The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Dora and John H Sohn
Dora and John H Sohn married in or about 1889. John was the son of Annie C and Adam Sohn born in Maryland 1858-1860. According to the 1900 US Census he was born in December 1857, and Dora, in May 1868. Dora had been born in Germany. According the same census, she immigrated in 1883.
Dora and John had three children, although only one lived to adulthood (I think):
Carrie's first appearance in the records I have comes in 1893, when she and her mother were returning from a trip abroad, probably to Germany. They sailed home aboard the SS Dresden out of Bremen, arriving at Ellis Island 25 Apr 1893 and at the port of Baltimore 28 Apr 1893. In the Ellis Island records, they're listed as residents of Baltimore. In the Baltimore records, they're listed as residents of Lieblos, a town in Hesse. However, they're listed immediately before six other passengers who were listed as being Lieblos in both sets of records. I don't know if Dora really was from Lieblos or if there was a mixup in the Baltimore records.
In or about 1895, Dora and John took a boarder named Joseph Snively or Schnebly, a furniture lacquerer about Dora's age. Snively seems to have been living with them when young Emma was born. Then one day in August 1897, John returned from work to find his home deserted. His wife, both children, the boarder and all the furniture had vanished. The missing parties were eventually discovered living at 111 14th Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. Accounts of what happened next were reported 01 Mar 1898 in the New York Herald, the Baltimore Sun and Der Deutsche Correspondent. (It was the German-language newspaper that referred to Joseph as "Schnebly" - and also as a "Bärchen." The latter term translates literally as "little bear," but I suspect that a more accurate translation in this context might be "varmint.")
On 28 Feb 1898, John applied to Recorder McDonough in Hoboken for warrants for the arrest of Dora and Joseph. The warrants were issued and McDonough sent a Detective Kerrigan to the house to make the arrests. Kerrigan discovered that young Emma had the measles, so he arrested only Joseph, leaving Dora to care for the baby. McDonough then sent Kerrigan back to retrieve Carrie - 7 or 8 years old at the time - who was reunited with her father. The two of them promptly headed for Jersey City, where they took a train to Baltimore.
What happened to Dora and Joseph is a bit unclear. According to the Herald and the Sun, Joseph was released after John and Carrie left, and Dora was never arrested at all. According to Der Deutsche Correspondent, both Dora and Joseph remained under arrest at the time the story was published, while Emma had been brought to St Mary's Hospital in Hoboken. All three sources reported a statement by Dora that she had left John because of his cruelty.
Der Deutsche Correspondent followed up with a report published 03 Mar 1898 that John and Carrie were staying with John's sister Katherine and his brother-in-law Charles Rau at 1008 Third Street, while Dora was back in Baltimore and staying at 22 North Collington Avenue. Both Der Deutsche Correspondent and the Baltimore Sun reported 22 Mar 1898 that Dora had sued John for custody of Carrie.
With all of this, it's a bit of surprising to find John, Dora and Carrie living together in the 1900 US Census at 1038 West Lexington Street. They reported that they'd had two children but that only one was living. I take this mean that Emma had died. John's occupation has been written over and is difficult to make out. He might have been a printer or a painter.
The 1900 US Census is the last record I have for Carrie. Her brother Leslie was born 1905-1906, and in the 1910 US Census, her parents reported that they'd had two children, both living. From this I would guess that Carrie had married, but I haven't found any clues as to what her husband's last name was.
John, Dora and "Lester" were living at 2145 Walbrook Avenue. John was working as a hardwood finisher in a furniture factory, while Dora had her own grocery store.
Leslie died 28 Jul 1917 after being struck that afternoon by a taxi at the intersection of West North Avenue and Division Street. He was taken by ambulance first to the Womans Hospital and then to Mercy Hospital, where he died of brain injuries shortly after 8 PM.
As of 1920, John and Dora remained at 2145 Walbrook, still working at the same jobs. John died sometime during the 1920s. He might or might not be the John H Sohn who died 17 Mar 1924 according to the Baltimore City death records.
The 1930 US Census is rather interesting. Dora gave her name as Dorothy Sohn and her age as 50, the same age she'd reported in 1920. She was still operating the grocery store. Living with her were her "nephew" Edward Rutledge, age 40, a motion picture operator and a servant named Augusta Forrest, age 16. Edward was said to have been born in Wales to Welsh parents, so I would assume that he wasn't Dorothy's nephew in the technical sense. He also reported that he immigrated to the States in 1882, nine years before he was supposedly born.
Sometime between 1930 and 1935, "Dorothy" married Michael Lovell or Lavell, born in New York in or about 1875. As of 1940, the couple were living at 2145 Walbrook. Michael was working as an auditor in an office. Dorothy, who gave her age as 60 but would have been at least 70, had given up her grocery store.
I have no further information on either of them.