Charles (Carl) Goeller was born in Doerrenbach in the Pfalz Region in the Kingdom of Bavaria. His father was Franz Wilhelm Göller (Goeller) and his mother was Franziska Kath Böhmer (Boehmer). At the age of twelve Charles started learning the trade of blacksmithing and wagon maker in the shop of his father.  William Goeller, Charles’ brother, immigrated to the U.S. in May 1867. Charles at age 26, and his sister, Catherine age 23, soon followed in 1871. The brother and sister traveled together from Bremen, Germany, on board the German ship S.S. Köhn and arrived at the Port of New York on 24 June 1871. Upon his arrival Charles spent about 6 weeks with his brother William. Charles then secured work in the shop of Thomas Weeks for about one year from 1871-1872. Charles next went to work for Walter Weeks for about the same time frame from about 1872-1873.

 

On January 19, 1873 Carl bought the business of Albert Rakow at Fosters Meadow. Charles was a blacksmith and wagon builder and grew his new business into one of the largest shops on Long Island. The Goeller & Sons business firm manufactured wagons and carriages, furnished wagons for jobbers and filled special orders for grocery, market and brewer’s wagons. Charles also had an operating farm of 35 acres located in Fosters Meadow between the Joseph Hoffman and Andrew Batt’s farms on Elmont Road.  

 

Charles Goeller married Magdalene (Lena) Hoffman, daughter of Joseph Hoffman and Carolina Geiger in New York City. Charles and Magdalene were married at the St. Boniface RC Church at Fosters Meadow in August 1875. They had seven children together, four sons and three daughters. The Goeller’s were members of the St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church in Fosters Meadow. Charles passed away in 1919 at the age of 75 in Queens Village N.Y. and Lena passed away in 1926. Charles, Lena are buried at the St. Boniface RC Church Cemetery in Elmont, NY. 

 

 

The Seven Goeller Children:

 

1. George Anthony Goeller was born in Fosters Meadow in 1876 and married Drucilla Edna Horst, daughter of William Horst and Caroline Farenthile. George’s brother the Rev. Msgr. Joseph Goeller V.F. married the couple in 1906. George graduated from Wright’s Business College in Brooklyn, NY. George worked in the wagon manufacturing business and later was a real estate broker while living in the Hempstead area. The family moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania in the 1910’s. There George was a foreman in a bobbin factory and later sold life insurance. George and Drusilla’s only son Frank drowned in a YMCA swimming pool in 1920; he was 12 years, 10 months of age. George died in December 1956 and Drucilla died in April 1974. 
2. Wilhelmina (Minnie) Goeller: 28 Jul 1878 – c. 1880: Wilhelmina was born in Fosters Meadow and died when she was about two years old.

 

3. Mary (Mamie) Goeller was born in Fosters Meadow and married John Daniel Stattel in 1902 at the St. Boniface RC Church, Elmont, NY. John was the son of Daniel Stattel and Anna Margaretha Catharina Hoeffner. John owned a hotel business, worked in a notion store and worked as a laborer in the Hempstead area.  After moving to Floral Park John worked as a farmer and then owned his own fishery station business. The Goeller’s had two children Raymond and Mildred. Raymond G. Stattel married Elizabeth F. Dubon on Oct. 19, 1904 and Mildred E. Stattel married George Beyer in 1933.

 

4. Reverend Monsignor Joseph Aloysius Goeller, Vicar Forane was born and raised in Fosters Meadow and attended the St. Boniface RC parochial school. Rev. Goeller next attended St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, NH in 1896 and then entered the College of St. John the Baptist, Brooklyn, NY as a seminary student in 1901. Joseph was ordained a priest on June 9, 1906. He held his first mass in his home parish, St. Boniface RC Church, Elmont.

 

         Rev. Goeller received his first assignment in 1906 with St. Barbara’s RC Church in Brooklyn for four years.

