Thank you to FindaGrave member THopkins for finding his stone in a mausoleum at Maplewood, Minnesota. That of Lillian Benites lies closeby
BIOGRAPHY. He must have been an artistic sort, judging from the glimpses we have of his work in Minnesota.
(1) He published "Monitor Magazine" from a downtown St. Paul office at 390 Minnesota Street, with SA Phillips as editor. The magazine had at least an eight-year run, maybe longer? They advertised in area newspapers such as The Duluth Herald. An ad they ran in Sept. 1911 said the magazine was "Just for Fun". It was an exciting time for him, as he had just married Lillie A.Muhlberger on Aug.21 of that year. (The wedding was of record in Ramsey County, not in Goodhue County, where she had been raised.)
(2) Decades later, when it was time to register with the draft board for WW II, he said he worked at the Park Nite Club at Snelling & Selby, known as a jazz venue with big bands. He was 59 years old, gave an address (Stanford Ave.) in a college neighborhood, nestled between the College of St. Thomas and Macalester College. There was a religious mix that was Catholic and Presbyterian, with fine arts events at both colleges. The date was Apr. 27, 1942. He gave his sister Deloris Mary Kauffmann as his emergency contact, but called her May, a "pet name" for Mary at the time. She still lived on Walnut in Dubuque, exactly where she had been when their widowed mother had lived with her decades earlier. She must have seemed like a rock to him, a person who would "always be there".
His 1942 WW II Draft Board Registration: FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91R-QWMD-N
(3) His family had been stable back in Iowa. They owned their own home. His father was a carpet weaver. Censuses always found them in the same city, Dubuque. In contrast, his mother's father had worked for the railroads in a time of expanding rail lines. His mother would have had to change cities several times when young, with signs that Illinois and Wisconsin were visited, between Ohio and Iowa. When she found herself staying in the same city for decades with his father, never having to give-up friends, it may have seemed great to her. Oscar had an urge to traval, however.
For the 1900 Census, Oscar still lived with his parents, Emanuel (aka Manual) and Esther Benites (maiden name French). Their hometown, Dubuque, Iowa, was a small, old, scenic city, on a high river bluff facing Illinois, downstream of similar wooded blufflines in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Did they already know he wished to move to urban Minnesota? By his era, Dubuque had clothing factories, not just agricultural jobs, but that may have seemed limiting to him. He was not his mother.
Her 1900 US Census reported their mother had had four children. All four were still living, wrote the census-taker. Three were still at home. Oscar's older brother, Albert/Bert/Bertie, had already left home. His older sister, Delores May, 21, was calling herself Mar. She worked as a milliner (maker and retailer of ladies' hats). Their little brother Manuel, at age 9, still attended school. Oscar was 17 and planning his life.
Family's 1900 US Census, Dubuque, Iowa, June 5, 1900:
FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DHP9-MJ4
We'd expect the family's name to be listed as "Benites" in that 1900 Census record. But, the handwriting is a bit scrawled. We understand why some strangers thought their name was "BeMites" when they indexed the census online, making it harder to find at FamilySearch.org.
We were under the impression he stayed single, never had married, so it was a surprise to see him sharing mausoleum space with Lillian..
Ben's father, born June, 1834, was 21 years older than his mother. Everyone must have understood that Emanuel would "go first". Ben's mother would have a long sickness not ending until 1911. His little brother Manuel, only 9 in 1900, would die before Esther.
PLACES. They were people of many places.
According to information given in 1900, Ben's grandfather, an unrevealed Mr. Benites, had been born in Spain. Ben's father, Manuel, Mexico-born, immigrated to the US in 1846. He would have been about age 12, and, therefore, came with his parents. (Manuel would not apply for "naturalization" until the 1880s).
These pre-Civil War dates allowed for his father to serve in the Civil War. Judging from Infantry numbers on his stone, his father's regiment had, at first, recruited temporary volunteers out of the Cincinnati area. Historians say the men voted, decided unanimously to serve a full three years.
