Philadelphia and Margaret Jakobi, 1904 to 1913
Philadelphia and the Move to Bucks County, 1904 to 1913
Nicholas and Elizabeth were both living at 1408 Cadwallader Street when they applied to marry. On 29 October 1904 Nicholas swore the application before the assistant clerk of the Orphans’ Court. He gave his trade as a word that reads “Tinsmith,” Elizabeth did housework, they were not related, and neither had married before. He signed “Nikolaus Reitter,” and license no. 179520 was issued that day. On 19 November 1904 G. J. Müller, Minister of the Gospel, married them at Philadelphia. He was probably the Rev. G. J. Müller of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Independent, at Fourth and Canal Streets, a congregation formed in 1870 when part of St. Paul’s (German) Lutheran congregation followed its pastor out of the Lutheran synod. A minister of that name appears on Philadelphia marriage returns from 1887 to 1905. The Reitters were Catholics, and no record says why a Lutheran pastor married them.
The German-speaking Hungarians of these years settled in a district of Philadelphia bounded by Front and Fifth Streets and by Girard and Lehigh Avenues. St. Peter’s German Catholic Church, at Fifth and Girard, served them, with St. Michael’s and the Hungarian Sacred Heart parish nearby. The Reitters’ and Krausers’ first addresses, on Cadwallader Street (1904 and 1908) and Cambridge Street (1908), were city streets of that period.
Their first child, Nicholas, Jr., was born in Philadelphia on 10 April 1905. The city birth register names his parents as Nicholas and Elizabeth “Krouser”, and the date agrees with the family memoir.
On 19 April 1910 the census taker found the family on Mervine Street, the street the memoir remembers. Nicholas, 29, was a wagon blacksmith. He had come in 1903, was already a citizen, spoke English, and owned the house with a mortgage. Elizabeth, 25, had borne two children, both living: Nicholas, 5, and Anna Elizabeth, 2. The 1920 census dates his naturalization to 1909. A third child, Eva, was born in Philadelphia County on 15 September 1910. When Nick, Jr. was about five, the family moved to Upper Bucks County for the sake of Eva’s asthma.
Elizabeth died at Nockamixon Township on 7 September 1913, soon after the birth of her fourth child, Elizabeth, called Betty. The death certificate gives the cause as uremia from acute nephritis, with labor and eclampsia, and names her parents as Peter Krauser and Anna Woldrich. Nicholas gave the information, and she was buried at Haycock on 10 September.
Margaret Jakobi and Her Family
Nicholas married again in 1914. His second wife, Margaret Jakobi, was the sister of his brother Michael’s wife, Katharina. The family memoir calls her “the sister of Nick Sr.’s brother Michael’s wife, Katherine”. According to the Perjamosch family book, both women were daughters of Philipp Jakobi and Katharina Schanen. The book records “Marg. J.” living with her husband, Nik. Reiter of Rácz-Szentpéter, at Bucksville, Pennsylvania, and “Kath. J.” with her husband, Mich. Reiter, in the Bronx. Katharina’s manifest and her marriage index name the same father, so the two brothers almost certainly married sisters.
According to the family book, Margarete Jakobi was born on 6 July 1889 at Perjamosch (Perjámos, today Periam, Romania), the mother parish of the St. Peter villages and a few miles from them. Her parents married at Perjamosch on 15 May 1892, nearly three years after her birth, with Franz Schmitz and Mathias Jakobi as witnesses, and the family book marks her as born before the marriage (vorehelich). Her father, Philipp Jakobi, a day laborer, was born at Perjamosch on 11 March 1867, seven weeks after his own father died. Her mother, Katharina Schanen, was born there on 23 January 1868 and died there on 21 January 1899, when Margaret was nine. On 13 June 1899 Philipp married Katharina Heinz (1868 to 1944) at Perjamosch-Haulik. He died there on 21 September 1929.
