Gunther - Thank you for your response.
Augustus Adolph Fingado was born 6 December 1855.
I do not know what city he was born in Germany.
My DNA results indicate that my Great Grandmother was Maria Sophia
Bennewitz and no indication where she was born, other than Germany.
Augustus Adolph Fingado lived in Denver, Colorado, USA in 1880 when he
traveled to Fordham, (Westchester County) New York to marry Barbara
Schaaf who immigrated from Leimersheim three years earlier. I think
they must have known each other previously for him to go all that many
miles to New York to marry Barbara.
The story I was told by my father and uncles was that Augustus
(Gustin) use to come down the Rhine River on a barge and visited with
Barbara Schaaf.
I have their Certificate of Marriage, State of New York. Augustus
used his nickname of GUSTIN A. Fingado and they were married by the
Mayor of Westchester, NY on 16 May 1883. Augustus was 21 years old
and immigrated in 1869.
He died 25 January 1958 in Anaheim, CAlifornia, USA.
His headstone is at the Anaheim Cemetery in Anaheim, California USA.
His Declaration of Intent to become a US Citizen is dated 13 March
1899 in Colorado.
He always indicated his occupation was Brewer.
He was Lutheran although his wife, Barbara Schaaf was Catholice. They
sent their 5 boys to a Catholic where they lived in Colorado until the
boys had a dispute with one of the priests. They were then enrolled
in a public school which I contacted and they did not keep records at
the time they were going to that school.
In 1905 they moved from Denver, Colorado to San Francisco, California
and he was working in a Brewery. I could never find which brewery he
was employed in. The Earthquake happened in 1906 and they lost
everything they had. Bricks fell on the rooming house they were
living in and Barbara Schaaf Fingado was hit on the head by a falling
brick and really never recovered, I was told. They then moved to
Hemet, California and he became a Farmer growing peaches. When he
could no longer take care of Barbara, they moved to their oldest son's
house in Long Beach, California and that is where she died 27
September 1917.
They had 5 living sons: August Otto, William Henry, Edward Adolph,
Albert Ernest (my Father) and Alfred George Fingado. Two sons died
and are buried at Riverside Cemetery in Denver, Colorado in paupers
graves.
From all records I have obtained over the years they were very poor
and sometimes were on record as receiving assistance from the County
Poor House.
Thank you - Mildred A. Fingado-Hubbard