Regina (Dina or Rachel?) Zimmermann (-3G)

foster mother of our maternal grandmother
(Click to see a chart showing her relationship to us)

*marks direct-line ancestors. The (-3G), etc., after the names indicates the number of generations before Erven Thoma.

Nickname: Dina? (see 1900 Census). I do not know her exact birth or death date or her parents names, but her parents were born in Darmstadt, Hessen (in Germany).

The Gruen family consisted of the father, Jacob, the mother, Regina (nicknamed Dina), and two natural children, one of whom was George, plus one foster daughter-Josephine. When the Gruen foster parents died, neither Josephine (if she was living at the time) nor her husband, Erven Thake, received any inheiritance.

The New York Passenger List database (roll 303, list 1182, line 20)on Ancestry.Com lists a Regina Zimmermann who arrived on 11 Nov. 1868 on the ship Cella. That Regina was 18, her father was Christian, her mother was Anna, and her siblings were Frideric (9), Marie (3) and Elise (2). On the same ship was another Christian Zimmermann family. They were destined for Missouri. However, all of these people were born in Switzerland, whereas our Regina was born in Missouri, her parents in Germany.

I have not been able to find the 1850 or 1860 Census for Regina who was supposedly born in Missouri.

Our Jacob and Regina were married by a clergyman, Charles F. Stark on 25 Sep. 1869. He was the pastor at Bethany Evangelical Church which at that time was located at 22nd and Franklin Streets. The IGI database gives the marriage under the name "Grun". The St. Louis Marriage Register and the St. Louis Missouri Marriages, 1804-76 database on Ancestry.Com also have Jacob M. listed under "Grün".

Do not confuse Jacob M. Gruen with Jacob Gruen who was also in the saloon and wine business. For information on this other Jacob Gruen click here.

No Jacob M. Gruen appears in the St. Louis City Directory until 1870. The 1870 St. Louis City Directory lists Jacob Gruen who is a bartender at C. Jenne & Co., living at 2628 Tayon Ave. This company was a wine dealer and importer located on Market St. at the SE corner of 5th St. The owner, Charles Jenne, is the head of household at the same address as Jacob. Notice that "Jenne" is the maiden surname of the wife of Joseph Scharfenberger. I am assuming that Maria M. Jenne, the wife of Joseph, was the sister of this Charles Jenne but have no proof yet.

The 1870 Census for Missouri has one Gruen in St. Louis.  He is Joseph Gruen, 35 years old, a type setter, from Baden with a wife and 3 children (11-WD, 84-SUB DIV, M593, roll 821, p. 560). Since the St. Louis Directory of the same year shows a Jacob Gruen boarding with Charles Jenne I will have to look for that name in the Census but it does not show up in the Census Index.

There is a Jacob Green in the 1870 Fed. Census for Missouri (M593_816, printed page 351, hand-entered p. 95, dwelling 584, family 598, lines 25-27, dated 23 June). He and his family are living in the 12th subdivision of ward 6 of St. Louis, but I do not know the street name. Jacob is a 25 years old saloon keeper, born in Baden--his parents of foreign birth. His wife is named Rachel, which name also appears in the 1880 Census, second enumeration. She is 20 years old, was born in Missouri, and is keeping house. Her parents were of foreign birth. Their daughter, Jacqueline, is only one month old and was born in Missouri in May. She is at home. If this is the right family, then this daughter must have died before the 1880 Census. Their son was not born until ca. 1872. In this Census the family is living near the family of Bernard Hunt (see 1860 Census listing on Jacob's page).

There is a record of the death of Jacqueline Catherine Green on 15 Aug. 1870 in St. Louis. She lived at 2721 Walnut (St. Louis Death Records, vol. 3, p. 316). She was probably the girl listed in the 1870 Census above.

The 1871 St. Louis City Directory lists a J. Green with the listing for C. Jenne & Co. in the business section of the 1871 St. Louis Directory. This is probably a misspelling of J. Gruen who was living and working with Charles Jenne a year earlier. Gruen (German) = Green (English). The C. Jenne company address is given as 420 Market. Charles Jenne (and probably also Jacob M. Gruen and his wife) is living at 2628 Market [sic! Tayon?]. Jacob Gruen is listed in the 1872 St. Louis Directory as a partner with Charles Jenne in the Charles Jenne & Co., wine dealers, at 420 Market. Jacob does not have a separate residence listing in this directory; he is perhaps living with Charles Jenne at 2628 Market. The 1873 Directory repeats the 1872 information. The 1874 Directory does not list our Jacob M. Gruen or Charles Jenne in the business or residential sections.

Her son George J. (-2G) was born in Sept. 1871 in Missouri (probably in St. Louis).

