Mary McGuire, Anna Wilke and John Heise

"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Based on Paul Heinrich Hans Georg's name, year of birth, parents' names and year of immigration, I believe him to be the same person as the Heinrich Hans Heise who married Mary McGuire in Manhattan on September 13, 1875. Mary had been born in New York in 1856, the daughter of John McGuire and Mary Paterson. Heinrich Hans had been born in "Heizalburg" in Preussen (Prussia) in 1850, the son of Henry August Heise and Charlotte "Nehring."

Except for Heizalburg, Heinrich Hans is an almost perfect match for Paul Heinrich Hans Georg. I haven't been able to find any Prussian town or city names that are a definitively close match to Heizalburg.

Mary McGuire Heise may be the Mary Heiser born in NYC 1856 who died in Manhattan 30 Dec 1883. (See below for references to Paul Heinrich Hans Georg Heise as "John Heiser" in New York newspapers.) Mary Heiser was married, a seamstress and lived at 102 Allen Street. The New York City Directory for 1882-1883 includes a listing for John Heiser, a porter who lived at 102 Allen Street.

The first absolutely certain document I've got for Paul Heinrich Hans Georg's presence in New York is his son's birth record. August Hans Rudolph Heise was born in Manhattan on January 9, 1883 (almost a year before Mary "Heiser's" death). His parents were Paul Heinrich Hans Heise and Anna Wilke.

Three years later, Paul H Geo Hans Heise married Anna Franciska Ottilie Wilke Herrmann in Manhattan on April 23, 1886. Anna Franciska Ottilie had been born in Angermünde, Prussia, in 1854-1856, the daughter of August Wilke and Minna Schoenebeck. Paul H Geo Hans had been born in Magdeburg, Prussia, in 1850, the son of Heinrich August G Heise and Charlotte Nohring.

For everyday purposes in NYC, Paul Heinrich Hans Georg seems to have gone by John, while August Hans Rudolph was called Rudolph or Rudolph John.

Rudolph Heise was my mother's grandfather. When I told her he'd been born in NYC, she was more than surprised - she didn't believe me. She'd met Rudolph as a teenager in the 1940s and remembered that he had a strong German accent. A possible solution to the mystery arose when I found frequent entries in the NYC passenger arrival records for John, Anna and little Rudolph. Alas, I haven't been able to find corresponding passenger arrival records for Germany. I don't know if they weren't kept or if they simply haven't been made as widely available because North Americans tend to assume that immigration was a one-way trip for their ancestors. (I blame this in part on Emma Lazarus. Why would the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," the "wretched refuse of [Europe's] teeming shore" ever want to go back? I'm sure Emma meant well, but her verses cemented some major stereotypes about immigrants and immigration in the States.)

The dates of arrival suggest that the Heise family intended to return to New York before the seas got too rough and spend at least the winter there. However, we don't know how long they spent in Germany. They might have been there a couple of weeks, a couple of months or even a couple of years on each trip. If Rudolph spent the better part of his childhood in Germany, that would account for his accent.

Rudolph married Annie Theresa Hearne in Manhattan on January 9, 1902. Where was the family between the spring of 1894 and the fall of 1901? I simply don't know. There's an entry in the 1900 US Census for a couple named John and Annie "Heuser" at 50 East 4th Street in Manhattan. Both of them were born in Germany and immigrated to the States in 1870. He was born in January 1850, she was born in May 1854. They were married in 1885. They've had one child, and this child is still living (although not with them). John Heuser works in a saloon - I can't tell whether or not he owns it. If John Heuser is John Heise, then owing a saloon would make sense in light of his later employment history.

Over the next decade, some interesting things happen concerning John Heise. One is that he appears to start travelling to and from Germany again, although this time by himself. This makes it impossible to confirm whether or not he's "our" John Heise. Again, we have only NYC arrival records. All the arrivals are from Bremen, and in all cases John is listed as a US citizen. In three of the four cases, no information is given as to his occupation:

At approximately the same time, John Heise gets involved in Manhattan real estate. The list of recorded leases published in the New York Times on August 23, 1900, includes two leases of interest. Herman L Kingsbury, executor leases 394 and 396 Sixth Avenue to Edward F Lankenau for five years for $10,000. Then Edward F Lankenau leases the same address for John Heise, but at half the price, $5,500. The period of this second lease is a bit unclear. It's printed in the newspaper as "4 8-12 years" - possibly four years, eight months?

