Siegmund Freudenberg (1828-1908)

Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908), aka Siegmund Freudenberg was a worker at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (b. 1828, Friedrichswerder, Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia/Germany - March 23, 1908, Manhattan, New York)

Birth
He was born around 1828 in Berlin, Germany.

First marriage
Sigmund married Clara Charlotte Horwitz (1834-?) on January 3, 1856 in Eisleben, Germany in a Jewish ceremony. Her parents were Leopold Ludwig Horwitz and Dorothea Pauline Lousia Borneman.

Children

 * Maximillian S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921)
 * Alfred Freudenberg (1859–?)
 * Gertrude Freudenberg (1861–?)

Berlin
The first clue that the family was from Berlin came from the World War I draft registration of Richard F. Freudenberg (1896-1988) in 1918. Richard was the son of Max. The idea that he was from the Friedrichswerder church comes from a reference to a Clara Charlotte Horwitz (1834-?) christened on September 29, 1834 at Friedrichswerder and recorded in the International Genealogical Index.

Death of first wife
Clara most likely died in childbirth in Germany between 1861 and 1865. Her last child was born in 1861 and her widower came to the US with the children in 1865.

Emigration
Sigmund and his children came to the United States in 1865 and they appear in the 1870 US census.

Second marriage
He married Augusta Hermann (1835-1904) between 1865 and 1868.

Children

 * Kate Freudenberg (1869–before 1880)
 * Carry Hildise Freudenberg (1871–before 1880)
 * Harriette Freudenberg (1871–before 1880)
 * Jennie Freudenberg (1872–1943) Eidelman

Manhattan and Philadelphia
In 1870 he was living in Manhattan, New York City, New York and "Siegmund" was an agent at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He resided in Ward 15, District 12. In 1880 he was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at age 51. Siegmund resided at 935 North 6th Street. His occupation was listed as "life insurance". In 1905 he was living in Manhattan, New York City, New York and was listed as the retired father-in-law of Joseph Eidelman.

Death
He died on March 23, 1908 in Manhattan and his death certificate was number "9795".

Relationship
Sigmund Freudenberg (1828-1908) was the second great-grandfather of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).

Source
Researched and written by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) for Findagrave starting on September 10, 2003.

Updates
"Siegmund Freudenberg" (1830-1908) who died on March 23, 1908 in Manhattan was a suspect for being our Sigmund but there was no evidence. The family oral tradition was the Max came alone as crew on a ship and stayed on in the US illegally by "jumping ship". Sigmund never appeared in the 1880 or 1900 census and he was not buried with the other family members in Brooklyn or in Jersey City. On June 6, 2011, Kevin Borland discovered more information on Sigmund Freudenberg from the 1870 census that contained both Max and Sigmund together. It was improperly transcribed at Ancestry.com but was correctly transcribed at Familysearch.com. This let him connect the Sigmund that died in 1908 to our Sigmund. He wrote: "I also found Sigmund Freudenburg's second wife Augusta, after Clara died. Sigmund had a full-sister Gertrude, and a half-sister Jennie, hence the origin of the name Jenny Gertrude. We'll have to search Philadelphia records to prove it's the same family, but I think it is, because Max is in the household in 1870 when they lived in New York, before Sigmund shows up in Philadelphia 1880. Sigmund sold life insurance. His office was across the street from the US Mint. Siegmund Freudenberg died March 23, 1908 in Manhattan. Up until then, he was living with his daughter Jennie (Freudenberg) Eidelman." Kevin then found him in the 1880 census and the 1905 census and found the names of the children from his second wife.