Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921)



Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921) was a "small fry" in organized crime. He ran the numbers game, an illegal lottery in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. He was also a tobacconist and operated a liquor store in Manhattan, under Lindauer and Company. In 1881 he ran the Theatre Comique, Jersey City, New Jersey and converted it from legitimate theater to burlesque, in what was called a "leg show" where he served alcohol without having a liquor license. He was named during the Lexow Commission hearings in 1894 and retired in the same year to Rye, New York. He was a Free and Accepted Mason. (b. April 1836, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA - d. March 03, 1921, 3:00 pm, 209 Locust Avenue, Rye, Westchester County, New York, USA)

Name variations

 * Charles Frederick Lindauer
 * Charles F. Lindauer
 * C. F. Lindauer
 * Charlie Lindauer in the 1894 Lexow Committee report

Confusion
He may be the same person as Charles Lindauer (1840-?) who was also married to Caroline Ritter (1846-?). He may have had a second home with a second wife. The children of Charles Lindauer (1840-?) were raised by the sibling of Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921).

Parents

 * Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866)
 * Oscarfirstwife X (1815-circa1850)
 * Sophia Weber (1815-1891) as his stepmother

Birth
Charles was born in 1838 according to the 1855 New York Census. The 1870 United States Census has him born in 1840 in Pennsylvania. He was born in April of 1836 in Pennsylvania according to the 1900 United States Census.

Full siblings

 * John Jacob Lindauer (1841-1888) who was born in Pennsylvania and married Nellie X (1853-1887), worked as a cigar maker, and had several children and grandchildren
 * Louis Julius Lindauer (1842-1915) who was born in Pennsylvania and married Mary Sheehan (1842-1888) who appears to have raised the children of John Jacob after John died.

Death of mother and father remarries
His mother died somewhere between 1842 when her last child was born and 1852 when Oscar Arthur Moritz Lindauer (1815-1866) married Sophia Weber (1815-1891).

Half sibling

 * Eloise Lindauer I (1852-1944) who married William Arthur Ensko II (1850-1889) and have several children and grandchildren.

Marriage
In February of 1857 Charles married Anna Augusta Kershaw (1841-1931), most likely in New York City.

Children

 * Eloise Lindauer (1859-1859) who died as an infant. ✝
 * Eloise Lindauer II (1861-1935) aka Ellie Lindauer, who married Max S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921). This line is extant.
 * Rebecca Lindauer (1863-1864) who died as an infant. ✝
 * William Lindauer (1866-aft1872). This line may have died out.
 * Ada Lindauer I (1868-1895) aka Adeline Lindauer I, who married Charles L. Schoenfeld II (1858-aft1920).
 * Anna Lillian Lindauer (1873-1956) who married Ira Lowe (1875-bef1910). This line is extant but no one is in touch with living members.
 * Harry Chauncey Lindauer I (1877-1923) who married Hannah Cecilia Shea (1884-?) and he died of syphilis in 1923. His widow would later marry John Foran (1887-?). His line died out.
 * LeBaron Hart Lindauer (1879-1945) aka Lee Lindauer, who is named after the physician that attended his birth, and he was married to Catherine Harney (1878-1966). He did not have any children.

Other children in his household
Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) writes: Charles had other children in his household and he may have been the father of the children with other women. They include:
 * Arthur Oscar Lindauer (1867-1944) who was a trapeze performer who never married and who doesn't appear on the 1870 United States Census with the other children.
 * Grover Cleveland Lindauer (1885-1968) with Mary Dunne as the mother. He was listed as Grover Dunne in the census. He later lived in the Charles Frederick Lindauer I (1836-1921) household.
 * Louis Miller who is listed as a brother of Grover in a family photo.
 * Charlotte Lindauer (1869-1894) aka Lottie Lindauer aka Lottie Landus, with Caroline Ritter (1846-?) as the mother. Lottie was buried in Brooklyn with Charles' other children. Natalie Jean Lindauer (1910-1996) said that Caroline Ritter was a family member, and she thought that she was the woman that emigrated from France that married the Lindauer in her family. Charlotte appears as a child of "Charles Lindauer" in the 1870 United States Census and in her death certificate, but she appears in the  1880 United States Census as the child of John Jacob Lindauer. Other children exist that died at birth, or as infants, and are buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, but their birth and death certificates must still be found in the New York archives to confirm if they are the children of Charles or one of his siblings.