| Child | Birth | Death | Married |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margarete (Margaret) | 6 July 1889, Perjamosch | 20 March 1940, Bucksville | Nicholas Reitter, Sr., licensed 16 July 1914 |
| Ilka Katharina | 20 June 1894 | Michael Reitter, 25 January 1913 | |
| Elisabeth (of the second marriage) | 1900 | 1920 | |
| Franz (of the second marriage) | 1901 | 1902 | |
| Anna (of the second marriage) | 18 December 1904 | Anton Keller, 1 April 1929 |
The family book also names Margaret’s grandparents, who came from villages in the same corner of Torontál. Her father’s parents were Josef Jakobi, a tailor, born at Lovrin on 15 April 1835, the son of Peter Jakobi and Barbara Marx, and Eva Dornbach, born at Tschanad on 2 April 1837, the daughter of Jakob Dornbach and Katharina Schisler. They married at Perjamosch on 4 March 1862. Josef died there on 20 January 1867, and Eva on 16 August 1873. Her mother’s parents were Adalbert Schanen, born at Bogarosch on 23 April 1831, the son of Johann Schanen and Anna Schütz, and his second wife, Maria Szukop, born at Bogarosch on 11 September 1842, the daughter of Georg Szukop and Barbara Kohl. They married at Perjamosch on 4 August 1861. Maria died on 31 August 1872, and Adalbert at Perjamosch on 12 January 1891. The Jakobis had come to Perjamosch from Lovrin a generation before Margaret was born.
Margaret probably came to America in March 1914. The Graf Waldersee, from Cuxhaven, landed at New York on 6 March 1914 a “Jakoby, Margit,” 25, single, a housemaid of Budapest, born at Perjamos, the daughter of Fülöp Jacoby of Budapest. She was going to her brother-in-law, Michael Reiter, at 333 East 95th Street. Her censuses give her arrival as 1914 and 1913. On 16 July 1914, ten days after her twenty-fifth birthday, Nicholas Reiter and Margaret “Gakobi” appear in the Bucks County index of marriage license applications, and in 1930 Margaret said she had first married at 25. Their only child, Catherine Margaret, was born in 1916.
References
- Marriage license affidavit, Nicolaus Reitter and Elisabeth Krauser, Philadelphia County, sworn 29 October 1904, license no. 179520. “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” FamilySearch, familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ4-8D61; image 3:1:S3HY-6QS7-TV (Marriage licenses, no. 179400-179899, 1904, image 403 of 1,706). Yielded birth dates and places of both, residence 1408 Cadwallader St., groom’s occupation, marital status. Transcript: Read the record
- Marriage license docket, no. 179520, Nicolaus Reitter and Elisabeth Krauser, issued 29 October 1904. Same collection, 1:1:QKJ4-88RJ; image 3:1:S3HY-6QSQ-PJ. Transcript: Read the record
- Duplicate marriage certificate, Nikolaus Reitter and Elisabeth Krauser, married 19 November 1904 at Philadelphia by G. J. Müller, Minister of the Gospel; filed 29 November 1904. Same collection, 1:1:QKJ4-8DPL; image 3:1:S3HY-6QSF-N7. Transcript: Read the record
- Scharf, J. Thomas, and Thompson Westcott. History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884. 3 vols. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884. Vol. 2, p. 1431 (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Independent, formed July 1870 under Rev. Emil Reiche; church at the corner of Fourth and Canal Streets; “It is at present under the charge of Rev. G. J. Müller”) and p. 1432 (1884 list of Lutheran churches: “Independent Lutheran., St. Paul, corner of Fourth and Canal Streets. Rev. G. J. Müller”). Page images read at archive.org, item historyofphilade02scha; also FamilySearch full-text image 3:1:3QS7-89DX-HFCM. Accessed 30 September 2026. Transcript:
- FamilySearch Full-Text search, “G. J. Muller” in “Marriage licenses: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” results dated 1887–1905. Accessed 30 September 2026. Search results only; individual returns not read.
- Weber, Francis P. “Philadelphia German Hungarians.” Monthly Progress, June 2004; reposted by the United German Hungarians, ughclub.us, 5 June 2026. Accessed 30 September 2026. Secondary; context only.
- Passenger manifest, S.S. Caledonia, Glasgow to New York, sailed 28 November 1908, line 27, Anton Reiter; lines 26–27 on both sheets. “New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1925,” FamilySearch, 1:1:JXR9-KZV (arrival indexed 8 December 1908); images 3:1:3Q9M-C95R-JS5T-P and 3:1:3Q9M-C95R-JSR7-S (roll 1175, vols. 2582–2584, labeled 5 December 1908). Transcripts: Read the record Read the record
- Declaration of intention no. 4420, Nicholaus Krauser, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 27 July 1908. “Pennsylvania, Eastern District Naturalization Records, 1795-1952,” FamilySearch, 1:1:X9FG-4LRM; image 3:1:3Q9M-CS9Z-Y363-H. Related index entries 1:1:Q2BT-9KB8 and 1:1:Q2BT-9K1W. Transcript: Read the record
- “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Births, 1860-1915,” FamilySearch, 1:1:VBTK-KW8, Nicholas “Jieiter,” born 10 April 1905, parents Nicholas and Elizabeth Krouser; and “Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950,” 1:1:HHKF-YP6Z (film 007611613). Index only; the register image is restricted.
