Sunday, January 9, 2011

Family of Manuel Wolter & wife Lucy Catherine (Little) Wolter of Monterey, California


Note of 16 May 2013:  Be sure to view the comments section for additional information provided by a Little descendant on the people in these two photographs.

Two photographs of the family of Manuel Adolfo Wolter and his wife Lucy Catherine (Little) Wolter of Monterey, California.

Above, a tintype of Manual Wolter, his wife Lucy Catherine (Little) Wolter and their first two children,  Charles Wolter and Mary "Mamie" Estrada Wolter, plus Manuel's sister Laura Estrada Wolter, who was born in 1856 in California and married a Mr. Sims.

Children Charles Wolter and his sister Mary "Mamie" Estrada Wolter, were born abt 1875 and 27 October 1876 respectively.  The next child, Lucy Eleanor Little Wolter, was born about 1879; I'm assuming the tintype was taken before her birth.



Below, a cabinet photograph of Lucy Eleanor Little Wolter, third child of Manuel and Lucy.   




The reverse also shows the name "Katie", who was Lucy's mother.  Originally I had thought that "Katie" was the name of the child on the right, but the reader mentioned above believes that child was Lucy Eleanor's twin, Manuel Aloysius Wolter, judging from the context and the hairstyle, which was common for boys of that period.


From online research, hopefully correct:

Manuel Adolfo Wolter was born in November of 1847 in El Toro Rancho, Monterey, California, the son of Charles Luis Wolter and his wife Josefa Antonia Nepomucena Pascuala Estrada Wolter.  Charles Luis Wolter was born in Stalund, Throlsenden, Germany in 1791.  He emigrated to the United States and married his wife in 1843 at Mission San Carlos, Monterey, California.  I don't have the names of his parents.  Manuel's maternal grandparents were Jose Mariano Estrada and his wife Maria Isabel Arquello.

In 1874, Manuel Adolfo Wolter married Lucretia "Lucy" Catherine Little, who was born 27 Oct 1851 in California, the daughter of Milton Alexander Little Sr. and his wife Mary Eager.  Lucy's paternal grandparents were Alexander and Catharine (McKinney) Little.  Her maternal grandparents were Thomas and Lucy (Buell) Eager, who moved from New York to California.

Manuel and Lucy had seven children; their youngest was professional baseball player Harry Meiggs Wolter.  In the 1900 Census, Manuel gave his occupation as policeman.

If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding the information presented above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Below, a map of Monterey, California:


View Larger Map


Thanks for stopping by!

.

8 comments:

  1. Hello! I found this blog post through a Google search. I am related to the Little family, so I was happy to find these photographs. Lucy Catherine Little Wolter is listed as "Kate" on many documents, so I assume she went by Kate is real life. In the photograph of the two children, I think "Katie" is referring to Lucy Catherine. Lucy Eleanor Wolter had a twin brother named Manuel Aloysius Wolter, and I think he is the other child in the photo. The twins were born 28 May 1879. The child on the right looks like a boy to me, and in that time period, hair parted on the side often indicates a boy.

    Manuel and Lucy Catherine did have seven children, and their youngest child, Harry Meiggs Wolter, was a professional baseball player.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for providing this information, Katy, especially for setting me straight on the photograph of Lucy Catherine Little Wolter and her twin Manuel Aloysius Wolter. And it was neat to look up Harry Meiggs Wolter and see that he played for, among other teams, the Red Sox!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You got one of the details wrong. Lucy Catherine is the mother of the twins, Lucy Eleanor and Manuel Aloysius. I think the picture is probably of the twins, and their mother's name (Katie) was written on the back of the picture as well. It's confusing when children have the same names as the parents!

    Did you acquire these photographs in Maine? If so, I wonder how they ended up there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think I've got it corrected now; thanks so much. Please let me know if there's still something that needs to be corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My name is Vida Wolter and I am a descendant of Captain Charles Luis Wolter through his son Luis Wolter (brother of Manuel) and Luciguella Vasquez of Carmel Valley, CA, My grandfather was Jose Eustace (Joe) Wolter, also of Carmel Valley. My father was Joseph David Wolter who died in 2008 in Redding, CA Do you happen to have, or know of any photos of Captain Charles Wolter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I did but, sadly, I think this is all I have of the Wolter family.

      Delete
  6. My grandfather came to Monterey in 1883 and was on a survey crew with your grandfather, Joe Wolter. They became good firnds, and my grandfather wrote quite a bit about him in his diaries. He noted that Joe Wolter later bought the Viennese Saloon in Monterey. I was very close friends with Luis and Russell Wolter at Monterey High back in 1951, and my father was in Rotary Club with their father. John W. Frost

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so lucky to have your grandfather's diaries! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

      Delete