Copyright © 2023 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1885, Karl Boettger was listed as a Sosman & Landis employee, included in a list of employees who made donations that summer to the Grant Memorial Fund. On August 2, 1885, the Chicago Tribune” listed Boettger as one of “Thousands contributing their dollars and dimes to the memorial fund” (page 9). Karl Boettger donated $1.
Born in 1864, Boettger emigrated from Germany 1883. Boettger sailed from Antwerp aboard the Belgenland. On April 20, he arrived in New York. The ship was part of the Red Star shipping line, measuring 403’ x 40’ with compound engines, four masts, and an iron hull. In many ways, I know more about the ship that transported Boettger than Boettger himself.
After arriving in the United States, Boettger settled in Chicago and made quick in-roads into the midwestern scene-painting community. In America, Karl soon went by Carl Boettger, anglicizing his first name. By the fall of 1885, he was even listed as part of the Scene Painter’s show, mentioned in the “Art Union” article by John Moran: “…works deserving of notice are Messrs. George Dayton, Sr., George Dayton, Jr., the late L. Malmsha, C. Boettger, Chas. Ritter, H. Buhler and John Howell Wilson.”
Within three years if his arrival in the United States, Boettger had secured employment, exhibited his fine artworks, and married. On July 10, 1886, Boettger married another German immigrant, Katharine “Katie” M. Rosener. Katherine was born on May 6, 1866, emigrating with her family in 1872.
In 1887, Boettger was living at 160 Crystal, Chicago, listed as a painter…and that is all that I have uncovered about his career!
Listing for Carl Boettger in the 1887 Chicago City Directory.
Boettger passed away on Dec. 4, 1888, just a few months before the birth of his first-born child, Charlotte.
His obituary was published on Dec. 6, 1888, in the “Inter Ocean” –
“BOETTGER – Dec. 4, at No 84 Crystal St, Carl, husband of Kate Boettger, aged 25 years, 3 months, and 4 days. Funeral to-day by carriages to Graceland” (page 8). Graceland Cemetery records list him as “Carl Boetocher, died 12/4/1888.” He is buried in Block 12, grave 451. This is the same person, but you can see how hard it is to trace the lives of some individuals. Many of the difficulties stem from a combination of poor handwriting, human error, and computer software that exacerbates misspellings. I have yet to locate a death certificate or newspaper article that identifies any cause of death. Boettger was only 25 yrs. old when he passed away.
Gravesite of Carl Boettger at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.
Boettger’s daughter, Charlotte P. Boettger, was born on Feb. 13, 1889.
His wife, Kate Boettger, remarried the next year, on May 3, 1890. Her second husband was William S. Bird, a mechanic and gas fitter. Bird was also an immigrant, born in England about 1852. The couple went on to celebrate the birth of two children.
In 1900, the Birds were living at 110 Stewart Avenue in Chicago and their household included: William (45), Katherine (33), Charlotte (11) and Beatrice (8).
Carl’s only child, Charlotte, was married to Frederick J. Nathanson on June 9, 1906; she was 17 yrs. old at the time. Frederick worked as a theatre musician and continued to do so for the next several years. The 1910 census listed Charlotte and Fred Nathanson living with their two children, Mildred D. (3 yrs.) and Richard W. (8 months) at 6800 Union Avenue; the same address as her mother, stepfather, and half-sister Beatrice. Beatrice eventually married Daniel Joseph Kelly, a mechanic who initially worked for Bennet & Davos Co., later becoming primarily a chauffeur. Beatrice and Daniel Kelly continue to live with Kate Bird at 6740 Sangamon. William S. Bird died on March 29, 1918. In 1920, the US Federal Census again listed the Nathanson and Bird families living at 6740 Sangamon in Chicago. The extended family continued to live in Chicago, at Sangamon, until the 1930s; Fred Nathanson was still working as a musician.
Kate Boettger Bord passed away in 1928 and is buried next to her second husband, William, at Evergreen Cemetery.
