Sunday's Obituary - Alpha Hildinger Cutler Ullrich, Trenton, NJ

The sister of my husband's great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston and great grand-uncle, Charles C. Hildinger of Trenton, New Jersey.  Alpha was first married to Clinton Charles Cutler, well-known and respected newspaperman in Trenton.  Sometime after his death in 1926, probably about 1930 she married family friend and  extremely successful, local undertaker, Frank J. Ullrich who died in 1942.  Alpha was born in Pennsylvania about 1871 to John A. and Mary Jane (Cochran) Hildinger, she died in Trenton, NY on 29 May 1945.

Trenton Evening Times 30 May 1945

Sepia Saturday #110 - Theatre - Charles C. Hildinger - Movie Pioneer, Trenton, NJ

This week's theme over at Sepia Saturday is "Theatre" and nothing screams theatre to me more than Charles C. Hildinger,  my husband's great-grand-uncle.  I've written numerous times about Charles who's known as the "Nickel King" or "Five Cent King" of Trenton, NJ one of the pioneers of moving picture theatres in Trenton at the beginning of the twentieth century.    He got this nickname because when he moved to Trenton around 1898 he didn't have a nickel to his name.  He grew up on a farm in Armstrong County, PA where he was born on 15 Dec 1876 to John A. and  Mary Jane (Cochran) Hildinger. Charles' father came to this country at the age of two years with his parents John and Margaret, and older sister Rosana by ship in 1833 from Württemberg, Germany and settled in Westmoreland County,  PA.  Charles was the youngest of seven children and when he was eleven years old his father, a Civil War veteran, died.

The story of Charles Hildinger was never passed down to my husband and his siblings and unfortuantely there are no known family pictures of him to share.  Everything I know about him I have discovered from hours of research.  I have over two hundred news clippings alone!

In 1898 after trying his hand at several professions in Pittsburgh, and McKeesport, PA, he went to Trenton with his partner and brother-in-law Clinton C. Cutler. They went to work for the circulation department of the Trenton Times and later jointly bought the circulation of Times.  While visiting Pittsburgh, perched on a curb Charles noticed people going in and out of a moving picture show and calculated the evening's take.  He went back to Trenton and created the "Bijou" at 23 North Warren Street which opened on 28 Jun 1906 to much fanfare.  The Bijou was described in a Trenton Times article as "a beautiful little white and gold palace of moving pictures.  The article also stated that "the opening was a great success and it was estimated between 1200 and 1500 persons witnessed the performances that night and half that number were turned away early in the evening."   He and Cutler created the Dream Amusement Company, but within a few years he became the sole owner and Cutler dedicated himself to the newspaper business.  

Within ten years he would own ten movie theatres in Trenton one of them being the "Nicolette" at 134 South Broad Street.  His string of movie houses would also include the "Princess" on North Clinton Avenue, the "Victory" on South Broad Street, the "Rialto" on Pennington Avenue, the "American on Princeton Avenue, the "Strand" on Hermitage Avenue and the "Garden" on North Broad Street.  He also had interests in the "Greenwood" and "City Square" theatres in which he was aided by financially interested associates.  He became associated with Milton Hirshfield and they acquired the "Stacy Theatre" on East State Street.  He was also invested in numerous other ventures in Trenton and elsewhere including amusement holdings at Belmar, Asbury Park as well as being a member of  a group that erected the Lincoln Theatre in Trenton.  Charley, as he was known, became a well-known and respected businessman in Trenton.  He was active in charity work and a member of a number of organizations, including the Trenton Lodge No 105, B.P.O. Elks, the Allied Motion Picture Theatre Association and the Trenton Republican Club just to name a few.  In 1922 he was named treasurer of the New Jersey Motion Picture Owners' Association.

Courtesy of Ken Roe, Cinema Treasures

My husband's great-grandfather, David R. C. Johnston, was the manager of several of Charley's theatres over a period of years.  He was the husband of Mary Elizabeth Hildinger, Charley's sister.  They came from Clearfield, PA around 1916 and David worked for Charley until he retired.   He was first a manager for the Park Theatre which later became the Rialto, and he was the first manager of the Strand Theatre which was on the corner of Hermitage and Edgewood.  Their only child, Luella Ruth Johnston Rogers, my husband's grandmother, was an accomplished musician and organist.  It seems the theatrical gene ran in the family.  David and Mary lived at 633 Edgewood  Drive  and rented rooms in their home to people who worked at the theatre.  The Strand closed in 1963 and was taken over by the Trenton Free Library.

