Pappert Family - Susanna Catherine Knittel

Susanna Catherine Knittel

Also known as
Susan Knittel
Susan Pappert
Susie Pappert

Born
June 24,1865
Ketsch, Germany

Died
June 24,1938
Woodhaven, Queens, New York

Parents
Phillip Jacob Knittel
Catharine Fried

Siblings
Julia Knittel
Ludwig Knittel
Catherina Knittel
Anton Knittel
Alexander M. J. Knittel

Spouse
Valentin "Edward" Pappert
16 Nov 1890 in Brooklyn, NY

Children
Katherine Josephine Pappert
Rose Cecilia Pappert
Edward Adolphe Louis Pappert
Alexander Hugo Pappert

Life Story

Susanna Catherine Knittel, the fourth child of Philipp Jacob Knittel and Katharina Fried, was born June 24, 1865 in Ketsch, a small town south of Mannheim. In April 1867 she and her older siblings and mother left Germany to join their father who had emigrated to New York about 18 months earlier. During the next five years her mother gave birth to two more sons: Anton, on March 16, 1869 and Alexander, on March 31, 1892. The family lived at 44 First Avenue in lower Manhattan where Jacob also worked as a cook at a hotel. Sometime before the 1870 census both Anton and Susan's sister, Catherine, died. Sometime between 1874 and 1875 when she was 9 or 10, Susan's father died.

The loss of Jacob and his income may have factored into the older children's completion of school by age 14 and early entry into the workforce. After Jacob died, Catherine moved with her children to 132 Third Street and took up "washing" to earn extra income for the family. By the 1880 Census, Susan had completed school and her occupation was "shirt maker." Her older sister, Julia, made neckties, and her brother Louis was working in a brass foundry. The family also attended St. Nicholaus Catholic Church, one of two nearby Catholic churches that served German congregations (with services held in German). Susan was confirmed at this church and in December 1877 joined Solidarity, a Catholic group for women who were parishioners at the church.

The immigrant community was tight-knit, and it is likely that through church or other social events Susan met her future husband, Valentin Adolph Louis Pappert who went by the name Edward Vincent Pappert as a newly arrived immigrant applying for citizenship. It is likely that Edward knew Susan's cousins from Hannover, Germany as copies of letters from her cousin Hugo Dietzel to "Edie" reference a mutual friend. Susan and Edward married on November 16, 1890 at St. Nicholaus and had four children: Katherine, Rose Cecilia, Edward Adolph Louis and Alexander Hugo. At least the first year of marriage when their daughter Katherine was born, they were living at the same address as Catherine and Susan's other unmarried siblings.

Pictures of Susan as a bride and young mother shows she appears to be petite with brown hair neatly placed in a bun, brown eyes and a small nose. Twenty years after she and Edward married, she appears heavier and tired, and probably for good reason: Edward apparently met and fell in love with another woman and either drifted in and out of the house for years or left abruptly sometime after 1910. Susan resorted to sewing neckties at night to support her family. Jacqueline Pappert Scarborough, granddaughter of Susan, remembers Susan always wore long sleeves and long skirts and dresses even in the summer. Another of Susan's granddaughters, Rose Marie Walder Meerbott, noted that Susan and her sister Julia were very close but also very different. Julia apparently loved to go out to the movies by herself, while Susan was more likely to stay at home.

Sometime after Edward moved out but before 1915, Susan moved to 95 Legget Avenue (later it became renamed as 80th Street) in Woodhaven, Queens, and she remained there until she died. Living with her initially was her daughter, Rose Cecilia, her son, Alexander, his wife Ella and their children Rose and Victor. Although Susan had to raise her children without a husband, she was surrounded by her sister, brothers, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and other extended family as evidenced by large gatherings outside her Woodhaven, New York home. Susan died two days before her 73rd birthday on June 24, 1838 after a two-year battle with hypertension and a week after having a stroke. Her death certificate listed her as widowed; she and Edward never divorced.

Susan's grandniece, RoseMarie Walder Meerbott, recalled that Susan "was always there to listen." She and her brother passed Susan's house on the way to and from school and would often stop in. Susan, known as Tanda by the children, "always had something--a pad of paper to draw on, a piece of bread or a treat--always something to interest us." RoseMarie also recalled that Susan loved to go to the beach and would often accompany her family (along with Susan's daughter Rose Cecilia) when they would go. RoseMarie noted that Susan and Susan's sister, Julia, were very close but also very different. Julia loved to go to the movies and often ventured out on her own after visiting with Susan who preferred to stay at home. Both sisters adored their younger brother, Alex, a retired policeman from the Bronx. RoseMarie remembered Susan's delicious red cabbage that she served during holidays. Her memories of Susan and the family were "all very positive."

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