My Family History Research

Martin Stanislaus Monsees, 1929-2005

Martin Monsees was born 19 December 1929 in Bremen in northern Germany. Bremen is famous for its trading history and the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale “Town Musicians of Bremen” (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten).

Martin was not yet ten years old when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 to start World War II and he was fifteen years old when the city of Bremen was captured by British forces in April 1945.

The city and state of Bremen, surrounded by the larger state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) in northern Germany, suffered much during the war. The British Royal Air Force dropped 12,831 long tons of bombs on Bremen between 1939 and 1945.

The Bombing of Bremen in World War II by the British Royal Air Force and US Eighth Air Force targeted strategic targets in the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which had heavy anti-aircraft artillery but only 35 fighter aircraft in the area. In addition to Wesermünde/ Bremerhaven, targets were also in Farge and Vegesack. Bremen also included concentration camps such as Bremen-Farge and Bremen-Vegesack.

“Bombing of Bremen in World War II,” Wikipedia

At age twenty-two, Martin S. Monsees left Bremen, Germany, on Scandinavian Airlines, flying to New York on 15 September 1952.

Martin Monsees applied for a Social Security number in September 1952.

Name: Martin Monsees
SSN: 137287518
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birth Date: 19 Dec 1929
Birth Place: Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany
Mother Name: Meta Monsees
Death Date: 15 Nov 2005
Type of Claim: Original SSN.
Notes: Sep 1952: Name listed as MARTIN MONSEES

Abstract, Martin Monsees Social Security application

Martin identified his mother as Meta Monsees when he filed for Social Security. He was very close to the Schnaars family in New Jersey; in the Platz family tree on Ancestry.com, Martin’s parents were identified as Johann Behrend Schnaars (1889–1978) and Adelheid Eddi Kűck (1888–1978).

Johann Schnaars‘ sister Meta Adeline Schnaars was the wife of Wilhelm August Grüning, proprietor of the Gruning’s chain of ice cream and candy shops headquartered in South Orange, New Jersey. In 2016, New Jersey Monthly wrote about the family run business in “Gruning’s Ice Cream Parlor Was Hot-Fudge Heaven.” Martin Monsees ran the Gruning’s candy factory for decades. Both Martin and his wife Toni (Waltraud) were remembered in the Gruning’s Ice Cream public group on Facebook.com.

Martin Monsees enlisted in the United States Army on 26 Jun 1953 and served during the Korean War attaining the rank of Corporal. He was discharged from the Army in 1961.

Martin Monsees petitioned for Naturalization in the District Court of the United States in Newark, New Jersey. Affidavits from two witnesses, Adolf Albert Niehaus and William F. Menzel, were submitted 25 Jan 1954. Martin Monsees swore an oath of allegiance to the United States on 3 Feb 1954 and became an United States citizen.

Martin Monsees and Waltraud Moser were married 19 Aug 1961 in South Orange, Essex, New Jersey.

Along with Marie Schnaars, Martin Stanislaus Monsees was a witness when his wife Waltraud Christa Elinor Moser Monsees was naturalized in the District Court of the United States in Newark, New Jersey on 1 Jan 1962. Martin and Waltraud Monsees lived at 203 Irvington Avenue in South Orange, New Jersey. The couple soon had four children, and the family lived at 87 Arnold Terrace in South Orange, Essex, New Jersey.

Martin Monsees died in New Jersey on 15 Nov 2005 and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Union, Union, New Jersey. The Preston Funeral Home listed his obituary on their site, and it was in several New Jersey newspapers.

Martin Monsees
Born in Bremen, Germany on Dec. 19, 1929
Departed on Nov. 15, 2005 and resided in South Orange, NJ.

Visitation: Friday Nov. 18, 2005
Service: Saturday Nov. 19, 2005
Cemetery: Hollywood Cemetery

Monsees — On Tuesday, November 15, 2005 Martin Monsees of South Orange. Husband of Waltraud Moser Monsees. Father of John M., David H., Edward W. and Heidi Monsees. Grandfather of Jackson. Also survived by many friends of “Bill W. “ Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral service at Preston Funeral Home, 153 South Orange Ave, South Orange on Sat, Nov 19th at 11:00 AM. Interment Hollywood Cemetery, Union. Visiting hours Friday, 2-4 & 7-9 PM. For more information please visit http://www.prestonfuneralhome.net

Martin was a member of A.A., South Orange Tues Night Group, the American Legion Post 220, South Orange, Fritz Reuter Altenheim, North Bergen, NJ, Friends of “Bill W.”

HE ALSO WORKED:
Grunings Ice Cream & Candy Co., South Orange – Manager of Candy Factory 1952-1984
South Orange & Maplewood Bd of Education -Custodian 1985-95

MILITARY: U. S. Army, 1953 – 1961, Korean War

Martin Monsees, Preston Funeral Home, South Orange, New Jersey

DNA testing of some descendants of Martin Monsees shows that there is a distant genetic connection to people with the name Monsees in their ancestral trees, but no close ancestors have been identified. A few testers who share a small amount of DNA also have the names Schnaars and Kűck in their family trees.

Sources

• Wikipedia contributors, “Bombing of Bremen in World War II,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bombing_of_Bremen_in_World_War_II&oldid=934844833 (accessed April 26, 2020).
• “Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed December 2015), Martin S Monsees Arrival Date: 15 Sep 1952.
• Social Security Administration, “U.S. Social Security Death Index,” database, Social Security Applications and Claims (online : accessed December 2015), Martin Monsees, 137287518, 1952.
• “Family Tree”, database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2014), Martin Monsees; undocumented family tree submitted by Ed Platz, [contact information for private use].
• Martin Monsees, Document Number: 93424; 1796-1991; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C.
• “New Jersey Marriage Index,” database, Ancestry.com (: accessed 12 November 2018), Martin S Monsees, Waltraud C Moser; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey; Certificate Number: 23473.
• Waltraud Christa Elinor Monsees or Moser, Document Number: 111939, New Jersey Naturalization Records, U. S. District Court; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C.
• “United States Department of Veterans Affairs,” database online,  (online : accessed August 2017), Martin Monsees.
• Martin Monsees, Star-Ledger [NJ.com], Newark, New Jersey, 16 November 2006. http://www.legacy.com/starledger/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=15683302.
• Preston Funeral Home (South Orange, New Jersey), “Obituary,” http://obit.jacobhollefuneralhome.com/obit_display.cgi?id=265610, Martin Monsees; online, South Orange, New Jersey.