Pappert Family - Julianna Knittel

Julianna Knittel

Also known as
Julia Knittel
Julia Walder

Born
January 2, 1860
Ketsch, Germany

Died
April 4, 1934
Queens, New York, New York

Parents
Phillip Jacob Knittel
Catherine Fried

Siblings
Ludwig Knittel
Catherina Knittel
Susanna Catherine Knittel
Anton Knittel
Alexander M. J. Knittel

Spouse
Ferdinand Walder
Married June 3, 1894 in Manhattan, New York, New York

Children
Girl1 Walder
Girl2 Walder
Edward Ferdinand Walder
Alexander Walder

Life Story

The firstborn of Jacob and Catherine, Julia was born January 2, 1860 in Ketsch, Germany. She was older sister to Ludwig (Louis), born less than two years after her, Catharina Susanna, born a year later and Susanna Catherine, born when she was four. When Julia was seven, she and her three other siblings and mother left Germany to join their father in New York where he had immigrated in October of 1865. Two more brothers were born in New York--Anton in 1870 and Alexander in 1872. Both Anton and her sister Catharina Susanna died before 1870.

Julia was the oldest but also the last of the children to marry. In June 1893 she married Ferdinand Friederick Walder, a Swiss immigrant who had arrived in New York at age 24 in 1880. While no records of where they first lived could be found, it is assumed that they lived close to family in what is now the lower East side of Manhattan--a community comprised almost entirely of other German immigrants. By 1900 she and her husband had four children: two daughters (seen pictured in a family photograph) and two sons: Ferdinand, born December 1888, and Alexander, born January 1900. The girls both died after Alexander's birth but before the census was taken in June 1900, and the only indication that they were born was the photograph and a notation on the 1910 census record that Julia had had four children with only two living. In 1910 she and her family had moved nearby to Ralph Street where her husband was a shipping clerk for a dry goods company.

Julia and her sister Susan were very close, both living either in the same building or within a block of each other and spending time together with other family. By 1900 she was living in the same apartment building as her sister on Bleecker Street in Brooklyn. Julia's apartment housed her family, her mother, Catharine and her husband's nephew, Paul Walder. Julia's family moved at least one more time by the 1920 census, living in an apartment building on Menahan Street in Brooklyn with five other families including an apartment housing her nephew, Al Pappert, his first wife, Ella, and their two children Rose Marguerite and Victor Francis.

Julia and Ferdinand suffered another loss in 1919 when their son Alexander Joseph died, apparently of influenza. Four years later, in November 1923, she gained a daughter in law when her son Edward ("Ferdie") married Edna Agnes Theis. In 1923, Julia and son and his wife moved from their apartment on Menaham Street to Woodhaven, Long Island (Queens) where they bought a house a block away from Susan's who had moved there around 1915. Julia's niece, Rose Cecilia, gave a $2,000 loan towards the purchase, according to Julia's granddaughter, Rose Marie. The houses on 80th Street (formerly known as Leggett Avenue) were 20 feet wide by 100 feet deep, and separated by a narrow alley way. They had covered front porches, small grass lawns, and were located within a block of a large track of park land where at least a dozen cemeteries are located. Forest Park, in which the neighborhood was located was known for its carrousel according to Rose Marie. The neighborhood was comprised primarily of second generation Americans, and those who were born elsewhere, coming from a variety of countries including Great Britain, Russia and Germany.

Julia Walder was devoted to her family but also liked her "alone" time and enjoyed going by herself to the movies according to her granddaughter.

Julia's husband, Ferdinand passed away in October 1929. Living with her at the time and until her death was her son, Edward, her daughter-in-law, Edna and granddaughter, Rose Marie. Eleven months after Ferdinand's passing, her son and wife had a second child, Edward. Julia died four years later in April 1934 at age 73 and is buried at St. John's Cemetery in Middle Village, New York, along with her husband, her two sons, a daughter-in-law, her sister Susan, and her niece Rose Cecilia.

Seeking Information

Names of two daughters, both of whom died as children.

Facts