Chosen Families #2: Irene Pauline Lewkowitz
To begin, the story behind the person in this photograph is beyond remarkable. I gravitate towards photographs with identifying information because this makes locating the individual of the disconnected photograph easily identifiable through genealogy research. I recovered this photograph of a young girl,named Irene P. Lewkowitz, from a consignment store near me. The photograph on the front features Irene in a flowy dress,with a slight crack going through the middle.
On the back of this cabinet card it reads:
Irene P. Lewkowitz
[?] Jan 16 / 94
2 [?] old
Jan 16 / 96
Back of Cabinet Card
Upon researching the first record I had come across was a Baptism record for the German Evangelical Church located in Hoboken, NJ. Irene Pauline Lewkowitz is listed, with a birthdate of 16 Jan 1894, in Denver, Colorado. She was baptized on the 31st of March, 1895. The curious thing about this is the record also listed two other Lewkowitz children baptized in the church on the same day right above Irene. Noted is Anton Siegfried Lewkowitz (born 18 Sep 1890) and Hans Ivan Lewkowitz (born 8 Apr 1892), both in Denver,Colorado like Irene. Under Antons name are his parents' names (the record is written in German), a “Herm & Alice Pieczonka”; other names listed under Anton include “Albert & Nanny Pieczonka,” which could be possible parents of Alice’s.At the time the family had an address somewhere in New York, as that was also noted.
However, after finding this record, I could not find the family. Considered all the siblings in context, born in Denver, and living on the East Coast, I was surprised to not find records. I then started to search on a first name basis, and I discovered the family under a different surname, Hamilton.
Irene’s parents have an interesting history with one another. Herman (Lewkowitz) Hamilton was born around 1866 in Germany, and arrived around 1882. A marriage record is listed for him to Alice Pieczonka on the 14 Nov 1889 in Manhattan. She was born around 1865 in London, England, arriving around 1882. Soon after their marriage they had children in Denver Colorado. Unfortunately in Colorado according to FamilySearch, early records pre-1907 are incomplete, by which in 1907 the formal registering of births are listed.The family resided in Denver,Colorado from 1890-1894, when they had Anton (1890), Hans (1892), and Irene (1894), all with the Lewkowitz surname. The Denver Colorado city directory for 1890 does list Herman Lewkowitz. By the baptism record of 1895, they are back in New York from Colorado, based on the baptism record of the children. Other siblings born to Herman & Alice include Gertrude (2 Nov 1896 in Manhattan), Thomas Erastes Lewkowitz (20 Aug 1898 in Hudson County,NJ), and Alice Hermina Hamilton ( 5 Apr 1900 in New Jersey).
Between 1898 and 1900, according to the births of the children, Herman had changed his surname from Lewkowitz to Hamilton.Many records following, including other census records, list his name as “Herman L. Hamilton.” After 1900, the family had a dramatic turn. Herman L. Hamilton was a lawyer in the area of Jersey City & Egg Harbor. In January of 1905, an article states he was put under $200 cash bonds by Judge Manning to keep peace with his wife. Alice and two of their children (who were 14 & 12), had felt threatened by Herman. Herman claimed that Alice “refused to prepare his meals and that she alienated the feelings of his children from him.” Herman also during the proceedings tried to “display his legal abilities” during his case with his wife. In the 1905 New Jersey Census, Alice is living alone with all of her children. By 28 Feb 1908, Herman was charged with abandonment of his family. Alice had supported herself and her children through teaching music on her own, until the oldest son Anton was able to provide for the family.
Article from The Evening Journal (Jersey City, N.J.), 3 Jan 1905, p. 1 col. 6
Article from The Evening Journal (Jersey City, N.J.), 28 Feb 1908, p. 1 col. 3
Unfortunately, for the children, their lives would take another dramatic turn. By September 4, 1908, only a few months after Herman was charged, Alice passed away, leaving the children behind. Her funeral services were held on September 5 at her home, and she is buried in Fairview Cemetery. Her youngest daughter was only 8 years old. Looking for the closest records following the death, which is the 1910 census, Anthony (Anton) is seen on his own at the age of 19 as a Railroad Clerk in Jersey City. In 1915, Anton, and his two sisters Gertrude and Alice where living together in Bradley Beach.
Herman Hamilton after the death of his wife Alice married Caroline Geltzer in 1909 in New Jersey .Two of his sons, Thomas (18) and Hanson (11) lived with him in 1910 following the death of Alice. Herman would live in Egg Harbor until his death in 1938. He is buried with his second wife Caroline in Egg Harbor Cemetery.
Back to Irene, I could not locate her whereabouts until her marriage on 29 December 1924. She married Dr. Charles Everett Haines of Waterbury, Vermont in Nassau, Bahamas. She had built a name for herself Irene, according to this article. It states “Lady Cordeaux, a friend of the bride, supplied many of the flowers for the wedding decorations from her own gardens. His Excellency, the Governor of the Bahamas, Sir Henry E. S. Cordeaux, granted special permission for the marriage of the American couple at Nassau,” with notables of Nassau attending as guests. This article also lists some other amazing details about Irene. This includes that she is grandfather of the late composer Albert Pieczonka, as very musically inclined. She had studied vocal art under several well known masters in New York and has done some public solo work. She is a member of the Brahms club of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York and a member of the Society of Independent Artists. ' Mrs. Haines is actively interested in painting, having had exhibits at the Hotel Waldorf Astoria and at The Detroit Art Club.
An interesting note about Albert Pieczonka is about his work and his family. He was a very established German Composer, with his work “Tarantella in A Minor” a well known work of his. During the 1880s, Pieczonka, his wife, and his daughters performed together throughout the United States as the Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra. Pieczonka also gave solo concerts at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Great Auditorium at Ocean Grove, New Jersey. He passed away in 1912, with the article noting about him that he outlived all but two of his children, specifically noting “Pieczonka's daughters’ lives were also marked by tragedy and were cut short by illness and accident.”
Although I cannot locate Irene’s death record at this time, she had passed prior to 1974, when her husband, Dr. Charles Everett Haines passed away in 1974. His obituary in the New York Times reads:
Dr. Charles Everett Haines, a consulting surgeon at New Rochelle (N. Y.) Hospital since 1924. died there Wednesday at the age. of 80. He lived at 59a Locust Avenue, New Rochelle.
Dr. Haines, a member of the American College of Surgeons, the International College of surgeons, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Society of Railway Surgeons, graduated from. Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and earned a master's degree at the University of Michigan.
He leaves a daughter, Barbara A. Edwards; a son, Charles VI. R., a brother, Craig, five grandchildren, and a great grandchild.
It is so amazing to be able to tell the story of Irene and her family based upon this recovered photograph. If you are related to Irene or her family please feel free to contact me. A quick note about the photographer, E. L. Cooper, is that he was a photographer in the 1890s in Saugerties, New York. An article in the Kingston Daily Freeman from 1895 notes him as a photographer of the area.
Update: 10/17/2021 5pm: With some further research, I found probate and death records for Irene, who passed away on the 9 Apr 1947 in New Rochelle, NY. She was only 53 years old. It also appears she changed her birth year, despite keeping the rest of her birth information the same, on later records, from 1894 to period of 1904, 1905, and 1907 with certain records.
