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SOURCES
Birth
New York City
Augusta M. Heig, b. 29 Sep 1891, Certificate No. 34171
Marriage
Church Record Christ Evangelical 19th St. Parish Record
Rudolph Heig, 1889 3 Ave. m. Dec. 29, 1886, Augusta Margaretha Muller, 262 -
2nd
New York Marriage Certificate #63225
Rudolph Heig and Augusta Margaretha Muller, 29 December 1886
Death and Burial
Manhattan Church Record Christ Evangelical 19th St. Parish Record
Augusta Margaret Heig geb. Muller, b. June 18, 1861, d. Jan. 23, 1913.
Obituary
New York Times, Jan 24, 1913
HEIG--At Stratford, Conn., Jan 23, 1913, Augusta M. Heig, beloved wife of
Rudolph Heig in her 52d year. Funeral services at Christ Church, 406 East
19th St., New York, on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 26, 1913, at 2
'clock.
Autobiography of Gertrude Lutze, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Study, Harvard University
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BIOGRAPHY
Augusta Muller was born in Manhattan in 1861. Before her marriage
to Rudolph Heig she attended college, very
unusual for a woman at that time. She was very involved in public
education in the city and also taught school. The
Lower
East Side Tenement Museum website has a chapter on "Public Schools and
Education." Here you will find an overview of the situation in the
nineteenth century. Most immigrant and poor children did not attend
school, as they were primarily for the middle class. During the last
quarter of the 19th century the number of immigrant children swelled to
over half a million. In 1874 New York State passed a compulsory school
law, but New York City's facilities were inadequate to serve the large
population of school-aged children. It was this situation that Augusta
dealt with as a member of the School Board, and she undoubtedly had an
effect on the education of the Newsboys and may have even taught some of
them.
Augusta and Rudolph lived in the Newsboys' Lodging House, and it must have
been an interesting life for they lived there until Rudolph retired in
1910. She must have been a very strong woman to contend with the "waifs"
that came and went through the doors of the home. Only two and a half
years after they went to the farm in Connecticut Augusta passed away. See
Rudolph Heig for a view of their life at
the Newsboys' Lodging Home.
The following is Courtesy of Gertrude Lutze, daughter of Jay and Margaret
Lutze
My maternal grandmother, Augusta Margaret Mueller Heig, was known
to me only by hearsay. She died before Mother was married - of kidney
disease. Mother called her "Momma". She was born in Manhattan, New York
City, about the 1860's, of German immigrants from Berlin.
Aunt Anna tells me she was a college graduate, and majored in English,
which was unique and a privilege for women of her time. She held an
honorary, position on the Board of Education in New York City. Aunt Anna
found her mother's signature, on her husband Emile's high school diploma,
years later. Grandma Heig visited and spoke at various schools in the
city, probably about her work at the Home.
Mother depicted her as the mainstay of their family. Grandpa Heig had the
title of Superintendent, and Grandma Heig carried on behind the scenes
with great influence.
Aunt Anna quoted from a "Who's Who of New York City" which was written at
the time of Grandma Heig's death, "It has been my privilege to have known
her, the most gentle lady I have ever met." I am sorry I never had the
privilege of knowing her myself.
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