Charles Doster was born on Thursday, January 9, 1868, the son of Gottlob and Katherine (née Müeller), in Großbettlingen, Württemburg, Germany. His father, Gottlob, died when he was young (sometime between 1871 and 1879), and his mother remarried to a man named Johann Georg Hoerz (later Americanized to "John Hertz").
When he was 12, his family, which now included his stepsister Louisa, emigrated from Germany, arriving in the U.S. on August 25, 1880. They originally went to Waverly Ohio, then to Columbus, Ohio, and finally settled in Buffalo, New York.
He married Caroline Frei on December 8, 1892, in Buffalo. They initially lived at 266 Loepere, but for many years the family home was at 41 Nevada, on the East Side. They had seven children, one of whom was LeElla Caroline Doster, my paternal grandmother.
On Sunday, June 23, 1912, their 17-year-old eldest child, Elmer, was waiting on the dock at the Eagle Park summer resort, along with many other party-goers, for a steamer to take him back from Grand Island to Buffalo. The dock collapsed at around 8 o'clock PM, killing him and 24 other people. Here is an excerpt from a front-page article in The Buffalo Evening News, Wednesday, June 26, 1912, correcting a reference to "Elmer Dorst", first reported missing in the Tuesday edition:
The name of Elmer Doster, 17 years old of 266 Loepere street, was given out as that of Elmer Dorst. His father and mother visited the park yesterday afternoon and urged the workers to find their boy.
The Thursday, June 27th, edition reported that his body had been recovered the previous afternoon by Patrolmen Malloy and Evans of the patrolboat. His death notice appeared on the front page, under the latest article about the disaster. He is buried in Ridge Lawn Cemetery, behind his parents, and his headstone has the inscription, "Until We Meet, Elmer, Son of Chas. & C. Doster". Unfortunately, this would not be the only transportation-related tragedy to affect this family.
On October 3, 1928, Charles and Caroline were standing at a streetcar stop on Seneca Street when a car veered into the area and struck them. Caroline was killed instantly, and Charles suffered head and other injuries. My grandmother believed that the driver was drunk, and, in her words, "Got off Scot-free because he was related to the judge." I don't know if that is true or not, but she believed it with conviction, and there was indeed a judge in Buffalo with the same last name around that time. She also said that Charles' personality was different after the accident; whether that was due to physical trauma, emotional distress, or both is unclear. I was able to get a copy of an article from the October 4th Buffalo Evening News, which describes the accident, from microfilm at the downtown library.
He remarried, to Katie Laubengeiger (herself a widow), on November 19, 1929. I am told that they knew each other in Württemburg, and emigrated to the United States at the same time. Katie's brothers, Christ and Charles (who shortened their name to "Laube"), owned several restaurants, including Laube's Old Spain on Main Street (next to Shea's) in downtown Buffalo, and the Lord Amherst on Main and Kensington in Amherst.
He was a member of the Lake Erie Lodge No. 435, International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F), and the Schiller Lodge No. 494, Deutscher Orden der Harugari (D.O.H.). The D.O.H was a fraternal order for German Immigrants, and the St. Louis Public Library says this about it: "Established in New York around 1847, for the mutual assistance and the celebration of German culture. Once numbering in the 10s of thousands by 1994 there were reported only 90 members." This page states that the name "Harugari" refers to the pagan priests of ancient Germanic tribes.
His last years were spent as a resident of the Odd Fellows and Rebekah Nursing Facility in Lockport, Niagara County, NY. He suffered from Parkinson's disease, possibly brought on as a result of the accident at the streetcar stop.
He died on February 12, 1943, and is buried in Section F of Ridge Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York, next to Caroline.
Coming soon ...
A genealogical group sheet for Charles Doster can be viewed by clicking on this link.
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