Free and Accepted Mason
Tom Savini of the Livingston Masonic Library writes: "Brother [Charles] Lindauer received his first Masonic degree in 1861 at the age of 24. His occupation was 'clerk', his birthplace reads 'America', and his residence as 'New York'. The date of his first degree was March 23, 1861; he received his 2nd degree on April 03, 1861; and he completed his membership in the lodge with his 3rd degree on January 27, 1864. It seems possible that Brother Lindauer took part in the Civil War, as it is not usual to have a three-year gap between the 2nd and 3rd degrees."

Manhattan, New York
In 1866 Charles was listed in the New York City Directory working at 193, 188 and 280 Canal Street at an "exchange" and living in New Jersey. In 1866 he was listed as working at 193 Canal Street at an "exchange".

1870 census
In 1870 the name "Charles Lindauer" appears twice in the census in two different households. The first appearance has Charles Lindauer born in "New York" in 1840, living with his mother and his wife Anna, and his first three children: Eloise, William, and Adeline. Missing from the household is Arthur Oscar Lindauer who was born in 1867 but he may have a different mother. A few blocks away in Manhattan, there was a "Charles Lindauer" born in 1840 in "Pennsylvania", working as a policy dealer, he is Charles Lindauer (1840-?). This Charles is listed as the husband of Caroline Ritter (1846-?), aka Carrie Ritter and they had two children: George Lindauer (1867-?); and Charlotte Lindauer (1869-1894) aka Lottie Lindauer. Charlotte Lindauer was buried in the Lindauer family plot in Cypress Hills under the name "Lottie Landers" and her mother was listed as "Carrie" and the father as "Charles" on her death certificate. The descendants of John Jacob Lindauer in 2007 heard a story about Caroline Ritter, that she didn't speak English and was married to the Lindauer in their family.

Hoboken, New Jersey
In 1880 Charles and Anna were living at 51 8th Street in Hoboken, New Jersey with their children and their new son-in-law: Maximillian S. Freudenberg.

Cigars and liquor
Charles was working as a cigar dealer according to the 1880 census. In the 1880-1881 New York City Directory he is listed as selling cigars at 184 Mercer Street, and he was living at 45 Morton Street. His brother Louis Julius Lindauer was also listed as selling "segars". All three brothers appear in the Jersey City and Hoboken Directory of 1880-1890 as cigar dealers or cigar makers. Both Louis and Charles appear in the 1890 New York City directory working at their liquor store at 32 University Place: "Lindauer, Louis, liquors, 32 University pl. h 295 W. Houston" and "Lindauer, Charles F. liquors, 32 University pl. h Mt. Hope pl. c Flectwood av."

Lindauer & Company, Tobacconists
The following appears in the Brooklyn Eagle on June 02, 1889: News from Jersey City. August Mueller, who was the collector in this city for Lindauer & Co., tobacconist, was sent to jail this morning for contempt of court. His employers were dissatisfied with his returns and had a receiver appointed to examine his accounts. Mueller refused to surrender his books and his arrest followed.

Policy dealer
Charles Lindauer, the policy dealer, was involved in the 1894-1895 corruption scandal in New York City and his name came up in the Lexow Committee hearings run by State Senator Clarence Lexow of Nyack, New York. Testimony involving Charles was: "Lindauer has a new place [in New York City]; he is a small fry backer." The New York Times on October 12, 1894 reported: "Lindauer, who was a small-fry backer, had a portion of the lower east side. ..."

Q. So you are thoroughly familiar with the game and all its workings.

Q. Now, I ask you about whether or no these backers divided up certain portions of the city, and you have not answered m; question yet upon that point, as I would like you to?

A. Well, to a certain extent; now, Gammon, he has mostly down about South and Broad streets; they come up a little further; and Lindauer has a new place; he is a small fry backer; you come up, and Billy Meyers is a backer on the east side, around the Hebrew district, and up about as far as Sixth street; and you get up above that, then Morton and Murray have a good many places, and Hogan; and up above Fourteenth street Parker's places up to Harlem, Ninety-eighth street and One Hundredth street, and along around there.

Q. That is the east side?

A. Yes; Al Adams has from Fourteenth street up on the west side mostly; nobody else can go in there, it is impossible; and down below that Hogan, and Murray and Meyers, and all the rest of them have them on the west side.

