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| Emma Louise Menge - probably on her wedding day |
Emma Louise Menge was born in San Francisco on August
1, 1883. She was the daughter of Heinrich Friedrich (Henry) Menge Sr. and Elisabeth
Stolte. Emma was christened in the Catholic Church on Golden Gate Avenue and
attended school in San Francisco and Oakland. She had two younger brothers:
Henry George Menge Jr. was born when Emma was two and Hugo Friedrich “Fritz” Menge
when she was six. When Emma was eleven her mother died. A few months later her
father married Edna Francis “Addie” Schlotzhauer. Emma did not like her
stepmother because, she said, “Addie was not nice to me.” Emma attended school
until about the age of 12, which would have been through about seventh grade.
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| Emma as a toddler |
When Emma was 14, she, Addie’s daughter Dora, and
Emma’s cousin Miss Bechtell supplied the programs for a charity event hosted by
Emma’s father and stepmother. A story published in the San Francisco Call newspaper described the event as a “musical and
garden party at the beautiful grounds and home of Mr. and Mrs. Menge at 1450
Fruitvale Avenue. The lovely grounds have been specially decorated and will be
brilliantly illuminated in the evening.”
As a teenager, Emma worked for her father making
trusses for his medical aids manufacturing and sales business. Heinrich had
shops in San Francisco and Oakland. When the census was taken in 1900 Emma and
her family were living at 233 Fruitvale in what was then the town of Brooklyn,
later incorporated into Oakland. In addition to her brothers Henry and Fred, a
three-month-old half-sister, Adelaide, was listed on the census. Adelaide was
two when the census was taken and must have died shortly thereafter, because I
have found no trace of her. My grandmother had never mentioned that she had a
sister that had died young.
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| Emma has a young girl with her brother Henry |
On
October 16, 1903, the Menges hosted another party that made the news. It was a
surprise party for Emma’s cousin Pauline Walker. According to the Oakland Tribune, “The reception and
other rooms were very prettily decorated with palms, pampas ferns, and Chinese
lanterns. At a late hour, the grand march was led by the young folks to the
banquet room.” Emma’s stepsister, brother Fred, and several other guests
attended the event.
Just two months after the earthquake and fire that
destroyed much of San Francisco in 1906, Emma married John Roger Thornally in
San Rafael. A short newspaper article headlined “Marriage of Popular Couple”
suggests they eloped. The report said their marriage “came as a great surprise
to the friends of the popular couple.” I suspect that because of the San
Francisco earthquake, Emma’s and everyone else’s lives were in chaos. Her
father’s business had been destroyed, so the idea of having a fancy wedding would
be out of the question. Emma’s brother Henry and his fiancé Maye were also
secretly married in San Rafael three years later — probably for the same reason.
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| John Thornally and Emmas a s young couple |
The 1906 newspaper article also mentioned that Emma
and John would make their home on Bay Street in Alameda. This surprised me
because all the other addresses I have for the family at that time are in
Oakland. Between 1906 and 1922 Emma and John lived at 1665 35th
Avenue. This is one of the single-family homes that were built by John’s
brother in the Thornally Tract, which was purchased by their father and is where
each of the Thornally children owned homes built by their older brother Will.
In July of 1909, when Emma’s brother Henry was
married, a news article about the marriage mentioned that Emma and John were
living at 1647 Redwood (now 35th) Avenue. Emma and John hosted a wedding
reception for Henry and Maye at their home.
For some unknown reason, Emma and John had difficulty
conceiving a child until Emma was 29, after which their son John Ernest
Thornally was born on June 22, 1913. Very sadly, the baby died less than a
month later. He is buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery along with his grandmother
Elisabeth Stolte Menge, a cousin and four other relations. The loss of this
child was very difficult for both John and Emma.
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| Emma, John and their treasured daughter Lottie G Thornally |
It was six-and-a-half long years until Emma gave
birth to their daughter, Lottie Gertrude Thornally, on Christmas day in 1919,
by which time Emma was 36 — considered quite old to be a new mother.
Fortunately for all of us, Lottie thrived and was treasured by both her
parents. What I’ve never known until now is that “Gertrude” is an important
family name. Lottie’s grandmother was Gertrude Elisabeth Stolte and at least three
other of her ancestors in Elisabeth’s tree have the name Gertrude.
In 1922 John and Emma purchased their home at 636
Syble Avenue in San Leandro. It was in a neighborhood of one- and two-story
bungalow-style homes. This is the home I remember fondly. The front yard was
enclosed by an old-style wire fence. The central front walk went between two
tall lemon trees and led to concrete steps that were red. There were camellia
shrubs on either side of the steps. The front porch extended all across the
front of the house but it was rare that anyone sat outside on this porch. The front
door was heavy oak with a dark stain and small, square panes at the top. You
entered into a combination living room to the left (west) and dining room to
the right (east). The living room had a stiff-looking couch and a brick
fireplace with bookcases on the side, although there were not many books on the
shelves. An upright piano sat opposite the front door on the north side of the
room; it had a single-seat stool that I liked to spin around on. A claw-foot, dark-stained
oak table occupied the dining area, surrounded by oak chairs with upholstered
seats. One chair had arms and it sat by the front window, where Gramma liked to
sit and watch people and cars outside. She looked out through sheer curtains.
