Augustus Hartman, Electorate of Hesse to Syracuse, New York, 1829-1909
2023 Dallas Genealogical Writing Contest: Families on the Move
by Susan Chance-Rainwater
Augustus Hartman landed in the Port of Baltimore in 1846, giving Hesse‑Kassel as his place of origin.9 16 This place-name confused his later relations, who understood him to have said “Hesse Castle”, leaving the family with a sort of “Indian princess” myth for several generations.1
Hesse-Kassel did its natives no favor by changing names every few decades, but at the time of Augustus’s birth, the correct designation would have been the Electorate of Hesse.3 Hesse was in disarray when Augustus took his leave of it, and his relations claimed that he left fleeing Prussian conscription. Actually Prussia didn’t overtake Hesse for another twenty years.
If Augustus left Hesse to escape conscription, his choice to enlist in the U. S. Army seems an odd one. The evidence suggests that he volunteered, joining the Maryland & District of Columbia Volunteer Infantry in 1847.13 16 This may simply been a way to make a living, or he may have been pressured into “volunteering” as the family later claimed.
What Augustus had volunteered for was the Mexican-American War. According to his obituary, he participated in significant battles at El Pinal, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, the storming of Chapultepec and the capture Mexico City. His service lasted about a year.16
Happily out of the army, Augustus took employment as a cigar maker with John Rabe, a Baltimore tobacconist. He both worked for Rabe, and boarded with him.4 Sometime between 1851 and 1853, Augustus Hartman relocated to the hamlet of Richford in Tioga County, New York. There, he married Eliza Lacey in Jan 1854.9 19
In the interval, one assumes he wrote a few letters home, which influenced his older brother, George Hartman, to also immigrate to America. The two brothers don’t appear to have been more than letter-writing close, and never lived together in the United States. By the time George Hartman arrived in Baltimore, Augustus had been in New York for at least two years.
George Hartman is my 3x great grandfather. He was born on 30 Aug 1817, in Altenstadt in the Electorate of Hesse.25 In approximately 1850, he married Anna Catherine Schmink, also of Hesse. They had two children, Adam and Annie Elizabeth.25
In 1855, at the port of Breman, the Hartman family boarded the sailing ship Julius39 along with two of Anna Catherine’s brothers, Adam and Jacob Schmink, whose city of birth is recorded as Wichdorf, also in Hesse. The Hartmans and Schminks arrived in Baltimore on July 11th.25 26 27
The family relocated by 1860 to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, before finally settling permanently in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.5 6 George and Anna Catherine joined the Methodist Church and seem to have lived quiet lives.36 Their daughter, Annie Elizabeth, married a carpenter named George Washington Shafer, producing eight children, including my great-grandmother, Minnie Catherine Shafer Bardo.
Augustus Hartman, on the other hand, did not live a quiet life. In 1862, he enlisted in Company P, 109th New York Infantry Regiment of the Union Army.15 With this unit, he served at The Wilderness, Gaines Farm (as distinguished from Gaines Mill), and in the siege of Petersburg. He was mustered out in June 1865 at Elmira, Chemung County, New York.16
In about 1870, Augustus moved his family from the rural crossroads of Richford twenty‑four miles south to the small town of Owego, also in Tioga County.6 31 By 1875, he was listed in the state census as a cigar maker living in a brick house worth $10,000 (over a quarter of a million in 2022 dollars).3710 By 1880 he had moved to 35 miles west to the larger town of Elmira, and by 1885, had moved to the region’s largest city, Syracuse, where he spent the rest of his life.7 11
In 1894, his daughter Addie married George William Dunkhorst, another first generation German, whose family hailed from Hanover.6
It is an interesting quirk of this family that they, and a possibly related family in New York City, are the only Dunkhorsts who ever existed, at least in the United States. I suspect this means their name was spelled incorrectly upon arrival in this country, and they just stuck with the new spelling. I have no sense of what the original spelling might have been.
