Living married Living [Group Sheet]

Joseph married BRETSCH Helen May on 6 Jun 1929 in Jefferson County, NY. Helen (daughter of BRETSCH DeForest Collins and ROHR Julia May) was born on 3 May 1910 in Great Bend, NY; died on 19 Mar 1998 in Edison, NJ; was buried in Iselin, NJ. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Hudson was the oldest surviving child of John and Estella Sonnenberg, born in Hartford, IL. Hudson and his future wife Adair were neighbors in IL and later met in Aruba where both their parents were working for Standard Oil. Hudson and Adair married in Aruba and had their first two children there, they left to come back to the US when it was apparent that war was imminent. Hudson was drafted to serve in WWII and was stationed for a while in Atlantic City, NJ where his wife and 3 children visited him on weekends. After an honerable discharge due to severe medical problems but with a highly satisfactory rating and a promotion to corporal, Hudson left the army in 1943. He held a few odd jobs but then was hired as a stock broker by Merril Lynch brokerage firm. He later broke away from Merril Lynch and formed his own stock brokerage firm at the Waldorf Astoria in NY. After one year he established his firm in Linden, NJ where the family was residing. Hudson died unexpectedly of a stroke shortly before his 4

Hudson often spoke of his mother's birthplace and the caves nearby where he would go to play as a child. The caves had been inhabited by the likes of Jesse James and the Dalton Boys at some time according to local lore and Hudson remained fascinated with Western lore all of his life. He was a tall and handsome man with black hair and striking blue eyes, a meticulous dresser and was well spoken. He had a great sense of humor and playfullness and his early death was a great loss to the family.

Hudson married Living [Group Sheet]

William married EDNA in ABT. 1890 in New York. was born in 1871 in Scotland. [Group Sheet]

DeForest married ROHR Julia May on 12 Oct 1907 in Deer River, NY. Julia (daughter of ROHR Christian M and ROGERS Julia) was born on 8 Apr 1888 in Deer River, NY; died on 20 Jun 1958 in Great Bend, NY; was buried on 23 Jun 1958 in Deer River, NY. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

John Sonnenberg woked for Standard Oil in Aruba. He and another employee, Mr. Kerrigan, invented an improved method of processing crude oil.

Obit--

John J. Sonnenberg, died at the age of 65 at his home in Elizabeth, NJ. Mr. Sonnenberg was a groceryman in Hartford, IL and was then employed at Std Oil Co. in Wood River, IL at the time of its construction, then later at the refinery in Aruba until being transferred to Elizabeth, NJ. He was one of the 11 children of the late George and Anna Sonnenberg who predeceased him, as did 5 brothers, 2 sisters, his wife, and 2 children. He is survived by 2 sons, Hudson Sonnenberg of Linden, NJ and Morris Sonnenberg of Lebanon, Il and 4 sisters: Theresa Owens of Wood river, Elizabeth Hemmer of O'Fallon, Margaret Mayer of St. Louis, and Alberta Biggs of St. Louis.

Note: a female was born to John Joseph Sonnenberg and his wife Estella Hawk Sonnenberg, it was apparently sometime before the birth of Hudson, but nobody knows anything else about it other than that she did not survive.

John Sonnenberg was born in KS but moved to Il as a small child. He was living in Franklin County at the time of his marriage to Estella Hawk in 1912, it is supposed that he was there with his uncle, Daniel Sonnenberg. It is not clear how John and Estella met, she had recently moved from Iron County, MO to Madison Co, IL, perhaps they met there but this is only a guess.

During their early years, John and Estella owned a grocery store in Hartford, IL and lived upstairs with their 3 children. The store went out of business eventually, most likely due to the depression and the inability of people to pay their bills. After closing the store, Estella opened a restaurant and John worked for Std Oil.. They were relocated to Aruba about 1931, and then transferred to NJ about 1938. John and Stella owned a large house in Elizabeth, NJ and rented out some rooms for extra income.

John married HAWK Mary Estelle on 11 Nov 1912 in Franklin County, IL. Mary (daughter of HAWK William and LONDON Martha A) was born in Feb 1894 in Ironton, MO; died in May 1949 in Elizabeth, NJ; was buried in St. Gertrude's Cemetery, Colonia, NJ. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

For most of her life, Mary Estelle was known as Stella. She reported that she had been so small and sickley when she was born that they put her in a shoe box and filled it with cotton and placed the box by the stove to keep her warm. Stella did survive and grew to be a healthy 5' 6" tall.

Stella, her mother, brother, and younger sister Bessie moved to Madison Co, IL sometime shortly after 1910 where they are still found on the Ironton census records. Stella met and married John Sonnenberg in 1912, and her younger brother Jessie lived with them until his sudden death in 1928. Stella was known to all as a kind and generous individual who took care of her family and helped strangers in time of need.

The death of her youngest son, Jackie (Junior) in 1945 was devastating for Stella and she never seemed to quite recover from it. She attended church 2 times each Sunday, saying she was going once for Jackie and once for her. Stella died 4 years after the death of her son, from cancer which had spread throughout her entire body.

Edwin married EXTON Mary Margaret on 6 Feb 1915 in Wood River, IL. Mary (daughter of EXTON Worthy and MEYER Wilihmena Mae) was born in 1893 in Lake County, IN; died in 1921 in Wood River, IL; was buried in Upper Alton Cemetery, Alton, IL. [Group Sheet]