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Emma and the Boentgen Daughters

Emma Caroline Wesemann was a music teacher living at 2515 Tulip Street when she married William Andrew Boentgen, a woodcarver of 1727 North 3rd Street, at Philadelphia on 7 May 1890. He was born in Philadelphia on 28 January 1866, and neither had been married before. The minister, who signed as [F. P. Bruder], has not been identified.

William was probably the son of Nicholas and Louisa Boentgen of Philadelphia. Nicholas Boentgen was born on 13 December 1832 at Münstermaifeld, in the Prussian district of Koblenz (today in Rhineland-Palatinate). On 29 April 1860, at Philadelphia, he probably married Louise Seeger, born at Reutlingen in Württemberg, the daughter of Caroline Wendler. In June 1860 Nicholas, 29, was a maker of Britannia ware in Kensington, and Louisa was 20. In 1870 he worked in an iron foundry, and their household held William, 4, Anna, 1, and a printer, John Wendler, 22, probably a kinsman of Louisa’s mother. In 1880 Nicholas was a metal turner, with William, 14, an office boy, Annie, 11, and Catharine, 9. A Caroline Boentgen, daughter of Nicholas and Louisa, born and died in 1862, was probably their first child. Nicholas probably enlisted on 20 August 1861 in Company C of the 75th Pennsylvania Infantry, and a pension was filed for him in 1879 as a corporal of that company. He died on 3 February 1896 at 1427 North 3rd Street, aged 63, a wood polisher, and was buried in the German Lutheran Zion’s Church ground on 9 February. Louisa drew a widow’s pension from 4 February 1896. Their daughter Kate, probably the Catharine of 1880, was born on 19 August 1870, worked as a trimmer, and died on 4 December 1907 at 1727(?) North 3rd Street, the house William gave as his address in 1890. She was buried in the German Lutheran Cemetery. In 1920 Louisa, a widow of 79, lived with her widowed daughter Anna Fechter at 523 Dauphin Street, a house Anna owned with a mortgage, with a lodger, Carl Leonard; the census gives Louisa’s arrival as 1854 and her naturalization as 1861. Louisa died on 9 March 1922 at 3223 North Randolph Street, aged 81, of edema of the lungs, and was buried on 13 March in the German Lutheran Cemetery with Nicholas and Kate. Her death certificate gives her birth as 23 May 1840; its informant was a Laura or Lena Boentgen of the same address, whose relationship is not known. A grave index places her at Philadelphia Memorial Park, Frazer, and that is possibly her burial place instead. The name of William’s first son, George Nicholas, fits Nicholas as his grandfather.

William’s sister Anna M. Boentgen was born in Philadelphia on 5 October 1868, and her death certificate names her parents as Nicholas Boentgen and Louise Seeger. She married Charles W. (Karl) Fechter, a machinist of St. John Street born in Philadelphia on 28 March 1866, at Philadelphia on 10 October 1889, under license no. 29282, issued on 5 October; the license papers are almost certainly theirs. The minister signed as [F. Wischan]. He was probably the Rev. F. Wischan who was called in September 1870 to St. Paul’s (German) Lutheran Church at St. John and Brown Streets, and the wedding was probably held there, though St. Michael’s and Zion is possible. Anna was a widow by 1920. She died on 6 June 1962 at Fair Acres Farm, Middletown Township, Delaware County, aged 93, and was buried at Northwood Cemetery on 9 June; her son Carl W. Fechter gave the information.

Emma and William had five children. Marriage indexes, birth and death registers, the 1900 census and the 1903 license agree on her two marriages and her children, so the family is almost certainly as given here.

