I'm working on the Zellers at the moment and doing yesterday's post and this one in hopes of connecting with and cousins who might be out there and we might have overlooked. In a nutshell, Charles Zeller immigrated to America about 1851 and went back in 1854 to marry Anna Mary Browning (or possibly Bruning) at Sankt Vitus Katholisch, Ellwangen, Jagstkreis, Wuerttemburg, Germany. The newlyweds immediately came back to the states and resided in Frostburg, Maryland. Charles opened a candy and baked sweets store. They started their family in 1865 and had 11 children.
In the last post you met Gustav my great grandfather and barber entrepreneur, Charles the retired engineer, Gottlieb who died young at 28, and George the barber shop owner. In this post we'll look at the twins Frederick and John, Henry and William who both died young, and Charles and Anna Mary's only daughter Annie Mary. First, the twins.
Frederick Zeller was born in 1868 and died sometime after he was counted in the 1940 census. We don't know where he died or when nor where he is buried but we find him in the 1900 census living at home with parents and sibs at 5248 Dearborn in Chicago. I tried to google a street view and saw an empty lot. Too bad because I was able to find some of the other properties were this Zeller family lived. He is listed as working as a machinist. In the 1910 census he's living with his sister Annie Mary and her husband Charles Lill at 5254 Dearborn and Frederick is working as a machinist. I can't find him in the 1920 census, darn it, but in the 1930 census he's living at 7229 Champlain Ave, is single and listed as a retired mechanic. He's 62 years old and living with his brothers John and George who own the building. In 1926 I see a listing in a business directory that might be him and if him, he's listed as an investment broker, with offices of FM Zeller & Co. in the Rookery Building at 209 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 209. Don't know how to confirm if this is him or not. In the 1940 census he's living with his twin, John, at 836 55th Street and retired. Then he is gone.
John Zeller was Frederick's twin and born in 1868 and died in 1945 at age 76. He's buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in the family plot. He was 76. He's another barber in the family. In the 1900 census he's living with the family at 5248 Dearborn in Chicago and already working as a barber. In the 1910 census he's found as a lodger at 827-829 Bowen Avenue and again working as a barber. In 1920 he's a renter at 4302 Langley which has 32 lodgers and roomers. He is listed as working at a barber shop. In 1930 he's a retired barber. He owns the building at 7229 Champlain Ave. with brother George and it's valued at $5000 with two renters who pay $65 per month. Brothers Frederick and George are also there. In 1940 he's still a retiree barber and living with his twin Fred at 836 55th Street. He died five years later.
Henry Zeller was born in 1872 and died in 1886 at age 16 in Chicago. He's buried in the family plot in Oak Woods Cemetery. In the 1880 census the family was in Frostburg in Western Maryland and Henry died and is buried in Chicago so that leads me to think the family moved in 1884 and not 1894. He was the first to be buried in the family plot.
William Zeller was born in 1872 and died in 1906, the year his mother died and his two brothers, George and Charles, got married. In the 1900 census he too is working as a barber. He's buried in the family plot in Oak Woods Cemetery.
Daniel Zeller was born in 1875 and died in 1928 at age 53. He too is buried in the family plot in Oak Woods Cemetery. In the 1900 census he's living at home with the family at 5248 Dearborn is single and works as a clerk in a crockery store. In 1910, after his parents both died and three of the siblings got married, he's living with his sister Annie Mary and her husband Charles Lill at 5254 Dearborn. He's a traveling salesman for a "glass house", which I presume means that he sells glass ware. In the 1920 census he's still living with sister Annie but they have moved to Stony Island Ave. He's working as a china salesman. Eight years later he was gone.
Last on the list of siblings is the only girl, Annie Mary, born in 1878 and died in 1944 at age 66. She lived with her family on Dearborn until her marriage to Charles Lill on June 10, 1905. Interestingly, Charles mother's birthplace is listed as Maryland. Did Annie know Charles back when they lived in Maryland? Can't say at present but might delve into it later. Annie and Charles are the only couple to have produced a child and they had just one, a son Daniel Lill born in 1907. Sad to think that neither of Mary's parents lived to see this grandchild, which they undoubtedly would have loved. In the 1910 census they reside at 5254 Dearborn and son Daniel is 3 years old. Also living with them is Annie's brother Frederick. Charles works as a paper cutter and later a "paper man" at a printing company. In 1920 they reside on Stony Island Avenue but in 1930 they reside at 7246 Champlain and own the property valued at $8000. In 1940 the same property is only valued at $3500 and four renters are present. Annie Mary died on September 2nd, 1946 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. She last resided at Fox Lake Village, Lake County, Illinois. The death index says that her father's birthplace was O'leablinger, Wurtenburg, Germany. I've tried to quickly find that location because it's a good clue as to Annie's father Charles' birthplace but have come to the conclusion that it might be a phonetic spelling, so it goes on the list for later.
I found Annie and Charles Lill's son Daniel Lill. Born in 1907 in Chicago, he died in 1987 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He moved there between 1940 and 1957 because I can find him in business directories. It seems that he worked doing something in radio and perhaps this is the work that moved him out west. He married Martha Whiteker and her mother Anna age 62 and sister Edith age 32 are living with them in the 1940 census. Daniel and wife own the house at 6415 Marzack and the value of their home is $4100. They had one son, named Daniel after his father.
Daniel Lill and his wife Martha had one son, Daniel Frederick Lill. He was born in 1932 and died in 2007. I just missed him. Too bad. An obit on Find A Grave says that he was in the Air Force and fought in Korea which you can see here. It states that he moved to Cheyenne in 1948 so that's a tip-off as to when his parents left Chicago. There's a lot of information and good clues in that obit posted to Find A Grave. He was interested in mysticism and was a Rosicrucian. And it says that friends can make a donation in his name to the local animal shelter. I would have liked to know him because he sounds very interesting. He never married and had no children.
Well that's the run down on the Zeller family. Now if Daniel Frederick Lill would have married and had a bunch of kids I might have someone to call and chat with about this Zeller bunch of ours. Maybe he would have had pictures or some object that belonged to his great grandparents from Germany. But he didn't.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-zellers-of-frostburg-and-chicago.html
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