Today, we run down the children of Heinrich Kempen & Annie Dertinger (my great-great grandparents). As discussed in one of the first blog posts, the Kempen clan all lived at 1669 Third Ave in Manhattan from the late 1800's through the 1930's when they began to move to Astoria, Queens.
The oldest of the children is Henry (1897-1969) who everyone knew as "Henny". Born on May 6, 1897 in NYC he is listed on the 1900 & 1910 census reports with the Kempen family. On his WW1 draft registration card he is listed as employed by the American Express Co, but by August 9 of the same year, he was enlisted in the US Army as a wagoner. He was assigned to base #4 in France. He probably did not see much action in the war since by November of 1918 the war was officially over.
Henny Kempen (bottom right) with Army buddies.
The January 1920 census has Henny listed as a chauffeur it was around this time that he married Marion Scully (1898-1971), my great grandmother. I have not been able to find an exact date for their marriage but their first and only child, Veronica, was born November 23, 1921 in Astoria. This Kempen family is listed once again in the 1930 census as residing at the Third Ave building. Henny's occupation was an electrician at a brewery. Other members of the Kempen family worked at Jacob Ruppert's Brewery around this time, too.
The family lore is that Henny was a "flim-flam" man, a bit of a con artist. Marion and Henny split up around this time and I have not been able to find much evidence of Henny's life afterwards. MArion and Veronica did not have much contact with him afterwards, as well. There are address directories showing that Henny lived at various addresses in the east end of Suffolk County, NY. Supposedly, he was living with a woman named Consuella later in life. His social security death record says his last residence was in the Hampton Bays and he died January 20, 1969 and is buried at the National Veterans Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY.
Marion Scully was born August 29, 1898 in New Jersey to Michael H. Scully (1866-1908) and Ann O'Neill (1873-?). Michael & Ann were both born in Ireland. Annie was from Northern Ireland and immigrated in 1893. Michael immigrated in 1887. According to census records, they were married in 1897. Marion was born a year later and a son, Michael Jr., was born on November 28, 1899. Sadly, he died in October 16, 1901, just shy of his second birthday.
The 1900 census reports them residing in at 109 West 46 St in NYC. Michael's occupation was masseuse. In this era, this neighborhood of Manhattan was nicknamed "Satan's Circus" due to the tremendous amount of gambling parlors and saloons that permeated the area. Robbery and murder were commonplace. The police corruption was overwhelming, too. When police Captain Alexander "Clubber" Williams was transferred to this ward he made a statement to the effect, "I have had chuck steak for far too long, now it's time for some tenderloin!" The moniker "Tenderloin" attached to the area in police circles for the amount of graft collected for Tammany Hall. It is likely that Michael was a masseuse at one of these gambling halls. It was popular for gamblers to take a break from all-night card games by getting a massage.
An excellent book for anyone interested in the history on NYC.
Michael Sr. died July 30, 1908 leaving Annie and daughter Marion on their own. The 1910 census lists them living at 340 East 49 Street. Annie was trying to make ends meet as a restaurant cook and rented a room out to her nephew John O'Neill, who was 23 at the time and was a railway conductor. The next decade found mother and daughter at 223 East 53 St. and Annie worked as a "laundry ironer" and Marion was working as a clerk. By 1930 Marion was married to Henny and I cannot find a census or death record for Annie.
The next post on this side of the family will continue with Marion & Veronica and their journey to the Fanning family.
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