from Notable New Yorkers, 1896-1899 by Moses King, p. 351
WILLIAM FREDERICK MITTENDORF was born at Koenigslutter, Brunswick [Germany] on 14 October 1844, a son of William Auguste Mittendorf and his wife Anna. He died at Montrose, Cortlandt Town, Westchester County, New York, on 14 February 1919. He married first on 6 July 1876 EMMA VON KEITH ZEUSCHNER. She was born at New York on 26 November 1858, a daughter of George Zeuschner and his wife Emma von Keith. She died on 5 July 1884. William married second at Manhattan, New York County, New York, on 5 August 1885 MATHILDE ANTOINETTE WEIGLE. She was born at Manhattan on 12 December 1865, a daughter of Gottlob Hellmuth Weigle and his wife Caroline Engesser. She died at Bronx County, New York, on 20 October 1954.[1] William Frederick Mittendorf was often referred to by his middle name, Frederick.
According to a letter from granddaughter Virginia,
He + his brother brought up by the minister + his wife in the town where they lived. Both he and brother orphaned - brother 9 yrs. older came to U.S. first + started in drug stores partnership etc. When he died left them to Opa [William] graduate pharmicist too! That was in Europe. Opa put someone in to run the drugstore and wen to P + S [Physicians and Surgeons College]. [2]
The New York City Directory for 1868 reported an August F. Mittendorf, druggist, living at 178 Spring Street, New York City.[3]
Frederick Mittendorf came to America on the Republic, leaving Bremen on 10 August 1865 and arriving at the port of New York on 29 September 1865. The ship's manifest listed him as a 20 year old apothecary from the state of Brunswick. An apothecary is a druggist. He traveled in a cabin,[4] a more comfortable accomodation than most immigrants received. The 1870 Census reported him at Manhattan, a 25 year old apothecary, with a personal estate of $15,000.[5] How could a young man, new to this country, have a personal estate that large? Perhaps this is the inheritance from his brother. That census also listed, living with him, Ulrich W. Becker, 22, clerk in apothecary, a native of Hanover [Germany]. This could be the person taking care of the drug store while he took classes at Columbia. He trained in Medicine at Columbia University Medical School.
William F. Mittendorf became a naturalized citizen of the United States through the Court of Common Pleas, New York City, on 20 January 1873.[6] Two days later he received his first United States passport. That document described him as 5' 4" tall, with a broad and high forehead, blue eyes, straight nose, full mouth, round chin, light hair, including a mustache, light complexion and oval face.[7]
In 1876, 31 year old William Mittendorf married seventeen year old Emma Zeuschner. Emma was a native of New York City, whose parents had been immigrants from Prussia. Her father was a physician. In their first four years of marriage, Emma gaver birth to her three children. The 1880 Census reported tha family at 123 East 25th Street, Manhattan, as follows:[8]
| Line | Name | Race | Sex | Age | Related | MS | Occupation | B | FB | MB |
| 13. | Mittendorf, William | W | M | 35 | M | physician | Brunswick | Germany | Germany | |
| 14. | Mittendorf, Emma F. | W | F | 21 | wife | M | keeping house | NJ | Germany | Germany |
| 15. | Mittendorf, William E. K. | W | M | 3 | son | S | NJ | Germany | NY | |
| 16. | Mittendorf, George S. | W | M | 1 | son | S | NY | Germany | Germany | |
| 17. | Mittendorf, Alfred D. | W | M | 5/12 b. Jan |
son | S | NY | Germany | Germany | |
| 18. | Schepler, Amelia | W | F | 22 | servant | S | servant | NY | Germany | Germany |
| 19. | Schepler, Rebecca | W | F | 20 | servant | S | servant | NY | Germany | Germany |
| 20. | Naumaw, Annie | W | F | 45 | servant | Wd | servant | Prussia | Germany | Germany |
| 21. | Bendiner. Samuel J. | W | M | 40 | boarder | M | drugs | Hungary | Hungary | Hungary |
It is not known why New Jersey was listed as the birthplace of Emma and her first son; all other records point to their births in New York.
