I am looking for information regarding Joseph Leo and Catherine (Kefauver) Houff and the grocery store Joseph owned and operated at 4027 Old York Road from about 1930 - 1940, maybe longer. Does anyone recall this store?

Sue,

Tony Severn again. We exchanged family info several years ago, I think. I took a break from genealogy for a few years and recently got back into it.

My mother, Eva Bierlein Severn,(1917-1998) told me about the grocery store in several conversations about family history. She was the daughter of Alice Elkins Bierlein (1889-1976) from Frederick. My mother was Joseph Leo Houff's first cousin, twice removed.

My mother told me the stories about Austin's suicide, Meredith's guilt and Meredith's death--followed by Joseph's . She said Joseph "died from a broken heart". (She told me the exact location of the vacant lot where Austin took his life, but I don't remember it.)

I grew up in northern Baltimore, only a mile or so east of York Rd.,and vaguely remember my mother pointing out a building on York Road as a store once owned by a relative, but I was young and not interested at the time.

I have info on the Houff and Kefauver families, including some photos of headstones in Frederick's Catholic Cemetery if you are interested.

My info shows Joseph and Catherine had 2 other children: Charles Francis Houff, born abt 1917, and Catherine Eloise Houff, born abt 1924. I have no other info on them---do you? She also said that Austin had some children before his wife left, but she didn't know the names of Austin's wife or children. Do you?

Tony Severn
Tonycheship@aol.com

Sue,
My older sisters don't remember any mention of the Houff grocery store. Maybe my mother only told me about it when she got me started on the family tree.

I have two cousins in PA who were born in the 1930's. They may remember something. Their maiden names were Margaret "Peggy" and Mary Ellen Mattare. They are the grand-daughters of Alice Elkins Beierlein.

Tony

Hi Tony,

I have 7 children of Alice Elkins and James Gough Beierlein -- Alice Elenore, Margaret Anastasia, Helen, James Gough, Eva Marie, John Edward and Frederick Anthony.

I don't have any spouses and children of these 7, so I don't have your cousins in my records.

But, if you can find something out about the grocery store, I'd be very interested in what they have to say.

Sue

Hi Tony,

Have you had a chance to ask your cousins, Peggy and Mary Ellen, about the store on York Road in Baltimore? How does the lineage go from their grandmother (?) to them -- where do they fit in?

Sue

you can e-mail me at genebugsue@aol.com, if you'd rather, as I would.

Hi Sue,

I haven't talked to Peggy or Mary Elen yet. We usually only get together at weddings and funerals since they moved to Pa some years ago. (Peggy is often out of the country on church business). But we do exchange Christmas cards, so I'll send your inquiry to them in a card.

Peggy's real name is Margaret Anastacia Mattare (b.18 July 1933), Mary Elen's(b.01Feb,1935)maiden name is also Mattare (Peggy's sister). Their mother was Margaret Anastacia Beierlein (28Mar 1914-6Aug,1992) the daughter of James Gough Beierlein and Alice Elenor Elkins. (Peggy and Mary Ellen also have two other sisters,Catherine Helen Mattare (25Aug,1945 - 11 Apr,2004) and Janice Elkins Mattare (b.01 Apr,1947).

Peggy is a Catholic nun. Mary Ellen was widowed while in her 20's, and she re-married. All of her children were by her first husband. Cathy was married and walked-out on her husband and kids when they where quite young. The rest of her life was troubled by drugs,alcohol and un-stable relationships. She was reconciled to her children when they were in their teens or early 20's. Janice was also divorced but raised her two children. She did not re-marry. She managed several nursing homes for a number of years,but is now semi-retired. When my wife's sister became disabled from Muscular Dystrophy in the late 1980's, Janice got her admitted into a nursing home which she managed, although she had to bend some rules and "jump" a waiting list to do so. Let me know if you want more info.

Tony

Sue,
Do you know what relationship Maria "Mary" Houff (born 1852 in Bohemia--died 1917 in Frederick)had to Joseph C. (Sr.)& Theresa Houff? Mary is listed as a 9 yr old member of Joseph & Theresa's household (Theresa is listed as "Mary")in the 1860 census but without a relationship noted, and in the 1880 census she is listed as Theresa's "daughter". But in the 1900 census, she is living with Charles C. Houff (age 54), who you would think was her brother--but she is listed as an "aunt". Then Joseph C. (Sr)'s obit in the Baltimore paper in 1904 specifies only one surviving daughter (Catherine Hartmann), even though Mary was alive and living in the same house as Joseph when he died.

In St. John's Cemetery, Joseph and Theresa have very small headstones,and one inscribed "Mary" is next to theirs. Who was she?

Tony