Cincinnati was a busy place on the Ohio River. (Ben's mother, in contrast, came from just west of Cleveland, up the Ohio Canal from the Ohio River.)
Ben appears to have had an aunt or cousin, Lola Benites (1859-1910), in Cincinnati. Lola's mother had been born in England, maiden name Garrard, Gerrard or Garard, reporting herself as having immigrated in 1849. She participated in an 1890 Census of ex-soldiers and their wives. She stated that she was a widow of a Manuel Benites who had served in exactly the same company and regiment as Ben's father. As she was already widowed, her Manuel had died before 1890. Someone gave Mexico City as a place of birth for that older Manuel Benites. The two Manuels may have volunteered, together, to serve in the same regiment and company? Some of the Garrards came to the Mississsippi to set up a post-war resort at Frontenac on Lake Pepin, s few counties north of Dubuque, in Minnesota. Some Garrards had been very active in the Civil War, up to the level of General.
=========================================
BIOGRAPHY. He must have been an artistic sort, judging from the glimpses we have of his work in Minnesota.
(1) He published "Monitor Magazine" from a downtown St. Paul office at 390 Minnesota Street, with SA Phillips as editor. The magazine had at least an eight-year run, maybe longer? They advertised in area newspapers such as The Duluth Herald. An ad they ran in Sept. 1911 said the magazine was "Just for Fun". It was an exciting time for him, as he had just married Lillie A.Muhlberger on Aug.21 of that year. (The wedding was of record in Ramsey County, not in Goodhue County, where she had been raised.)
(2) Decades later, when it was time to register with the draft board for WW II, he said he worked at the Park Nite Club at Snelling & Selby, known as a jazz venue with big bands. He was 59 years old, gave an address (Stanford Ave.) in a college neighborhood, nestled between the College of St. Thomas and Macalester College. There was a religious mix that was Catholic and Presbyterian, with fine arts events at both colleges. The date was Apr. 27, 1942. He gave his sister Deloris Mary Kauffmann as his emergency contact, but called her May, a "pet name" for Mary at the time. She still lived on Walnut in Dubuque, exactly where she had been when their widowed mother had lived with her decades earlier. She must have seemed like a rock to him, a person who would "always be there".
His 1942 WW II Draft Board Registration: FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91R-QWMD-N
(3) His family had been stable back in Iowa. They owned their own home. His father was a carpet weaver. Censuses always found them in the same city, Dubuque. In contrast, his mother's father had worked for the railroads in a time of expanding rail lines. His mother would have had to change cities several times when young, with signs that Illinois and Wisconsin were visited, between Ohio and Iowa. When she found herself staying in the same city for decades with his father, never having to give-up friends, it may have seemed great to her. Oscar had an urge to traval, however.
For the 1900 Census, Oscar still lived with his parents, Emanuel (aka Manual) and Esther Benites (maiden name French). Their hometown, Dubuque, Iowa, was a small, old, scenic city, on a high river bluff facing Illinois, downstream of similar wooded blufflines in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Did they already know he wished to move to urban Minnesota? By his era, Dubuque had clothing factories, not just agricultural jobs, but that may have seemed limiting to him. He was not his mother.
Her 1900 US Census reported their mother had had four children. All four were still living, wrote the census-taker. Three were still at home. Oscar's older brother, Albert/Bert/Bertie, had already left home. His older sister, Delores May, 21, was calling herself Mar. She worked as a milliner (maker and retailer of ladies' hats). Their little brother Manuel, at age 9, still attended school. Oscar was 17 and planning his life.
Family's 1900 US Census, Dubuque, Iowa, June 5, 1900:
FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DHP9-MJ4
We'd expect the family's name to be listed as "Benites" in that 1900 Census record. But, the handwriting is a bit scrawled. We understand why some strangers thought their name was "BeMites" when they indexed the census online, making it harder to find at FamilySearch.org.