Be aware that building numbers on Sixth Avenue have changed drastically over the years. The buildings referred to are near West 24th Street, approximately where 736 Sixth Avenue is now. An article in the January 18, 1902, edition of the Sag Harbor L.I. Corrector reporting on the marriage of Rudolph and Annie Theresa described Rudolph's father as "proprietor of a hotel at 6th Avenue & 24th Street, New York City."

Almost four years later after the first pair of leases, a second pair was recorded. According to both the New York Times and the New York Herald published April 27, 1904, Joseph S Rich leased 394 and 396 Sixth Avenue to Edward F Lankenau for four years for $11,000. Then Edward F Lankenau leased the same address for John Heise for the same period, again at half the price, $5,500. It would appear that Kingsbury sold the building(s) to Rich, who then required that the leases be re-written.

On November 10, 1907, the New York Sun reported that "J. Arthur Fischer has leased to John Hewser the four story building at the northeast corner of Sixth avenue and Thirty-ninth street for a term of years. Mr. Hewser will alter the property to a hotel and cafe. Mr Fischer also leased to clients the two adjoining buildings, Nos. 682 and 684 Sixth avenue, for a term of years." (The northeast corner of Sixth and 39th is now occupied by 1040 Sixth Avenue.) We know from later news coverage that John Heise operated a hotel at Sixth and 39th. Therefore, it's a reasonable assumption that John "Hewser" is John Heise.

John may have over-extended himself a bit. On December 2, 1908, the New York Herald reported that "John Heise, hotel and saloon, No. 680 Sixth avenue, has filed a petition in bankruptcy, with liabilities $48,783 and nominal assets $17,000." The equivalents in 2015 dollars would be roughly $1.2 million dollars in liabilities, $420,000 in assets. On December 23, 1908, the Herald reported that John had settled with his creditors at "thirty-five cents on the dollar, payable twenty cents in cash and fifteen cents in notes.

Where was Anna while all of this was going on? I can't find either her or John in the 1905 New York State Census. However, the Ellis Island passenger manifests report that Anna Heise, age 50, arrived in NYC on December 20, 1907, aboard the SS President Grant out of Cuxhaven (a German port 94 km north of Bremen). She was accompanied by Rudolf Hans Heise, age 25, a merchant by trade. Both were US citizens. Anna was married, while Rudolf Hans was supposedly single. (He and Annie Theresa had separated 06 Aug 1907, although it was to be another three years before they divorced.) We don't know, of course, how long Anna spent in Germany before returning to the States.

I couldn't find Anna in the 1910 US Census either, but John was living at 684 Sixth Avenue. He reported that he'd been born in 1851, had immigrated to the States in 1865 and had gotten married in 1882. He gave his occupation as liquor seller. Interestingly, he said he worked as an employee rather than on his "own account." In contrast, the March 4, 1910, edition of the New York Press, reporting on Rudolph and Annie Theresa's divorce, described Rudolph as the "son of a proprietor of the Hotel Mumm, in the West Side." Other newspaper reference to the Hotel Mumm place it at Sixth Avenue and 39th Street. This is the hotel that John had proposed when he leased the property from J Arthur Fischer in 1907.

On March 19, 1912, the New York Herald reported what seems to be a renewal of this lease under a new owner. Adolph A Hageman leased 680 Sixth Avenue to John Heise for five years from May 1, 1912, in return for $11,000.

On November 4, 1913, John Purroy Mitchel was elected mayor of New York on a reform platform. On December 31, Mitchel appointed Douglas Imrie McKay as police commissioner. McKay was charged with clearing out New York's numerous street gangs, some of which dated back to the 1860s, as well as cleaning up corruption within the New York Police Department.

One of McKay's targets was Inspector James H Gillen, police commander in the third district, New York's infamous Tenderloin. Gillen was suspected of allowing "disorderly houses" to remain open, possibly in exchange for payment. McKay asked Lieutenant Daniel "Honest Dan" Costigan to investigate. Costigan's investigations revealed that Gillen had submitted inaccurate reports to NYPD headquarters, making it appear - falsely - that the situation in the Tenderloin was under control.

