Hello John. Saw your postings regarding Henry Edgar Acker who died in Bronx in 1918. I do have some info that should interest you.
From the info you provided, this appears to be the son of John and Eliza (Bice) Acker of Catskill, Greene Co. NY. He appears variously as Edwin, Edgar, and Edward on the earliest censuses in parents’ household, as follows:
1850: Edwin 4
1855: Edgar 9
1860: Edward 14
1865: Edwd. 20
Therefore, I believe his actual birth year was likely early 1846.
I have further info, but wanted to touch base with you before I proceed….
Look forward to hearing from you…
Jon Acker
jca65@aol.com
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Hello John
I must say, until I found your posting, I had thought that he had died sometime after the 1870 census. I see now that he left behind a wife and child in Catskill. This is the info I already had on him:
1 H. Edward Acker b: Abt. 1844 in Catskill, Greene, NY
+Fanny M. White b: Abt. Sep 1836 in East Durham, Greene, NY m: 25 Dec 1867 in , Greene, NY d: Aft. 1910 in Catskill, Greene, NY
2 Ida Acker b: Abt. 1869 in Catskill, Greene, NY
+August M. Willard b: Abt. 1856 in , , NY
3 Olive Bijou Willard b: Jun 1890 in Catskill, Greene, NY
The last census I had found him on was 1870 Catskill:
Edward Acker 25 b. NY Engineer
Fannie 34 NY
Ida 1 NY
Now, after a bit of digging I’ve found Henry on the 1880 census, age 35, residing in Brooklyn, occupation Ferryman, boarding in the Herman Meyer household. I’ve never been able to find his wife and daughter in 1880, but from 1892 onward Fanny Acker can be found in the Catskill area. Her daughter’s marriage to August Willard did not last, and their daughter Olive usually lived with her grandmother. Fanny always claimed to be a widow, and it’s even possible that she thought so if if her husband had simply disappeared from her life.
As for Henry, his marriage to Rose Hannigan must have been very short-lived. By 1900, he can be found as Henry E. Acker in the Bronx, Enumeration District #998, pg. 8A, occupation Engineer. He was boarding in a hotel operated by Christian Muhl, and once again claimed to be single. He reported his age that year as 52, born 1848.
Then in 1910, he can be found in the Bronx (E.D. 1568, pg 8B) as follows:
Henry E. Acker 60? Head occupation: marine engineer, steam boats (claims marriage #2) mar. 7 years
Anna F. 39 Wife no occup. (2nd marriage) mar. 7 years; 2 out of 3 children living
Ruth M. 17 Step-Dau. stenographer in electrical office
Catherine J. 16 “ “ no occup.
Charles Grimm 19 Brother-in-law clerk in brokers office
(all were born NY, except the parents of Anna and her brother Charles Grimm, who were born Germany)
By 1920 (Henry having died in 1918), his widow and step-daughters can be found in Bronx (E.D.296,
pg 8A):
Annie Acker 49 Head Widow
Ruth 26 Dau
Catherine 24 Dau
Henry’s father was also a boatman, and was known as Captain John Acker (I believe he was a river-boat pilot). I can provide further info on them if you want it for your records.
As for what became of your Rose Hannigan, I found a couple of possibilities. In 1900 there was a John and Rose Gillooly residing with her parents Edward and Rose Hannigan in Brooklyn, 6th Ward. Her age was listed as 20 (b. Mar 1880) and she had been married to Gillooly for 2 years.
There was also a James and Rose McLaughlin in Brooklyn 14th Ward, residing with her father James Hannigan (a widower) and brothers Charles and William. This Rose was age 24 (b. Dec 1875) and also had been married for only 2 years.
Hope this is helpful…let me know if you’d like any further details on the Catskill Ackers. I’d also be interested in obtaining copies of the marriage and death records you mentioned, if you can lead me to them. These Ackers are related to mine…
Jon
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When Henry married in 1896 he married Rosanna Hannigan. She was called both “Rose” and “Anna/Annie” according to document that I have found. I have tracked them both in the directory until Henry’s death in about 1918. This is the time that I loose track of Rosanna and her daughters. Rose was born about 1877 in the Bronx to Patrick and Catherine Hannigan the fifth of seven children. Patrick passed away in 1884. I can confirm the lineage because the address on the marriage license in 1896 matches the address we have recorded for Katherine and her sons.
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I’ll see what more I can find. Very obviously the Hannigans were Irish; however it’s also very clear from both the 1910 and 1920 census that Anna/Annie Acker and her brother Charles Grimm were born of German parentage, and that she and Henry E. Acker were married about 1903 (also that the two girls Ruth and Catherine were her daughters from a previous marriage). I suspect, since Henry was alone in 1900 and claiming to be single, that his marriage to Rose had already dissolved by then. Whether they were ever officially divorced, I couldn’t say…after all, I’m certain he was not divorced from first wife Fanny White when he married Rose in 1896, since Fanny claimed to be a widow up until her death. This kind of thing was more common than you would think, since it was easier back then to simply walk away and not have to bother with all the proceedings (I can cite similar examples among my own ancestors).