Josephine was unofficially adopted (perhaps ca. 1877 but certainly beteween the Censuses of 1870 and 1880) and raised by the Gruen family that at one time lived near the Greer Ave. (north St. Louis) address where the Eugene Thake family lived. So she was not a true Gruen; her blood ancestors are not yet proven, but her birth surname is probably Scharfenberger (see below). There are a couple of Scharfenberger families listed in the St. Louis City Directories before 1880.  One is prominent, Joseph Scharfenberger, who operates saloons and wine depots, an occupation like that of Jacob Gruen and Charles Jenne. Joseph married a Maria M. Jenne on 11 Apr. 1868 in St. Louis. A Joseph Scharfenberger is listed in the St. Louis Directory as early as 1867 as a brewer. He is last listed in the St. Louis Directory of 1876. The St. Louis Death Register has his death in 1877.

The St. Louis City Directory of 1877 lists Jacob M. Gruen with a wine business at 420 Market and residence at 27?6 Market. Notice that this business address is the same as that for C. Jenne & Co. in 1871. Charles Jenne died 15 Dec. 1872; could it be that Jacob M. Gruen then took over the business? The Directory of 1878 lists Jacob Gruen, wine dealer at 420 Market, living at 2706 Manchester Rd. [sic! Market?].

The 1880 Census for Missouri (first enumeration, T9_723, supv. dist. 1, enum. dist. 132, page 16, sheet33D, dwelling 117, family 142, lines 41-46, dated June 4) has a Jacob Gruen family in St. Louis. The head, Jacob Gruen, is a wine merchant. He is 36 years old, born in Baden. His parents were also born in Baden. His wife, the family housekeeper, is named Regina. She is 29 years old, born in Missouri. Her parents were born in Darmstadt in Hesse. Their son, George, is 8 years old, born in Missouri. Also is the household is a boarder, Josephine Scharfenberger, (-2G) 9 years old. She was born in Missouri; her father in Bavaria; her mother in Baden. I belive this was the same person as Josephine Gruen in the 1900 Census, although the ages do not quite match (neither do the ages of Jacob). Also in the household is a servant girl, Carolina Mueller(?), 16 years old. Carolina was born in Illinois; her father in Germany and her mother in Darmstadt in Hesse. Also in the household is the father of Jacob, John George Gruen (-4G), 61 years old, from Baden. They are living at 2710 Laclede Ave. in St. Louis which houses several families. (Click here to see an organized list of arguments connecting Josephine and Joseph Scharfenberger.)

The 1880 Census for St. Louis, Missouri (second enumeration, T9_733, supv. dist. 71, enum. dist. 342, page 10, sheet 225B, dwelling 54, family 85, lines 18-23, dated 10 Nov.) shows the Jacob M. Gruen family living at 2710 Laclede Ave. The head, Jacob Gruen, is a wine merchant. He is 36 years old, born in Germany. His parents were also born in Germany. His wife is named Rachel [sic! mistake?] and has no occupation listed. She was born in Missouri; her parents in Germany. Their son John G. Gruen is 9 and is employed in a store. George J. Gruen, father of Jacob, is 70 and widowed. He is a wagon driver (perhaps for the family wine business). He and his parents were born in Germany. Fred Gruen, cousin of Jacob, is 21 and single, and is employed as a cellar man (probably in the family wine business). He and his parents were born in Germany. On the line above Jacob we find Josie Schaffenberger [spelling?], an adopted child of 9 years old. She was born in Missouri of parents born in Germany. [I am assuming that she should be included in the Jacob Gruen family--see the first enumeration.]. The servant girl seen in the first enumeration is not listed.

The 1880 St. Louis Directory lists Jacob M. Gruen with a saloon at 420 Market and a residence at 2706 Market [sic! Laclede?]. In the 1881 St. Louis City Directory Jacob Gruen is listed residing at 2706 Laclede Ave. and a saloon at 418 Market. The 1882 and 1883 Directories have our Jacob Gruen with a saloon at 418 Market and a residence at 2710 Manchester Rd. The 1884 Dir. has him with a saloon at 418 Market and a residence at 2628 Market.

In the St. Louis Death Records, 1850-1908, Jacob's father's death (26 July 1885) is listed. He is living at 16 S. Beaumont. In the 1885 and 1886 Directories, Jacob M. Gruen has a saloon at 418 Market and a residence at 16 S. Beaumont. In the 1887 Directory, Jacob M. Gruen has a saloon at 418 Market and a residence at 16 S. S. Beaumont.

The 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire so no family details are available, but the 1890 St. Louis City Directory lists Jacob M. Gruen with a saloon at 418 Market. Residential address is ?

The 1890 Veteran's Schedule (home #45, family #66, dated June 1890), taken from the now lost 1890 Census (11th Census of the U.S., supv. dist. 1, enum. dist. 5, p. 1), gives the Civil War service record of Jacob M. Gruen (q.v.). The address given for Jacob in June 1890 is 414 Market St. This Schedule was enumerated by a Charles Zimmermann; Regina's family name was Zimmermann. There is also a veterans' schedule for the other Jacob Gruen who was living on Hickory St. (supv. dist. 1, enum. dist. 196, house #66, family #82).