On March 10, 1914, McKay made a surprise move, reducing Gillen to the rank of captain and suspending him from duty pending the hearing of charges. Here's how it was reported the next day in the New York Sun:

Mr. McKay abruptly appeared in the West Thirtieth street station house and wrote the order in the blotter himself. He then transferred Gillen's entire staff of a lieutenant, two sergeants and eighteen patrolmen to precincts scattered throughout the city. The next move was two raids on Tenderloin hotels by Lieut. Honest Dan Costigan.

After the suspension was made known Lieut. Dan Costigan with a squad of detectives entered the Hotel Mumm at 61 West Thirty-ninth street, at Sixth avenue, went through the rooms, took the register, arrested the clerk on a charge of keeping a disorderly house and left a policeman in charge. Next they went to the Hotel Atlan at 159 West Thirty-fourth street and repeated the performance, but made no arrest.

The New York Press claimed after the Mumm and the Atlan, Costigan "and his Headquarters squad" had gone on to raid three more establishments on Sixth Avenue between 19th and 24th Streets. The Press also claimed that a clerk had been arrested at each of the five establishments, giving their names and the amount of bail for each. August Schmidt of the Mumm was held in $1,000 bail. (He later served 30 days in the workhouse.)

McKay ordered Inspector Cornelius F Cahalane, commander of the fifth district, to assume temporary command of the third district as well.

None of this can have been welcome news for John Heise, the proprietor of the Mumm, but worse was to come a month later. Here's the account from the New York Tribune published April 11, 1914:

Inspectors may come and inspectors may go, like Gillen, but the Hotel Mumm goes on forever at Sixth ave. and 40th st., according to Lieutenant "Dan" Costigan. Costigan's specialty nowadays is going around raiding places that every one except the police knows are running.

Into his net last night fell the proprietor of the Hotel Mumm, one John Heiser [sic], who can go into the jewelry business, judging from his appearance last night.

The Tribune doesn't specify what happened to Mr "Heiser" and his bling, but according to the New York Press, he was arrested and charged in the West 30th Street police station with maintaining a disorderly house.

According to later news coverage, John "Heiser" was held in $1,000 bail but disappeared in July.

At the beginning of August, Germany entered World War I, invading Luxembourg and Belgium. There were 137 steamship arrivals at Ellis Island between January 1 and August 15, 1914, for ships out of Bremen or Hamburg. Between August 16 and December 31, there were none. Regular steamship service between German ports and NYC did not resume until the spring of 1919, following the end of the war on November 11, 1918.

John Heise, age 64, arrived in NYC on December 24, 1914, aboard the SS Rijndam out of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The passenger manifest notes that he was naturalized at the NY City Hall on June 24, 1871, and that his address is 39th Street and Sixth Avenue, NYC.

The issue of the New York Evening Telegram published January 11, 1915, reported that, "John Heiser, sixty-five years old, proprietor of a hotel at Sixth avenue and Thirty-ninth street, pleaded guilty to-day in Special Sessions to maintaining a disorderly house, and then, when sentenced to serve three months in the penitentiary, broke down and fainted in the courtroom. He had to be carried out."

The Telegram quoted "Heiser" as saying that "he had reached New York forty years ago as a sailor, penniless and ambitious. Since then, he said, he had acquired real estate and made a fortune."

"Heiser" was also quoted as saying that "he had taken his wife abroad to undergo an operation, and had just returned with her and their daughter from Germany."

Now this is interesting on two accounts. One is that after 1907, there's no record of Anna Heise returning from abroad. If she left for Germany in July 1914, just before the war, she appears to have stayed there. The other point of interest is that there's absolutely no other record of John and Anna having a daughter.

The courtroom appearance in January 1915 is the last definitive record I have for John Heise. He may or may not be the John Heise born in Germany 1863 who died in Manhattan on January 28, 1923. This apparently younger John Heise was the son of "Paul" Heise and Charlotte "Neohring." He was married and worked as a private detective, which would be rather ironic if he was the John Heise who had once owned the Hotel Mumm. He was interred at the Fresh Pond Crematory in Queens.

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In memory of Janet A Werner, 1931-2015