Davidson and Farrier Family Histories

This is a site for us to upload family histories and pictures of our Davidson and Farrier family ancestors. I have not written most of the histories, although I have put together the timelines. The histories have been gathered from various sources, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of their information.

If you recognize any of these people and have information to add or correct, please post a comment, including your email address if you wish, so we can be in touch. I would love to connect with other descendants of these family members.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Josephine C. Vohnoutka, 1903-1980

  • Born: 6 November 1903 (Stanley, Morris, New Jersey)
  • Died: 15 January 1980 (Irvington, Essex, New Jersey)
  • Parents: Joseph Vohnoutka and Antonette Benesch
  • Spouse: Frank Hiebel (md. 26 February 1927 Summit,, New Jersey)
  • Children: Doris Hiebel, Lorraine F. Hiebel, Joan Carol Hiebel, Audrey Jean Hiebel, Linda Helen Hiebel


1903 November 6
Born, only daughter and oldest child of Joseph Vohnoutka and Antonette Benesch in Stanley, Morris, New Jersey.  [1]


Josephine with brother, Joseph.


1916 (abt.)
Age 13
Suffers a concussion in a sledding accident and never returned to school.  [2]

29 June 1916
1923 June 27
Age 19
Death of mother, Antonie Benesch Vohnoutka in Chatham, Morris, New Jersey  [3]

1927 February 26
Age 23
Marries Frank Hiebel in Summit, New Jersey.  [4]



Josephine, date and place unknown.

1928 September 21
Age 24
Daughter Doris born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey.  She lives only until October 22. [2]


Josephine with nurse and baby (which one?).

1930 April 7
Age 26
Living in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey with husband, Frank, mother-in-law Rose Hiebel, and cousin John Vohnoutka.  [5]

1930 April 22
Age 26
Daughter Lorraine F. born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey.[2]

1932 April 15
Age 28
Daughter Joan Carol born in Orange, Essex, New Jersey.  Residence:  256 40th St., Irvington, N.J.  [6]



Josephine with Lorraine and Joan, September 1935.

Josephine holding Joan, about 1935
1936 May 13
Age 32
Daughter Audrey Jean born in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey.  [7]

Back: Josephine, Frank, friend holding Audrey
Front:  Joan, Lorraine
1938 January 30
Age 34
Daughter Lorraine dies of Gaucher’s disease.  [8]

1940 April 15
Age 36
Living in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey with husband Frank, and daughters Joan (age 8) and Audrey (age 3), and father, Joseph Vohnoutka, and mother-in-law, Rosalie Hiebel.  [9]

1946 January 30
Age 42
Daughter Linda Helen born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey. [2]


Josephine, about 1960.

1966 July 7
Age 62
Death of father, Joseph Vohnoutka at Irvington, Essex, New Jersey. [10, 11]

Frank and Josephine, date unknown
1980 January 15
Age 76
Dies of bronchial pneumonia and histocytic lymphoma in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey.  [12]

* * *


Memories of daughter, Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier:

"Josephine “Josie” Catherine “Mama” Vohnoutka was the only daughter of Joseph and Nellie. During the summers, Mama was sent to a relative's farm to help with the chores. She told me never to get serious with a farmer. “You don’t know what hard work is until you’re on a farm.” Mama had a concussion in a sledding at the age of 13 and was kept out of school for a year. She didn’t want to return to school and be in the same grade as the 13-year-olds so she didn’t. (I never understood this, because Mama went to a one-room school.) Mama went to work in a factory. When her mother died, her father asked her to stay home and be a homemaker for him and her brother.

"Mama received a great deal of help from Aunt Josie Jackson, my Grandma Nellie’s sister. On one occasion, after Mama’s father and brother complained about not enough salt in their food, Aunt Josie suggested Mama put half a box of salt in at the next meal. Mama did and there were never any complaints again. (Mama told me this story.)

"After Mother and Daddy were married and the children started coming, Mother started a support group. The ladies would meet each week at each other’s home and furnish juice and cookies to all the children. I didn’t realize until I asked my mother how I was related to all these Aunts that I found out only two were related. The others were friends of Mama. We, the kids, called all the ladies “Aunt” out of respect. The ladies’ husbands were our “Uncles.”

"Mama eventually developed severe osteoporosis, fracturing her hip at about 63. The doctors tried to repair the hip, but when they tried the femur shattered. Mama also had rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Even with all this, when Mama’s friends came to cheer her up, her friends went home feeling better. Mama had cheered them up. (This I heard from her friends.) She died in 1980 at 76 of bronchial pneumonia and histocytic lymphoma."

--Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier
---------------------------------------------

[1]  NJ Bureau of Vital Statistics birth certificate no. 35728.

[2]  Personal knowledge of daughter Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier.

[3]  Letter from Audrey Hiebel Mann to Joan Hiebel Farrier

[4]  New Jersey Certificate of Marriage - Bureau of Vital Statistics - #393.

[5]  "United States Census, 1930," index and images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4DX-QBC : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Frank Hiebel, Irvington, Essex, New Jersey; citing enumeration district (ED) 0449, sheet 7A, family 138, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1330.

[6]  Health Department, Orange, N.J., Certificate of Birth, filed 21 April 1932.

[7]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JR7P-6WB : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Audrey J Mann, 15 July 1999; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[8]  Town of Irvington New Jersey Record of Death, filed 1/31/38.

[9]  "United States Census, 1940," index and images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K45Y-C1Q : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Frank Hiebel, Ward 1, Irvington, Irvington Town, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 7-159A, sheet 6B, family 133, NARA digital publication T627, roll 2334.

[10]  Town of Irvington New Jersey Record of Death, filed 7/8/66

[11]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMGT-JJF : accessed 08 Nov 2012), Joseph Vohnoutka, July 1966; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[12]  NJ State Dept. of Health death certificate, no. 06252.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Frank Hiebel, 1905-1981

  • Born: 5 April 1905 (Newark, Essex, New Jersey)
  • Died: 10 October 1981 (Irvington, Essex, New Jersey)
  • Parents: Henry Hiebl and Rosie or Rozie Sevcovic
  • Spouse: Josephine C. Vohnoutka (md. 26 February 1927 Summit, New Jersey)
  • Children: Doris Hiebel, Lorraine Hiebel, Joan Carol Hiebel, Audrey Jean Hiebel, Linda Helen Hiebel

1905 April 5
Born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey, ninth child of Henry Hiebl and Rosie or Rozie Sevcovic  [1, 2]


Frank as a child.


1926 June 21
Age 21
Death of father, Henry Hiebl in Fairmont, Newark, New Jersey [4]

1927 Feb 26
Age 21
Marries Josephine C. Vohnoutka in Summit, New Jersey.  Lists occupation as “Buyer.”  [3]

Frank and Josephine Hiebel on their honeymoon.
Tremore Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey in background.


1928 September 21
Age 23
Daughter Doris born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey.  She lived only until October 22.  [2]

1930 April 7
Age 25
Living in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey with wife, Josephine, mother Rose Hiebel, and wife’s cousin John Vohnoutka.  Lists occupation as “Clerk, printing co.”  [5]

1930 April 22
Age 25
Daughter Lorraine F. born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey [4]

1932 April 15
Age 27
Daughter Joan Carol born in Orange, Essex, New Jersey.  Residence:  256 40th St., Irvington, N.J.  Occupation:  Salesman. [4]

1936 May 13
Age 31
Daughter Audrey Jean born, Irvington, Essex, New Jersey  [6]

Back:  Josephine, Frank, a friend holding Audrey
Front:  Joan, Lorraine
1937 spring
Age 32
Takes picture of Hindenburg a few weeks before its tragic crash in May





1938 January 30
Age 32
Daughter Lorraine died of Gaucher’s disease  [7]

1940 April 15
Age 35
Living in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey with wife, Josephine, and daughters Joan (age 8) and Audrey (age 3), and father-in-law, Joseph Vohnoutka, and mother, Rosalie Hiebel.  [8]

1946 Jan. 30
Age 40
Daughter Linda Helen born, Newark, Essex, New Jersey [4]

1950 September 12
Age 45
Death of mother, Rosalie Sevcovic Hiebel in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey  [9]

Frank in Ansco film advertisement in journal "Radiology," June 1951, p. 11.
1968
Age 63
Retired from working as salesman for Ansco Photo [4]

Frank and Josephine, date unknown.

1980 January 15
Age 74
Wife Josephine dies of bronchial pneumonia and histocytic lymphoma in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey. [10]

1981 October 10
Age 76
Dies of acute respiratory failure in Irvington, Essex, New Jersey.  Lists occupation as salesman of x-ray equipment (General Analine and Film Co. of Binghamton, New York.)  Was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union, New Jersey. [1, 11]

* * *
Memories of daughter, Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier:

"Frank “Daddy” Hiebel was the ninth child of Rozie and Frank Hubl. The spelling of the family name was changed by Frank’s sisters. The family lived in a German/Czech neighborhood. With the change the Germans had a better chance of pronouncing it correctly. In Czechoslovakia, children were taught spelling only to the third grade. Once you learned the rules you could spell anything.

