Reina Loasby and William Kroether

William Kroether was born in Manhattan on 05 May Dec 1890, the youngest son of Maria Rupp and Richard Kroether. His birth record refers to him as Herrmann Wilhelm, but on all subsequent records he's called William. His marriage record refers to him as William Arthur.

By 1900 the family was living at 1754 2nd Avenue. They were still there in 1905, but by 1910 they'd moved northward to 373 East 156th Street. William was working as a surveyor for a brokerage firm. He appears to have been actively involved with his father in managing buildings during the period 1911-1916.

On 17 Sep 1916 William married Reina Florence Loasby in Manhattan. Reina was born in Manhattan on 14 May 1895, the daughter of English immigrants Samuel Loasby and Charlotte Smith. The story of Samuel and Charlotte's marriage was a bit more complicated than it may sound from this description.

Samuel Loasby was born in Manchester, England, on 14 Nov 1851, the son of Samuel Loasby and Ann Headly. He sailed from London with his mother and younger siblings aboard the American Union, arriving in NYC on 06 Jul 1869. Samuel Sr also immigrated, and the family took up residence in Rochester. In 1875-1876 Samuel had married Emma H Rehberger (Reberger, Rerberger), the daughter of German immigrants. They had two children, Arthur William born in or about 1876 and Edna Emma born in or about 1880. The little girl died in February 1882 and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester. Emma died in May 1889 and is also buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. Arthur was in NYC by 1890, working as a clerk on the NY Stock Exchange. He was possibly living with Samuel's brother William, who had married in Manhattan in 1882 and lived there at least through 1910. By 1895 Arthur had moved to Syracuse, where Samuel's sister Florence and her husband James Butcher lived. He married in Syracuse in 1898 and became a prominent banker. Thus Samuel was left with neither a wife nor children at home.

Meanwhile Charlotte Smith was born in Maidstone, Kent, England on 05 Feb 1870, the daughter of George Smith and Ann Jewson. She immigrated to the States in 1887-1888. On 09 Sep 1888, she married a German immigrant named Jacob Hasenstab in Manhattan. The couple had two daughters, both born in Manhattan: Rosina born 20 Apr 1889 (named after Jacob's mother) and Irene born 11 Jun 1892. Then on 03 Mar 1894, Jacob died, leaving 24-year-old Charlotte with two young children to support.

Apparently the young widow with two children met the family-less middle-aged widower fairly quickly. In Samuel Loasby's passport application on 02 Jul 1924, he said that he and Charlotte were married on 18 Jul 1894. Their daughter Reina was born in Manhattan on 14 May 1895. Rosina and Irene also took Samuel's last name.

It was therefore rather startling to discover a Manhattan marriage record dated 18 Jul 1917 for the marriage of Samuel Loasby and Charlotte Hasenstab. It's indubitably "our" Samuel and Charlotte. The ages, birthplaces and parents' names match up perfectly. Did it come to light when William and Reina married in 1916 that there was no record of Samuel and Charlotte's 1894 marriage?

As of 05 Jun 1917, William and Reina were living at 31 North Street in Manhattan. William was working as bookkeeper for the Haytian American Corp. He noted on his WWI draft registration that Reina expected to be a mother in "3 or 4 months." Doris Irene Kroether was born on 22 Sep 1917.

1920-1940

By 1920 the Kroethers, along with Samuel and Charlotte Loasby, had moved out to Long Island, specifically to 46 South Kensington Street in Rockville Centre, Nassau County. William was working as an office manager in a paper company and Samuel, as an elevator motorman. Reina's sister Irene, along with her husband Paul Martens and their son Paul Jr (born in or about 1916), lived five blocks away at 18 Rockville Avenue.

As I mentioned above, Samuel and Charlotte applied for a passport on 02 Jun 1924 in order to return to England to visit relatives. They sailed on the SS Mauretania on 02 Jul 1924 and returned on 29 Aug 1924 aboard the SS Berengaria out of Southampton. Both the passport application and the return passenger manifest gave their address as 72 Arlington Avenue, Rockville Centre.

