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Don and Jennifer's Family Site The Finkelman Connection |
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The Finkelman Connection Maximilian F. De Bajligethy was born in Austro-Hungary in 1813, and found himself on the wrong side of a failed revolution in 1848, after which he sought political refuge in the United States, settling in Houston, Texas in 1850. He was mustered into the famous 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment, better know as Terry's Texas Rangers, in 1861. Later he served as Chief Clerk in the Houston Tax Assessor and Collectors office for 15 years preceding his death in 1893, which resulted from being struck by a train1. His obituary was published in the New York Times on February 9, 18932. He left a wife and ten children behind in Houston. It is the wife he left behind who interests us now. On February 11, 1856, the marriage of Maximilian F. De Bajligethy and Charlotte Finkelman, who was also called Carlotta and Lottie, was recorded in Harris County, Texas3. Charlotte was born in Prussia around 1840, and was the daughter of Charles Finkelman4. In 1860, we find Maximilian and Charlotte living in Houston's Second Ward. Living with them are their two young children, Aurelia and Cornelia, and Charlotte's father, Charles Finkelman. Also in the household are three boys identified as C. Finkelman, Jr., A. Finkelman and L. Finkelman5.
(Click the image for a larger image) We have always believed that August Fingleman had changed the spelling of his last name from Finkleman or Finkelman after immigrating from Germany. This is the story handed down, and the story includes a brother who resided in Houston for most of his life and retained the former spelling. We have since verified that August's brother was Louis Finkelman, and he did indeed live in Houston as late as 1922. For many years he resided with his family on North Main Street, between Quitman and Cavalcade. He is listed as August's only living brother in August's obituary, published in a Dayton newspaper in March, 19226. So now this 1860 census record becomes very intriguing. Unfortunately, there are many errors in this record regarding dates. Maximilian De Bajligethy was born in 1813 according to his obituary published in the New York Times, and this is confirmed by the 1870 census of Harris County, which shows his age as 57, and the 1880 census of Harris County, which shows his age as 66. This 1860 census, however, shows his age as 34, a difference of about 13 years. Charlotte's age is more consistent between this record and the other census records from 1870 to 1900, indicating that she was born in 1839 or 1840. The age of her father, Charles Finkelman, is however not consistent between this 1860 census and the 1870 census, where he was enumerated again in the household of his daughter and her husband, and his age is shown as 78, a discrepancy of 16 years. These two censuses are the only records we have found of Charles Sr. Given the generally higher accuracy of the 1870 census, we assume that Charles was born about 1792. If we look at the information given for the three Finkelman boys in the 1860 census record, we see that L. Finkelman's age is given as 6 years, and his place of birth as Texas. This age is consistent with other records we have found for our Louis Finkelman, but the place of birth is not consistent. Our Louis Finkelman was born in Germany, not in Texas. Nevertheless, we strongly believe that this L. Finkelman is the same person as our Louis Finkelman. Charlotte and Maximilian's daughter Cornelia, also enumerated in this 1860 census record, is recorded in an 1883 city directory of Houston as living in the home of Louis Finkelman7. The 1910 Harris County census shows Louis as an immigrant, having arrived in the United States in 18578. In short, we believe that this 1860 census record of "L. Finkelman" enumerates our Louis Finkelman, but shows his place of birth erroneously. Given this conclusion, we are then led to the conclusion that the "A. Finkelman" enumerated in this 1860 Harris County census is our own August Fingleman. The age is correct, indicating his date of birth as 1849. The place of birth, Prussia, is also consistent with known information about August, as Prussia was part of the German empire in 1860. We have found no records of Louis Finkelman or August Fingleman between 1860 and 1880. We have only found one more record that may match Charles Finkelman, Jr., apparently the older brother of August and Louis. There are Civil War service records indicating that a Charles Finkelman served in the 2nd Texas infantry and became a prisoner of war at Vicksburg9. If the age shown on the 1860 Harris County census for C. Finkelman, Jr. is correct, he would have been about 19 years of age at the end of the Civil War in 1865. The relationship between the elder Charles Finkelman, born about 1792, and the three young Finkelman boys shown on the 1860 Harris County census, is not certain. We know that Charles was the father of Charlotte and father-in-law of Maximilian De Bajligethy from other historical records, but the 1860 census does not show relationships. While Charles could have been the father of the three boys, he would have been about 72 years of age when Louis was born, so this conclusion is doubtful. We believe it is more likely that he was the grandfather of the three boys, making Charlotte and Maximilian their aunt and uncle. If so, who were the parents of the three boys? Some family stories indicate that August was orphaned at an early age, as the result of a shipwreck off of the Texas coast that he survived along with a brother. Shipwrecks were fairly common along the Texas coast in the mid-19th century, frequently resulting in the death of all crew and passengers. We have found a record of one shipwreck offshore from Galveston, however, which some passengers survived. The wreck of the steamship Louisiana on May 31, 1857 resulted in the death of about 30 people, but numerous passengers were rescued10. This steamship was bound for Indianola from New Orleans when a fire broke out. Given the recorded immigration year of 1857 for August and brother Louis, along with the shipwreck stories, we believe that they could have been on this vessel, and that their parents may also have been aboard. Unfortunately, we have not found a passenger list for this final voyage of the Louisiana.
(Click the image for a larger image) In summary, the evidence is very strong that our August Fingleman, born in Germany in September, 1849, was born August Finkelman, and immigrated to the United States in 1857 along with a brother named Louis. Less certain but still fairly convincing is the relationship of August and Louis with Charlotte Finkelman, wife of Maximilian De Bajligethy, also known as Carlotta and Lottie, and thus their relationship with Charlotte's father Charles Finkelman. Exactly when and why August changed the spelling of his name to "Fingleman", and why Louis retained the former spelling, is uncertain, but we have no reason to doubt that this is the case.
1 Online Archive of Terry's Texas Rangers, MF DeBajligethy Biographical Notes
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