Hildinger Theatres Ad in Trenton Evening Times Apr 1919

On 27 Oct 1915 Charles married Helen Beatrice Dunn, daughter of Harry and Margaret (Mooney) Dunn.  They had two children, John Clark and Claire Helen.  John Clark never married, Claire married late in life and neither had any grandchildren to pass the family theatre legacy on to.  Charley died of a heart attack on 2 Sep 1931 at the age of fifty-four and his wife took over the reins of his empire.  From all reports of what I've read, Charley was larger than life, much loved and respected.  I'm not sure what happened to all the memorabilia of this extraordinary and exciting life; it's a shame some of the memories were not passed down to other members of the family - I'm sure they would have enjoyed knowing Charley!

3 Sep 1931 Trenton Evening Times

Tombstone Tuesday - David R. C. Johnston, Trenton, NJ

David R.C. Johnston Oct 1859 - 31 Dec 1945

I had searched for over a year with little luck for the death date of my husband's great-grandfather, David R. C. Johnston who was born in October 1859 in Jefferson County, PA to Andrew Jackson and Eliza Mariah (London) Johnston.  He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Hildinger moved to Trenton, NJ around 1914 when he began working as as manager for his brother-in-law, Charles C. Hildinger, at his growing movie theater business.

Ewing Church Cemetery, Trenton, NJ

Using numerous sources, including my subscription to the Trenton Times archives, I found a number of articles on David and Mary Johnston and their daughter Luella Ruth who married Dr. Alvin S. Rogers (my husband's grandfather) including Mary's obituary in 1954.  I never had any luck finding David's death date.  Finally a little luck came my way via a wonderful Find-A-Grave volunteer, Mark Snyder who had taken a picture of this Johnston headstone for me for Mary E. Hildinger Johnston.  Mary's name wasn't on the stone, just the name Johnston, but the headstone was near the Hildinger and Sweet headstones who are Mary's siblings.  Mark went out of his way to GO BACK to the cemetery office a few days later to ask if they could check their burial records to see if David was buried there as well.  They confirmed that David C. Johnston died 31 Dec 1945 at age 86 years, 2 months and was buried next to Mary in plot C123.  Find-A-Grave volunteers are the best!

They also reported that a Susan L. Rogers had been buried in the Johnston family plot on 5 Aug 1971.  That would have to be Luella Ruth Johnston, the daughter of David and Mary, my husband's grandmother.  She changed her name to Susan sometime after her husband Dr. Alvin Rogers died in 1937 and she later died in Miami, FL in 1969 and was cremated.  I assume my father-in-law took her ashes back to Trenton for interment.

Military Monday – George Washington’s Bodyguard - Samuel Callender

Samuel Callender 1756 - 12 Mar 1830

Sadly, I haven’t had much time to work on my genealogy research lately, but today while I was cleaning off my desk I took a break and started clicking on those leaves on Ancestry.com on my husband’s genealogy.  His family history is so rich and full of interesting characters.  I have long been interested in his two times great-grandmother Elizabeth Mariah London Johnston, daughter of  Truman Beauman London and great-granddaughter of Samuel Callendar.  I have been planning for some time to write about Eliza Maria as she was known, but today as I was looking at her family tree I noticed the shaking leaf on Samuel Callendar who would be my husband's five times great-grandfather, and realized there were six (6) hints.  Although I had added him to the family tree some time ago, I had never really paid much attention to his line.  Imagine my surprise to realize that he was a Revolutionary War veteran, but not only that, according to Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards; he was a body guard to George Washington!

The burial card states he was buried in Montdale Cemetery in Montdale, PA in Lackawanna County.  At first I could not find a cemetery with that name in Lackawanna County, but after a few minutes of searching I finally discovered he was already listed on Find-A-Grave in Scott Valley Cemetery in Montdale, Lackawanna County, PA.  Click on the link to see the great picture of his stone which also mentions his service and duty as body guard to George Washington.

What another great find in my husband’s family history!  Of course, as usual, I am more excited about it than he is……sigh.

Military Monday - Cadet Clark Hildinger of Trenton, NJ

From the Trenton Evening Times 15 Oct 1933 - Clark Hildinger, son of Charles and Helen (Dunn) Hildinger theater owners of Trenton, New Jersey.  Clark attended the Staunton Military Academy at Staunton, West Virginia.