George W. Dunkhorst was the son of Henry Dunkhorst, Sr., the original immigrant for this family.10 George was in the cigar business with Augustus Hartman until 1902, when their factory burned down.9 The Syracuse Journal reported that a stock of 50,000 cigars was destroyed in the blaze.24 The article doesn’t say if the fire was suspicious, but it might have been. Three years earlier, the Cigar Maker’s International Union had sued Dunkhorst for representing his product as union-made, which it wasn’t. This transgression was reported in the Monthly Journal of the International Association of Machinists, a fire‑breathing Socialist labor publication.28
The year after the fire, the American Machinist weekly reported the launch of a new Syracuse forging company, Dunkhorst Bros. & Hartman Company, with George W. Dunkhorst mentioned as one of the partners.17 38
Dunkhorst’s first wife, Etta Quinn, died in 1890, leaving him with three young children.34 I suspect that the need of a wife, along with business ties, prompted him to marry Augustus Hartman’s 40-year-old spinster daughter, Addie. She died of heart failure after not quite 10 years of marriage.20 21 Her will names her husband, and her parents as the beneficiaries of her estate.22
Following Addie’s death, Dunkhorst married a second time – to the widow of Addie’s brother, Sanford.
Augustus Hartman’s younger child was Sanford Eugene Hartman, born 1856 in Tioga County, New York. Like his father, he was a cigar maker.7 10
In May 1880, Sanford married a widow, Isabella Sutton, whose husband had died in a railroad accident. She later said she knew her first husband had died because of a newspaper article, though the clipping had inconveniently fallen into a fire. The immolated article would have made no difference if her first husband had actually been dead.29 30
On 1 Jul 1886, Sanford’s mother Eliza made a gift to Sanford of a Syracuse town lot at 397 Cortland Avenue. About a year later, Sanford gifted half of the property to Isabella, but included a stipulation that she not do anything with her half of the property without her husband’s consent. 29 30
In 1891, Sanford went to court asking for an annulment of his marriage on two grounds: First, that his wife was running a boarding house at the Cortland property without his approval, and second, that her first husband, William H. Sutton, was very much alive.29 30
Sutton was a member of a traveling vaudeville company, Haverly’s United Mastodon Minstrels.2 He had apparently abandoned his wife several years before her remarriage. The only reason I can imagine for his sudden reappearance is that he believed he could extort money out of his property‑owning former wife.
Isabella presented the singed newspaper clipping in court describing a railroad accident as proof of Sutton’s apparent death, but it wasn’t enough to save her second marriage. 29 30 The marriage was annulled, and after 1891, Isabella Sutton Hartman vanishes from the Syracuse City Directory.
In 1894, Sanford married Nora Laura Bodenheimer.35 They were the parents of one child, Blanche Miriam Hartman, born in 1904.
Five years later, Sanford Hartman died of a brain tumor, having been bedridden for four years.23 32 His widow Nora immediately married George William Dunkhorst, Sanford’s brother-in-law, and their daughter was re-surnamed Dunkhorst. Whether Blanche was Hartman’s child or Dunkhorst’s is a question that can’t be resolved by DNA because she had no children, and the traditional written records name both potential fathers. I personally believe Blanche was Dunkhorst’s child, based on her parents’ speedy second marriage, and Sanford’s long illness which would have made procreation unlikely.
Augustus Hartman died in 1909 a few months after his son.16 He was the subject of a lengthy obituary in the Syracuse Herald. His wife Eliza outlived him by nine years.18 They are buried together in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York.32 His brother George Hartman, and wife Anna Catherine are buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.33
Acknowledgments
This research would not have been possible without the extraordinary searchable newspaper collection at Old Fulton New York Post Cards. The genealogical project of one individual, Thomas M. Tryniski, it now contains over 51 million searchable pages.
Provenance
1 The story of the family’s immigration from Hesse-Kassel was passed down in the George Hartman branch of the family, from Annie Elizabeth Hartman Shafer, to her daughter Minnie Catherine Shafer Bardo, to my great-aunt Ruth Bardo Campbell, and eventually to me. Annie had lived in Germany only as a very young child, which explains some of the blurry details, such as thinking her father and uncle had been born in a literal castle.
Sources
2 Haverly’s United Mastodon Minstrels, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haverly’s_United_Mastodon_Minstrels, Wikipedia
3 Electorate of Hesse, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electorate_of_Hesse, Wikipedia
4 1850 United States Federal Census. Via Ancestry.com
5 1860 United States Federal Census. Via Ancestry.com
6 1870 United States Federal Census. Via Ancestry.com
7 1880 United States Federal Census. Via Ancestry.com
8 1890 United States Federal Census Veteran’s Schedule. Via Ancestry.com
9 1900 United States Federal Census. Via Ancestry.com
10 New York State Archives. New York, U.S., State Census, 1875. Via Ancestry.com.
11 New York State Archives. New York, U.S., State Census, 1885. Via Ancestry.com.
12 New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900. Original data: Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts of New York State Volunteers, United States Sharpshooters, and United States Colored Troops [ca. 1861-1900]. Microfilm, 1185 rolls. New York State Archives, Albany, New York. Via Ancestry.com.
