Mary Frances Mager b. 9 Mar 1889 Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA d. 24 Dec 1957 Hillside, Union, New Jersey, USA: Zellner Family Genealogy

1889 - 1957 (68 years)

Name	Mary Frances Mager
Born	9 Mar 1889	Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [1, 2, 3]
Christened	10 Mar 1889	Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 528 Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [2]
Gender	Female
Name	Mamie [4]
Name	Mary Mager [3, 5, 6]
Residence	13 Jun 1900	102 West St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [3]
Occupation	20 Apr 1910 [5]
Occupation	Finisher, Jewelry
Reference Number	PERS150
Residence	20 Apr 1910	102 West St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [5]
Residence	7 Jan 1920	98 - 11th Ave., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [7]
Residence	5 Apr 1930	63 Crawford St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [6]
Residence	25 Apr 1942	949 N. Broad St., Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey, USA [8]
Died	24 Dec 1957	Hillside, Union, New Jersey, USA [1]
Person ID	I150	Zellner Genealogy
Last Modified	21 Oct 2020

Father	Valerian Mager, b. 13 Apr 1862, Zepfenhan, Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, Germany , d. 8 Aug 1913, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA (Age 51 years)
Relationship	natural
Mother	Anna Marie Steets, b. 8 Apr 1863, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA , d. 12 Jun 1941, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA (Age 78 years)
Relationship	natural
Married	12 Jan 1886	Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 528 Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [3, 9, 10, 11]
Reference Number	MARR188
Documents » Slide Show		1895 New Jersey State Census Essex, Newark, Ward 3, P. 75, Valerian Mager Family
		1895 New Jersey State Census Essex, Newark, Ward 3, P. 76, Mager & Steets Families
		1900 U.S. Census NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED24, P16A-B, Valerian Mager and Jacob Steets Families (1 of 2)
		1900 U.S. Census NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED24, P16A-B, Valerian Mager and Jacob Steets Families (2 of 2)
		1910 U.S. Census NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED17, P12-B, Valerian Mager Family
		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
		1920 U.S. Census NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED119, P. 22-A, Anna Steets Mager Family
Family ID	F60	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family August Henry Schirmer, b. 17 Dec 1889, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA , d. 19 Oct 1969, Hillside, Union, New Jersey, USA (Age 79 years)

Married 20 Oct 1915 Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 528 Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA [1, 12]

Reference Number MARR760

Children

+	1. Dr. William Joseph Schirmer, b. 15 Oct 1916, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA , d. 23 Feb 2006, Seacrest Village Nursing Home, 1001 Center St., Little Egg Harbor, Ocean, New Jersey, USA (Age 89 years) [natural]
+	2. Mary Agnes Schirmer, b. 28 Dec 1917, New Jersey, USA , d. 6 Mar 2012, Oak Ridge, Anderson, Tennessee, USA (Age 94 years) [natural]
	3. Angela Mary Schirmer, b. 12 Sep 1919, New Jersey, USA , d. 23 Jul 1992, Atchison, Atchison, Kansas, USA (Age 72 years) [natural]
	4. Bernadette Mary Schirmer, b. 5 Dec 1921, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA , d. 26 May 2013, Mount St. Scholastica College, 801 S. 8th St., Atchison, Atchison, Kansas, USA (Age 91 years) [natural]
	5. Catherine Mary Schirmer, b. 4 May 1923, New Jersey, USA , d. 11 Jan 1981, La Verna Village Nursing Home, 904 S. Hall Ave., Savannah, Andrew, Missouri, USA (Age 57 years) [natural]
+	6. Margaret Mary Schirmer, b. 5 Jun 1924, New Jersey, USA , d. 6 Jun 2016, Oak Ridge, Anderson, Tennessee, USA (Age 92 years) [natural]
+	7. Elizabeth Mary Schirmer, b. 31 Aug 1925, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA , d. 7 Sep 1996, St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA (Age 71 years) [natural]
+	8. Terese Mary Schirmer, b. 15 Aug 1928, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA , d. 26 Jul 2019, Chadds Ford, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 90 years) [natural]
+	9. Living