ChildBirthDeathMarried
George Nicholas Boentgen29 June 1890, Philadelphia27 August 1891, 1943 Howard Street, Philadelphia, of marasmus
Sophia Mary Boentgen21 February 1892, Philadelphia17 July 1963, New Brighton, Pa.probably Edwin McKay Starkweather
Katherine (“Katie”) Boentgen6 October 1893, PhiladelphiaJ. Raymond Barger, 26 March 1910
Caroline W. Boentgen18 March 18961986Harry M. Dunlop, 20 June 1919
Emma May Boentgen19 March 189813 November 1985, Pasco County, FloridaRaymond Ignatius Daly, 6 May 1919

Little George was buried in the German Lutheran Zion’s Church ground, belonging to the congregation of St. Michael’s and Zion, where his grandparents had married in 1866. William Boentgen died before June 1900, when the census found Emma a widow with her four daughters, Sophia, Kate, Carrie and Emma, and recorded five children born to her, four of them living. Appendix A gives his death as 1899.

On 24 November 1903 Emma, sworn as a widow and then keeping a store at 2008 Dreer Street, took out a license to marry David Frederick Brosius, a leather cutter of 922 New Market Street, born in Philadelphia on 1 July 1862. The license is the only record of the marriage that survives. In 1910 the Brosius household was in the 34th Ward: David F., 46, by then a caster at a leather company, and Emma C., 42, with Sophia V., 18, entered as his daughter, and Katherine, 16, Carroline, 14, and Emma, 12, as his stepdaughters. No Brosius child appears in that household or in any later record. In 1919 Emma lived at 6123 Lansdowne Avenue. She died at Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington Township, on 13 December 1925, of chronic interstitial nephritis, and was buried three days later at “Ardsley Cemetery,” probably Hillside Cemetery, Roslyn, where several of her Wesemann nieces and nephews also lie. Her daughter Sophia V. Starkweather, of Winburne, gave the information for her death certificate.

An undated family note names Emma’s husband as “Frederick Daley.” No such man appears in any record. The name is most likely a corrupted form of her second husband’s name, David Frederick Brosius. The surname possibly came from her son-in-law Raymond Daly, who married into her household in 1919.

All four daughters married. Katie Boentgen married J. Raymond Barger at Philadelphia on 26 March 1910. His father had deserted the family about 1908, leaving his mother, Mary, to support him at 1225 S. 20th Street, and the consent to the marriage says so. Their daughter, Effie Katherine Barger, was born on 25 October 1913, and her birth register names her parents as James R. Barger and Katherine Boentgen. In 1920 the family lived at Attapulgus, Decatur County, Georgia. Effie married Hubert A. Spangler, Jr., at Philadelphia under a license of October 1939. Katie lies beside James R. Barger (1889 to 1974) at Great Valley Baptist Church Cemetery, Devon, Chester County, and so the Barger identification is almost certain. Effie Barger Spangler died on 24 September 1989 and is probably buried in the same cemetery as her parents.

Sophia Mary Boentgen probably married Edwin McKay Starkweather (1899 to 1962), a native of Michigan, born on 21 June 1899 at Romeo, Macomb County. Their marriage is not in the Pennsylvania county indexes, and possibly took place in Michigan, Ohio or New York. Their son, Edwin James Starkweather, was probably born on 22 June 1922 at Winburne, Clearfield County, and married Barbara Lou Kretchmar at Beaver on 17 January 1948; he died on 16 September 2006. In 1940 the family lived at Beaver, Beaver County, in the same house as in 1935, and Edwin senior managed a sand company. Sophia died at Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, on 17 July 1963, and was buried in Beaver Cemetery and Mausoleum on 19 July.

Caroline W. Boentgen, an operator living at 5418 Haverford Avenue, married Harry M. Dunlop at Philadelphia on 20 June 1919. Harry was the son of the late Harry A. Dunlop and Estella Templeton, and gave New York as his home. Their marriage record names Caroline’s parents as William G. Boentgen and Emma M. Weseman. In 1930 the Dunlops lived at Upper Darby, Delaware County, where Harry, a veteran of the World War, managed a maker of toilet goods. In 1940 they were at Des Moines, Iowa, and in 1950 at Evanston, Illinois, where he was a regional manager in the same trade. Their daughter, Muriel Carolyn Dunlop, was probably born in Philadelphia on 7 April 1922. By 1950 she was Muriel C. Peterson, 27, living in Chicago with her husband, John M. Peterson, 30, born in Michigan, and his parents. She probably died on 28 September 1996.