         His next church was St. Benedict’s RC Church in Brooklyn and he served there for the next fourteen

         years there until 1924. In 1924 the Roman Catholic parish of St. Clare was established by Bishop

         Molloy to serve the farming community of Rosedale in Queens. Rev. Msgr. Goeller was the

         founding pastor.  Rev. Goeller rented the local firehouse to celebrate the first Mass on Sunday,

         July 20, 1924. This building is still standing across the street  from the present St. Clare's RC

         Church. Plans were drawn up for a permanent church building and construction began in 1926.

         The completed church was dedicated  by Bishop Molly on November 13, 1927.

         Rev. Goeller remained at St. Clare’s RC Church until his death in 1957.

 

         In 1954, the Venerable Pope Pius XII confers the title of Domestic Prelate on the Reverend

         Joseph A. Goeller and he  becomes the Reverend Monsignor Joseph A.Goeller.

 

5. Anton (Anthony) Goeller married Estelle Smith in 1908.  The ceremony was performed by Anthony’s brother, the Rev. Msgr. Joseph Goeller V.F., at the St. Malachy’s RC Church in Brooklyn, NY. Anthony worked as a motorman for the Long Island railroad while living in Brooklyn and later Long Beach, NY. Anthony died at Middle Village, NY in 1963. Estelle’s parents were Samuel Seamon Smith and Josephine Woolverton. The Goeller’s had three children together, Marion, Charles and Ethel. Marion’s married Anthony Recenello, Charles’ married Frances (last name unknown) and Ethel’s married name was Kersal.

 

6. Louise Marie Goeller was born in Fosters Meadow and married Frank Joseph Zimmer in 1907. Frank was the son of Henry Zimmer and Anna Maria Hartmann. Frank worked as a farmer on the Henry Zimmer farm, located in Fosters Meadow, with his father (Henry Sr.) and his brother Henry. In the 1930’s Frank worked as a laborer in a florist business. The Zimmer’s had four children Wilhelmina, Bertha, Herbert and Gerard. Wilhelmina’s first marriage was to Adolph Weyler on Sep 4, 1936. Her second marriage was to Frank Johnson on Sep 20, 1947. Bertha was married to Charles Cleary on Jun 18, 1949. Herbert married Mable Conger Nov 13, 1938, and Gerard married Kathleen Geoffrion on Feb 1, 1958. 

 

    Frank and Louise’s son Gerard was originally buried in 1986 at St. Boniface RC Church in Elmont, NY.

    The body was exhumed upon request of his wife, Kathleen and reburied at the Calverton National Cemetery.

    Gerard was a private first class in the U.S. army during WW2. Gerard’s name is still on Zimmer  marker at

    St. Boniface RC Church Cemetery in Elmont, NY.

 

7. William Charles (Carl) Goeller married Marian Francis Leonard in c. 1916. Marian was from originally from Ohio and her parents were from Pennsylvania. William worked as an office clerk, stock broker accountant and a brokerage cashier.  William and Marian had three children William, Joseph and Lois. 

 

• William Goeller (Charles’ brother) was born in Doerrenbach in the Pfalz Region in the Kingdom of Bavaria. William was a soldier in the Austro-Prussian war in 1864 and was wounded three times. William immigrated to the U.S. on board the S.S. Cimbria on her maiden voyage departing Hamburg and arriving in New York in May 1867. The passenger list has William’s age at 24 and his occupation is listed as a “schmied” (blacksmith). Before moving to Jamaica, New York, William kept hotels at Hicksville, L.I. and at Munson L.I. In Jamaica he was the proprietor of the Jamaica Park Hotel for thirty five years until his death in 1912. William also had a blacksmith shop while working at the various hotels. William married Wilhelmina Lang in c. 1867 and they had three children together, William, Wilhelmina and Charles. Wilhelmina also had a son Edward Althimer from a previous marriage. 

 

Submitted by George Bauer

 

Email: lds5050@aol.com

 

September 2017