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PHOTOGRAPHS
All Photographs Copyright © 2008-2012 The Pieczonka Family |
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Albert Pieczonka and Granddaughters at Ocean Grove, NJ circa 1908 Albert loved the New Jersey shore and rarely missed a day of swimming in the summer. Here he is surrounded by Emily’s daughter Lily, Eva’s daughters Margaret and Dora, Alice’s daughters Alice and Irene, and Margaret’s fiancé, George. |
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Albert Pieczonka with the Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra circa 1880 Named after Albert’s maternal grandparents, the Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra made their American debut in the early 1880s. Members of the Pieczonka Family L-R : Helene (‘cello), Alice (violin), Albert (piano), Kaethe (‘cello), Nanny (vocals and piano), Eva (violin), Emily (violin), and Fanny (viola). The Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra disbanded in 1887. |
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Pencil Sketch of Fanny Pieczonka by Frederick Görtelmeyer June, 1882 Very little is known of Fanny’s life but this portrait reveals one clue. It is inscribed on the back, “Pencil Sketch of Fanny by her fiancé, Fred Görtelmeyer—June, 1882.” Görtelmeyer (1848-1882) was the best friend of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), the celebrated American sculptor, and was the son of Henry Görtelmeyer, a virtuoso oboist in New York and one of the founders of what would become the first Musicians’ Union in America. Fred studied in Paris with the famous painters Gérôme and Carolus-Duran; he exhibited at the National Academy Exhibition in NY in 1877 and became, according to Saint-Gaudens, an accomplished lithographer. Fred and Fanny never married as Fred died six months after drawing this portrait of his fiancée. |
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Albert and Nanny Pieczonka photograph circa 1875 |
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Fanny Cosima Pieczonka (1858-1886) Albert Pieczonka’s eldest daughter, born in East Prussia, was named after Fanny Mendelssohn and Cosima Liszt-Wagner. This photo was taken in Berlin probably prior to her moving to the United States in 1881. Primarily a pianist, reviews of Fanny’s performances in England in the 1870s were all favorable. She was also a teacher at a private school in Kensington. Her tenure with the Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra, playing viola, was short for she started to lose muscle control around 1883 and was completely paralyzed by 1886, when she died of infected bedsores at 28 years. |
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Albert Pieczonka (front row, 3rd from right) at the NY State Chess Association meeting,
Murray Island Hotel,
Thousand Islands, NY August, 1897 |
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Ernst Pieczonka (1856-1876) Ernst was Albert Pieczonka’s son, born in Memel, East Prussia. As the consequence of a childhood fall, he was partially paralyzed and continued to suffer from a festering infection in his hip. According to his sister Kaethe, Albert would carry Ernst around the house in London, which describes his disability. The infection in his hip killed him by the time he was twenty. |
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Three Pieczonka Sisters in Waco, Texas L-R Alice, Eva, and Helene 1885 The Kempa Ladies’ Orchestra had a successful tour of Texas in the spring of 1885. The three girls were joined by Albert and Nanny in a variety of venues—from Houston German Halls to San Antonio gardens. All three daughters died early. Helene ('cellist) died in 1892 at age 27, Alice (violinist) died in 1908 at age 49, and Eva (violinist), the youngest of the Pieczonka daughters, probably died in 1898 at age 31. |
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Alice Pieczonka Hamilton and family, 1899 Albert’s daughter Alice with her husband, Herman Hamilton and their children (L-R) Thomas Erastus, Irene, Hanson Gertrude and Anton. |
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