We were under the impression he stayed single, never had married, so it was a surprise to see him sharing mausoleum space with Lillian..
Ben's father, born June, 1834, was 21 years older than his mother. Everyone must have understood that Emanuel would "go first". Ben's mother would have a long sickness not ending until 1911. His little brother Manuel, only 9 in 1900, would die before Esther.
PLACES. They were people of many places.
According to information given in 1900, Ben's grandfather, an unrevealed Mr. Benites, had been born in Spain. Ben's father, Manuel, Mexico-born, immigrated to the US in 1846. He would have been about age 12, and, therefore, came with his parents. (Manuel would not apply for "naturalization" until the 1880s).
These pre-Civil War dates allowed for his father to serve in the Civil War. Judging from Infantry numbers on his stone, his father's regiment had, at first, recruited temporary volunteers out of the Cincinnati area. Historians say the men voted, decided unanimously to serve a full three years.
Cincinnati was a busy place on the Ohio River. (Ben's mother, in contrast, came from just west of Cleveland, up the Ohio Canal from the Ohio River.)
Ben appears to have had an aunt or cousin, Lola Benites (1859-1910), in Cincinnati. Lola's mother had been born in England, maiden name Garrard, Gerrard or Garard, reporting herself as having immigrated in 1849. She participated in an 1890 Census of ex-soldiers and their wives. She stated that she was a widow of a Manuel Benites who had served in exactly the same company and regiment as Ben's father. As she was already widowed, her Manuel had died before 1890. Someone gave Mexico City as a place of birth for that older Manuel Benites. The two Manuels may have volunteered, together, to serve in the same regiment and company? Some of the Garrards came to the Mississsippi to set up a post-war resort at Frontenac on Lake Pepin, s few counties north of Dubuque, in Minnesota. Some Garrards had been very active in the Civil War, up to the level of General.
=========================================
Thank you to FindaGrave member THopkins for finding his stone in a mausoleum at Maplewood, Minnesota. That of Lillian Benites lies closeby
BIOGRAPHY. He must have been an artistic sort, judging from the glimpses we have of his work in Minnesota.
(1) He published "Monitor Magazine" from a downtown St. Paul office at 390 Minnesota Street, with SA Phillips as editor. The magazine had at least an eight-year run, maybe longer? They advertised in area newspapers such as The Duluth Herald. An ad they ran in Sept. 1911 said the magazine was "Just for Fun". It was an exciting time for him, as he had just married Lillie A.Muhlberger on Aug.21 of that year. (The wedding was of record in Ramsey County, not in Goodhue County, where she had been raised.)
(2) Decades later, when it was time to register with the draft board for WW II, he said he worked at the Park Nite Club at Snelling & Selby, known as a jazz venue with big bands. He was 59 years old, gave an address (Stanford Ave.) in a college neighborhood, nestled between the College of St. Thomas and Macalester College. There was a religious mix that was Catholic and Presbyterian, with fine arts events at both colleges. The date was Apr. 27, 1942. He gave his sister Deloris Mary Kauffmann as his emergency contact, but called her May, a "pet name" for Mary at the time. She still lived on Walnut in Dubuque, exactly where she had been when their widowed mother had lived with her decades earlier. She must have seemed like a rock to him, a person who would "always be there".
His 1942 WW II Draft Board Registration: FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91R-QWMD-N
(3) His family had been stable back in Iowa. They owned their own home. His father was a carpet weaver. Censuses always found them in the same city, Dubuque. In contrast, his mother's father had worked for the railroads in a time of expanding rail lines. His mother would have had to change cities several times when young, with signs that Illinois and Wisconsin were visited, between Ohio and Iowa. When she found herself staying in the same city for decades with his father, never having to give-up friends, it may have seemed great to her. Oscar had an urge to traval, however.
