Constantinus Leo Spielmann, 1852-1919

 

CONSTANTINUS LEO SPIELMANN was born in Rupienica, Prussia on 28 November 1852 to Paulus Spielmann and Anna (Kaminska) Spielmann.[1]  Rupienica was outside the city of Bromberg.  Background on Bromberg – today called Bydgoszcz (pronounced “Bid – gōsh”) :

With Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Nations in 1815, the town was re-annexed by Prussia as part of the Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), becoming the capital of the Bromberg Region.

In 1871 the Province of Posen, along with the rest of the Kingdom of Prussia, became part of the newly formed German Empire.

The city grew from 12,900 in 1852 to 57,700 in 1910 – of whom 84 percent were German settlers and 16 percent indigenous Poles, all holding German citizenships.

After WWI and the re-drawing of Germany boundaries, Bromberg was re-name Bydgoszcz and was part of Poland.[2]

 

Leo, as he was known, was baptized in the Catholic church on 5 December 1852.[3]  His father Paulus, a carpenter, died when Leo was just shy of 3 years old.  His mother Anna was still living when Leo married Anna Luisa Seeling on 27 December 1876.  Leo and Luisa’s (she usually went by her middle name) marriage was controversial for the time, because Leo was Catholic and Luisa was Protestant.  Their marriage record was found in the civil records – no church record was found.  On the marriage record, it shows that Leo was following in his father’s footsteps and was on his way to becoming a carpenter. [4]

Over the next few years, Leo and Luisa built their family of four girls while they lived in Schondorf, Prussia, also just outside the city of Bromberg.  In January 1893, when Leo was 40, he left Bromberg and immigrated to the United States, sailing on the SS Veendam and settling in Philadelphia.[5]  He purchased tickets in June 1893 for his wife and four daughters to join him.  These tickets cost $29.50 for Louise (she Americanized her name) and Anna, and $14.75 for each of the other three girls.[6]  The women left Bremen, Germany, on the SS Dresden, arrived in Baltimore on 30 August 1893, and made their way to Philadelphia.[7]

The family settled into their house on 1310 Grove Street in Philadelphia for a number of years.[8]  Leo and Louise had a 5th daughter while they lived in Philadelphia.  Mary Spielmann was born in December, 1895, but sadly passed away just 8 months later in August, 1896.[9]

Leo quickly found employment as a rubber worker at the Philadelphia Rubber Works plant, which was located on the Schuykill River around Reed and Schuykill Avenues.  He worked there at least through 1910, if not longer.[10]

On 15 August 1911, Louise died of kidney failure at their home at 6332 Saybrook Avenue.[11]  About 1 year later, on 21 August 1912, Leo married Mary A. Campbell, who also worked at the Philadelphia Rubber Works. This was also Mary’s 2nd marriage – her 1st husband had died about 10 years earlier. [12]   Leo and Mary lived at 3634 Earp Street (only a couple of blocks from the rubber factory) until Leo passed on 31 January 1919 of stomach cancer. Leo was buried on 4 February 1919, in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon, Pennsylvania, in the same plot as his first wife Anna Louise, in Section H, range 13, lot 44.  There is no headstone to mark his final resting place. [13]

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[1] "Kirchenbuch, 1645-1881," Katholische Kirche Bromberg (StKr. Bromberg); Taufen 1852-1863; Salt Lake City, Utah; Family History Library microfilm 008111351, p.30, no.329, Constantinus Leo Spielmann.

[2] “Bydgoszcz,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bydgoszcz : viewed 30 August 2021).

[3] “Kirchenbuch, 1645-1881,” Constantinus Leo Spielmann.

[4] "Zivilstandsregister, 1874-1883," Klein Bartelsee (Posen) Registry Office ("Standesamt"), entry 31, Spielmann-Seeling (1876); Salt Lake City, Utah; Family History Library microfilm 1189038.

[5] New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924, Family History Library microfilm 1027703, roll 602, 1 Jan 1893 - 11 Feb 1893, image 184, line 154, Leon Spielman; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81D7-9K8R : viewed 30 August 2021), image 184.  Note that although this record says Leo is 32 years old, all other information is accurate; as a new immigrant to the United States, he may have thought it was better to appear to be younger. 

[6] Rosenbaum Steamship Company (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), "Ticket purchase books, 1890-1934," book 2, page 31 (1893) for Louise Spielman and daughters, ticket no. R.121, Family History Library microfilm 1,550,639, image 348; image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS64-Z9HL-2 : viewed 31 March 2022).

[7] New York Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), SS Dresden, 30 Aug 1893, for Louise Spielman and daughters, passenger no. 168-172; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_617-0027 : viewed 28 Nov 2020), image 22.

[8] 1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 36, enumeration district (ED) 0942, sheet 12A, dwelling 228, family 227, Lev. Speilman household; NARA microfilm T623, roll 1478.  Also, 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 36, enumeration district (ED) 0901, sheet 10A, dwelling 152, family 166, Leo Speilman household; NARA microfilm T624, roll 1407.

[9] “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRSQ-T9L : viewed 30 August 2021), image 917; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  Mary’s death certificate states she was 9 months old at the time of her death; her birth date of December 1895 is calculated using this information.

[10] 1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lev. Spellman household.  Also, 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Leo Spielman household.

[11] Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certficate no. 20198 (1911), Anna Louise Spielmann; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZW3-WVJ : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 234.

[12] Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License, file no 283998 (1912), for George Spellman and Mary A Campbell; Family History Library Film 004285339; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-67C3-JRW : viewed 13 Dec 2020), images 1734- 1736.

[13] Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certficate no. 18282 (1919), Leo Spielman; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/41381_622204_0906-02480 : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 2480.