The Gross Family and Grandpa Gross, AKA Martin, Aloysius, Oliver, Aloise, M.A., O.M., Ulysses, Lew..Who is this Guy?? And Where is He??

Martin Aloysius Gross 1849-Abt. 1907
My Great Great Grandfather

Since my last 2 Paternal side posts covered Josephine Cushman Pattison and her husband Henry Pattison, I decided to stick to the couples theme and discuss Matilda Schultz Gross's husband-Grandpa Gross, Martin Aloysius Gross.

Martin was born in Gondolsheim, Canton Rufach, Alsace, to Martin Gross (1815-1853) and his wife Anne Marie Bissler (1812-1880) in May 1849.  They were ethnic Germans living in Alsace-which has variously been French and German. 

Grandma Mac had this labeled "Grandma and Grandpa Gross"; I believe this is correct, but one Generation earlier than everyone thinks. I think this is Anne Marie Bissler and Martin Gross Sr. 

Grandpa Gross, Martin Aloysius-Let's call him Oliver to avoid confusion with his Dad-was about 3 years old when they immigrated to the US from Alsace. They sailed on the George Hurlburt with Martin's younger brother Dominic, Dominic's wife and sons Dominic Jr and Joseph, also another man that we are assuming was another younger Brother, named Louis.  They sailed out of LeHavre, France and arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 1, 1893

Martin Gross with his son, Martin Aloysius (Oliver)This would be about 1851

Passenger list-the Grosses are listed toward the bottom

Martin is the child listed last by the name of "Aloise" which I believe is the French spelling of Aloysius but is also the Feminine style of the name, with the "e" on the end.  His name just gets murkier as we go along, Folks!!

Martin Gross Sr. and Anne Marie Bissler Gross shortly before his death.

Oliver's father died very shortly after arrival in the US.  From the photo above, he appears to have had either TB or Cancer, some sort of wasting disease.  It is very possible that he died in New Orleans as I recently learned that George Stroehle, the man Anne Marie married after Martin's death, was in New Orleans.  Martin may have been too ill to travel further on to LeClaire like Dominic did and may have died in New Orleans where Anne Marie met George, also a widower.  Although they married in Rock Island, IL

Anne Marie remarried on 30 September of 1853 with George Stroehle in Rock Island County, IL




George Stroehle was born in Tyrol, Austria, in 1838, his parents being George and Agatha Weeger Stroehle. He immigrated to the United States soon after the death of his wife, Catherine Berchtold, locating first in New Orleans, and later in St. Louis. He went to California during the gold fever in 1849.  He removed to Rock Island, Illinois., where he married Anne Marie Bissler in 1863, the widow of Martin Gross and he died in 1865. There were eight children in his family, six of whom were living and immigrated with him.

I do not know where Anne Marie and Oliver lived in the 6 months between their arrival in New Orleans and Martin's death  and her second marriage to Mr. Stroehle.  I do know that Martin's brother Dominic, his wife and sons settled in LeClaire, IA where there already was another brother Joseph. I have found no record of Anne Marie and Oliver in LeClaire 

The story of how these 2 branches of the Gross Family reunited is really pretty neat.  Neither Dominic's nor Martin's Descendants  knew that the other side existed.  I did not know until I found the Passenger List that Brother Dominic existed.  Then when I discovered that they were in LeClaire, 30 miles Upriver in LeClaire!  We found each other by a strange and poignant set of coincidences...

It was 2008 and my siblings and I had decided to have a Family Reunion because our Mother was going to undergo Surgery that was a big, big deal for  anyone-and Mom was 80.  In getting ready for the Reunion, I was going through some of the old Photos (Tubs and tubs) that we had inherited from Grandma McKenrick, our Mother's Mother.  There was a huge pile of old Tintypes-all unidentified.  I had no clue who any of them were.  Many were children and they did seem to be Siblings.  There was one little girl in a Polka dot dress,   holding a Straw hat with a big pink ribbon that really intrigued me.  She looked so sweet, I really wanted to know more about her.  She was one of the group that I thought may be Siblings.  

Some weeks later, after the Reunion, I was on ancestry searching around-did a search on the name Gross in this general area and came up with this photo of a little girl in a polka dot dress and Straw hat.  It said "Mary Gross , LeClaire, Ia"  It was my little girl and she was a Gross!!!  I contacted the ancestry.com member who had posted the photo.  She did not know that her Grandfather Dominic had a brother and family in Rock Island.  She contacted more cousins-we started a website-thru ancestry and since defunct through no fault of ours-where we could share all of our information.  We had a great time doing this and learned so much about the other branch of the Gross Family and our mutual ancestors.  One cousin had visited the Homeland of Alsace and Loraine and had the family documented back to the 1600's through old Church records, written in French and Latin.    

