Dad's side:
The MARTENS and BISCHOFF FAMILIES of Queens, NY

Our Dad's parents were Gus Martens and Margaret Bischoff of College Point, NY.

The Martens and Bischoff families both emigrated from Germany in the 19th century and settled in Brooklyn and Queens.

Grandma's side: THE BISCHOFF FAMILY

Margaret Bischoff's Great-Great Grandmother, Babette Cordier (pronounced Cordy-YAY),
was a descendant of French Protestants or "Hugonauts" who had emigrated to Germany
from predominently Catholic France to escape persecution. I don't know yet her husband's name.
Babette was still living in Germany when her daughter Barbara (my great-great Grandmother) was born.
Approximately 20 years later (circa 1880), Babette and Barbara moved to New York together.
I don't know if the husband came with them or not.

In New York, Barbara Cordier met and married Adam Kuntz.

Here's Barbara Cordier-Kuntz as seen in a 1931 home movie.
She's around 70 here. She continued living well into her 90's and died in 1953.
Although Barbara moved to America as a young woman and remained there for the rest of her long life,
she never learned to speak basic English!
To her grandchildren she was "Grossey," derived from Grossmutter, the German word for grandmother.

Barbara Kuntz had three daughters: Katherine "Kitty" Kuntz, Margaret Kuntz, and Edna who only lived for one month.
"Kitty" married Frederick Bischoff and Margaret married Edward Looft.

Above is Anton Bischoff, the father of Katherine's husband Frederick Bischoff.

Another portrait of Anton Bischoff. The women are unidentified. The one in the white blouse
could be his wife Lisbeth Hoffman. Haven't got a clue about the other one.

A youthful portrait of "Kitty" in a corset.

Kitty and her husband, Frederick Bischoff.

Frederick and Kitty had two daughters, Eleanor and Margaret.
I believe the daughter shown here is Margaret.

Frederick Bischoff.
Just like today, studio photographers usually stamped their business names onto the photo or its border,
but this one personally signed it with a dark pencil.

Kitty and Frederick Bischoff, sans moustache,
in later years.
Kitty died young, of a heart attack, in 1932. She was only in her forties.

Sympathy cards received for Kitty's funeral.
I really like the antiquity and elegance of these designs.

HERE'S A HOME MOVIE SHOWING THE MARTENS
AND BISCHOFF FAMILY MEMBERS IN THE EARLY 1930's - including Grossey & Kitty!

I recently had a cemetary adventure in search of a family plot that I had heard about from Mom & Dad. Dad had given me the two old photos below . . .

. . .and said they showed the gravesite of Adam Kunst and other relatives. Dad also recalled the cemetery was The Lutheran All Faiths' Cemetary in Queens. With that scant information, I visited the administration office of All Faiths, and to my surprise they were able to take me to that very plot! I don't believe a Martens family member had been there in decades.

Buried in front of this stone are:

Edna Bischoff d. 1917 (1 month old)

My Great Grandparents: Frederick Bischoff d. 1961, and Katherine "Kitty" Bischoff, d. 1932

My Great Great Grandparents: Adam Kuntz Nov.4 1855 - April 20, 1912
and Barbara "Grossey" Kuntz, Jan. 21 1859 - July 15 1953

Katherine "Kitty" Bischoff's sister, Margaret Looft, d. 1959, and Frederick Looft d. 1953

Only Adam and Barabara's names are chiseled in. I don't know why the stone hasn't been updated.

During the Great Depression, Fred Bischoff worked as a butcher at Schafer's Market in Manhattan.

Schafer's Market at Christmas time, 1926

Margaret Bischoff as a young girl at PS127 (now demolished).
Click the classroom photo to embiggen

A later class portrait from the year 1914, when Margaret was around 10 or 11. Can you spot her?

There she is!

Margaret Bischoff's sister, Eleanor, in the 1920's.

Margaret Bischoff, somewhere and sometime in the 1920's.