Shortly after the birth of their third child, all three children were baptized, on 28 February 1880, at St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal Church, New York City.[9] Later, when he lived in Westchester County, they affiliated with Boscobel Methodist Church.
Emma (Zeuschner) Mittendorf died in 1884, at the age of twenty-five, after eight years of marriage. Thirteen months after her death, Willaim married Mathilde Weigle; he was forty, she nineteen.
The 1900 Census reported the William Mittendorf family at 140 Madison Avenue:[10]
| Line | Name | Related | Race | Sex | Born | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 1. | Mittendorf, W. | head | W | M | Oct 1844 | M | Germany | Germany | Germany | physician |
| 2. | Mittendorf, Matilda | wife | W | F | Dec 1865 | M | NY | Germany | Germany | |
| 3. | Mittendorf, William | son | W | M | May 1877 | S | NY | Germany | NY | physician |
| 4. | Mittendorf, George E. | son | W | M | Sep 1878 | S | NY | Germany | NY | law student |
| 5. | Mittendorf, Alfred | son | W | M | Jan 1880 | S | NY | Germany | NY | medical student |
| 6. | Mittendorf, Bernhart | servant | W | M | Aug 1880 | S | Germany | Germany | Germany | servant |
The household also included three other servants. Perhaps Bernhart was a relative recently arrived from Germany.
The 1910 Census reported William and Matilda still at 140 Madison Avenue. The children had all left home, but their household included an Austrian chambermaid, a Swedish cook from Finland, and an Irish waitress.[11]
On 27 June 1914 William Mittendorf received another passport, on which he indicated his intention to return to America in September of that year.[12] It must have been a difficult time to visit Europe, as Germany and other nations were mobalizing their troops, and Germany began their invasion of France.
William Frederick Mittendorf became a noted ophthalmologist, with an office at 140 Madison Avenue in New York City. He lived around the corner at 123 East 25th Street. He held appointments as surgeon at New York Eye and Ear Infermary and held the position of Ophthalmic surgeon at Belleview Hospital. He wrote two books, Disease of the Eye and Ear (1881) and Granular Lids and Contageous Diseases of the Eye (1896). He died in 1919 at his second home, "Four Acres," in Crugers. William was buried at the family plot at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York. [13] He is credited with discovering the Mittendorf dot. The following obituary is from an unidentified newspaper:[14]
|
Dr. Wm F Mittendorf, one of the best known physicians in New York City, died at his home in Crugers on Friday of last week, in his 75th year. He had been a sufferer from a heart affection for some time, his last illness dating from November last. Dr. Mittendorf was born in Germany, October 14, 1844, the son of Frederick Mittendorf. He came to this country in 1865, having graduated as a pharmacist in Germany. He entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Columbia University and graduated in 1873. He began practicing as an eye and ear specialist, becoming noted in his particular line. He became consulting ophthalmic surgeon at St. Marks Hospital, American Medical Association, New York State Medical Society, New York Physician’s Aid Association. He was also a consulting surgeon at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and Professor of Ophthalmology at Belleville Hospital, and a member of the Liederkranz Society and the Medico-Legal Society. He became a citizen of the United States in 1871 and for 20 years had a home in Crugers. He maintained a townhouse at 140 Madison avenue for a number of years, but for a number of years has spent all his time at Crugers, going to the city daily to attend to his practice which he continued until his last illness caused him to relinquish it. During his long and successful career he made many friends, which he held by reason of his estimable character and pleasing manner. Dr. Mittendorf was a member of the Boscobel M.E. Church for a number of years. He married in 1885 Miss Martha[Mathilde] Weigle who survives him. He also leaves three sons, Dr, Wm K., Dr. Alfred D., and Geo. S. Mittendorf of New York City. . . |
The 1920 Census reported his widow Matilda living with her step-son George Mittendorf, his wife and three children, in New York City.[15]
The 1930 and 1940 censuses reported Matilda living in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, in the vicinity of relatives. Her neighbors in 1930 were the Louis Borchers family, the parents of her step-son William's wife. In 1940 her neighbors were the Harcourts, Her step-son William's daughter and her family.[16] She died in 1954 in her eighty-ninth year.
