Kristina Josephina Nelson
We all know that our great grandfather, Charles Emil Nelson, was famous for his glass blowing at the Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York. He was a master at his craft and his picture was on the front page of more than one Corning Glass Works promotional magazine. Grandma even proved that the Corning Glass Works Tower image is designed after a pose Charles made.
But did any of us realized that he had an extended family that immigrated to the United States? I never thought about researching the Nelson side of our family until after one genealogy course I took suggested going over old documents again to see what I could have been missed when I first started researching.
I decided to go through obituaries. I had one for our great grandfather Charles Emil Nelson who was born 10 May 1870 in Sweden and died 18 March 1941 in Corning, New York.
The obit noted surviving family members. “His widow; two daughters, Mrs. Francis Ryan of Corning and Miss Josephine Nelson at home; two sons, John and Nils, both of Corning; a sister, Miss Josephine Nelson of New York City; a brother D.J. Nelson of Elmira”.
I hadn’t thought about the Nelson or Ryan family living outside the Corning area during my early research and here is Miss Josephine Nelson living in NYC in 1941. So going back through other records I had, the obituary for her brother, Oscar, also mentions his sister, Miss Josephine Nelson of New York City as surviving him.
So, I had to look for Miss Josephine Nelson living in New York City.
The parents of Josephine Nelson were Nils Andersson and Johanna Lena Jakobsdotter. The had eight children and lived in Vanersborg, Alsvborg, Sweden.
Britta Maja 1865-1870
Anders Johan 1867-1942
Charles Emil 1870-1941
Gustaf Adolf 1873-?
Kristina Josephine 1876-1954
Oskar Nils 1878-1939
Erik Nelson 1881-?
Verner Napoleon 1884-1915
SWEDISH HOUSEHOLD EXAMINATION BOOK
Charles and his brothers, Anders Johan and Gustaf Adolf, immigrated to the
United States around 1866. Gustaf went
back to Sweden, but Charles and Anders stayed in the States and lived in the
Corning and Elmira, New York area for the remainder of their lives.
Kristina and Oskar immigrated together on 23 Oct 1895. Kristina was 19 years old and Oskar was 17. They traveled on the Main Deck of the ship named Teutonic and each had one piece of luggage. Their destination was Corning, New York.
After Kristina and Oskar arrived in New York City, they both went to the Corning/Elmira area in New York. Oskar would live with Charles and Emma in their home on Denmark Hill in Corning until 1904. Oskar then married Alma C. and moved to their own home on Denmark Hill.
Josephine chose to rent a room at 364 W. Clinton Street in Elmira and began working as a domestic/servant for George and Grace Buck.
George was a lawyer in Elmira and he and Grace had three children; Joseph 9 yrs. old, Peter 6 yrs. old and Jerome 6 months. Grace had previously been married and her daughter, Pearl, 14 yrs. old, was living there too. Their home was at 439 W. Clinton Street, a block away from where Josephine rented her home. Josephine worked for the Buck Family until 1904.
Swedish immigration was on the uptick in the late 1890s and early 1900. Swedish women were well educated in Sweden and could read and write the English language, so job opportunities were in abundance for Swedish woman in the United States.
New York City had plenty of job opportunities for servants, maids, cooks, waitresses and domestics. The Swedish Evangelical Church had a strong standing in New York City and promoted Swedish woman in finding jobs and living arrangements in New York City.
Maybe while working for the Buck family, Josephine possibly read a newspaper from New York City and saw a listing such as this one:
That may have prompted her to look at moving to New York City, since by June 1905, she had started working for the Robbins/Parson family in Brooklyn, New York.
The Robbin/Parson family lived at 114 Sixth Avenue and apparently were very wealthy. One news article mentions, Aaron Swain Robbins, father of Michael Robbins and his sister, Nellie Parsons, who live at 114 Sixth Avenue, was a “millionaire of dry goods man of Manhattan” and “a tremendously big and successful real estate investor”.
The 1905 New York State Census for the Robbins and Parsons has six servants listed as living with the family. Josephine was listed as a maid, and two others as houseworkers, one was a cook, another a laundress and of course a necessary coachman to get around the city. Josephine worked for the Robbin/Parson family for the next 15 years.
In 1920, Josephine started working for Henry de Forest Baldwin’s family living at 116 65th Street in Manhattan. Henry was a Lawyer working at a private law firm in Manhattan. He and his wife Jesse had three children living with them at this time. They also had three “servants”. Anna is a waitress; Josephine is a chambermaid; and Esther is the cook for the family.
In 1925, Josephine worked as a cook for William Frothingham and his family. They were living in Glenn Cove, Nassau County, New York. William was a “Confidential Man” and he and his wife, Florence, had two children 18 and 13. Also living with the Frothingham’s was Elsie, their Tutor/Governess; Elena, their Chambermaid; and Josephine was their Cook.
After 1935, Josephine rented homes in the Brooklyn and Manhattan area while working for families. In 1936 when she was 60 years old, she applied for Social Security. She wrote that she was employed by the Links Club Inc. and that her address was the same.
This address was used by other Swedish woman at this time too. Links Club, Inc. was a private club for men that played professional golf.
On June 22, 1944, when Josephine was 68 years old, she got notification that she had become a citizen of the United States. She had applied sometime during the 1920s.
During her 59 years living and working in NYC, Josephine remained single. There are many newspaper articles about the families she worked for as they were all well-known local families and well off financially. She was there for graduations, marriages, parties, business event and funerals held at the homes of her employers.
She lived in New York City during Prohibition, the Wall Street Crash in 1929, World War 2, and would certainly have seen the new Ford Model-T driving along Park Avenue.
I did find documents that indicate that she went back to Sweden at least 2 different times. Both were around the time her mother and father passed away.
While doing research on Josephine and her life, I found the death index noted she had an autopsy done when she died. Much to my surprise, I was able to get a copy of the autopsy. It was seven pages and very detailed.
It state that "on January 23, 1954, while visiting the home of Dr. David Livingston at 214 80th Street in Brooklyn, NY, Josephine was alleged to have fallen in the yard. She went back to her home at 560 Dean Street in Brooklyn. Then on February 2nd, Dr. Livingston took her to the Coney Island Hospital where he 'pinned' her hip, but she expired suddenly.”
Josephine was 78 years old. She was “well-developed, well nourished, white female, appearing younger than stated age. She was 5’3”, weighing 150 lbs. Her hair is white and iron grey, straight and long”.
Josephine was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn,
New York. Her grave was paid for by Dr.
Livingston and her burial plot is in the same area as his family.
Update: Brother John was able to go to the Greenwood Cemetery in December 2023. He was able to locate the area Josephine was buried. Her marker should be somewhere to the left of curved black stone with "Hier Runen" and Karl Laier on it. Make picture bigger.
Thanks for going John
UPDATE!!
I FOUND JOSEPHINES PETITION FOR APPLICATION TO
BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE US!
I'm excited because it included a picture of Josephine
Below is the form she filled out
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