It turns out that little Mary Ann Gross, the Girl in the polka dot dress had died young, at about 18.  She is buried alone in the St Mary Church Cemetery in Long Grove IA.  The rest of her family, parents and siblings later moved on to Western Ia and have a huge number of  descendants there near Omaha.   We felt that Mary wanted to get the two branches of the family together and through her picture, that is exactly what happened!  I met in LeClaire IA with two of the cousins-we had a lovely chat and lunch before they had to leave.  We now have all the Tintypes identified-the children were Siblings.  Dominic Sr and Marie had 8 children total.  We know the history of the descendants of Joseph Gross, the other brother who immigrated earlier and who stayed in LeClaire.  The old High School there is named after his Son The Albert J. Gross School.  Sadly, we have never been able to discover anything about Louis who was on  the ship with the others.  Our plan is to someday, collaborate with all the genealogically minded Gross descendants and write a History of the family-I would dedicate it, of course, to The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress

So, back to Oliver...I found him on the 1860 Census quite by accident.  I had no luck searching the Census for Martin Gross in Rock Island.  I had found him on the 1880 and 1900.  But I could not locate him on the 1860 nor the 1870.  Finally I just did a search on the name Gross in Rock Island County and there he was...not Martin Gross or Aloysius Gross, but Oliver Gross?  I knew it was him because I had previously identified Mary Stroehle living with Martin and Matilda on the1880 Census (she was erroneously listed as Martin's Mother-in-law, but I knew that was incorrect as I knew Matilda's mother's name).  Here was Oliver Gross in the household of George and Mary G., listed as "by 1st Husband"  for his relationship to the Head of Household.  There were several Stroehle children also living there.  I was, at 1st very puzzled by the name "Oliver"-the man's name was "Martin Aloysius"!  However-if one says the Aloysius with a German accent-it comes out pretty close to Alovisius-Alover-Oliver!!  AND it explained the name of one of his granddaughters "Olivette"!!   And explains the "Mr. and Mrs. O.M. Gross" on their daughter's Wedding Announcement!

Oliver Gross

George Stroehle died in 1865, so he and Anne Marie were only married a couple of years.  I cannot find any of the Stroehles on the 1870 Census-nor can I find Martin and his new Bride Matilda O. Schultz.  They married in June of 1870

They are on the 1880 Census and this is when Martins Mother Mary Stroehle was living with them and their children.  The 1890 Census is not available and by 1900, she was dead.  I have not been able to find her burial place but did find her 2nd husband's and some of the Stroehle children.  His 1st wife died in Germany so perhaps Mary (Anne Marie) is buried with him.  I believe he is in Chippianock   so there may be records.  Next time I am there, I will have to ask.  Most likely, though,  she is buried at Calvary but the records there are sketchy for certain periods.   

in 1882, Martin became a Naturalized US Citizen-he had to foreswear any allegiance to William I, Emperor of Germany, as at that time Alsace was in the possession of the German Empire. 

As a teen, Martin had gone to a German School in Rock Island where he became a Tinsmith-this evolved into working with Sheet metal and doing Plumbing and Heating.  He owned a  Business with a Mr. Branigan called appropriately Gross and Branigan.  They dealt in Stoves and Home Goods. 

Martin A. Gross Tinner-this may have been used for Advertisement purposes?

In 1900 a huge devastating Storm hit Galveston, Texas; there was much loss of life and property.  Essentially, the entire town needed to be rebuilt. It was about this time that Martin started a Business that took him to Texas-specifically Houston, which was the nearest large city to Galveston Island.  I found Oliver (Martin) in Houston City Directories for 1902-1903 and 1903-1904.  He is listed in the 1st as a Cornicemaker and in the 2nd as a Tinner.  I am assuming he went to Texas to help rebuild Galveston-boarding in Houston.  This is conjecture, but fits the place and time. 

Going back to Martin's name for a moment-I have also found him in City Directories-actually I found his wife, Matilda, listed as the widow of Lew Gross and of Ulysses Gross.  These nicknames would have come from his middle name Aloysius.  His daughter, Great Grandma Caroline Mary Agnes (Carrie and Lena)Gross Schieberl and her daughter, Grandma Mildred Elsie Veronica Schieberl McKenrick also seemed to have a thing about their names!!  (Guess I do too, come to think about it!!)

I have no death record for Oliver.  I have 2 photos that were probably taken in 1907 and 1908.  On the 1910 Census, Matilda is listed as a Widow.   

I believe the Train is a Photographer's Studio Prop.  The Democratic National Convention was held in Denver in 1908 and the Rock Island Lines did provide transportation to the Convention.  William Jennings Bryant was the Democratic Candidate.  He lost the election to William Howard Taft, the Republican. You can read more about the 1908 and the 2008 DNCs here.  http://presidentialconventions.com/denver.html The 3 men pictured are Charlie Schultz, brother of Oliver's wife, Oliver Gross and Al Mordhorst, husband of Oliver's daughter's Sister-in-law. 

I am still searching for a final resting place for Oliver-it is possible he was buried with his Mother, Anne Marie Bissler Gross Stroehle, but I can't find her either.  Perhaps he died in Texas??  Perhaps he and Matilda were estranged and this is why they were not buried together??  So many questions  And no answers!!  I do walk local Cemeteries calling Oliver's name-thinking maybe he will stick up his hand and wave to me to let me know where he is-but so far No such luck!!  Maybe I need to enlist the help of the Girl in the Polka dot dress!!