In 1942, J. Clark, then aged 25 and an executive with his family's theater chain, left for armed forces as evidenced by this article in the Trenton Evening Times 16 Apr 1942.  He was honored in a surprise reception by 50 of his associates including his mother, his cousin Charles F. Sweet who worked for the Hildinger enterprises for many years.  Also, attending was David R. C. Johnston, Clark's uncle who was married to Mary Elizabeth Hildinger, sister to Clark's father Charles Hildinger.  David worked for the Hildingers for many years as a theater manager first starting at the old Park theater which later became the Rialto and later as manager at the Strand.  David Johnston was my husband's great-grandfather.

 

In March of 1943 J. Clark was promoted from private to corporal and headquartered at Fort Dix.  Upon his return to Trenton after his service he again took up his position as an executive with the Hildinger Theater enterprises.

Amanuensis Monday: Eliza M. Johnston - Last Will & Testament

Amanuensis Monday – Eliza M. Johnston Last Will & Testament

Elizabeth Mariah London Johnston

Born:  9 Mar 1834 Luzerne Co, PA

Died:  8 Jun 1914 Clearfield Co, PA

Buried:  Rumbarger Cemetery Find-A-Gave

Father:  Truman Beaman London

Mother:  Sally Maria Slawson

*******

I, Eliza M. Johnston, of Du Bois, Pennsylvania, being of sound mind, memory and understanding, do make, publish an declare the following to be my last will testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

First, I direct that all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid and discharged as soon after my decease as may be.

Second, All of my estate, real, personal and mired, of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situate, I give, devise and bequeath, share and share alike, unto my ten children: Mary M. Winslow, Susan C. Weaver, James K. Johnston, David C. Johnston, George McClelland Johnston, William T. Johnston, John A. Johnston, Eva Eliza Lenkerd, Joseph S. Johnston, Charles L. Johnston, and the heirs of my daughter Nancy Johnston Taylor, to wit: - Grover J. Taylor, Bessie Kauffman and Freda Steinmetz, who shall together have one share thereof, or the one-eleventh part.

Third, I nominate and appoint my sons, Charles L. Johnston and Joseph S. Johnston, to be the executors of this my last will and testament, and direct that they shall sell my real estate within three years from the date of my death, at public or private sale and at such price or prices as t them shall seem just and right, and make good and sufficient deeds of conveyance therefor, and divide the proceeds thereof as specified in the second item hereof.

                In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 2nd day of July 1909. 

                                                                         Eliza M. Johnston (signature)(seal)

                Signed, sealed, published and declared by the above-named Eliza M. Johnston, as and for her last will and testament, in the presence of us, who, at her request and in her presence, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto.

                                                                            Wm. G. Jones (witness)

                                                                            C. P. Hayward (witness

******

Eliza died in June of 1914, but the final accounting was not filed with the Court until April of 1921, nearly seven  (7) years later.  The sale of her real estate did not occur until January 1921 although her will directed it to be sold within three years of her death.  The debits to the estate including the sale of real estate were:

1. Cash on hand - $90.00
2. Cash in Deposit Nat. Bank of Du Bois, Pa - 732.00
3. Notes & Int. of Chas. L. Johnston & Susan C. Beard & J.S.Winslow  - 1705.74
4. Cash in First Nat. Bank of Reynoldsville, Pa -  732.32
5. Cash rec'd from sale of properties as dir. by will - 3100.00
6. Cash sale of stock Reynoldsville Water Co. - 40.60
7. Cash, net rentals after deducting expenses  - 551.38

Total $6952.04
******

The estate expenses including payments to the undertaker ($201.50), tombstone ($115.00) county recorder, cemetery sexton, legal services, medical services and miscellaneous came to $447.50.
******

Payments to heirs on 15 Jan 1921:  Charles L and Joseph Johnston each received $740.52 as their one-tenth share of the estate plus commission as co-executor.  Siblings James, David, George, William and John Johnston, Susan Weaver Beard, and Mrs. J. O. (Eva Eliza) Lenkerd each received $558.48 as their one-tenth share.  Daughter Mary Johnston Winslow died in Jun of 1914 and her children, Bruce, James, William & Merton Winslow, Eva Van Why and Ella Yates each received $93.08.  The children of daughter Nancy Johnston Taylor, Bessie Taylor Hoffman, Grover Taylor and Freda Taylor Steinmetz each received $184.04.