Emma May Boentgen, a telephone operator of 5015 Girard Avenue, married Raymond Ignatius Daly, a machinist of 1716 S. 22nd Street born on 28 April 1898, at Philadelphia on 6 May 1919. He was the son of John Daly and Theresa Larkin. In January 1920 Raymond was a machinist at the Navy Yard, and their son was three months old. By 1930 Raymond had left, and Emma was running a restaurant of her own. In 1940, in the 34th Ward, she was a wire winder in a radio factory, still entered as married, and her son, 20, was an auto mechanic with his own garage. The son, Raymond I. Daly, Jr., was probably born on 19 October 1919. He married Anna E. Abt at Philadelphia on 15 November 1941, enlisted in the Army on 11 May 1942, and died in February 1961. Emma May died on 13 November 1985 in Pasco County, Florida.

References

  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” Philadelphia marriage license 34155, William Andrew Boentgen and Emma Wesemann, 1890: affidavit and duplicate certificate (film 004287253, images 1138–1140; affidavit familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6GVW-9G8; certificate 3:1:S3HY-6GVW-97Z). Read on the images.
  • Web searches (four constructions) and HathiTrust full-text searches (three constructions) for the officiants read as F. Wischan and F. P. Bruder, Philadelphia, 1889–1890: no result.
  • FamilySearch indexes: “Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1709-1940,” Q2WF-1ZRT (Nikolaus Boentgen and Louise Seeger, 29 Apr. 1860, vol. 15); “Pennsylvania, Deaths and Burials, 1720-1999” (Nicolaus Bontgen, buried 9 Feb. 1896); “Find a Grave Index” (Louisa Boentgen, 1841–1922). Index only.
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1860,” “1870” and “1880,” the Nicholas Boenthen (Boentgen) households, Philadelphia: 1860, 16th Ward, p. 120 (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBS8-7PG, image 354); 1870, 19th Ward, p. 111 (record 1:1:MZ5P-1C2; image 3:1:S3HY-DY7Q-GRS); 1880, ED 303, sheet 174A (record 1:1:MWJF-JN7; image 3:1:33SQ-GYBV-3ZZ). Read on the images.
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Death Certificates, 1803-1915”: Nicholas Boentgen, 1896 (return no. 16338, familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-68F7-NYQ); William A. Boentgen, 1899 (3:1:S3HY-6P4S-84J); Kate Borntgen, 1907 (certificate 29695, 3:1:S3HT-DCFQ-P2R); Caroline Boentgen, 1862 (index entries JKSZ-YY3 and VKDF-K8K). Read on the images, except Caroline’s (index only).
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Register of Military Volunteers, 1861-1865” (4Y69-TZW2, image restricted) and “United States, Civil War and Later Pension Index” (NH62-Y3X), Nicholas Boentgen, Company C, 75th Pennsylvania Infantry. Index only.
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933,” Louisa Boentgen, widow of Nicholas, corporal, Company C, 75th Pennsylvania (K6WY-N25, image 521). Read on the image.
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1920,” Philadelphia, ward 19, ED 433, sheet 11A, lines 32–34, 523 Dauphin Street, Anna Fecter [Fechter] household (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRX1-X8, image 768 of 1,139). Read on the image.
  • Ancestry.com. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972” (collection 5164), certificate 23626, registered no. 5891, Louisa Boentgen (indexed “Louisa Brentgen”), 1922 (record 1896633, image 661 of 3274). Read on the image.
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1920,” index, familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF1C-T62, Louisa Boentgen in Anna Fector’s household, Philadelphia; and surname searches for Boentgen (1920 and 1930, Pennsylvania) and Laura Bontgen (1930, Philadelphia), without a Laura or Lena Boentgen.
  • FamilySearch. “Find a Grave Index,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6T9X-LYCW, Louisa Seeger Boentgen, 1841–1922, Philadelphia Memorial Park, Frazer, Chester County. Index only; the memorial not read.
  • Ancestry.com. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972”: Anna M. Fechter (certificate 056664-62, 1962), John H. Hippel (file 106719, 1940) and Eulalia D. Noon (file 21677, 1932). Read on the images.
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” Philadelphia marriage license 29282, Charles W. Fechter and Anna M. Boentgen, 1889: docket, affidavit and duplicate certificate (film 004287225, images 1891–1893; certificate familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DTBQ-X54). Read on the images.
