Billiards on West 37th Street

The address is West

The 1880–81 Trow directory lists Henry Schubiger for billiards at 308 West 37th Street. The 1881–82 directory places the same name/address under lager-beer saloons; 1886 lists wines and liquors.

Evidence:

The elder Henry

The recorded family path reaches the elder Henry through Robin, Jerrilyn, Florence and Henry born in 1881. The infant son could not have operated the earlier business, but the vital links themselves still need their own records.

Evidence:

What the sources do not say

The original census now establishes a household at the saloon address in June 1880. Neither it nor the directory entries establishes property ownership, a separate saloon name, number of tables or continuous occupancy. The younger Henry was born after this census; his link to the elder still needs a parent-naming record.

Evidence:

New: the household at the saloon

The 1880 census, Manhattan enumeration district 400, pages 4–5, dwelling 13 / family 42, lists Henry Schubiger 31, occupation lager beer saloon; Magtalena 32, keeping house; Ida 7; Otto 5; Magtalena 1 year 4 months; Minnie 1 month; and Joseph Nüdi/Nudi (surname uncertain), 45, a machinist explicitly called a boarder. Henry’s birthplace is Switzerland; the adult Magtalena’s is Germany. The Schubiger relationship cells are blank, so the household grouping must not be described as an explicit list of wife, sons and daughters.

Evidence:

Conflicts worth keeping visible

Ida and Otto’s father’s birthplace is entered as Germany; the two youngest girls’ father’s birthplace is Switzerland. That discrepancy does not by itself establish different fathers. The toddler’s age is compatible with early 1879 and rules out the inherited 1779 century for this child; it supplies no exact birthday. Minnie’s one-month age also differs from the inherited April 1880 birth. No source-tree entries have been silently changed.

Evidence:

New: the widow’s later address

The original Trow edition for the year ending May 1, 1890, printed page 1787 / PDF 1832, lists Lena Schubiger, widow of Henry, at 222 West 36th Street. Its copyright is 1889: the filename year does not date Henry’s death. Identifying Lena with the 1880 adult Magtalena remains provisional. No maiden surname or exact death date appears. [RB.SCHUBIGER.DIR1890]

Evidence:

New: Arnold at the same saloon address

Trow’s edition for the year ending May 1, 1889, copyrighted 1888, lists Arnold Schubiger, beer, 308 West 37th Street: printed page 1786 / PDF 1807. The original entry, title and copyright pages are verified. Shared surname, trade and address are an association; Arnold is not yet identified as Henry’s relative or successor. [RB.SCHUBIGER.DIR1889]

Evidence:

A church record to pursue next

The compiled index to St. John’s Second German Lutheran Church, Court Street, Newark, lists a 1902 marriage, image 9692: Johann SCHEELZ/SCHULZ? and Mina SCHUBIGER. The uncertain spelling is preserved. The register itself is unread, and Mina has not been identified as the 1880 infant Minnie. Obtain its ages, birthplace and parent details before using it to test the Minnie Scheely and Lena Kuhn connection. [RB.MINA.MARR1902]

Evidence:

A nearby building is not the saloon

An official 2004 architectural study and its table both identify the Garment Wear Arcade at 306 West 37th Street. A search snippet incorrectly said 308. The nearby 1925–1926 building therefore supplies no verified replacement, demolition date or surviving saloon building. The historical saloon remains documented at 308; its exact parcel history and an identified photograph remain open.

Evidence: E160

Emil’s later-life trail

A retrospective funeral-home account describes Emil Schubiger as a retired poultry farmer, born in New York City, who died December 4, 1950 in Glen Gardner. The original state index independently confirms a December 1950 death, file 46026, and distinguishes Glen Gardner as the death place from Lebanon Township as his residence. It does not give the exact day or occupation. The recorded link to the Manhattan Schubiger family remains inherited; the July 4 versus July 5 birth disagreement remains open. The Easton Express obituary is precisely indexed to December 6, 1950, page 21, but the obituary itself has not been read.

Evidence: E159

Minnie in Quarryville; Emil’s address needs correction

The June 7, 1900 Quarryville, Pennsylvania census records Minnie Schubiger, 20, as a boarder and servant, with birth reported in April 1880 in New York, a Swiss-born father and German-born mother. This is a probable family match, with neither parent named. A separate inspection of 308 West 37th Street’s 1900 entries did not corroborate Emil’s inherited address note; it is not evidence of absence from all Manhattan.

Evidence: E260, E261

Emil’s underlying funeral record

The original register behind the later funeral-home account records Emil as a widowed, retired poultry farmer of Lebanon, New Jersey R.D., with death December 4, 1950, funeral December 8 and Locust Grove Cemetery, Quakertown. It gives a July 4, 1883 New York City birth, preserving the July 5 disagreement with the birth index. Both parent-name spaces contain question marks. The web obituary and this register share one information source; they are not independent confirmations of parentage.

Evidence: E283

INSPECT THE EVIDENCE

The recovered original pages

1880 household · first page · full-size image ↗

1880 household · continuation · full-size image ↗

Arnold’s original directory entry · full-size image ↗

Lena’s original directory entry · full-size image ↗