"Frank was abused by his sister Anna’s husband. Frank was studying violin and Anna’s husband eventually became his teacher. When Frank played a wrong note Anna’s husband hit him on the fingers until they bled. There was more but Daddy didn’t talk about it. I do know that when Anna died, the family never spoke to her husband or Anna’s son again.

"As a young teenager Frank was sickly and very thin. The doctor suggested he go to the country for fresh air and good food. Through the Czech network, the Vohnoutka family was found. When Frank arrived, there was a spread on the table including meat, potatoes and vegetables. He thought Mrs. Vohnoutka had fixed a special meal for his first night. The feast was every night! Frank lived with the family for a couple of years. The daughter, Josie (my Mama), had a crush on Frank, according to the son Joseph Vohnoutka. Joe really gave Frank a hard time for a while, but as time went on Daddy won Joe over (according to Daddy).

"Frank knew Josie liked him when, as he was leaving to go back home, Josie cried. Josie asked if he would come back to visit. His reply was “If you bake me a cake, the one with heavy cream and egg white icing with dark chocolate on top.” Frank did visit and the cake was waiting for him.

"Frank and Josie married February 26, 1927, they moved in with Baba on the condition that Mama would do the cooking. I really don’t think Baba was upset with this arrangement. Baba was then able to devote more time to her knitting and organizations. The only complaint I heard about this arrangement from Mama was when Mama came home with her first born and all five people living in the house expected her to go grocery shopping and fix dinner. She did cook the dinner, but only after someone else did the shopping. Frank and Josie had five daughters. The first died at about 14 days because the outlet of the stomach was closed. The second, Lorraine, died at 8 years of a rare chronic congenital disease (Gaucher’s disease): a disorder of lipid metabolism, associated with enlarged spleen.

"Frank had seven different jobs during his working years. These are the ones I remember:
· Soda Jerk as a young man.
· Caddie at a golf course, while living with the Vohnoutkas.
· Musician with his own orchestra.
· Photographer: mostly brides in the beginning, then food for advertising (spraying the fruit with varnish to make it shine), then jewelry laid on black velvet. Frank took a picture of the German zeppelin Hindenburg on its next-to-last arrival in the U.S. Ten days later it exploded on its approach to land. (I have a newspaper clipping of the picture.) When the WPA started, he worked for them as a photographer. I remember him telling me that on one occasion he hung out of a plane to get a good picture. It wasn’t until he got on the ground he realized what he did.
· X-ray technician during WWII, to find any flaws in guns, all sizes.
· Sales Representative for Ansco X-ray film, his last employer.

"Daddy was active in the local civic and political scene: Town treasurer, chairman of the Board of Adjustment, Member of the Sinking Fund Commission, Democrat District Leader, superintendent of the Methodist Church Sunday School, member of the Salvation Army advisory board, Rotary Club, and Master Mason of a Masonic Lodge."

--Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier
---------------------------------------------------

[1]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JPC3-L3X : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Frank Hiebel, October 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[2]  New Jersey, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics birth certificate, stamped no. 906.

[3]  New Jersey Certificate of Marriage - Bureau of Vital Statistics - #393.

[4]  Personal knowledge of Joan Carol Hiebel Farrier, a daughter.

[5]  "United States Census, 1930," index and images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4DX-QBC : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Frank Hiebel, Irvington, Essex, New Jersey; citing enumeration district (ED) 0449, sheet 7A, family 138, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1330.

[6]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JR7P-6WB : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Audrey J Mann, 15 July 1999; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[7]  Town of Irvington New Jersey Record of Death, filed 1/31/38.

[8]  "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K45Y-C1Q : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Frank Hiebel, Ward 1, Irvington, Irvington Town, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 7-159A, sheet 6B, family 133, NARA digital publication T627, roll 2334.

[9]  Town of Irvington New Jersey Record of Death, filed 9/13/1950 .

[10]  NJ State Dept. of Health death certificate, no. 06252.

[11]  New Jersey State Department of Health Certificate of Death, stamped no. 50919.