  • Scharf, J. Thomas, and Thompson Westcott. History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884. 3 vols. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884. Vol. 2, p. 1430: St. Paul’s (German) Church, corner of St. John and Brown Streets, a separate congregation from 14 April 1869, “called Rev. F. Wischan to the pastorate in September, 1870 … and is still pastor.” Transcript:
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1709-1940,” Q2WN-MFGD (Karl Fechter and Anna M. Boentgen, 10 Oct. 1889, “p 96 n 21,” item 7, film 1312256), document information; and FamilySearch Catalog koha:335895, “St. Michael’s and Zion Lutheran church records (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 1745-1927” (Carl F. Haussmann’s typescripts; originals at the Lutheran Archives Center, Krauth Memorial Library), film list and format notes for films 1312256, 1312259, 1312260 and 1312261, with the viewer for DGS 7616181 (images locked).
  • FamilySearch Catalog, search by film/DGS 1312256: koha:553018, “Church records, 1869-1966 [St. Paul’s Lutheran]” (Philadelphia, American and Brown Streets), items 1–4 of film 1312256 (baptisms 1869–1966; marriages 1869–1966, with an index; burials 1869–1966); and koha:335895, St. Michael’s and Zion, items 6–7 (item 7: Vol. 1, baptisms 1745–1762, marriages 1745–1748).
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JV79-W25, entry for Emma Wesemann and Boentgen, 1890; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Births, 1860-1915,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VB11-ZPY (George Nicholas Boentgen, 29 June 1890), ark:/61903/1:1:VBTN-WT7 (Sophia M. Boentgen, 21 Feb. 1892), and ark:/61903/1:1:V1MS-4KB (Katherine Boentgen, 6 Oct. 1893); “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDY6-VJD and ark:/61903/1:1:JX2F-9HD, duplicate index entries for the death of George Boentgen, age 1, 27 Aug. 1891; “United States, Census, 1900,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M371-JJQ, C. Emma Boentgen, widowed, with daughters Sophia (8), Kate (7), Carrie (4), and Emma (2), and recording 5 children born, 4 living; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZWFT-J72M, entry for Emma C Boentgen and Brosius, 1903; and “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ4-7Y27, entry for David F. Brosius and Emma C. Boentgen, Widow, 24 Nov. 1903.
  • Marriage license application, David F. Brosius and Emma C. Boentgen, Philadelphia, 24 November 1903, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Death record, George Boentgen, Philadelphia, 1891, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Find A Grave memorials 288017940 (Emma Caroline Wesemann Boentgen-Brosius), 103852056 (Sophia Mary Boentgen Starkweather, 21 Feb. 1892 – 17 July 1963, Beaver Cemetery and Mausoleum, spouse Edwin McKay Starkweather, 1899–1962), and 255879329 (Kathryn Boentgen Barger, 1887 [sic]–1953, Great Valley Baptist Church Cemetery, Devon, spouse James R. Barger, 1889–1974, m. 1910), findagrave.com, read 24 Sept. 2026.
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1940,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQQD-GXF, Edwin and Sophia Starkweather, Beaver, Pa.; “United States, Census, 1930,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHSJ-BYY, Harry and Caroline W. Dunlop, Upper Darby, with Muriel C.; “United States, Census, 1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X1D-9GBR, Harry M. and Caroline W. Dunlop, Evanston, Ill.; “United States, Census, 1920,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXMN-8CK, Raymond I. Daly household, Philadelphia; “United States, Census, 1930,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH4G-LBF, and “United States, Census, 1940,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQJR-8H3, Emma (M.) Daly and son Raymond, Philadelphia; and “Florida, Death Index, 1877-1998,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVW7-7TJ, Emma May Daly, born 19 Mar. 1898, died 13 Nov. 1985, Pasco County.