The 1925 New York State Census found William, Reina and their daughters Doris and Lois in Queens. Lois Irene (she had the same middle name as her sister) had been born 14 Apr 1924. Samuel and Charlotte were enumerated in Hempstead, Nassau County, in the same household as Irene, Paul and Paul Jr. (Hempstead is adjacent to Rockville Centre geographically.)

Samuel Loasby died 23 Jun 1927. According to his obituary published in the Nassau Daily Review the next day, he died at William and Reina's home at 8868 Commonwealth Blvd in Bell(e)rose, Queens, but resided about 13 km away at Denton Court in Rockville Centre. He was survived by Charlotte, Reina, Irene (also resident in Rockville Centre) and "Mrs. Rose Stewart of New York City." Reina and Irene are referred to by their husbands' names (Mrs. William Kroether, Mrs. Paul Martens). The fact that Rose has her own first name suggests that she was either widowed or divorced. Samuel was buried in the Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, Nassau County.

William, Reina and their daughters seem to have put down roots in Bellerose. In 1930 they were living at 89-01 Commonwealth "Avenue" (more probably Blvd). William was working as an accoutant for a "sugar manufacturer." By 1940 they had moved to 17 Michigan Road, and William was working as a secretary and accountant for a "holding company." He was in fact working for the Haitian-American Sugar Corporation throughout.

Paul, Irene and their son seemed equally fixed in Rockville Centre. In 1930 they were living at 25 Denton Court along with Charlotte Loasby and Charles W Scott. At some point before 1935, the entire household moved to 25 Powell Avenue. Charles W Scott was described as a "boarder" in 1930 but a "cousin" in 1940. He may be the Charles W Scott with whom Paul was living as a cousin in 1910. Paul was born in Germany and may actually have been a cousin of Charles' wife Martha Kiene or Keine, whose parents were both born in Germany. However, "cousin" may also have been a courtesy title.

1943 and on

By 1943 the United States had been involved in WWII for more than a year and the Long Island Daily Press was running a column called "Fighting Gals." Here's an excerpt from 23 Apr 1943:

Five young women from Long Island have been sworn in the WAVES and will report soon to their training stations.

One of them, Doris Irene Kroether, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Kroether of 49 Hudson road, Bellerose, is an officer candidate, and will attend the Navy school at Smith College, Northampton, Mass. A graduate of Sewanhaka High School, she later attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and has been employed as a secretary in Manhattan.

On 30 Jul 1943 Doris' sister Lois Irene Kroether married William J Carroll, a lieutenant in the US Army. Ensign Kroether was her sister's maid of honor. Lois and William were to have three children, Nancy (later Nancy Neugebauer), Geoffrey/Jeffrey and William.

Doris herself married sometime between August 1947, when she's referred to in a newspaper article as "Miss Doris Kroether" and 1950, when her daughter Jane (later Jane Todd) was born. Her married name was Kearney.

Most of the members of the Loasby-Martens-Kroether family were buried in the Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, Nassau County. Reina Loasby Kroether died in August 1956. William Kroether died 14 Mar 1958. He had lived in Sayville, Suffolk County, for six years, presumably moving there after reting at about the same time. At the time of his death his sister Cora Kroether Whelan Bassett was living in Schoharie, his daughter Lois in Sayville and his daughter Doris in Port Washington. As no state is given, this is presumably Port Washington in Nassau County.

Paul Martens, Irene Loasby Marten's husband, also died in 1958. Charlotte Smith Loasby died in 1960 and Irene, in 1962. Finally, Rose Loasby Stewart - Irene and Reina's sister - died in 1981. She shares a headstone with her mother Charlotte.

William J Caroll died 21 Feb 1974, and Lois I Kroether Carroll, 26 Apr 1988. Both are buried in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, Suffolk County.

Doris I Kroether Kearney died 06 Jun 2007 and is buried in the Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, Suffolk Country.

Paul and Irene Marten's son Paul is possibly the Paul Herman Martens born 17 Nov 1915 who died 14 Sep 2007 and is buried in the Woodland Cemetery in Bellport, Suffolk County.