13 U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls. Via Ancestry.com.
14 Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865. Via Ancestry.com.
15 The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865, Pennsylvania, M554-39 through M554-76, FO-MA, Vol. 2, pg 158, Janet B. Hewett, 1998, Broadfoot Publishing Co, Wilmington NC
16 “Served in the Mexican War: Augustus Hartman who served with distinction in two wars dies of old age,” pg 5, The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse NY, 4 Aug 1909
17 Notices column, Formation of Dunkhorst Bros. & Hartman Co, pg 921, American Machinist weekly, 25 Jun 1903, Hill Publishing Co, New York NY
18 Mrs. Eliza (Lacey) Hartman, Obituary column, The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse NY, 15 Jan 1916
19 “Died of Heart Disease: Mrs. George W. Dunkhorst’s funeral occurs tomorrow afternoon,” pg 1, The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse NY, 19 May 1905
20 Obituary: Sarah A. (Hartman) Dunkhorst, pg 2, The Syracuse Journal, Syracuse NY, 17 Mar 1905
21 Obituary: Sarah A. (Hartman) Dunkhorst, pg 12, The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse NY, 18 Mar 1905
22 “Dunkhorst Will” (Sarah Addie Hartman Dunkhorst), pg 5, The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse NY, 25 May 1905
23 Obituary: Sanford Eugene Hartman, pg 5, The Syracuse Daily Journal, Syracuse NY, 22 Mar 1909
24 “Fire eats up 50,000 cigars: George W. Dunkhorst’s factory now in ashes,” pg 7, Syracuse Journal, Syracuse NY, 4 Nov 1902
25 Immigration Form 548-C listing George Hartman family; Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897, NARA M327, Roll 146, No. S540-S552, cards #20, 264, 364, and 537. Via familysearch.org.
26 Immigration Form 548-C listing Adam Schmink; Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897, NARA M327, Roll 146, No. S540-S552, card #3648. Via familysearch.org.
27 Immigration Form 548-C listing Jacob Schmink; Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897, NARA M327, Roll 146, No. S540-S552, card #3667. Via familysearch.org.
28 Announcement of lawsuit Cigar Maker’s International Union v. George W. Dunkhorst, Monthly Journal of the International Association of Machinists, Vol. XI, No. 3, pg 157, Chicago IL, March 1899. Via Google Books.
29 “After an absence from home of nine years,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn NY, 5 Dec 1891
30 “Hartman’s Dilemma: After nine years his wife’s first husband returns,” The Syracuse Daily Journal, Vol XLVII, No. 254, pg 1, Syracuse NY, 17 Nov 1891
31 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995. Via Ancestry.com.
32 Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, Onondaga County, NY. Via Findagrave.com: #97046391, Augustus Hartman; #96957824, Eliza Lacey Hartman; #97046354, Sarah Addie Hartman Dunkhorst; #151108779, George W. Dunkhorst; #97046392, Sanford Eugene Hartman
33 Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport, Lycoming County, PA. Via Findagrave.com: #118534279, George Hartman; #118534488, Anna Catherine Schmink Hartman
34 New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967. Original data: New York State Marriage Index, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY. Via Ancestry.com.
35 New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936. Original data: Various New York County Clerk offices. Via Ancestry.com.
36 Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013. Via Ancestry.com.
37 CPI Inflation Calculator, https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/, Ian Webster
38 American Machinist, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Machinist, Wikipedia
39 In cases where the transit of the Atlantic by the ship Julius is recorded, she made the crossing in about 7 weeks. This is consistent with a sailing ship, rather than a steamship which would have made the crossing in about half the time.
- Liner Transatlantic Crossing Times, 1833-1952, The Geography of Transport Systems, Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies & Geography, Hofstra University, New York. https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter1/emergence-of-mechanized-transportation-systems/liner-transatlantic-crossing-time/
- Ship Julius & Eduard Passenger List, Bremen to Baltimore, 14 June 1834, crossing duration of 50 days, Professional Genealogy & Family History Research by Joe Beine, https://www.genesearch.com/genealogy-records/passengerlists/juliusandeduard1834.html
Copyright © 2022 Susan Chance-Rainwater
Published by Dallas Genealogical Society with the author’s permission