Documents

1920 U.S. Census
NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 6, ED157, P6-B, August Schirmer Family

1930 U.S. Census
NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 9, ED7-662, P9-B, August Schirmer Family

Recordings

2009-08-13 "Story Corps"
Interview with Sr. Loretta "Bernie" Schirmer

Last Modified 21 Oct 2020

Family ID F76 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Event Map

	Born - 9 Mar 1889 - Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA
	Residence - 13 Jun 1900 - 102 West St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA
	Residence - 20 Apr 1910 - 102 West St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA
	Residence - 7 Jan 1920 - 98 - 11th Ave., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA
	Residence - 5 Apr 1930 - 63 Crawford St., Newark, Essex, New Jersey, USA
	Residence - 25 Apr 1942 - 949 N. Broad St., Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey, USA
	Died - 24 Dec 1957 - Hillside, Union, New Jersey, USA

= Link to Google Earth

Pin Legend : Address : Location : City/Town : County/Shire : State/Province : Country : Not Set

Photos

» Slide Show

1907 First Generation of Magers in America
Valerian Mager, Anna Steets & Children

The Mager Girls

Magers & In-laws

Notes

Recollections from family members solicited and compiled by Terese Schirmer Piccoli, organized and transcribed by Anne Marie Zellner:

Terese (Schirmer) Piccoli:

Mary Frances Mager -- Mamie was Valerian and Anna’s second daughter, born in 1889, just a year after Theresa. She was a lovely child with dark brown eyes and thick brown hair. Soon there were three brothers, Charles, Frank and Joseph and a sister Josephine, all born before Mary started school at St. Mary’s, the German parish in Newark in 1897. The German nuns at the school made the children feel very much at home. At that time, the family lived at (102 West Street). Mary loved school and was a good student. The school only went up to sixth grade but the children were allowed to stay in that grade until they were old enough to work around age 15. Years later, Mamie would regale her children with the learning she had memorized… by the third year it was burned into her brain. She knew the states and capitals, and the rivers they were on (only the states as of 1903). She could recite the litany by heart, starting at the northeast corner of the nation: Maine, Augusta on the Merrimac, Vermont, Montpelier on the Onion (that’s what the river was called before they changed the name) New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Providence…. She would recite her history lessons. One that I remember best: Benjamin Franklin was the son of a soap and candle maker. He was born in Boston in 1706….

When Mary left school she went to work at the usual women’s trades. Over the years until she married, she worked for a milliner, a corsetiere and a jeweler. Mary told stories to her children about “this young girl” who, on her first day at the millinery shop was asked to tack some flowers on a hat. A while later the milliner came by to see how she was doing, and saw nothing had been done. “I can’t find the tacks,” said the girl.

Another time this young girl wanted to try out for the choir at church. She was very shy so she asked a friend to go with her. They both tried out, and the friend made it, but “this girl” did not. It was not until her children got a bit older that they realized that the stories about “that girl” were about Mary, herself.

Mary worked for 12 (?) years before she was married as did all the children. Valerian was a shoemaker, and had steady work, but help was needed from all the older children as the family continued to grow. Three more girls and two boys were born in the next eight years. There were 11 children, six girls and five boys. Agnes was only six when she died of diphtheria in 1910.

The church was the center of family life for the Magers. Valerian had his shop at the house.

Gus Schirmer was from a large immigrant German family in Cleveland. He had gone to St. Ignatius College (high school) and Case School of Applied Science and was an electrical engineer. He had a job with Bell Telephone of New York. The older Mager brothers were ushers at St. Mary’s, the German parish Gus joined when he moved to Newark from Cleveland in 1912. He felt very much at home in the parish. The Mager brothers invited the young bachelor to their home where he met their two older sisters. Theresa was already keeping company with Louis Sieben. Gus (after a decent interval, of course), asked Mary to marry him.

