Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866) who emigrated from Alsace

Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866) Possibly a Free and Accepted Mason at Eastern Star Lodge, No. 227, New York; Immigrated from Strasbourg, Alsace, France to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 1834 (b. 1815, Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, Bas Rhin, France - d. September 05, 1866, 42 Grand Street, Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA)

Birth:
Oscar was born in Strasbourg in Alsace where his parents owned a department store. His birth certificate and baptismal records have not been found in Alsace. The name of his parents are not known, but will be determined once his death certificate is located.

Marriage and Emigration to Philadelphia:
In 1834 he married Sophia Weber (1815-1891) and on their honeymoon they emigrated to Philadelphia in the United States.

Children:
They had three children in Philadelphia: Charles Frederick Lindauer (1835-1921) who married Anna Augusta Kershaw (1841-1931) and have several children and grandchildren; John Jacob Lindauer (1841-1888) who married Nellie X (1853-1899), worked as a cigar maker, and had several children and grandchildren; and Louis Julius Lindauer (1842-1915) who married Mary Sheehan (1842-1888) and had several children and a few grandchildren but no known great-grandchildren. Oscar then had the following child after moving to Manhattan: Eloise Lindauer I (1852-1944) who married William Arthur Ensko II (1850-1889) and had several children and grandchildren.

Manhattan, New York:
Oscar and Anna moved to New York around 1850 and their daughter, Eloise Lindauer was born there. Oscar and Anna lived on Houston Street in Greenwich Village in New York City and Oscar and his children may have operated a "liquor" vending business or an "exchange". Other entries in the City Directory list the children as "brokers". Oscar may have been a Freemason and one or more of his children may have served in the Civil War. Oscar was listed in the 1866 Manhattan City Directory living at 81 Grand Street in Manhattan and his occupation was listed as "exchange".

Death:
Oscar died in 1866 at age 51. He most likely died in New York City, but his death certificate has not been located.

Burial:
He was buried in Cypress Hill Cemetery at 833 Jamaica Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City and his obituary appeared in the New York Herald on Friday, September 07, 1866. There is no marker for his grave but there are two markers for two other family members buried in the plot: William Arthur Ensko II (1850-1889); and Stanley Marlton Massey (1895-1902).

Obituary:
New York Herald, Friday, September 07, 1866, page 9: "On Wednesday morning, September 5, Oscar A.M. Lindauer, aged 51 years and 2 months. The relatives and friends of his sons, Charles, Louis, and John Lindauer, also the members of Eastern Star Lodge, No. 227, F. and A.M., are respectfully invited to attend the funeral from 42 Grand Street, this (Friday) afternoon, at two o'clock. The remains to be interred in Cypress Hill Cemetery."

Archive:
The only known photograph of Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer was from the collection of Eloise Lindauer I (1852-1944). Eloise also inherited the family bible which contained a list of births and deaths for the first generation of Lindauers in the US. It was housed with Eloise Ensko Higgins (1955- ) in Lawrenceville, New Jersey as of 2005.

Family Memoir:
In 1965 Eloise Ensko (1925-1993) wrote the following: "My great-grandmother Sophia married an Oscar Lindauer. They came from Alsace-Lorraine on their honeymoon. Alsace-Lorraine was then owned by the French. Great grandmother brought a lovely picture of Napoleon over from the other side - none of which I have ever seen duplicated. It is still in the family and in excellent condition. The Lindauer family owned a huge department store over there. When the newlyweds came to this country about the early 1800's they settled in Philadelphia. The living room furniture is still in the family. I have in my possession one of the sitting chairs. It is a very pretty, light wood in color, Victorian style. It is now of heavy material and cover. Sophia's Oscar had three boys and later on one girl. The boys were Charles, Louis and John."

Legacy:
There are at least five living lines descending from him. The lines are: (1) the Enskos that descend from the marriage of Eloise Lindauer to William Arthur Ensko. The second line is (2) the Freudenbergs that descend from Charles Frederick Lindauer's daughter, Eloise Lindauer II (1861-1935), who married Maximillian Freudenberg (1857-1921) and had 15 children, nine of them living to adulthood. A third line descends from (3) Grover Cleveland Lindauer (1885-1968) who was listed in one census as Grover Dunne. It is not known if Grover was adopted or if Charles Frederick Lindauer fathered him outside his marriage to Anna Kershaw. Grover's mother is named Mary Dunne. "Charles" is listed as Grover's father on his death certificate and Grover would never discuss who his parents were. Grover had a daughter, Gladys Stanley Lindauer (1908-1997), and her descendents are the Grover Lindauer line. The fourth line was discovered in August 2003 from the obituary of Anna Lindauer (1881-1956), a daughter of Charles Frederick Lindauer. Anna married Ira Lowe and had two children, Blanche and Joseph Lowe. Blanche married John Wahl and had at least three children, later she married a Testerman and lived to be 100 years old. Other lines descend from John Jacob Lindauer and these lines were confirmed on Thanksgiving, November 25, 2004 when John's 1880 Census entry was discovered. Other lines may exist from Louis Julius Lindauer, who had a daughter, Grace, that married a Massey and had at least one child. Louis Julius Lindauer also had a daughter, Sophia, that married a Davis. It isn't known if these lines died out or continued. Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866) has the following people named in his honor: Arthur Oscar Lindauer (1867-1944); Oscar Arthur Lindauer (1873-c1965); and Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968). In the year 2000, his name was placed on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island.

Uncompleted Tasks:
His death certificate from New York City has not been located in the archive despite three attempts to find it. Perhaps he died in New Jersey. More trips will have to be made to the New Jersey and New York archive until it is located. His death certificate should name his parents and will take this line back an entire generation in Alsace. He also needs to be found in the 1840-1860 Census in Philadelphia or in New York City. All efforts to search under his first and last name have been fruitless.

Relationship:
Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866) was the third great-grandfather of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).