Perhaps Rose herself remarried, or died young, or (like Fanny back in Catskill) possibly even continued to use the Acker name, though I think you’ll find the latter not to be the case (at least, I haven’t found any Rose Ackers on the census that seemed to fit…).
In any case, I’ll let you know if I can find anything further pertaining to Anna Grimm’s first marriage, and her subsequent marriage to Henry…
Cheers…
Jon
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Hello John.
I’ve found Anna and daughters in the household of her parents Frederich and Adelaid Grimm in 1900, as follows. Aside from the parents who were born in Germany, they were all born in NY state.
Bronx, enumeration dist. 1001, pg 29A, 1900:
Frederich Grimm Head b. Apr 1847 53 Mar. 31 yrs emigrated from Germany 1863
Adelaid “ Wife Jan 1854 46 Mar. 31 yrs emigrated from Germany 1869
Anna Miller Dau. Jun 1870 29 Widow
Jacob Grimm Son Feb 1878 22
Frederich “ Son Dec 1883 16
Charles “ Son Jan 1891 9
Ruth Miller Gr.-Dau. Nov 1891 8
Catherine “ Gr.-Dau. Mar 1894 6
As for your Rose Hannigan, I suspect she probably also remarried, otherwise Henry Acker would have claimed himself a widower rather than single in 1900. Not sure what marriage indexes/records exist for New York City area, but it might be necessary to check for both surnames, Hannigan and Acker, depending on which she used upon remarriage.
I’d like to obtain copies of the marriage and death records of Henry E. Acker that you mentioned. If you can at least provide the certificate #s and exact dates that would be great. I know Henry died in the Bronx, but where did he marry Rose?
Jon
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Hey, thanks for the certificates, John. That saves me a huge amount of bother trying to determine which microfilms to order from our LDS Family History Center…
Interestingly, I see that they were married in a Methodist Episcopal church, which is normal for the Ackers (though my first guess would have been, since he married an Irish girl, that they’d have married in a Catholic church).
Anyway, I’ll keep hunting around for Rose’s whereabouts in 1900. Most likely place to start would be in the general vicinity of her family, and maybe she can be found not far from wherever she and Henry had been living before they separated (which was possibly not all that long before the 1900 census anyway…)
Do you happen to know the official name of that church, by the way? Early Methodist records (when they exist at all) are not as readily available as the older Reformed and Lutheran church records, but it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes looking into things…
Also wonder what clues we might derive from the directories you mentioned.
Will let you know if anything promising turns up…
Jon
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Thank you for your reply. I think it was the North New York Methodist-Episcopal Church on Willis Avenue. I found a NYT article about the church building a new facility but have not been able to find any other information.
As my father grew up, nothing was mentioned about Rosanna and this is probably be reason. They were a “good” Irish Catholic family and to marry outside the family was not good. I don’t know much else about Rosanna and don’t find any indication of her in the 1900 Census of her mother. It only list her three brother as living with her mother on Third Avenue. I will look for Rosanna as see what I can find since we are convinced she was not living with Henry in 1900. I do know that she is not listed as being buried in the family plot.
I have a friend who is searching the NYC archives for me – I gave him some possible leads from the Italian Genealogy website.
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I am trying to find information about HENRY E ACKER, born about 1847 in
Catskill, Greene, New York.
Henry is the son of JOHN ACKER and ELIZA BICE. FamilySearch.org
indicate they were married in 1829 at Christ Presbyterian Church in
Catskill.
Henry married ROSE HANNIGAN in February 1896 in New York City. Three
years earlier, Henry married THERESA GUNTHER in New York City.
This is very confusing as there are several Henry E Acker listed in the
various documents available on the internet and it makes it hard to
track the correct person. I am particularly interested in tracking what
happened to ROSE as I have hit a brick wall with her.
I checked with a friend of mine, Jon Acker, who has done quite a bit of
research on the Acker line. He thinks you may have 2 Henry Acker’s confused.
What he found has this Henry Acker married first to Fanny White, then to
Rose Hannigan, and then to Annie Grimm. Henry apparently had left his first
family behind in Catskill, and gone to NYC and started a new family there.
We’ll do more checking and see what develops.
That does explain the CHARLES GRIMM in the 1910 census report as a
“boarder” with Anna F, Ruth M, and Catherine J. And that could help in
tracking back to their birth – although that is not a line of primary
interest.
THERESA GUNTHER (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F64W-PMK) adds
another wife to the list. The link is to the FAMILYSEARCH.org website
that list his parents as: John Acker & Eliza Beci and the wedding on 26
Sep 1893. The certificate number at NYC DORIS should be 11603.
As I mentioned in other emails – I am really looking to find out what
happened to ROSE HANNIGAN whom he married in 1896. But it all works
together to complete someone’s work as we continue to dig.
