Grandma PETZINGER aka Thora Stuart PETZINGER

After I posted yesterday about Grandma MAAS' first husband, I checked the mail and oh boy, I received Grandma PETZINGER's marriage license!  So, today it is all about Grandma PETZINGER.


Thora Sophie was born to Louis STUHR (or STUHER) and Carolina MAGNUSSON in Lansingburgh, New York, on March 4, 1896.  Lansingburgh is right across the river from Troy and is now considered part of Troy.  Thora's parents changed from STUHR to STUART sometime between the birth of their first son, Emil, in 1894 and Thora's birth in 1896.  Her father was born in Denmark to parents of German extraction and her mother was born in Sweden. 


The family had lived in Bennington, Vermont when Emil was born and after Thora was born in New York, they returned to Vermont where Thora's sister, Alma, was born in 1898.  By 1900, the family was living in Millburn, New Jersey, and subsequently moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut by 1904 and remained there.


The family story of how Conrad Andrew PETZINGER met Thora was he was on a bike trip through Connecticut when he met her.  I did find that Conrad had a cousin from his Uncle's wife's family (CRETERS) living on the same block as the STUARTS in 1914.


They were married on April 21, 1916 in Bridgeport Connecticut at the Black Rock Congregational Church, a non-denominational evangelical Christian church.  He was 23 years old and she was 20.  One item caught my eye on the marriage license that was totally new.  It said Grandpa was living in Bridgeport at 75 Fairlawn Avenue at the time of the marriage license application on April 20, 1916, which is only a couple of blocks from where the STUARTS lived.  Hmm, his father had died in 1912 and his mother and siblings remained in Newark during that time.  So, I looked up the Bridgeport city directory for 1916 and found that his cousin was at 37 Fairlawn Avenue, so possibly he was living/temporarily staying with his cousin, Edwin CRETER and simply gave the wrong address.  There was a Fred Steinmetz and William Butts living at 75 Fairlawn, but I have not come across either name before, but they could have been CRETER or STUART family friends.

UPDATE (November, 2018):  Turns out Grandpa Conrad was living with his cousin, Mathilda Creter Stelzer at 75 Fairlawn Avenue.  They had a daughter, Emma, four years younger than Grandma Thora and working as an inspector at American Gramophone - maybe she was instrumental in introducing Grandma Thora to her cousin Grandpa Conrad. 


Grandma was working as an inspector at the time of her marriage, but no mention of where or type of industry.  After their marriage, they moved to Newark, returning to Bridgeport in 1924 for a short time.  There were no children born between after 1922 until 1927, so she may have lost one or more pregnancies during that time and wanted to be near her family???  By 1930, they were in Springfield, in 1933 in Elizabeth, and 1940 in Irvington.


Conrad and Thora had the following children:
Conrad 1917-1997
Thomas Frederick 1919-2005
Charles henry 1922-2006
Francis 1927-
Doris 1928-1944
Louis 1930 -
Robert 1933-2002
Joan


Grandma suffered a stroke and was taken care of at home for quite some time before going into a nursing home in  Morris Township.  She died January 1, 1978 and is buried at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union, New Jersey.  If there is a plaque on the grave, I could not find it when I was there.