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q299-M6TK, J. Raymond Barger and Katie Boentgen, 26 Mar. 1910, Philadelphia; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Births, 1860-1915,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG26-7MM1, Effie Katherine Barger, 25 Oct. 1913, parents James R. Barger and Katherine Boentgen; “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1775-1991,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q285-9GL7, Harry M. Dunlop and Caroline W. Boentgen, 20 June 1919, Philadelphia, bride’s parents William G. [Boentgen] and Emma M. Weseman; and familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q285-9WL7, Raymond Ignatius Daly and Emma May Boentgen, 6 May 1919, Philadelphia, groom’s parents John Daly and Theresa Larkin.
  • FamilySearch indexes: Michigan births, Edwin McKay Starkweather, 21 June 1899, Romeo, Macomb County; World War II draft registration, 1942, Beaver; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Births” (VBTN-WT7) and “Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings” (HFCJ-F62M), Sophia Mary Boentgen, 1892; “United States, Census, 1940,” Evanston; and “United States, Census, 1950,” Chicago, ED 103-4937, sheet 3, John M. Peterson household (6X16-2M54), read on the image.
  • Marriage license application, Harry M. Dunlop and Caroline W. Boentgen, Philadelphia, 1919, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Marriage license application, Raymond Ignatius Daly and Emma May Boentgen, Philadelphia, 1919, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1910,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGZG-9P5, household of David F. Brosius, Philadelphia Ward 34, with wife Emma C., daughter Sophia V. Boentgen, and stepdaughters Katherine, Carroline and Emma Boentgen.
  • Census record, David F. Brosius household, Philadelphia, 1910, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Ancestry.com. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972”: [name withheld] (file 2213, 1940), Anna E. Wesemann (file 37191, 1955), Emma Brosius (file 120765, 1925), Sophia B. Starkweather (file 067523-63, 1963) and Mary M. Wesemann (certificate 011261-68, 1968). Read on the images.
  • Marriage license consent, J. Raymond Barger and Katie Boentgen, Philadelphia, 1910, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch indexes: “United States, Census, 1920,” Attapulgus, Decatur County, Ga., James R. Barger household; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951,” Effie M. Barger, 1939, spouse Spangler; “Find a Grave Index,” Effie Barger Spangler, 1913–1989, Great Valley Baptist Church Cemetery.
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Marriage Indexes, 1885-1951,” license 710784, Barger (Spangler), Effie M., and Spangler (Barger), Hubert A., Jr., October 1939 (ZWKD-SMPZ; ZW76-1DPZ; index images 3:1:S3HY-63LQ-17M and 3:1:S3HT-695Q-P3W); NUMIDENT, Muriel C. Peterson; the 1930 and 1940 census indexes, Edwin M. Starkweather; and “Pennsylvania, County Marriages,” searched without result for Edwin M. Starkweather and Sophia Boentgen.
  • FamilySearch indexes for Edwin James Starkweather: “United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007”; World War II draft registration, Vanport, Beaver County, 30 June 1942; “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1775-1991,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6TWR-2YTN (certificate 49915, 17 Jan. 1948); “Find a Grave Index” (Edwin James Starkweather, Sr.); and the NUMIDENT entry of Edwin M. Starkweather, spouse Sophie V. Boentgen.
  • Census record, Edwin Starkweather household, 1940, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Harry Dunlop household, Upper Darby, 1930, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch indexes: NUMIDENT, Muriel Carolyn Dunlop, born 7 Apr. 1922, parents Harry M. Dunlop and Carolyn Boentgen; “United States, Census, 1940,” Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, Harry and Carolyn Dunlop household.
  • Census record, Harry M. Dunlop household, Evanston, 1950, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Raymond I. Daly household, Philadelphia, 1920, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Emma Daly household, Philadelphia, 1930, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Emma M. Daly household, Philadelphia, 1940, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch indexes: World War II draft registration, Raymond Daly, Jr., 1 July 1941; “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1775-1991,” Raymond Daly and Anna E. Abt, 15 Nov. 1941; Army enlistment, 11 May 1942; Social Security Death Index and NUMIDENT.