The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Agnes and Frederick Sohn
Friedrich Sohn was born in Freinsheim in 1905-1906, the son of Jacob Sohn and Charlotte Barth and the grandson of Anna Maria Ehrhardt and Ludwig Barth.
Friedrich's father Jacob would probably have been born in or before 1888. However, it's entirely possible that he was born after 1875, the end of the records I have available for Freinsheim. Here are some possibilities:
On 27 Nov 1908 Friedrich arrived in NYC aboard the SS Grosser Kurfürst out of Bremen along with "father" (step-grandfather) Heinrich Oberholz, his "mother" (grandmother) Anna Oberholz, his "sister" (aunt) Katharina Oberholz, his "step-sister" (aunt) Elise Barth and his "step-brother" (uncle) Philipp Barth. Friedrich's last name as given on the manifest is semi-legible, possibly Barth.
The 1910 US Census found most of the family at 1034 First Avenue in Manhattan (between East 56th and 57th Streets). Young Friedrich, now Fritz Sohn, was described as the Oberholz's grandson.
Heinrich died 28 Jan 1912. He's buried in St Michael's Cemetery. After his death, there were some changes in the family. Elizabeth married Julius Thiele in Manhattan 15 Apr 1912, while Philip married Clara Straub in Manhattan 14 May 1913.
In the 1915 New York State Census and the 1920 US Census, Fritz is listed as living with Julius and Elizabeth Thiel at 428 East 81st Street in Manhattan. As of 1920 Fritz's grandmother and Elizabeth's mother Anna was living with them as well. (I can't find Anna at all for 1915.) Anna died in Manhattan 28 Nov 1921.
I can find Julius and Elizabeth but not Fritz in the 1925 New York State Census. By 1930, however, "Fredrick" and his wife Agnes were living in a lodging house at 1271-1273 Third Avenue in Manhattan. Their ages at marriage are the same as their current ages, indicating that they had married within the year, but I haven't been able to find them in the NYC marriage records. Agnes had been born in Italy in or around 1908 and had immigrated to the States in 1909. She was working as an operator at a knitting factory. Fredrick was working as a stencil cutter in printing.
The last reliable record I have for Frederick is his death record. He died in Manhattan 10 Oct 1937. At the time he was living at 530 Tinton Avenue in the Bronx and working as a lampshade cutter. Along with his parents' names, the death record gives his spouse's name as Agnes Sohn. However, I wasn't able to find anything more on Agnes under the last name Sohn.
Is Agnes Pepe "our" Agnes?
I have a working hypothesis as to who Agnes was. On 08 Jul 1909 six-month-old Agnese Pepe arrived in NYC aboard the SS Roma out of Naples with her mother, Filomena Santoriello, 28. (It was common for married Italian women tended to use their last names at birth on Ellis Island manifests.) Filomena and Agnese had travelled from Pagini in the province of Salermo and were joining their husband and father Giuseppe Pepe in Newark, New Jersey.
By 1915 "Naisa" Pepe, born in December 1908, was settled at 176 Malvern Street, Newark, with her parents and two younger siblings born in New Jersey. Filomena died on 17 Feb 1919. The 1920 US Census found Giuseppe and the two younger siblings living with Giuseppe's parents. Agnes was living with her aunt and uncle, Annie Pepe and Louis "Allegeteo" (Allegreto). She vanishes during the 1930 census and then reappears in the Allegrettos' household in 1940.
I have no smoking gun. I don't have a marriage record, and in the 1940 census Agnes is listed as having the last name Pepe (not Sohn) and being single (not widowed). She had two other aunts whom I can't find in the 1930 census, Louisa Pepe and Agnes Pepe Verderese - she could easily have been living with one of them.
However, if Agnes Pepe was the Agnes who married Frederick Sohn, this might explain why there is no NYC marriage record. They might have gotten married in New Jersey, where the marriage records available on-line aren't as extensive. Also New Jersey didn't do a state census in 1925. If Frederick were living there in 1925, that would explain why I can't find him in the 1925 New York State Census. (Although this isn't compelling. People living on their own are notoriously hard to find in censuses compared to assemblages of people.)
UPDATE 21 Jul 2018: The good news is that thanks to the efforts of the folks at Reclaim the Records the New Jersey brides indexes and most of the grooms indexes for 1901-2016 are now available on-line. The bad news is that another hypothesis has bitten the dust. Agnes Pepe is not listed among the brides either for the 1920s or for 1930-1935. The grooms index for the 1920s is missing. Frederick Sohn is not listed among the grooms for 1930-1935.