Henry Menge Jr. 1886-1965 My Grand Uncle on My Mother's Side

Henry George Menge Jr. was born March 17, 1886, after the Menge family moved to Oakland and were living at 1153 7^th Street. Henry was identified as an apprentice truss maker on the 1900 census when he was only 14 years old. It did not indicate that he was in school at that time, so it seems his father had taken him out of school and put Henry to work which was common at that time. Henry’s daughter Dorothy told me that Henry only attended school through the sixth grade.

On May 23, 1908, when Henry was 22, he was an officer of the La Belle Jeuenesse Dancing Club.  According to an article in the Oakland Tribune, Henry was in charge of several men and women who were planning a club event at the home of Mrs. Nellie Melquoind at 1807 Russell Street, Berkeley. Almost exactly one year later Henry married Maye Loella Best. Perhaps she had attended the dance club event and met Henry there? In April of 1910 Henry and Maye were renting a home at 520 8^th Street in Oakland and he was president of the Pacific Truss Company.

Henry as a toddler with his sister Emma

The 1930 census lists Henry as a veteran who fought in the ten-week-long Spanish-American War. I agree that Henry served in the U.S. Navy because of the photo of him in uniform, but he would have been only 12 years old in 1898, when the Spanish-American war was waged, so that seems improbable that he served in that war. Henry registered for the draft when he was 32, during World War I. He was described as five feet, eight inches tall, with a slender build, blue eyes and light brown hair.

Henry and Maye had six children and adopted or fostered several others. Their firstborn died at birth and is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery with his paternal grandmother and four other relatives, including his cousin John Earnest Thornally. In 2015 I had a headstone made and installed for these family members. The next four children were daughters Margaret, Dorothy, Marion and Audrey, all born between 1911 and 1918. My mother Lottie was very close with these cousins and spent a lot of time with them. She borrowed Dorothy’s veil for her wedding, and Marion was one of her bridesmaids. Henry and Maye’s youngest child was a son named Lawrence. 

Three of Henry and Maye's children - Dorothy, Marion
and Margaret

In the 1914 and 1915 directories, Henry was listed as working with his father in San Francisco. This surprises me, because the business had been destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. They must have rebuilt in San Francisco by 1914, when they were located on Kearny.  By 1918 they had opened a shop in Oakland and Henry was working there. I also found listings for the Pacific Truss Company in San Francisco and Oakland in the 1922 and 1926 directories.

Henry seems to have shared his father’s civic-mindedness. On May 11, 1916, he was one of several men who organized a whist party at the Lakeside Hall on East 12^th Street at Sixth Avenue in Oakland, as a benefit for the Day Home of West Oakland. This facility was operated by the Sisters of the Holy Family. In 1930 Henry was part of a Melrose Church group that planned a dance as a benefit for St. Bernard’s Church. The dance was to take place on November 14, 1930, at Melrose Central Hall on 48^th Avenue at East 14^th Street in Oakland.

Two photos of Henry's son
Larry

 

I found four addresses for places that Henry and Maye lived between 1912 and 1941, including 4110 Aqua Vista, 6109 Hayes, 600 Haddon Road, and 425 E. 15^th Street. The latter is a place that Mom and I visited when she was helping me with our family history.

Henry and Maye's home in the Fruitvale neighborhood of
Oakland

Henry died on February 3, 1965, and is buried with his wife Maye at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward, California. Lottie very much loved her Aunt Maye and Uncle Henry, who she thought was a wonderful father and uncle. She said he was always very generous to her and willing to take her along on family outings. Henry and Maye also owned a cabin in Brookdale, as did Lottie’s father John. Henry’s cabin was still standing in 2013 when Mom and I drive drove to Santa Cruz, shortly before she died.

Henry and Maye's cabin in Brookdale

Maye Menge at a birthday party for Emma

Maye Menge

Henry's daughter Marion with Emma and Marion's husband
Geroge Heinkle

Henry's daughter Dorothy and his niece Lottie Pattillo

Henry's daughter Dorothy's wedding. L-R are Gertrude, Agnus,
Dorothy and Margaret Menge, Lottie Thornally, and Marion Menge

Audrey Menge

Dorothy Menge and husband Bill McTigue
holding Chris Pattillo on her christening day

Margaret Menge and her husband Whayne Gibbs

Sources For This Post: Interviews with Lottie Thornally and Dorothy Menge, family photos, US census, historic newspapers, military records, and city directories