Matilde Mittendorf was described in her 1914 passport application as 5' 4 ½", broad forehead, blue eyes, roman nose, small mouth, well developed chin, dark blond vhair, fair complexion, oval face.[17]
William Frederick Mittendorf and his first wife Emma von Keith Zeuschner had the following children:
1"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2021), William F Mittendorf, certificate 27026; Matilde A Mittendorf, certificate 35908. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C. "Deaths: Mittendorf," New York Times, 16 February 1919; Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2015), Historic Newspapers, Birth, Marriage & Death Announcements, 1851-2003. Elaine Shisler Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree (N.p.: self published, [2010]), 48. New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives, "New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2021), Mitterndorf-Weigle, 1885. New York City Department of Health, "New York, New York, Death Index, 1949-1965," Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 27 July 2021), Matel Mittendorf.
2Virginia (Mittendorf) Harcourt. Letter, to Emilie Mittendorf. 5 March 1979. From Bagster-Collins Papers. Privately held by Elaine Shisler Smith.
3H. Wilsom, comp., Trow's New York City Directory, 1967-8 (New York: John F. Trow, 1867), p. 725.
4"Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897," digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 July 2021), Republic; Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
5Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population, New York County, New York, New York, roll 1001, p. 41A, household 258, William F. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 February 2018); NARA microfilm publication M593, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
6"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2021), William F Mittendorf MD, certificate 35909; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.
7"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," William F Mittendorf.
8Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 277, roll 880, p. 78B, household 83, William F. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 February 2018); NARA microfilm publication T9; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
9Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York), Baptisms, , William Elphinstone Keith Mittendorf, George Samuel Mittendorf, Alfred Derby Mittendorf, 1880; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 16 July 2021).
10Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 687, p. 15, household 248, W. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 26 February 2018); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
11Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1266, roll 1037, p. 1A, household 10, William F. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 12 March 2018); NARA group T624, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
12"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," digital image, Ancestry, William F Mittendorf MD.
13Smith, History of the Family and Her Story Too, 49.
14"William F. Mittendorf" obituary, unidentified newspaper. Bagster-Collins Papers. Privately held by Elaine Shisler Smith.
15Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population, Manhattan, New York County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1098, roll 1214, p. 9A, household 187, George S. Mittendorf family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 15 March 2018); NARA microfilm record group T625, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
16Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 391, p. 1A, household 4, Matilde Mittendorf; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 December 2015); NARA microfilm record group T626; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 60-22, p. 15B, household 323, Matilda Mittendorf household; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 July 2021); NARA microfilm group T627.
17"Passport Applications, 1795-1925," Matilde A Mittendorf, certificate 35908.
Harcourt, Virginia (Mittendorf). Letter, to Emilie Mittendorf. 5 March 1979. Bagster-Collins Papers. Privately held by Elaine Shisler Smith.
New York City Department of Health. "New York, New York, Death Index, 1949-1965." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. "New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
New York Times New York, New York. 16 February 1919.
"Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Saint Luke's Methodist Church (Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library; New York, New York). Methodist Episcopal Church Records in New York City and vicinity. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
Smith, Elaine Shisler. History of the Family and Her Story Too: A Portrait of the Bagster-Collins Family Tree. N.p.: self published, [2010].
United States of America, "Passport Applications, 1795-1925." Database and images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
United States Department of the Census. Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018
________. Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.
________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2021.
"William F. Mittendorf." Obituary, unidentified newspaper. Bagster-Collins Papers. Privately held by Elaine Shisler Smith.
Wilson, H., comp. Trow's New York City Directory, 1867-8. New York: John F. Trow, 1867.