Catherine and Ludwig Furst

Catherine Furst was born in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, (Germany) in 1827.

Catherine's brother, Louis Furst, was born in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, in 1824.

The both immigrated to New York City in the mid 1800s.

Catherine and Ludwig had siblings: Adam 1823, Carl 1825, Maximillian 1832, Maria Ursula 1834, Eva Caroline 1836 and Joseph Alois 1838 whose whereabouts after their births are not known. They also had siblings Adam Alis, 1829, Simon Jospeh 1831 and Otto 1841 whose deaths were recorded in Aschaffenburg.

Possible Kin of Catherine and Ludwig Furst

There are certain established immigration patterns. Very few people immigrated in isolation. They were frequently influenced by and/or traveled with other family members, friends, or neighbors. At least initially, they almost always settled in the same areas in the United States. In researching all of the immigrant families I am interested in, I have been looking for clusters of immigrants. Since I have no way of telling who the neighbors or friends might be, I have been concentrating on the possibility of siblings and/or parents also immigrating, either at the same time or within a few years.

I looked for Fursts in the censuses, naturalization papers, directories, church records, and any vital records that I came across while looking for specific records connected with Catherine and Ludwig. I checked under variations in spelling.

Furst is a curious name in New York City from 1850 to 1900. There are Firsts from Russia, Fersts from Austria, Fursts from all parts of Germany, with crossovers in all the spellings. There are plenty of Firsts, Fursts, and Fersts in the various records. The problem with the Fursts who are listed, is trying to cross reference them. One name will appear in the census, another in the naturalization papers, and another in the birth records. They are like will-o-the-wisps.

I have tried to select only Fursts, who "might be" from Bavaria.

Other Furst Who Might Be Related

Catherine Furst's death certificate information indicates that she may have arrived in the US as early as 1847. With this in mind, I looked at any other Furst who were in NYC at the time.

There are two Fursts from Germany in the 1850 census:

1. Mederic Furst, age 24, a tailor from Germany, with his wife Amelia and a son, William (Ward 8, page 76)
2. William First, age 33, butcher, Catherine, age 28, William age 9, Reganna, Christopher, age 5, all born in Germany and Caroline, age 3 born in New York. (Ward 10, page 93).
The places of the births of the childrn indicate that William and his family arrived in NYC circa 1847.

Note: Neither Mederic nor William appears in later censuses.

There are two Fursts in the 1860 census who were not listed in the 1850 census who could possibly be related to Catherine:

1. Henry First, a 37 year old tailor from Germany and Emma, age 26, from Bavaria, and two children, Jette, age 5, born in New York, and Dorothe, age, 1, born in New York were listed in the 5th Division of Ward 17. They were not listed in 1870 or 1880 censuses.
2. Christian Frust, a 35 year old tailor from Germany, Rosina, age 27, Germany, Katy, age 4, Richard, age 2, and Jane, age 1, all born in New York, were listed with Ladena Alexandor, age 30, dressmaker, born in German, in the 5th Division Ward 11. They were not listed in the 1870 or 1880 censuses.

There are several Fursts in the 1870 census who were not listed in previous censuses who might be related to Catherine:

1. John Furst, age 44, a shoemaker from Bavaria was listed in the 23 E.D. of the 17th Ward. He is married with 8 children all born in New York. The oldest child was 18 years old, which would mean that John was in the US by 1852. (17W. 23 E.D., page 327 roll 1000). They were not listed in the 1860 or 1880 censuses.
2. Adam, age 34, "porter whol. fancy grocery, Bavaria, Catherine, age 20, Wurtenburg (17W, 5 E.D., page 173, roll 977) They were not listed in the 1860 or 1880 censuses.
3. Michael, age 33, (12 W. 15 E.D. page 492 Roll 990). He was not listed in the 1860 or 1880 censuses.
4. Caralina, age 44, (11W. 3 E.D. , page 646, roll 986) She was not listed in the 1860 census.

Furst in The Naturalization Papers Who Might Be Related

I found only one Furst in the naturalization papers who seem like a possible relation.