Hi John,
The names are very inconsistent, but maybe your Henry E. is actually Edwin/Edgar/Edward � in the records, since the Henry in 1850 more closely matches the age of Fanny later.
1850 Federal Census, Catskill:
John ACKER 51 boatman, Eliza 42, Mary 20, Margret 18, Sylvester 13, Wallace 9, Henry 8, Edwin 4; all b. NY.
1855 NY Census, Catskill:
ACKER, John 60 b.Col.Co., res.24 yrs; wife Eliza 47 b.Col.Co., res.24 yrs.; ch: Mary 23, Sylvester 18, Wallace 14, Francis 12, Edgar 9.
1860 Federal Census, Catskill:
Jno ACKER 56, Eliza 52, Silvester 22, Wallace 21, Fanny 18, Edward 14, Porter Hill 28 clerk; all b. NY.
Eliza is probably the Anna Elisa baptized 22 May 1808 (born 23 Mar) at Germantown Ref. Ch., daughter of Andreas Boys & Maria Blass. �This line descends from Arien Pieterszen Buys who was one of the earliest settlers of Dutchess County.
Jim
Hello John… good to hear from you again… yes Theresa is indeed an additional spouse, and attached is a newspaper page with an interesting story about them. He was arrested for consent to bigamy a few days after he’d had Theresa arrested for bigamy and held on $2000. The ironic and somewhat amusing part about this scenario is that she likely never even knew that he had his own family back in Catskill, and so was guilty of the very crime he had accused her of (and had consented to). Bigamy was easier to get away with back then, and so was much more common (my own great-grandmother claimed to be a widow when she re-married — in fact, my great-grandfather outlived her, and himself had a second family without ever having been divorced from his wife).
The Henry Edward Acker, Jr. who married Lucy Cotheal Budd on 31 Dec 1895 in Manhattan was, according to his marriage record, a son of Henry Edward Acker and Jane E. McCord). I have been wondering if he was actually the Henry who was born 6 Mar 1868 in Brooklyn to Henry and Jeanette (White) Acker. Either way, I think these Ackers belong to the Weschester Co. Acker family, and not related to our Catskill clan in any way…
But our own Henry E. Acker, the engineer… still can’t determine his actual middle name. The 1850 census shows Henry with his parents in Catskill along with younger brother Edwin. However, the marriage to Theresa Gunther lists him as “Henry Edwin”. Another source (I don’t recall which, offhand) names him as “Henry Edgar”. In 1870, he can be found in Catskill as Edward Acker, 25, engineer, with wife Fannie 34 and daughter Ida 1. It has crossed my mind that he could even have sometimes used the name of his (deceased??) brother to help cover his crime of bigamy, but on the other hand, this is not the first time I’ve encountered confusion over the names Edward, Edwin and Edgar being applied to the same person, or to siblings.
As for Rose Hannigan, still no further info, but I’ll continue to hunt around for any mention of her….
Been a while since I’ve worked on this branch, so it’s a nice little refresher…
Can’t change it to .pdf but can tell you how to find it. Just go to
http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html and type in “henry e. acker” in the
EXACT SEARCH, and it will be the first item that comes up….
I love that site and use it all the time, but the indexing is only as good as the translation software, so you have to use some creative search techniques to get the most out of it…
Jon
Here is another things – previously when it said ENGINEER I was thinking in the line of “educated planner” – you know, building type person. This article help to clarify that he was a RailRoad Worker.
am still trying to find a follow-up to this article — seems there should be something, but again the translation/indexing is somewhat of a hindrance. It would be nice if there was an option to select a newspaper and search it page by page, but so far that is not available, but there is a complete listing of all their newspapers somewhere in their site map.
Thanks for the help with
PDF… that is also my preferred format, but I admit I am not the best at working with computer files…
Looking at the 1850, 1855 and 1860 Catskill census records again for John and Eliza (Bice) Acker and they actually have their younger children messed up on a regular basis.
1850: John Acker 51
Eliza 42
Mary 20
Margret 18
Sylvester 13
Wallace 9
Henry 8 (should be Frances/Fanny but they confused with next child)
Edwin 4 (this is Henry E.)
1855: John Acker 60 H
Elisa 42 W
Mary 25 D
Sylvester 18 S
Wallace 14 S
Francis 12 S (should be Frances, a daughter)
Edgar 9 S
1860: Jno. Acker 56
Eliza 52
Silvester 22
Wallace 20
Fanny 18 (finally got her right!!)
Edward 14 (He is also listed as “Edward” in 1870 with wife Fanny and dau Ida)
We of course know that the youngest child Edwin/Edgar/Edward had the first name of Henry, and the census taker misunderstood something in 1850 by using “Henry” as his older sibling who was actually sister Frances… Also love the age variations for John and Eliza from one census to the next… very similar to my own ancestor William Acker who also got mysteriously younger than he was on a previous census…
John and Eliza also had an infant son Nelson Acker who was baptized 10 May 1846 in the Christ Presbyt. Ch. in Catskill, but who obviously died before 1850.