By Mr. Goff:

Q. By what means do those backers divide up the city between them; for instance, Al Adams has the territory from Fourteenth street to Harlem river; how can he have that territory for himself?

A. I don't know; if you wanted to do the same thing, I suppose, and went over there and fixed the captain not to let any other place run, he would not let anyone else there.

Q. Is that the means by which these backers obtain exclusive business in a certain district?

A. So far as I or anybody else is concerned, it is.

Q. You know the business thoroughly from top to bottom?

A. Yes, sir.

...

Q. Now, could you tell us how many of those backers are in the city of New York?

A. I can name them off for you.

Q. Name them, if you can?

A. Al Adams, Jake Shipsey

Q. Why do you put Al Adams first?

A. Al has the most number of sheets, and he is the biggest man, and has the most money, and has the biggest pile.

Q. He is called the king of the policy dealers, isn't he? A. Yes; and there is Jake Shipsey; he is another big man; Cornelius B. Parker, and Billy Meyers, and Ed Hogan, and Charlie Lindauer, Dick Gammon; how many is that; (the stenographer states the number); Morton - Billy Morton, Murray - if I seen the names I could tell you.

Q. If they occur to you again, all right?

A. Yes; all right.

Q. Now, can you state of these 14 or 15 policy backers in this city, if they have the city divided up into districts?

A. Oh, yes; they, some of them, join together; now, they all work rather together, except Parker; he, as Parker says, he has to buck against the whole lot of them.

Rye, New York
Between 1894 and 1895 Charles moved the family to Rye, New York. He bought the Halsted estate at 209 Locust Avenue and Maple Avenue. The move most likely was by him being named by the Lexow Committee for running a numbers game in Manhattan. The oral family tradition was that he owned several "wine or beer gardens" and lived in a huge estate in Rye. In 1900 United States Census he was living in Rye with his unmarried children and two nephews: Grover Dunne; and Louis Miller. Grover and Louis appear in a family photograph, but where they fit in family tree is not certain yet. It's possible that Charles fathered the two "nephews" with other women. Grover Dunne aka Grover Cleveland Lindauer (1885-1968) never would talk about his parents, but his death certificate lists his mother as "Mary Dunne" and his father as "Charles Lindauer". In 1910 the family was living at 209 Locust Avenue in Rye and they were living with: Anna Lindauer, now a widow, and her two children: Blanche Lowe (1898-1998); and Joseph Lowe (1903-1979). Both Charles and his son, LeBaron, appear in the 1914-1915 Rye City Directory with LeBaron working as a clerk. In 1920 Charles and Anna were still living at 209 Locust Avenue, but now in the house was their son, Arthur Oscar Lindauer. In 1920 Charles' other son, Harry was living at 38 Elm Place in Rye, with his wife, child and the following siblings: LeBaron Hart Lindauer (1879-1945) and his wife Catherine Harney (1878-1966); Anna Lindauer (1873-1956) the widow of Ira Lowe I (1870-bef1910) and her two children, Blanche and Joseph Lowe.

Death
Charles died in 1921 of "myocarditis" and he was buried in Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye, New York with his wife, and daughter Anna Lillian Lindauer (1872-1956) who married Ira Lowe.

Obituary
His obituary appeared in the Port Chester Daily Item on Thursday, March 03, 1921 and reads as follows:

"Charles F. Lindauer, a resident of Rye for thirty years or more, died at his home on Locust Avenue at 3:40 yesterday afternoon. Deceased was in his eighty-eighth year and had been a sufferer from a complication of diseases. His confinement to bed had been quite brief, however, inasmuch as he was quite active only a few weeks ago, when he and his wife celebrated the sixty-fourth anniversary of their marriage. Of a retiring disposition, Mr. Lindauer had never taken active part or interest in public affairs of any kind. He and his family had occupied the old Halsted place at the corner of Maple and Locust avenues during the entire period of their residence in the village. Mr. Lindauer having been the head of a flourishing business in New York for a number of years after coming here. Deceased is survived by his widow and five children: Mrs. Anna Lowe, Arthur, LeBaron and Harry Lindauer, all of Rye, and Mrs. Eloise Freudenberg of Jersey City Heights, N.J. The funeral and interment will be private."

