ALBERT: From Louisiana to Cincinnati, Ohio
Last Updated: December 2005
My grandmother was Henrietta Katherine ALBERT (1903-1987). About this line, we don't
have much information beyond Cincinnati.
The Catholic parents of Henrietta Albert Sess (George
Albert and Henrietta Lowrie) were married 20 May 1886 in New Orleans. Their first few children were born there, but in 1890 they relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio.
George Albert owned a saloon/restaurant on Central Avenue in Cincinnati for several years. The older daughters all cooked meals for the business, but George's wife, Henrietta Lowrie Albert, never entered the place. "She had been convent-educated in New Orleans and I guess a saloon was not her cup of tea," Miriam Sess Smith remembered.
George and Henrietta had eleven children between 1884 and 1908. Henrietta Lowrie Albert died tragically of burns suffered over much of her body when her dress caught on fire near a stove. This took place just four years after her last child was born, and the eldest children raised the youngest.
George, the father, died of a stroke, in 1922. He also had had trouble walking for many years after being injured when a beer barrel rolled off a wagon. Here's what we know about their children:
The oldest, Hortense "Hetty" Caroline Albert, had, by the time of her mother's death, married Frank Abbott and started having children, including "Smoky" who would later also die from fire when she fell asleep with a lit cigarette. Years later, Hetty lived in the old family house on Scioto Street in Coreyville, near the University of Cincinnati. Miriam remembers it as a "great old place-three stories high, big porches, featherbeds, a spooky dark cellar with a dirt floor, a toilet with a water box and pull chain, a kitchen as big as a living room, a fancy parlor (for funerals) and a player piano."
Josephine "Feenie" Albert never married, but kept house for Eleanore "Jimmie" and Mary Amelia "Patsy" until the two younger ones married (George Moyer and Albert "Bert" Weber, respectively). She was Catholic and did not get along with her sister Henrietta and husband John Otto Sess, who were Protestant.
John "Taylor" Albert died in 1922. His widow was named Elsie.
Frank Albert was a bailiff in the courts. Miriam never liked him as a child and he later complained when his sister sent her daughters to college. Why educate women who would simply go get married? "My Dad told him he didn't care if we were married the day we received our diplomas - he wanted us to go, period. Uncle Frank wouldn't last long with today's women!"
Katherine "Kate" Albert married Walter Bachmann. They had a son, George Bachmann who was a B-29 navigator during World War II ; he stayed in the Air Force and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Gertrude "Gert" Clothilde Albert's last husband was William Douglas, supposedly a second cousin to the Stephen Douglas who debated with Abraham Lincoln. William Douglas commit suicide in Burnett Woods Park, Cincinnati, during the Depression.
Anna "Annie" Henrietta Albert married Peter Wertz. They lived across the hall from Henrietta and John Otto Sess. "Aunt Annie would buy cornucopia-shaped flaky pastries called cream rolls filled with gooey stuff - not whipped cream - and she would let them spoon out the goodies and then courageously finish the pastry!" Annie was known for her mock turtle soup and at one time ran a small restaurant and bar in Cincinnati. She had two subsequent husbands before her own death in 1956.
Edwin P. Albert (1899-1928) married Angela Sauers. Edwin died young of a ruptured appendix.
1. JOHN ALBERT was born Abt. 1837. He married AMELIA UNKNOWN.
She was born Abt. 1837.
Children of JOHN ALBERT and AMELIA UNKNOWN are:
2. i. HENRY ALBERT, b. Bef. 1857.
3. ii. MAGDALENA ALBERT, b. Bef. 1857.
iii. MARY ALBERT, b. Bef. 1857; m. UNKNOWN NEWMAN; b. Bef. 1857.
Lived in Cincinatti.
iv. JOHN ALBERT, b. Bef. 1857; m. UNKNOWN WISSELL; b. Bef. 1857.
4. v. GEORGE ALBERT, b. 18 March 1857, New Orleans, LA?; d. 23 October 1922,
Cincinnati, OH.
Generation No. 2
2. HENRY ALBERT (son of JOHN) was born Bef. 1857.
Children of HENRY ALBERT are:
i. CHILD1 ALBERT, b. Bef. 1900.
ii. CHILD2 ALBERT, b. Bef. 1900.
iii. CHILD3 ALBERT, b. Bef. 1900.
iv. CHILD4 ALBERT, b. Bef. 1900.
v. CHILD5 ALBERT, b. Bef. 1900.
3. MAGDALENA ALBERT (daughter of JOHN) was born Bef. 1857.
She married UNKNOWN TURNER.
He was born Bef. 1857. Lived in Cincinatti.
Children of MAGDALENA ALBERT and UNKNOWN TURNER are:
i. CHILD1 TURNER.
ii. CHILD2 TURNER.
iii. CHILD3 TURNER.
iv. CHILD4 TURNER.
v. CHILD5 TURNER.
4. GEORGE ALBERT (son of JOHN) was born 18 March 1857 in New Orleans, LA?, and
died 23 October 1922 in Cincinnati, OH. He married HENRIETTA LOWRIE Abt. 1883 in
New Orleans?, daughter of EDWIN LOWRIE and HORTENSE GROACH. She was born
08 January 1865 in New Orleans, LA?, and died 05 February 1912 in Cincinnati, OH.
More About GEORGE ALBERT:
Cause of Death: Stroke
Occupation: Saloon keeper, cooper
Notes for HENRIETTA LOWRIE:
May have belonged to the Catholic church (St. Louis Cathedral?) in French Quarter.