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston

My Husband's Great-Grandmother  Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston

Born:  1863 Armstrong County, PA
Died:  1954 Trenton, Mercer County, NJ
Burial:  Ewing Church Cemetery (Find-A-Grave)

Her Mother:  Mary Jane Cochran 1831 - 1891
Her Father:  John A. Cochran 1831 - 1887

Source:  Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser 8 Aug 1954

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Challenge #40 - Investigate how to order an SS5.

How I Used SS5 Forms to Crush a Brick Wall

SS5 forms (Applications for SSN’s) can indeed be a “goldmine” for genealogists.  Nowhere was this truer for me than in my search for my father-in-law, Alvin Stackhouse Rogers’ maternal great-grandparents.  I had always been told that his mother’s name was Susan Rogers.  She died before I married into the family and with Alvin also deceased in 1993, none of his children could give me any further information.  Sadly, there were no pictures, documents or distant relatives in the family to ask.  When I started my research on my husband’s family, I tracked my father-in-law’s paternal side through Trenton, NJ and found his father, Dr. Alvin S. Rogers, Sr. there in the 1930 census.  However, his wife’s name was listed as Luella R. Rogers, age 28, birthplace Pennsylvania.  Okay, this was confusing – which was her real name, Susan or Luella?  I was stumped…..

I decided to order Alvin’s SS-5 and when it arrived I found that he filled it out in November 1946, probably right after he left the Navy after his World War II service.  He listed his mother’s maiden name as “Luella Ruth Johnson.”  I knew that Al’s father died in 1937 when he was eleven and his mother was remarried to Gene Daly.   She later toured as a musician with the big bands of the era so I surmised that perhaps she used Susan as a stage name.

 I knew Susan/Luella had died in south Florida because that is where they had all moved after WWII.   I checked the Florida Death Index and narrowed it down to the time period that my husband thought his grandmother died, about 1967 – 1970.  I found a Susan L. Rogers who died in Miami Beach, Fl in 1969.  There were no other names that remotely matched what I was looking for so I took a chance and ordered the death certificate.  When it arrived, I looked at the informants name and “Bingo!”  there was my father-in-law’s name, Alvin S. Rogers.  Her father’s name was listed as David Johnson, but her mother’s name was listed as “unobtainable.”  Her birthplace was listed as “Pennsylvania.”

So now I had a couple of new clues and went back to Ancestry.com and started looking in the censuses for a Luella Ruth Johnson in Pennsylvania who was born about 1902.  Of course, as these things are apt to go, there were a number of Luellas, Ruths,  Luella Ruths Johnsons, and David Johnsons but nothing matched or seemed right.  I was back at my brick wall and feeling very frustrated.

I went back to her Death Certificate and while looking at it again, I realized it had a Social Security number!  I immediately sent off the Social Security Administration form for the copy of Susan L. Rogers’ SS-5 Application.  When it came in the mail and I opened it and saw the information, I almost did somersaults!  The name on the application was Luella JOHNSTON, not Johnson.  Her father was listed as David C. Johnston and joy of all joys, her mother was Mary Elizabeth Hildinger.  I raced to my computer and within about five minutes I had located her parents in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses.

This has since led me to a surplus of information on her mother’s family, the Hildingers.  Her great-grandparents emigrated from Germany around 1830 with two young toddlers and settled on a farm in Pennsylvania, her uncle Charles Hildinger was famous in Trenton in the early 1900’s as a rags to riches pioneer in the moving picture industry- these are only a couple of the fascinating people I discovered.  Additionally, I have found over one-hundred articles in the Trenton Times regarding the Hildinger family.  Amazingly, my father-in-law never passed these stories on before he died and none of his children were aware of this rich history.

I know, without a doubt, if I had not ordered those two SS-5 applications, I would never have breached this brick wall and discovered my treasure chest of information.

