartrand Family tree. John Chartrand was Peter’s son-in-law. The husband of Caroline Huttel Chartrand. It suggests that Lillian died here in New York though I haven’t found proof.

The last bit I will leave you with is the Obituary for Caroline Huttel Chartrand.

They never forgot about poor Florence. So in the answer to the question of who Grandma and Grandpa Huttel were?

They were Franz and Elizabeth Huttel.

I told you it was a rabbit hole and a side note to my own family put my whole name on my tombstone or whatever marker you decided to put there for me.