Welcome to my genealogy blog. Ancestors I Wish I Knew is a combination of genealogical information and stories about individuals in my family tree. The focus is on those from my Cochrane, Eitelbach, Merrett, Minarcik and Richards lines and their descendants.

Friday, August 2, 2019

#190-- Four Brothers in the Jewelry Business






The theme for this week’s blog is brothers. I was really excited.  My great grandparents, Louis and Maria Eitelbach has six children—all boys.  They lived in Hagen, Germany until 1896 when they, along with their four youngest children—Walter, Louis, Maxmillian and William—came to the United States.  They settled in Brooklyn, New York at 1287 Greene Street.  After their arrival, Maria had two more children—Harry and Frank.

Four of the brothers—Walter, Louis, Harry, and Frank-- went into the jewelry business in New York City.  Under the name of Eitelbach Brothers, they designed, manufactured, and sold fine jewelry.  I am not sure, but I believe that Louis designed the jewelry, Harry and Frank manufactured it and Walter sold it.  I remember going to 2 West 47th Street, New York City right off Fifth Avenue and seeing them make jewelry.







The other two brothers took different paths.  Maxmillian went into the mortgage business and became assistant manager of the New York Title and Mortgage Company.  There is little information about William, however, in the census, he describes his occupation once as a machinist and another time as a jewelry manufacturer.





I really wish I had talked to my grandfather about the jewelry business.  I also wish I had been able to spend time with my uncles.


1 comment:

  1. Elaine Eitelbach PentonSeptember 13, 2019 at 1:01 PM

    Hello Mary, I've commented on a previous photo of our mutual great grandparents, Louis and Marie Eitelbach. I'm not a blogger nor do I know much about ancestry, but found you through searching for Eitelbach relatives. You have done an amazing research, writing and posting job! How can we connect? Could you possibly connect with me from my LinkedIn profile www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-penton-bb7b1485

    ReplyDelete