Marie Lillian Zimmermann, 1892-1975


  • Born: 23 May 1892 (Clifton, Passaic, New Jersey)
  • Died: 12 October 1975 (Orange, Essex, New Jersey)
  • Parents: John Zimmermann and Agnes Marie Benisch
  • Spouse: Walter Halliday Farrier, Sr. (md. 14 June 1916 Brooklyn, Kings, New York)
  • Children: Miriam (Dolly) Farrier, Claire-Jane Farrier, Walter Halliday Farrier, Jr.
1892 May 23
Born in Clifton, Passaic, New Jersey, one of five children of John Zimmermann and Agnes Marie Benisch.  According to her daughter, Clair-Jane Farrier, Marie was the only child born in the United States.  [1]

Marie, sometime before her marriage.

About 1896
Age 3/4
Death of father, John Zimmermann.  [2]

1916 June 14
Age 24
Marries Walter Halliday Farrier (Sr.) in New York.  Address:  255 Pearl St., Brooklyn, New York  [3]

1917 June 5
Age 25
Husband fills out draft registration card, indicating that Marie is pregnant.  [4]

1918 June 23
Age 26
Daughter Miriam (Dolly) is born in New York  [5]

1920 January 2
Age 27
Living in Clifton City, Passaic, New Jersey with husband Walter, daughter Mirian M. (age 1-1/2), and mother, Marie Zimmermann.  Occupation:  Professional Singer.  [6]

About 1924/25
Age 32/33
Death of mother, Agnes Marie Benisch Zimmermann. [6]

1925 April 17
Age 32
Daughter Claire-Jane is born in New Jersey.  [7]

1930 April 2
Age 37
Living in Newark, New Jersey with husband Walter and daughters Miriam (age 11) and Claire Jane (age 4) [8]

1932 February 8
Age 39
Son Walter Halliday Farrier, Jr., is born in Newark, Essex, New Jersey. [6]

1940 April 17
Age 47
Living in Maplewood, Essex, New Jersey with husband Walter and children Mirian M (age 21), Clare Jan (age 15), and Walter H (age 8).  [9]

1942
Age 50 (abt.)
Per husband’s draft registration card, is living at 20 Claremont Ave., Maplewood, Essex, New Jersey.  [10]

Walter and Marie Farrier, spring, 1955
1971 August 6
Age 79
Husband dies at Point Pleasant, Ocean, New Jersey [11, 12]

1975 October 12
Age 83
Dies at Orange, Essex, New Jersey.  Residence at death was Plainfield, Union, New Jersey.  Her body was donated to Rutgers Medical School (in New Brunswick, New Jersey). [13, 14]


* * *

"Marie was on scholarship 1914-1916 at what was then the “Institute of Musical Art” (which merged with the Juilliard Graduate School in 1926 to become the Juilliard School of Music) with a double major in piano and voice. She did not graduate, but sang in the “New York Opera Company” (which still exists) in the role of Hansel in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.” She also concertized (as “Marie Merman” because of the strong public anti-German sentiment), including at “Cinema” theaters between showings of the then-short, silent, black-and-white new medium of film."
--Walter Halliday Farrier, Jr.

-----------------------------------------------
[1] "New Jersey, Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCTG-QMX : accessed 15 Feb 2013), John Zimmerman in entry for Marie L. Zimmerman, 23 May 1891; citing reference v 39 p 116, FHL microfilm 494221.

[2]  Personal knowledge of daughter, Claire-Jane Farrier Young.

[3]  State of New York Certificate and Record of Marriage no. 6706.

[4]  Ancestry.com.  U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005.

[5]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VSJF-HZH : accessed 15 Feb 2013), Dolly F Kelley, July 1993; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[6]  “United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4Y9-5F2 : accessed 15 Feb 2013), Walter H Farrier, , Passaic, New Jersey; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 1B, family 15, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821062.

[7]  Personal knowledge of son, Walter Halliday Farrier, Jr.

[8]  "United States Census, 1930," index and images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4DG-5WQ : accessed 15 Feb 2013), Walter Farrier, Newark (Districts 1-250), Essex, New Jersey; citing enumeration district (ED) 0103, sheet 1A, family 4, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1335.

[9]  “United States Census, 1940,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K4RM-ZBB : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Walter H Farrier, Maplewood Township, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 7-211, sheet 13B, family 281, NARA digital publication T627, roll 2336.

[10]  Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

[11]  NJ State Dept. of Health death certificate State File #43532.

[12]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JPZW-YNB : accessed 04 Feb 2013), Walter Farrier, August 1971; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

[13]  NJ State Dept. of Health death certificate, state file no. 49660.

[14]  "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JPZM-ZQM : accessed 16 Feb 2013), Marie Farrier, October 1975; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).