Gus and Mary were married on October 14, 1915 at St. Mary’s church, a lovely fall wedding with altar decorations of autumn leaves. Her sisters, Jotty and Anna were her bridesmaids, along with her friend, Anna Schramm. Her little sister Gertrude was the flower girl who turned 10 just a week after the wedding. (Her older sister Theresa was not in the wedding party since she had just given birth to her first son Norbert 3 months earlier)

Gus became an expert in the subject of lightning when he worked for NY Telephone. He traveled extensively for many years, frequently being called on as a witness when lawsuits involved loss of life or property where lighting had been involved. He even had a patent for a protective device.

Gus and Mary went on to have 1 son and 8 daughters.

Mary Ag (“Sis” Schirmer) Schoenberger:

My first thoughts as I look back on my memories of Mother are that she was a good mother -- loving, kind, soft-hearted and perhaps overshadowed by Dad.

Actually, I can’t recall ever hearing her raise her voice. Discipline was not her thing. Neither was organization. Dad, for the most part, dished out the chores and the jobs and Mother went along with his decisions.

I don’t recall Mother ever saying an unkind word about anyone. But I do recall that though she put St. Mary’s nuns on a pedestal, there was one rather odd or peculiar nun whom Mom conceded was “different.”

Mother was very generous to charitable causes. Her favorite, I think, was Fr. Flannigan’s Boys Home in Omaha, Nebraska, to which she sent her entire monthly allowance ($10). In the same vein, she let it be known that money was preferable to other gifts because “I can get anything I want or need,” whereas money could go to one of her charities. In this respect Cathy was a chip off the old block -- always delighted to get money for her birthday even when she was living in New Orleans and couldn’t buy wool from Mrs. Ehrhardt.

Mother was generous, not only with her spending money, but also with her love and thoughtfulness in reaching out to people -- especially the poor, the different, the odd -- that is those who might be looked down on by many others. I am thinking of Eddie Matthews, the old lady in a long black dress who rode a bicycle through the school yard to go to the grocery on Freylingheusen Avenue and then would sit on our back porch to rest and ended up eating lunch with us in the kitchen and telling us what a wonderful mother we had.

I’m also thinking of all she did for people like Mary Jockel and Pauline Remmele (sp? Check with St V deP records!), a German lady who Mother paid to make dresses for Angie and me and maybe Bernie. They were typical German clothes and we looked like “Krauts” and hated to wear them.

I recall also 2 Cabrini nuns who periodically begged from certain houses in the area and always stopped at 1018 for lunch -- one of them always making her own “stirred” eggs.

Mother was also a very prayerful person with a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother -- hence all of us girls with the name Mary or Marie. She also had a deep appreciation for the Mass and in her later years went monthly with a few lady friends to hear Fr. Benedict Bradley, OSB lecture on the Mass. I believe this was pretty deep stuff but she seemed to absorb and appreciate it. I believe Mother was very intelligent and had she had the opportunity for a formal education, she would have excelled.

Mother was also a loyal friend, for example, Isabel, Sr. Vitalis, the Kohl family, and some of the ladies and nuns at St. Catherine’s.
I might sum up by saying that for me, Mother was a wonderful example of living out the two greatest commandments: love of God and love of Neighbor.

Sr. Loretta Schirmer, OSB (Bernie):

Mother was a deeply spiritual person who prayed her rosary daily and went to daily Mass whenever possible. I recall Isabel telling me how she and Mother made a retreat at the Cenacle in NY. Mother thought about entering the convent and talked to the retreat Master about it. He told her we needed good Mothers too. I also recall Mother giving up candy except for Christmas day for five years. I never did find out what her intention was for giving up the candy. Mother was very outgoing. She knew everyone at Church and greeted them by name.

She loved to help others, such as Mrs. Thoma, Pauline R and Mary J. or anyone in need. I drove Mrs. Franery to Bamberger’s with all her children then brought the young ones to our house so she could finish shopping without them. Once a week in summer, I took the St. Catherine Sisters to Caldwell early Monday mornings. During the Depression, she invited young couples for Sunday dinner so the fellow would have some place to take his girl.