In the 4 June 1900 Census for Missouri (district 281, 18th ward, sheet 3, line 9), the head of the household at 2702 N. 21st St. in St. Louis is Jacob Gruen. He is 58 years old, born in Aug. 1841 in Germany, with parents also born in Germany. Jacob is naturalized, came to the U.S. in 1865 and has lived in the U.S. for 35 years. He is a wine merchant. Also in the household is Jacob's wife of 30 years, Dina. Dina is 47 years old, born in Nov. 1852 in Missouri. Dina's father and mother were born in Germany. Dina can read and write and can speak English. The name Dina agrees with the recollection of a living relative and is, no doubt, a nickname for Regina who is listed as the wife in the 1880 Census above. In the household there is also a Josephine Gruen*, (same as Josephine Scharfenberger in the 1880 Census) listed as a daughter, born in August 1872 and 27 years old. She was born in Missouri. According to this Census, Josephine's father was born in Germany and her mother in Missouri--but this is probably referring to her foster parents, the Gruen's. The Census also states that she can read and write and can speak English. They are renting.

On the marriage license of Regina's fosterdaughter, Josephine, her address on 21 Apr. 1906 is given as 2702 N. 21st St. in St. Louis, MO which agrees with the 1900 Census address of the Jacob family.

There is an obituary for Jacob M. Gruen in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on 28 Oct. 1907 (p. 12) which states that he died at the age of 65 after a brief illness on Saturday, 26 Oct. 1907 at 4:45 pm and was buried on the 29th. There is no other Jacob in the St. Louis Public Library's Obituary Index from 1880 through 1912. This obituary lists Josie (Josephine) as his foster daughter, George J. Gruen as his son, Dina as his widow, Frieda as his son's wife and Elsie as his son's daughter. Dina's maiden surname is given: Zimmermann. The funeral took place on Tuesday the 29th at 1:30 pm from his residence at 2702 N. 21st St. in St. Louis. The cemetery was not mentioned. However he was buried in Bethany Cemetery, in lots 23-24, Pav section, according to the microfilm copy of the Bethany Cemetery records for 29 Oct. 1907. In that record his age at death is given as 65 years, 2 months, 29 days. Jacob was a past commander of Gen. Lyon Post No. 2, G. A. R. which could be an Am. Legion post or a masonic order.

The 1910 Fed. Census for Missouri (T624, roll 820 part 3, supv. dist 10, enum. dist. 314, stamped page 64A Supplemental Sheet, hand-entered page #13A, family 213, line 14) lists Dina Gruen living in ward 10 of St. Louis. She is a 60 year old widow living in the household of her niece, Eliza Medart [?] [whose husband was Martin Medart]. Dina was born in Missouri of German parents. She had two children one of which is still living. Address is

Her foster daughter, Josephine Scharfenberger (-2G) (married to Erven Thake) died on 03 Feb. 1913 in St. Louis. She was buried in Valhalla Cemetery, in the Thake lot.

The St. Louis City Directory of 1913 shows that Dina is living with the family of Erven Thake (-2G) [listed as Irwin E. Thake] at 3922 Lexington Ave. Erven Thake is the widower of Josephine, Dina's foster daughter. The 1914 Directory also lists Dina [listed as Diana] living at 3922 Lexington.

Regina was still alive when Erven Thake (-2G) married his second wife, Elizabeth Grupp (-2G) on 13 Dec. 1914. She used to take Erven Thake's children different places. There is no Regina or Dina Gruen in the 1915-17 St. Louis City Directories; maybe she is living in the county, or living with her son George or with the family of Erven and Elizabeth Thake.

The 1920 Fed. Census for Missouri (St. Louis ward 21, enum. dist. 183, sheet 22B, dwelling 328, family 567, dated 23 Jan.) shows Regina Gruen living with the family of her son George. Regina is 68 years old, born in Missouri. George J., a salesman with an auto company or dealer, is 48, George's wife Alfreda is 41. Also living there is the sister of Alfrida, Clara Stud...(?) who is a 39 year old stenographer. The address is 3963 Palm St, which house they own.

There is a burial/death notice in the St. Louis Post Dispatch of 29 Nov. 1920 (p. 15) for a G. Gruen. This was not her son George because he was the informant on his mother's death certificate.

Regina died on 11 Dec. 1920 in St. Louis, MO at age 70. An obituary appears in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on 12 Dec. on page 7B. She was buried on 14 Dec. in Bethany Cemetery, probably next to her husband in lots 23-24, Pav section. There is no gravestone. Her death and burial is listed in the microfilm copy of the Bethany burial records (St. Louis County Library EVUC-106). The latter record says she was born on 12 Nov. 1850.

Her death certificate (found in the MO State Archives and visible online) has this information: She was born on 12 Nov.1850 in St. Louis; parents unknown but both of them were born in Germany. Regina died at1 PM on 11 Dec. 1920 in Deconess Hospital in St. Louis at age 70 years, and 29 days. Cause of death was chronic nefitis. She was buried in Bethany Cemetery and the undertaker was Wm. Paschidag on 2825 N. Grand Ave. She was a widow of Jacob M. Gruen and she resided at 3963 Palm St., the same adress as her son. The informant was her son George J. Gruen. (certificate #38217.)

Created Mon. 8 May, 2000. Updated 15 May 2006.