| 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.
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1890 - 1955 (65 years)