MYSTERY PHOTO
My guess is that this is a secretarial class at the Poppenheusen Institute in College Point.
I believe that's Margaret at the far left end of the front table. That might be her sister directly behind her.

Four generations, left to right: Grossey, Kitty, Margaret
and Margaret's son Warren Martens, my father. From 1931.

Grandpa's side: THE MARTENS FAMILY

The earliest known record of the Martens Family shows that in 1850, five brothers from the Kingdom of Hannover arrived in New York City. (Germany was not unified as a nation until 1871). One of the brothers, my great-great grandfather Diedrich Martens, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on October 8, 1855.

Compared to Margaret's extensive collection of ancestral portraits,
Gus, for whatever reason, saved very few of his.

Gus' father, G. Herman Martens, 1871-1921.
G. Herman died when Gus was only 20 or 21.
Gus' mother then married someone named Henry Sirk,
of whom I know nothing about.

I believe this is a youthful portrait of Gus, my grandfather, born in 1900.

GUS and MARGARET

They married in the 1920s. Don't know the specific year yet.

Gus stands to the left, Margaret sits,
the man in glasses is unidentified, and the maid of honor is longtime friend Josephine Lerner.
Though not related, they affectionately called her "Auntie Jo".

As charming as these sepia-toned photographs are,
I wish I could see the true colors of Margaret's outfit.
I can only guess that she's wearing forest green, or sky blue, or maybe maroon.

Uh oh, here's the man who almost married Margaret Bischoff!
Jack Case played in Gus' party band Martens' Peerless Orchestra.
Gus must have remained on good terms with his former romantic rival,
or else this picture would not have stayed in Gus and Margaret's collection.

In the late 1920's, newlyweds Gus and Margaret moved into this College Point house
and stayed there for the rest of their lives (how different that is from today!)
Margaret's sister Eleanor and her husband Matthias Schreiner
moved into the upstairs apartment and likewise stayed there for good.

Around the time my father was born, Grandpa Gus sold cars for Durant Motor Car Co.
Then, as now, a test drive was essential to the sale.
Gus sits in the passenger seat; the driver may be a customer, or a collegue posing as one.
Note the trolley making a sneak appearance at far right.

FUN AT THE BEACH, 1931
FEATURING GUS, MARGARET, THEIR SON WARREN, AND THE SCHREINERS

Margaret in the 1940's. Gus had sold the family car
and used some of the money to buy the nifty
radio and record player combo that Marg is enjoying.

Peek a boo!

Friends of Gus and Margaret, starting from the top:
Percy Simpson, who played piano in Martens' Peerless Orchestra.
Jayne Simpson, Percy's daughter.
Percy's wife, Carrie.
At the bottom is Carrie's mother "Ma Case", who was also the mother of Jack Case,
the violinst who almost stole Margaret away from Gus!

CHECK OUT THIS HOME MOVIE OF THE MARTENS AND SIMPSON FAMILIES
HAVING A BALL IN 1940!

The man in white is Gus' Uncle Will -William C. Martens.
Uncle Will's keg parties were an annual tradition.
The young fellow second from left is William's son, Fred "Spike" Martens.
Spike later became an Ob/Gyn physician in Manhattan.

I will always remember Gus and Margaret as "Grandpa and Grandma,"
and this is my favorite photo of them.
Gus passed away in 1977, and Margaret in 1981.
Their ashes are interred in Flushing Cemetary, NY.

BELOW IS A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO GRANDMA:

Here are some curious and unidentified photos from their collection:

The unnamed kid at right is dressed as a member of the Masonic Junior League.
Whether or not he was related to Gustave who was also a Mason, or perhaps is Gustave, I can only guess.

Here is the best family tree I've been able to construct so far. A LOT of information is certainly missing.
It's streamlined to list ONLY my father's direct ancestors and their siblings.
I'll include the cousins, nieces and nephews eventually.

Please visit this site!
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