For the 1900 Census, Oscar still lived with his parents, Emanuel (aka Manual) and Esther Benites (maiden name French). Their hometown, Dubuque, Iowa, was a small, old, scenic city, on a high river bluff facing Illinois, downstream of similar wooded blufflines in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Did they already know he wished to move to urban Minnesota? By his era, Dubuque had clothing factories, not just agricultural jobs, but that may have seemed limiting to him. He was not his mother.
Her 1900 US Census reported their mother had had four children. All four were still living, wrote the census-taker. Three were still at home. Oscar's older brother, Albert/Bert/Bertie, had already left home. His older sister, Delores May, 21, was calling herself Mar. She worked as a milliner (maker and retailer of ladies' hats). Their little brother Manuel, at age 9, still attended school. Oscar was 17 and planning his life.
Family's 1900 US Census, Dubuque, Iowa, June 5, 1900:
FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DHP9-MJ4
We'd expect the family's name to be listed as "Benites" in that 1900 Census record. But, the handwriting is a bit scrawled. We understand why some strangers thought their name was "BeMites" when they indexed the census online, making it harder to find at FamilySearch.org.
We were under the impression he stayed single, never had married, so it was a surprise to see him sharing mausoleum space with Lillian..
Ben's father, born June, 1834, was 21 years older than his mother. Everyone must have understood that Emanuel would "go first". Ben's mother would have a long sickness not ending until 1911. His little brother Manuel, only 9 in 1900, would die before Esther.
PLACES. They were people of many places.
According to information given in 1900, Ben's grandfather, an unrevealed Mr. Benites, had been born in Spain. Ben's father, Manuel, Mexico-born, immigrated to the US in 1846. He would have been about age 12, and, therefore, came with his parents. (Manuel would not apply for "naturalization" until the 1880s).
These pre-Civil War dates allowed for his father to serve in the Civil War. Judging from Infantry numbers on his stone, his father's regiment had, at first, recruited temporary volunteers out of the Cincinnati area. Historians say the men voted, decided unanimously to serve a full three years.
Cincinnati was a busy place on the Ohio River. (Ben's mother, in contrast, came from just west of Cleveland, up the Ohio Canal from the Ohio River.)
Ben appears to have had an aunt or cousin, Lola Benites (1859-1910), in Cincinnati. Lola's mother had been born in England, maiden name Garrard, Gerrard or Garard, reporting herself as having immigrated in 1849. She participated in an 1890 Census of ex-soldiers and their wives. She stated that she was a widow of a Manuel Benites who had served in exactly the same company and regiment as Ben's father. As she was already widowed, her Manuel had died before 1890. Someone gave Mexico City as a place of birth for that older Manuel Benites. The two Manuels may have volunteered, together, to serve in the same regiment and company? Some of the Garrards came to the Mississsippi to set up a post-war resort at Frontenac on Lake Pepin, s few counties north of Dubuque, in Minnesota. Some Garrards had been very active in the Civil War, up to the level of General.
=========================================
BIOGRAPHY. He must have been an artistic sort, judging from the glimpses we have of his work in Minnesota.
(1) He published "Monitor Magazine" from a downtown St. Paul office at 390 Minnesota Street, with SA Phillips as editor. The magazine had at least an eight-year run, maybe longer? They advertised in area newspapers such as The Duluth Herald. An ad they ran in Sept. 1911 said the magazine was "Just for Fun". It was an exciting time for him, as he had just married Lillie A.Muhlberger on Aug.21 of that year. (The wedding was of record in Ramsey County, not in Goodhue County, where she had been raised.)
