Hattenbach

HATTENBACH

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/7/2010 at 15:00:27

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Hattenbach
By Mrs Esther A Hattenbach

Grandfather Godfrey Hattenbach 1813-1879, came from Germany and landed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1839. He married grandmother Fracis three years later, 1842, in Baltimore. They both came from the same town in Germany and came over on the same boat. Grandmother Francis, 1820-1880, was a cook in the Kaiser’s Castle in Germany.

Grandfather Godfrey and his wife went from Baltimore to Fayette, Missouri; St Jospeh, Missouri; Cleveland, Ohio; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Omadi, Nebraska (Dakota County); Covington, Nebraska; and Sioux City, Iowa. He began life as a peddler, and was an auctioneer and fisherman. He also ran a cigar manufactory. He had a hotel in Covington (now South Sioux City), Nebraska, across the Missouri River form Sioux City. Grandmother Francis was a cook thre and alos in the hotel they opened in Sioux City when they got flooded out in Covington. The flooded Missouri also swept away the town of Omadi. Godfrey Hattenbach also opened the first Billiard Parlor in Sioux City.

Grandfather Godfrey Hattenbach helped to lay out the city of St Joe, Missouri and also Omadi and Covington, Nebraska. The Godfrey family was the first Jewish family to arrive in Sioux City; he settled there in 1859.

In 1861, there was considerable Indian scare in Sioux City and Grandfather Godfrey and his son, Nathan, 1843-1911, each built ten feet of the fortification which was thrown up around the city (the agreement being that every able-bodied man should build that much).

Godfrey and Francis Hattenbach had seven children. Nathan and his wife, Dena, were the parents of Arthur, Flora, Leah, Maurice, Zetta, and Lawrence. Ludwig ‘Louie’, 1846-1920, and his wife, Emma, had no children. Joseph, 1848-1915, and his wife, Jennie, had three children, Francis, Jay, and Monroe. Adelia, 1857-1943, married D A Magee. Aaron, and his wife, Belle had three children, Esther, Godfrey, and Dorothy. Mitchell Hattenbach, 1859-1911, never married. David’s daughter was Imogene (Hattenbach) Schnapp.

Ludwig Hattenbach and his brother-in-law, David Magee, were in the grocery business in Sioux City. Mitchell and David Hattenbach, 1862-1929, were in the jewelry business in Sioux City from 1886 to 1901. David was the first Jewish child born in Sioux City and was also the first mail carrier in Sioux City, 1884-1885. He also sold New York Life Insurance, 1901-1929.

David Hattenbach had one daughter, Imogene, who married, Sam Schnapp. She died April 3, 1967, in Miami, Florida. Sam Schnapp was fur buyer for Mays Department Store in Cleveland, Ohio, for many years. When he retired, they move to Miami. Upon his retirement the company gave him a $100-a-plate dinner in New York and presented him with a yacht, which he and Imogene enjoyed in Florida. They adopted one daughter and she married and lived in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where her husband was engaged in the manufacture of women’s apparell.

When David was a young man he made a trip by covered wagon to visit his brothers engaged in business in Deadwood, South Dakota. Those were the gold rush days.

Adelia Hattenbach, the only daughter of Godfrey, married David Magee in Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 20, 1876. She made her mark in artistry, proclaimed by many to be the Michelangelo of Sioux City. Her works were viewd by art critics, and shw was offered fabulous prices for some of her work. She taught painting of china to many people and did a great many complete sets of Haviland china for the wealthy people of Sioux City. She was also an accomplished pianist and violinist and taught piano as well as piano.

Adelia’s son, Oliver Guy Magee, was also a musician and played the violin. He played in an orchestry and played the violin. He played in an orchestra in Hot Springs, South Dakota and in the Sioux City Symphony. He played in the silent movie theatres in Sioux City, and taught music, but had no children. Oliver died in Mullen, Idaho, November 30, 1946, and is buried in Floyd Cemetery, Sioux City.

Joseph Hattenbach left Sioux City for the southern hills in South Dakota in 1875. He went to Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1876 and opened a grocery store. His brother, Aaron, joined him there in the grocery business in 1876. In 1912, Aaron sold his interest in the store to Joseph and moved to Goldfield, Nevada, where he went into the grocery business, but went broke. Then he went to Wilmington, California, and opened a General Store (department store). His credit being A-1 he was able to get all the merchandise he wanted, and it proved to be a very lucrative business. He hired Mexicans to deal with the Mexican trade. When he sold out and retired, he went into real estate, apartments, etc. He lived in Long Beach, California.

Nathan Hattenbach went to Deadwood, South Dakota, with his new bride, Dena, in 1979. He was interested in smelter. They moved back to Sioux City after they were forced to close, as it didn’t pay off. Back in Sioux City they opened ‘The Fair’, a Crockery Store. They decided to go to Chicago in 1900. There they were in the grocery buisness and later had an interior decorator store.

Aaron Hattenbach played in the Mose Reed Band in Sioux City. He and his wife, Belle, had three children, Esther, Godfrey and Dorothy. Esther never married. She was a Public Stenographer in Los Angeles, California. Godfrey worked in his father’s store. He had one daughter, Betty, eho married Don Bardon. Dorothy made and sold hats (for women) in the millinery department of her father’s store. She married and her daughter, DeLorace, married. Her son, Donnie Espinosa, is a Baptist minister in Long Beach, California.

Joseph Hattenbach and his wife, Jennie, whom he married in Kansas City, Missouri, had three children, Francis, Jay, and Monroe. Francis married and lived in California. Jay sold New York Life Insurance in Sioux City. He married and they had one son, Darwin, who died in a Japanese prison camp in World War II. Monroe married, but had no children. He also sold New York Life Insurance. He was in the dry cleaning business, then oowned and operated War Eagle Bowling Alley in Sioux City until retirement.

Joseph Hattenbach’s children were born in Deadwood, South Dakota. Francis, 1888-1972, died in Portland, Oregon. Jay, July 4, 1895, died May 31, 1973, in Los Angeles, California.

Monroe was born July 10, 1897. All of Aaron Hattenbach’s children were born in Deadwood, also; they all passed away in Long Bech, California.