Adam Furst, from Bavaria, merchant, 113 Beekman St, NYC was naturalized in the Superior Court of NYC Bundle 184, Record No. 244 on November 22, 1867. His witness was Charles Kress, merchant, 448 Fifth Street, NYC. The naturalization bundle included the following document.

State of New York
City and County of New York

Adam Furst Being duly sworn does depose and say:

That on or about the 15th day of Septbr: 1858 he declared his intention to become citizen of the United States in the City of St: Louis and State of Missouri in a court having a clerk and a seal and being a court of record.

That he has lost the certificate then issued.

That he had made diligent search for it, but cannot find it.

Adam Furst

Sworn to before me this 22 day of November 1867.

Catherine's brother, Louis, was listed in the 1870 census as not naturalized. I did not find any naturalization papers on him.

Furst in the NYC Directories

I started checking the directories in 1842. The year of the directory is followed by the address listed for that year. Frequently there was more than one address listed in a given year. "h" indicates a home address.

There were the following listings for Furst:

1. Jennifer Furst (and her subsequently her sons) appear in the directories starting in 1842.

   Jennifer P Furst, widow of George, shoes 170 Bowery, 1842, 1843, 150 , Bowery, 9 Prince, 1844, 150 ¸ Bowery h. 10 Delancy, 1845, 1846, 150 ¸ Bowery, 187 ¸ Ave 6, 478 Grand, h. 187 ¸ Ave 6, 1847, 150 ¸ Bowery, 187 Ave 6, h. 187 Ave 6, 1848, 150 Bowery, h. 127 W 13th, 1849, 102 Sullivan, 1850, 28 Ave C, 1851.

2. George J, clerk 4 Wall, h. 10 Delancy, 1845, 1846. He does not appear again as a separate listing.
3. Martin Furst shoes, Bowery, h 127 W 13th, 1849
4. Charles Furst , shoemaker, 126 Willett, 1844. There were no further listings for Charles Furst. See Catherine Furst at the same address in 1851, below.
5. John Furst, ship finisher 509 Forth, 1848
6. Michael Furst, miller, 178 Second 1849
7. Catherine Furst, peddler, 126 Willett, 1851/52
8. Louie Furst, waiter, 27 ¸ Christie Street, 1864.

   Louis Furst, waiter, h 26 Chrystie, 1869.

   Louis Furst, waiter, 32 Christie, 1878.

   These are the only three times that Louis Furst appeared in the directories. Louis was the only certain relative of Catherine Furst. Louis only appeared three in 14 years. Maybe since he was a waiter he had no reason to have himself listed in the directory as he had nothing to sell so no one would come looking for his place of business.

9. Adam Furst, pocketbook maker, 96 Church St, 1854/55
10. Adam Furst boxes, 9 Bowery, h. 39 Christie, 1873

    Adam Furst, boxes, 113 Beekman, h 401 Sixth, 1869

Other than Louie Furst, none of the Fursts listed above have any known connection to Catherine. There was a brother Adam born in Aschaffenburg in 1823.

Other Fursts in the City Records

• Marriages
1. Christopher Furst, single, born Bavaria, age 29, 116 Ludlow Street, to Christine Dole, single, born Germany, age 21, 109 Chatham Street (The year would be helpful!) It is not listed on the online NYC groom's index

Theodor Brieting

Theodor Brieting was pretty tightly connected to Louis Furst. He was a witness for the following events in Louis Furst's life:

1. Theodor Brieting was a witness at Louis Furst's marriage in 1860
2. Theodor Breiting was a witness at the baptism of Louis Furst's daughter in 1864
3. On the same day Louis Furst was a witness at the baptism of Theodor Breiting's daughter
4. Theodor Breiting was a witness at the baptism of Louis Furst's son, Theodor, in 1867

Theodor Breiting was not listed in the 1870 census.

The 1880 census CDs list Theodor Breiting as follows:

• Theodor, age 40, Hamburg
• Marie L. wife, 38, NY
• Marie S, daughter, 16, NY
• Dora S, daughter, 15, NY
• Henry, son, 10, NY
• Joseph, son, 8, NY
• George, son, 7, NY
• Emil Rapp, 38, other Prussian

NARA film, T9 0875 page 364A