The Voits of Baltimore

There are several Voit families that immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland in the 1800s.

We currently don't know if they are related to each other or just randomly ended up in the same city.  More research is needed on the European side of these families but we've done a lot of work on the American side so let's see what we've got so far.

Leopold Voit

Leopold Voit was born about 1864.  Some researchers believe he was born in Leskau, Bohemia in the Habsburg Empire, however U.S. census records list his birthplace as "Germany" or "Austria" depending on the census.  We do know from the ship manifest and the immigration index that he arrived in Baltimore 6 February 1889 on the ship S.S. America from Bremen and was listed on the ship manifest as having "U.S.A." nationality.

In 1891 Leopold Voit married Wilhelmina "Minnie" Schoen.  Their family is listed in the 1900 census in the city of Baltimore along with four children: Louisa, George, Adolph and John.  In the 1910 census the family is still in Baltimore and youngest son Louis was included.  The following family legend was described in Ancestry.com:

He married Wilhelmina “Minnie” Schoen in 1891, who was 2 years younger than him, being born in May, 1867. Minnie was from Falkenau, Westphalia, Germany and arrived in the US in 1874. They had 5 children; Louisa, George W, Adolph Herman, John Charles, and Frederick Lewis (or Lewis Fredrick).

He was a stevedore, which is a person who loads and unloads ships. At age 35, he and his family lived at 1349 Garrett Avenue, Baltimore, in a house that he owned free of mortgage. He could read and write, and spoke English.

In later years, he read newspapers and had very white hair, a mustache and a beard. He looked like Santa and was always immaculate. He was quite dignified in his dress and manner.

Wilhelmina was a fanatic housekeeper - everything was always "ship-shape", with very nice furnishings. She was said to "rule the roost" and could be pretty intimidating to the grandchildren. When she died, her casket was in the turret section of the formal living (sitting) room, which was pretty scary for a kid and added to the legacy for the grandkids.

The house on Garrett Avenue was a very nice corner - large brick row house. It was lovely, with a turret that ran upwards three stories on the front of the house corner. It had a foyer with stairs to the upstairs and a 2nd entry on the side street, also with stairs, and access to a finished basement with a 2nd kitchen - plus laundry. The back of the house had porches on all the levels and an entrance to the basement. It had a fenced yard with a small garden. It was definitely one of those famous Baltimore "row houses". Of course, the location was perfect in those days for those who worked on the waterfront and could afford them.

Sometime between 1920 and 1930 Leopold Voit was admitted as a patient to Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville.  He shows up there in the 1930 and 1940 census.  Leopold's wife Wilhelmina died 3 June 1934 in Baltimore.

The genealogy for this Voit family is below:

1 Leopold Voit (1864-?)
+ Wilhelmina Schoen
    2 Louisa Marie Voit (1893-1915)

    2 Marie T Voit (1894-1965)

    + Frank Sauers

    2 George Washington Voit (1895-1995)

    + Suzanne B

        3 George Washington Voit (1922-1999)

    2 Adolph Herman Voit (1896-1970)

    + Sophia B Mackiewcz

    2 John Charles Voit (1900-1970)

    + Emma Maria Renstrom

        3 Hilda Ruth Voit (1936-1998)

        + Jacob Kenneth Diggs

        3 John Charles Voit II (1938-2015)

    2 Frederick Louis Voit (1903-1984)

    + Gertrude Peters

        3 Louis Linwood Voit (1932-2013)

Francis (Frank) Voit

Francis Voit was born December 1863 in Austria according to the 1900 and 1910 census.  According to the same census records Frank immigrated about 1885.  He was a butcher in Baltimore at 45 Belair Avenue.  His wife, Charlotte, was born in Maryland in 1872 and they were married about 1892.  Frank Voit died 2 March 1917 in Baltimore.  It's currently not known whether Frank was related to the Leopold Voit above, given that they both might have been from Austria.

1 Francis Voit (1863-1917)

+ Charlotte

    2 Anna Voit (1893-?)

    2 Marie Elizabeth Voit (1894-1973)

    + James Kober

        3 Francis Joseph Kober (1916-1991)

        + Margaret Mary Flading

            4 Margaret Mary Kober (1941-1942)

    2 Peter Joseph Voit (1896-1918)

    2 Charlotte Voit (1900-1982)

    + Joseph Caplan

    2 Margaret A Voit (1902-1978)

    2 Frank Voit (1907-?)

    + Margaret

    2 Ethel Voit (1909-1933)

    + Leroy Cole

John B. Voit

John Voit was born November 1869 in Germany according to the 1900 census and his grave record.  He married Mary Ann Pilsch about 1893 and they had a son, Lawrence Edward Voit, born 3 November 1893 in Baltimore.  John died 11 March 1930 in Baltimore and his funeral was at his home 2609 East Oliver Street.

1 John B Voit (1869-1930)

+ Mary Ann Pilsch

    2 Lawrence Edward Voit (1893-1918)

    + Sarah H