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SOURCES
Census
1900 Christ. Greenwauld, Manhattan, NY ED1
1910 Christian Greenwold, Manhattan, NY, ED1
1930 Christian E. Greenwold, Stratford, Fairfield Co., CT, ED210
Directories
Stratford, CT Directory
1926
Greenwold, Christian E (Henriette M) home Chapel, Putney district
1927, 1933, 1938
Greenwold, Christian E, Chapel, from Cut Spring Rd N E to Main
Death
Connecticut Death Index
GREENWOLD, CHRISTIAN, d. December 26 1950, out-of state, NY, age 84,
residence Stratford, Fairfield Co., CT
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BIOGRAPHY
Christian Emil Greenwold came from Oslo, Norway. It's not known what
his name was in Norway as naming traditions were rather unusual. "Christian" would have been his baptismal name. The second name would
have been the father's first name, and the third name the farm they lived
on, which would change if the family moved. Many Norwegians, upon
arrival in the United States, took different last names, and Greenwold is
more Germanic than Norwegian. It is believed the name was Groenvoldt, of
something similar.
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As children, we listened to Christian's tales of how he sailed one of
the last Viking ships. As all young men of age 16 were required
to register with the draft board and do service with the Norwegian
Navy, he would have been on one of the last sailing ships before
Norway began building steam ships. The
European nations had already moved toward steam, but Norway continued
to travel the seas by sail much longer.
According to his naturalization record he arrived March 1888. It's
not known if he arrived on a Norwegian sailing ship, or came by steam
through England. His fiancé Henrietta Mathilda Wick arrived within a
year and they married in 1889.
Henrietta Mathilda and Christian Emil Greenwold
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It's not known what his first occupation may have been, but by 1900 he was
"janitor" for the Mechanics Bank at 33 Wall Street, where the family
lived. By 1910 he was Superintendent of the bank. At this time
the larger banks had a full-time, live-in staff, that provided services
for the restaurant, entertainment of visitors, etc. The bank even
had accommodations for special visitors to sleep there. The Federal
Mechanics Bank was established in 1904, and before that was the Federal
Leather Manufacturers' National Bank. In 1926 it merged to form the
Federal Chase National Bank of the City of New York, which eventually
became Chase Manhattan Bank.
Christian and Henrietta had two children, May Saniva and
Emil Christian,
and the children grew up in the bank, where the Greenwolds had their own
quarters. The children were doted on by the other staff and May, with
her blond hair and cherubic looks, was said to be the darling of the bank.
May Greenwold married Oscar Julius Heig, and her brother Emil married
Oscar's sister Anna Heig. This
relationship kept the two families very close.
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About 1910, Christian purchased land in Putney, Stratford, Connecticut,
where he built the Farm. The house is still there and has descended
through the family. The porch wrapped around three sides of the
house, and was glassed and screened. On one side of the porch were
bunk beds for the children to sleep. Around the other two sides were
wicker furniture and tables. Two bedrooms, a large living room,
dining room and kitchen made up the rest of first floor. Above was
the bath, with the old four-legged tub, two more bedrooms with twin beds,
and a couch in the center room. The house was built to sleep a large
number of relatives during the annual get-togethers that continued
throughout the decades.
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The Farm in Putney
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An early game of croquet
at the Farm in Putney |
The Farm was a working farm, with a barn, chicken coop, fruit trees,
vegetable gardens, three-hole outhouse, and a lightning rod. After
Christian retired about 1917 he and Henrietta moved to the Farm where he
raised and sold his produce. The long expansive lawn was used for
croquet games, one-hole golf, baseball, and any games the children could
think up to play. A fire pit and chimney were built far from the
house, and it was here that the lobsters were boiled and the clams steamed
for a summer feast. The fresh corn from Oronoc Farms was cooked in
the kitchen, and the sherbet, purchased at the ice cream factory in
Bridgeport, was kept on dry ice, as the freezer in the refrigerator was
only large enough to make ice.
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Christian's son Emil was a stockbroker and had encouraged his father to
invest heavily in the market. When the crash came Christian lost
everything, putting his beloved farm was at risk. His son-in-law,
Oscar Heig, a lawyer, persuaded Christian to put the Farm in his
daughter's name to protect it from his creditors. He followed
Oscar's advice, and he and Henrietta were able to live out their lives in
the home they had built.
Henrietta passed away in 1942. As his health declined Christian went
to live with his daughter and son-in-law in Brooklyn, where he passed away
in December 1950. Both of them are buried in Putney Cemetery with so
many of our other relatives.
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