- Nick Reitter, Jr. and Ruth Wesemann Reitter, a family memoir written by their four children (Ruth, Gladys, Doris, and Nickie), 2018–2019, transcribed 8 August 2026; family archive transcript dated 2019.
- 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia Ward 42, ED 1067, sheet 6A, lines 36-39, Mervine Street, enumerated 19 April 1910, Nicholas Reitter household. “United States, Census, 1910,” FamilySearch, 1:1:MGHW-41H; image 3:1:33S7-9RN1-PKD (NARA T624). Transcript: Read the record
- 1920 U.S. census, Nockamixon Township, Bucks County, SD 3, ED 42, sheet 4A, dwelling 77, family 84, enumerated January 1920, “Nicklos Ritter” household. “United States, Census, 1920,” FamilySearch, 1:1:MFBF-ZD3; image 3:1:33S7-9RTB-B8H. Transcript: Read the record
- “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972,” Ancestry, collection 5164: Elizabeth Reiter (file 93544, 1913), Eva Reitter (file 19153, 1924), Margaret Reitter (file 27086, 1940), Eva Reitter (file 41726, 1951) and Nicholas Reitter (file 056578-69, 1969). Read on the images.
- Genealogy-software descendant report, Nicholas Reitter, Sr., page 1, supplied to the archive 8 August 2026, family archive scan.
- Genealogy-software descendant report, Nicholas Reitter, Sr., page 2, supplied to the archive 8 August 2026, family archive scan.
- Genealogy-software descendant report, Nicholas Reitter, Sr., page 3, supplied to the archive 8 August 2026, family archive scan.
- Krämer, Anton. Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinden Perjamosch und Perjamosch-Haulik im Banat und ihrer Filialen Großdorf (Nagyfalu, Satu Mare) und Neu- und Groß-St. Peter (Rácz-Sz. Péter), (1724)/1755–1991. 2 vols. [Sindelfingen]: Arbeitskreis donauschwäbischer Familienforscher, 2000. Schriftenreihe zur donauschwäbischen Herkunftsforschung 83–84; Deutsche Ortssippenbücher, Reihe B, 189. FamilySearch Library 943 B4do ser. B v. 189 (catalog koha:984724; not online). Read in the archived online edition formerly at banaterheide.de: web.archive.org, pages Fb-J1 (families J4, J6, J11), Fb-SCH1 and Fb-SCH2 (S396), and Fb-R5 (Perjamosch Reiter families). Accessed 30 September 2026. Compiled from the parish registers, cited in braces by volume and page. Transcripts:
- Passenger manifest, S.S. Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, Hamburg to New York, sailed 2 March 1911, line 27, Katharina Jakobi, 17, of Perjamos; father Filip Jakobi. “New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island),” FamilySearch, 1:1:JJKQ-72Z; image 3:1:3Q9M-C9TQ-NS5W-3. Transcript: Read the record
- New York City marriage index, Michael Reitter and Katie Jakobi, 25 January 1913, Manhattan; parents George Reitter and Katharine Baum; Philip Jakobi and Katie Schannan. FamilySearch, 1:1:243P-2F5. Index only.
- Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Index to Marriage License Applications, “Reiter, Nicholas [R.]” and “Margaret Gakobi,” 16 July 1914, book 46, page 5. “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1775-1991,” FamilySearch, 1:1:Q28B-5VQ2 (also 1:1:Q28B-L65F, -LFQR, -L639); image 3:1:3Q9M-C9BL-F9RJ-5 (film 007727321, image 85). Transcript: Read the record
- Passenger manifest, S.S. Graf Waldersee, Cuxhaven to New York, arrived 6 March 1914, line 12, Margit Jakoby. “New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1925,” FamilySearch, 1:1:JJQ1-P4S, image 195; image 3:1:3Q9M-C9T6-294C (image 196).
- 1930 U.S. census, Nockamixon Township, Bucks County, ED 9-48, dwellings 44-45 (Hupfl, Reiter), enumerated April 1930. “United States, Census, 1930,” FamilySearch, 1:1:XH8Z-6G6 and 1:1:XH8Z-6G8; image 3:1:33SQ-GRZC-49J. Transcript: Read the record