(2) Decades later, when it was time to register with the draft board for WW II, he said he worked at the Park Nite Club at Snelling & Selby, known as a jazz venue with big bands. He was 59 years old, gave an address (Stanford Ave.) in a college neighborhood, nestled between the College of St. Thomas and Macalester College. There was a religious mix that was Catholic and Presbyterian, with fine arts events at both colleges. The date was Apr. 27, 1942. He gave his sister Deloris Mary Kauffmann as his emergency contact, but called her May, a "pet name" for Mary at the time. She still lived on Walnut in Dubuque, exactly where she had been when their widowed mother had lived with her decades earlier. She must have seemed like a rock to him, a person who would "always be there".
His 1942 WW II Draft Board Registration: FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91R-QWMD-N
(3) His family had been stable back in Iowa. They owned their own home. His father was a carpet weaver. Censuses always found them in the same city, Dubuque. In contrast, his mother's father had worked for the railroads in a time of expanding rail lines. His mother would have had to change cities several times when young, with signs that Illinois and Wisconsin were visited, between Ohio and Iowa. When she found herself staying in the same city for decades with his father, never having to give-up friends, it may have seemed great to her. Oscar had an urge to traval, however.
For the 1900 Census, Oscar still lived with his parents, Emanuel (aka Manual) and Esther Benites (maiden name French). Their hometown, Dubuque, Iowa, was a small, old, scenic city, on a high river bluff facing Illinois, downstream of similar wooded blufflines in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Did they already know he wished to move to urban Minnesota? By his era, Dubuque had clothing factories, not just agricultural jobs, but that may have seemed limiting to him. He was not his mother.
Her 1900 US Census reported their mother had had four children. All four were still living, wrote the census-taker. Three were still at home. Oscar's older brother, Albert/Bert/Bertie, had already left home. His older sister, Delores May, 21, was calling herself Mar. She worked as a milliner (maker and retailer of ladies' hats). Their little brother Manuel, at age 9, still attended school. Oscar was 17 and planning his life.
Family's 1900 US Census, Dubuque, Iowa, June 5, 1900:
FamilySearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DHP9-MJ4
We'd expect the family's name to be listed as "Benites" in that 1900 Census record. But, the handwriting is a bit scrawled. We understand why some strangers thought their name was "BeMites" when they indexed the census online, making it harder to find at FamilySearch.org.
We were under the impression he stayed single, never had married, so it was a surprise to see him sharing mausoleum space with Lillian..
Ben's father, born June, 1834, was 21 years older than his mother. Everyone must have understood that Emanuel would "go first". Ben's mother would have a long sickness not ending until 1911. His little brother Manuel, only 9 in 1900, would die before Esther.
PLACES. They were people of many places.
According to information given in 1900, Ben's grandfather, an unrevealed Mr. Benites, had been born in Spain. Ben's father, Manuel, Mexico-born, immigrated to the US in 1846. He would have been about age 12, and, therefore, came with his parents. (Manuel would not apply for "naturalization" until the 1880s).
These pre-Civil War dates allowed for his father to serve in the Civil War. Judging from Infantry numbers on his stone, his father's regiment had, at first, recruited temporary volunteers out of the Cincinnati area. Historians say the men voted, decided unanimously to serve a full three years.
Cincinnati was a busy place on the Ohio River. (Ben's mother, in contrast, came from just west of Cleveland, up the Ohio Canal from the Ohio River.)
Ben appears to have had an aunt or cousin, Lola Benites (1859-1910), in Cincinnati. Lola's mother had been born in England, maiden name Garrard, Gerrard or Garard, reporting herself as having immigrated in 1849. She participated in an 1890 Census of ex-soldiers and their wives. She stated that she was a widow of a Manuel Benites who had served in exactly the same company and regiment as Ben's father. As she was already widowed, her Manuel had died before 1890. Someone gave Mexico City as a place of birth for that older Manuel Benites. The two Manuels may have volunteered, together, to serve in the same regiment and company? Some of the Garrards came to the Mississsippi to set up a post-war resort at Frontenac on Lake Pepin, s few counties north of Dubuque, in Minnesota. Some Garrards had been very active in the Civil War, up to the level of General.
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