Religion: Catholic
Marriage Notes for GEORGE ALBERT and HENRIETTA LOWRIE:
Sometime after marrying, they moved to Cincinatti, where George also had other
siblings living.
Children of GEORGE ALBERT and HENRIETTA LOWRIE are:
5. i. HORTENSE CAROLINE ALBERT, b. 08 July 1884, New Orleans, LA?; d. 03 May 1960,
Cincinnati, OH.
ii. JOSEPHINE AUGUSTA ALBERT, b. 03 February 1887, New Orleans, LA?;
d. 06 February 1952, Cincinnati, OH. Never married. Religion: Catholic
iii. JOHN STEPHEN ALBERT, b. 04 July 1889; d. 02 April 1922, Cincinnati, OH;
m. ELSIE UNKNOWN. No children.
iv. FRANK J. ALBERT, b. 12 April 1890; d. 26 August 1954, Cincinnati, OH;
m. BESSIE GREY REED. Medical Information: Diabetic (Frank).
Occupation: Bailiff in the courts.
6. v. KATHERINE GERTRUDE ALBERT, b. 27 January 1893, Cincinnati, OH;
d. 16 February 1982, Cincinnati, OH.
vi. GERTRUDE CLOTHILDE ALBERT5, b. 06 March 1895, Cincinnati, OH;
d. 05 June 1947, Cincinnati, OH; m. (1) GUS GUNTHER; b. Bef. 1900;
m. (2) WILLIAM DOUGLASS; b. Bef. 1900; d. Bef. 1939, Burnett Woods
(shot himself). Religion (Douglass): Protestant. No children.
vii. ANNA HENRIETTA ALBERT, b. 08 April 1897; d. 12 May 1956, Cincinnati, OH;
m. (1) PETER WERTZ; d. Bef. 1956; m. (2) JOE HUMPHREYS; d. Bef. 1956;
m. (3) PATRICK GILE; b. Bef. 1900; d. Bef. 1956.
More About ANNA HENRIETTA ALBERT: Occupation: Ran a restaurant
viii. EDWIN P. ALBERT, b. 31 December 1899; d. 18 January 1928, Cincinnati, OH;
m. ANGELA SAUERS. Cause of Death (Edwin): Ruptured appendix. No children.
7. ix. HENRIETTA KATHERINE ALBERT, b. 13 September 1903, Cincinnati, OH;
d. 18 January 1987, Encinitas, CA. [My grandmother]
8. x. ELEANORA ELIZABETH ALBERT, b. 12 June 1906, Cincinnati, OH; d. 27 November 1974,
Cincinnati, OH.
9. xi. MARY AMELIA ALBERT, b. 10 August 1908, Cincinnati, OH; d. 07 March 1980,
Cincinnati, OH.
About Catholic Records in Louisiana
Since this was all new to me, I had to ask around for guidance-- especially after hurricane Katrina. Some kind soul (Jay S.) posted the following information to the New Orleans Message board (edited for brevity):- The Catholic Church has kept baptismal, marriage, burial records in Louisiana since its earliest settlement in the 1700s. Collectively these records are referred to as sacramental records. Every priest at every church parish is required to maintain sacramental records. Roughly, records from 1920s-1930s to the present time 2000s are housed in each local church.
- The next level above the priest is the bishop. Bishops are the heads of a diocese which is a geographical combination of several church parishes (not to be confused with Civil parishes in Louisiana = same as counties in other states). There are 7 dioceses in Louisiana. So each diocese has a Cathedral which is the main church of that diocese. Each diocese has an archives located in the city of their cathedral (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Alexandria & Shreveport are each dioceses in Louisiana). Sacramental records prior to 1920 all are housed in the archives of these dioceses.
- Several dioceses are grouped together as an Archdiocese. The Archdiocese of New Orleans is the archdiocesan seat of the Catholic Church in Louisiana.
- All of the records of the Catholic Churches in Louisiana have been microfilmed -- sacramental records as well as detail finances, operations, etc. This is done annually and on an ongoing basis.
- In the case of Hurricane Katrina the Archdiocesan Archives in New Orleans did not flood. The records were temporarily moved to Baton Rouge after the hurricane and will be housed in the Diocese of Baton Rouge vaults until March 2006, when the Archdiocese of New Orleans will resume operations.
- Now these microfilm records have not been handed over to the LDS for cost and control reasons. The Catholic Church is a self-supporting institution; the dioceses in Louisiana charge research fees for the records; the funds raised support the preservation and maintenance of these old sacramental registers. If the FHL in SLC had these original films it would deplete potential funds for future preservation and maintenance which is still an ongoing process.
- The Archidocese of New Orleans, and the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux, Lafayette & Lake Charles have all of their records published...or I should say all of the oldest records published in volumes (much like encyclopedia) format in multiple volumes, chronogcially and alphabetically. Each diocese is in various stages of having published their records. New Orleans has only published from 1700s to 1831 because they have way more records. The others have mostly published from 1700s to 1900. These books are found in most large genealogy libraries.
- Here is the website of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Archives.