Mother enjoyed cooking and was good at it. When the parish had bake sales, Mother’s cookies and cakes were sold before they ever got to the church. People would call to buy them. She enjoyed us too and would often say, “I don’t need to go to the movies, I have all the entertainment I need here at home.”

She was very patient with us. I can’t recall her ever slapping any one of us. On Crawford Street, she used to come around every night to bless us with Holy Water. Before we had so many children, she used to read to us in the evening.

A personal note: One day, Mother sent me upstairs for her purse. I didn’t want to go and yelled and stamped my feet on every step. Mother was in the dining room folding a basket of laundry. She never told me to stop yelling or stop making so much noise. I came down in the same way and gave her her purse in an ungracious way. All she said was, “I am going to keep sending you to get my purse until you can do it without the yelling and stamping.”’ I was young, but I could easily figure out how dumb I would be if I continued such behavior. I was not slapped, scolded or yelled at, just told what the consequences would be.

Anne Marie (“Clockie” Schirmer) Cuff:

When I was a freshman in college, we were given the assignment (by Sr. Kathleen nee Janice) of writing an essay about our mothers. I remember the first few sentences. “My mother is old-fashioned, fat and fifty (even though she was probably closer to sixty) no stylishly coifed matron one sees behind every weeping bride in magazine ads.” I’m not sure how it evolved from there, but I guess I went on to say that the former (old-fashioned etc.) was better than the latter.

I think I was not as close to Mother as other members of the clan, probably because I received a lot of mothering from other members of the family. Sis did many practical things for me. Bettie dressed me; Margy told me about menses before Mother did (which she did do -- an activity not seeming to be one either of us wanted, but which was comfortable.)

Some memories still linger from Crawford Street. There is some confusion in my mind as to what was real and what was part of our home movies. I do remember however, times when I insisted she carry me upstairs to bed because, “I was too tired to walk them.” (What a brat.) And she did this. I had to be at least a hefty 4 or 5 year old when she was still doing this. I wonder if Dad put a stop to this?

I remember the house at 949 -- delicious outdoor freedom -- fun -- friends. Mother seemingly always welcoming them. Anna May, Barbara Musel -- always there, but I didn’t notice much. Many other people around -- Mary Jockl, Aunt Jotty, Eddie Matthews, the Vetters, and on weekends, Aunt Ella (of the extended tongue,) and relatives. Mother always there, but I was so self-absorbed. All those meals had to have more organization than I knew. I think she was a good cook. Not fancy but good.
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Sources

[S56] Das Mager-Buch: Geschichte einer Familie aus vier Jahrhunderten (Erganzungsband zum "Mager-Buch" 1935), Dr. Edwart Mager, (Name: Freiburg im Breisgau, 1972;), 81.
[S34] Baptismal Register of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Newark, NJ, January 1889 - October 1908.
[S9] 1900 U.S. Census, Population Schedule; NARA Microfilm Publication T623, NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED24, P16 A-B.
[S511] Terese Schirmer Piccoli.
[S11] 1910 U.S. Census, Population Schedule; NARA Microfilm Publication T624, NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 3, ED17, P12-B.
[S15] 1930 U.S. Census, Population Schedule; NARA Microfilm Publication T626, NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 9. ED7-662, P9-B.
[S14] 1920 U.S. Census, Population Schedule; NARA Microfilm Publication T625, NJ, Essex, Newark, Ward 6, ED157, P6-B.
[S218] WWII Civilian Draft Registration Card, Gus Schirmer.
[S55] Das Mager-Buch: Geschichte einer Familie aus vier Jahrhunderten, Dr. Edwart Mager, (Location: Freiburg im Breisgau; Date: 1935;), 193.
[S130] Marriage Register of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Newark, NJ, January 1858 - December 1888, 131.
[S266] New Jersey, Marriages, 1678-1985.
[S168] Parish Register of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Newark, New Jersey.