Mary Elizabeth Hildinger

Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston

Mary Elizabeth Hildinger was born about 1863, probably Cowanshannock, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania to John A. Hildinger and Mary Jane Cochran Hildinger.  She was the fourth child of seven and one of five daughters.  On 23 Jul 1886 in Clearfield County, PA she married David C. Johnston, son of Andrew Jackson Johnston and Elizabeth Mariah London Johnston.  In 1891, she and David were found selling a property in DuBois along with Eliza M. Johnston - they were listed on a deed in Clearfield County( this information from Kathy Myers).  This is the last mention of them I can find until 1910 when they show up in the 1910 census in Allegheny, PA with daughter, Luella.  This 19 year span is quite a mystery and one I am determined to solve.  Luella was their first and only child and was born 17 years after their marriage which seems unusual.  Where did they go for all those years?  Were they separated for some reason? 

By 1914 they were living in Trenton, New Jersey where David went to work for Mary's brother Charles in the movie theater business as a manager of one of his theaters.  In the 1910 census his occupation was listed as Foreman, Dept. Stables.

Their daughter Luella was an accomplished musician and organist and apparently this may have been inherited from her Johnston side.  In notes from Mary Aleta Winslow, http://www.pagenweb.org/~elk/winslowgenealogy/mywinslowburkeancestors.htm Eliza Mariah was supposedly from a musically gifted family.

Mary Elizabeth and David Johnston lived in Trenton until at least 1943, but I have been unable to find any record of their deaths despite numerous searches.

The Hildinger Family

The other side of my husband's family, the Hildinger family, was a great find!  My husband's grandmother, Luella Ruth "Susan" Johnston, mother of Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Jr. was born in 1903 to David C. Johnston and Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston.  Mary Elizabeth Hildinger came from a large family in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, but her father John A. Hilldinger (1831 - 1887) and his father (John Hildinger (1794 - 1848) came the United States from Wurttemberg, Germany in  1833 and settled in Armstrong, Pennsylvania sometime around 1841 where they took up farming.  Several of the Hildinger children later left the farm and went on to become quite prominent which I will discuss further in later posts.

Luella Ruth Johnston

Luella Ruth Johnston, my husband's grandmother, was born to David C. Johnston and Mary Elizabeth Hildinger on 2 Mar 1903 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Her great-grandparents immigrated to America from Württemberg, Germany.   She was an only child born seventeen years after her parent's marriage.  Why the long amount of time between the marriage date and birth of first child?    This is unusual.  It is a mystery I have yet to solve,  her parents have disappeared from all records between 1886 and 1910.    I have some theories and flimsy leads, but no definite facts.

Her father went to work for her mother's younger brother, Charles Clark Hildinger, the moving picture king, in Trenton, around 1910 who had become a prominent Trenton businessman.  Whatever the family's earlier lifestyle, the future was about to change for the better.

On 23 July 1925 in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey she married Alvin Stackhouse Rogers Sr.  She was an accomplished musician and organist.  Upon the death of her husband, she began performing and traveling with the big bands of the era.

Dr. Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Sr.

Dr. Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Sr.

Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Sr., my father-in-law's father, was born 11 Nov 1889 in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey to Dr. Elmer H. Rogers and Mary Olivia (Bowers) Rogers.  To me his story his rather sad.  He was the second son of his parents, his older brother Ellerslie Wallace dying at age 9, so to all intents and purposes the only son to carry on the family tradition of becoming a doctor.  He had three sisters, Helen who died in 1897 at age 5, Florence and Olivia who never married. 

He attended George School and Pennington Seminary, and also undertook special studies at Jefferson Medical College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medial School n 1910.  He was appointed to the staff of Mercer Hospital in 1911.

According to his World War I draft registration he was tall with blue eyes and dark brown hair and was a physician at Mercer Hospital.  On 23 Jul 1925 he married Luella Ruth Johnston.  They had two children, Alvin Jr. ( born 1926) and Estella Louise(born (1931).

On 23 May 1937, at the age of 47,  he died of a streptococcic infection which was he was believed to have contracted in the performance of his duties.

Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Jr.

This is my husband's father who was born in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey on 30 May, 1926 to Dr. Alvin Stackhouse Sr.and Luella Ruth (Johnston) Rogers.  The story I have always heard is that he was supposed to be a doctor like his father, but he joined the Navy Reserve during World War II at the age of 17 (I'm sure his mother wasn't happy).  When the war was over he went to Florida where he worked as a doorman at a hotel in Miami for a short while until he married.

His father died when he was eleven and I'm sure that must have been hard on the family as Alvin Sr. was a well-known prominent doctor in Mercer County.  Al died on 11 Jan 1993 in Margate, Fl.  I sincerely regret not being able to talk to him about his family, I know there is much he could tell me.