Timeline

 * 1836 Birth of Charles Frederick Lindauer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April
 * 1840 Living in Pennsylvania
 * 1840 US Census not found yet
 * 1841 Birth of John Lindauer, his brother in Pennsylvania
 * 1842 Birth of Louis Julius Lindauer, his brother, in Pennsylvania
 * 1850 United States Census (not found yet)
 * 1850 (circa) Move from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Manhattan, New York
 * 1855 Living in Manhattan and working as a clerk
 * 1857 Marriage to Anna Augusta Kershaw (1841-1931) in Manhattan or Glen Cove, New York
 * [1860 United States Census]] with "August Lindauer" as head of household
 * 1860 Birth of Eloise Lindauer II, his daughter, on March 25th
 * 1860 Purchase of burial plot at Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, NY on May 4th
 * 1861 Working as a clerk
 * 1861 Received his first Masonic degree on March 23, 1861 at age 24
 * 1861 Received his second Masonic degree on April 23rd
 * 1864 Working on Canal Street and living in New Jersey
 * 1864 Received his third Masonic degree and full membership on January 27, 1864
 * 1866 Death of Oscar A.M. Lindauer, his father, on Wednesday, September 5, 1866
 * 1866 Living in Greenwich Village in Manhattan
 * 1867 Birth of Arthur Oscar Lindauer, his son, in Plainfield, New Jersey on August 23, 1867
 * 1869 Ground broken for the construction of Grand Central Station
 * 1869 Living at 165 Spring Street, Manhattan, New York City
 * 1869 Working at 48 Mercer Street, Manhattan, New York City
 * 1870 Living in Manhattan, New York during the US census
 * 1870 United States Census with Charles Lindauer living with mother and wife Anna
 * 1878 Working at 184 Mercer and living at 47 Macdougal Street in Manhattan
 * 1879 Living at 245 East 20th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
 * 1879 Birth of LeBaron Hart Lindauer, his son, in Manhattan on August 14th
 * 1879 (circa) Move from Manhattan to Hoboken, New Jersey
 * 1880 Living at 51 8th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey
 * 1880 Marriage of Eloise Lindauer, his daughter to Max S. Freudenberg I (1858-1921)
 * 1880 United States Census with Charles Frederick Lindauer as head of household
 * 1881 Owner and manager of the Theatre Comique, Jersey City, New Jersey
 * 1882 Theatre Comique, Jersey City, New Jersey closed
 * 1884 Living at 200 Bloomfield Avenue in Hoboken, New Jersey
 * 1888 Death of John Jacob Lindauer (1840-1888), his brother
 * 1889 Living in Manhattan and operating a liquor store "liquors, 32 University pl. h Mt. Hope pl. c Flectwood av."
 * 1890 Living at Mount Hope Place and corner of Flectwood Avenue, Manhattan, New York City
 * 1890 United States Census (no longer exists)
 * 1890 Manhattan police census not found
 * 1890 Working as a liquor merchant at 32 University Place, Manhattan, with his brother Louis
 * 1894 Named in the Lexow Commission report
 * 1895 (circa) Move from New Jersey to Rye, New York
 * 1900 Living in Rye, New York
 * 1900 United States Census with Charles Frederick Lindauer as head of household
 * 1920 Living in Rye, New York
 * 1920 United States Census with Charles Frederick Lindauer as head of household
 * 1921 Living a 209 Locust Avenue in Rye, New York
 * 1921 Death in Rye, New York

Research

 * Researched and written by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) for Findagrave starting on July 9, 2003. The information was migrated here to Familypedia on November 8, 2006.
 * Tom Savini of the Livingston Masonic Library wrote: "Brother [Charles] Lindauer received his first Masonic degree in 1861 at the age of 24. His occupation was 'clerk', his birthplace reads 'America', and his residence as 'New York'. The date of his first degree was March 23, 1861; he received his 2nd degree on April 3, 1861; and he completed his membership in the lodge with his 3rd degree on January 27, 1864. It seems possible that Brother Lindauer took part in the Civil War, as it is not usual to have a three-year gap between the 2nd and 3rd degrees."
 * Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) writes on February 26, 2013: "I wonder how ruthless Charles and his siblings were. I just think of them as friendly lottery ticked sales people, but I think you have to be a bit Tony Soprano to stay in business. I wonder if they ever had to kill off anyone encroaching on their territory. They ran a burlesque theater and ran the numbers game in Greenwich Village in Manhattan"