William Fredrick Hofmann

1877 - 1980  (102 years)

• Name	William Fredrick Hofmann  [1]
  Birth	30 Dec 1877	Giessen, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Anecdote	Abt 1901  [3]
  	William played in the Cornet Band in Butler, NJ. He marched in the parade in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of President William McKinley. Someone has a picture of him. He also played in a band in Philadelphia that was conducted by John Phillip Sousa.
  Obituary	William Hoffman came to the US when he was two in January 1880.At the age of 11 he was orphaned in the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) flood of 1889. He lost his father, mother, oldest sister, paternal Grandfather in all 27 other relatives on that fateful day 31st of May 1889. After the flood the children were sent to the Northern Home for Friendless Children in Philadelphia Clara Barton had found the orphaned children living in an abandoned house in Johnstown and tried to find a home for them by asking relatives to take them in. It wasn't that they didn't want the children, but they too were badly affected by the flood some losing their lives and others just losing their homes, property and jobs. It was hard times for all in Johnstown. He spent three years in the Orphanage and did very well in public school. Then in the Jan 1894, when he was17 years old, he had the opportunity to leave the orphanage's care and go to a trade school in Media, PA that was called The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades. He was accepted. How long William Fredrick lived in there is unknown but quite possibly till he was 18. The program at Williamson was a three year program. Then he had to go out and make it in the world. He went to live with his uncle in Newark, Henry C. Hofmann who was a Baptist minister. Later he was transferred to Butler NJ. and that's where he met Rhoda Ann Mabey and they were married on the 1st of Nov 1899 in the Butler Baptist Church. He then worked at the Hard Rubber factory in Butler till in 1911 they moved to Johnstown where he worked for awhile with his brother Frederick William Hofmann learning the plumbing trade. He opened up his own plumbing business later in Portage, PA. He bought his brother's home on Caldwell Ave. in Portage. He continued in the plumbing business till 1929 when the Hofmann family moved to Chicago (In Berwyn) where he went to work for the Marshall Fields Co. where he retired from in 1958.
  Reference Number	26494
  Death	19 Mar 1980	Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota   [4, 5]
  	Respiratory arrest, due to terminal pneumonia
  Burial	Lakewood Cemetery, Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota   [1]
  Person ID	I26299	Maybee Society
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Rhoda Ann Mabey,   b. 7 Oct 1881, Bloomingdale, Passaic County, New Jersey d. 4 Oct 1983, Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota (Age 101 years)
  Marriage	1 Nov 1899	Butler Baptist Church, Butler, Morris County, New Jersey   [3]
  	by Rev. William Faux
  Children	1. William Frederick Hofmann, Jr,   b. 31 Aug 1910   d. 3 Jan 1984, Crow Wing County, Minnesota (Age 73 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F8107	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024

  
  

• Sources

  [S309] Linda Hofmann Coltrin, Descendants of John Henry Mabey; Compile Date: March 5, 2005; Compiler Address: Lmcoltrin@comcast.net. [S309] Linda Hofmann Coltrin, Descendants of John Henry Mabey; Compile Date: March 5, 2005; Compiler Address: Lmcoltrin@comcast.net, Williamson Free School for Mechanical Trades, Media, PA registration book, 296. [S309] Linda Hofmann Coltrin, Descendants of John Henry Mabey; Compile Date: March 5, 2005; Compiler Address: Lmcoltrin@comcast.net, Obit Column for William F. Hofmann Crosby MN March 1980. [S309] Linda Hofmann Coltrin, Descendants of John Henry Mabey; Compile Date: March 5, 2005; Compiler Address: Lmcoltrin@comcast.net, Death Certificate MN, for William F. Hofmann. [S1] Ancestry.com online; Url: http://www.ancestry.com/, Minnesota, Death Index, 1908-2002.