There was a built-in china cabinet on the east wall next to the dining room
table. I have owned the table and chairs ever since Gramma moved out of her
home, and our family has continued to enjoy family dinners at this table for
many years. It has five heavy oak leaves that expand the table, so it has
always been sufficient to seat our entire family.
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| Easter Sunday Emma with her grandchildren - Terry, Kathy and Chris in the backyard of Emma's home on Sybil |
Opposite the front door there was a door to what had
been Mom’s bedroom when she was growing up. I don’t recall much about that
room. From the dining area there was a swinging door into the kitchen, which
was large and square. The kitchen was the center of this home in more ways than
one. The kitchen table sat in the middle of the room. Gramma and Grandpa had an
old Wedgewood stove, and on one side you could heat the burner with a wood
fire. Grandpa’s rattan rocker sat next to the stove, where I recall that he and
I would take our naps. The wall opposite the stove had a long built-in bench
seat. The seats of the bench were hinged so you could lift them up to reveal
storage compartments. That is where Gramma kept toys, so I was in and out of
there frequently. The kitchen sink and counter ran across the east side, and her
kitchen windows looked out toward the home of the Kokinas, the Greek family
that lived next door. The Wright family lived on the opposite side. I
particularly liked Mr. Wright, who gave me peppermint candies.
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| Emma and her daughter Lottie standing under the lemon tree in Emma's frontyard |
Gramma and Grandpa’s bedroom was in the northwest
corner of the house. I didn’t go in there much, but I do remember seeing their
brass bed — another item of furniture that I inherited and used for many years.
Next to their bedroom was the bathroom, with its great big claw-foot bathtub
and a window that looked out into the backyard. There was a small space between
the kitchen and bathroom that was always very dark.
From the kitchen you could walk through a small
laundry room with its old-fashioned ringer washer to steps that led to the
backyard. Gramma was very worried that I would somehow get my fingers caught in
the ringer and more than once warned me to keep away from the machine.
The stucco-finished home had a small basement area
where Grandpa spent a lot of his time on projects. He had a few tools, a
workbench, cupboards, and an old wine or beer barrel in the basement. The
garage was detached and could be accessed by a two-track driveway on the west
side of the house. There were more camellias on that side of the house, and
raspberry vines between the driveway and Mrs. Wright’s home. I don’t recall
that the garage ever had a car in it. Instead, it was filled with machinery,
tools and myriad jars and cans of nails, screws, washers and other items so
mysterious that I still don’t know what they were for. Grandpa used all this to
make and repair things. He was 67 when I was born, so I remember him being at
home and puttering in his garage, greenhouse and basement.
The backyard was a wonderful adventure for me. Like
the kitchen, the garden had a centerpiece — a freeform pond with koi fish and a
spitting-frog fountain. Grandpa had designed a lush landscape around the pond
and built up a little hill so he could create a waterfall that fed the pond.
The source of the water was camouflaged with boulders and hidden among camellia
trees, ferns, and other lush plantings. It was a little paradise, a place for
me to explore while the ever-nervous Gramma cautioned me not to fall into the
pond.
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| Emma in Capitola the begonia capital |
Grandpa also spent much of his time tending and
potting his collection of orchids. He had a greenhouse in the backyard and
hundreds of orchid plants — mostly Cattleya and a few other varieties. He sold
the flowers to a retail flower shop for extra income. He also hybridized
camellias and had several varieties planted throughout the yard. When Lottie
and Ed bought their home in Castro Valley he gave them several plants for their
garden.
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| Emma in the middle. Marge and her mother Loi Anglemeyer to the left. Lottie and Anna Vetter Pattillo to the right. |
After Grandpa died Emma was determined to be
independent. She remained in her home, living alone. Even when she fell and
broke her hip, she returned to her San Leandro home after spending time
recovering at Lottie and Ed’s home. But after falling a second time, breaking
the second hip, she reluctantly agreed to move into a convalescent home in 1975,
when she was 92. Emma lived another six years, until she was 98. She died on
March 2, 1982 and was buried with her husband John at Mountain View Cemetery
even though she argued for being buried at St. Mary’s, the Catholic Cemetery.
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| Emma at Lottie's home with Spotty, Sue and Tuffy the cat |
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| Emma on the right with Henry's wife Maye and some of their children |
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| Emma at 82 |
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| Emma, John and granddaughter Chris |
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| Emma at 81 |
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| A photo I took of Gramma |
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| Celebrating Christmas with Anna Pattillo at Lottie and Ed's home 1971 |
Sources for this post are mostly from personal recollections. Also, newspaper archives, census and death records, city directories and notes in Mom's photo albums.
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