Anna Louise Ziegler Cassebeer

Lizzie and Henry had four children; Julia (b. 1871; d. 1958), Dr. Henry Arthur Jacob (b. 1874; d. 1941), Christian Friederich Theodore (Theodore) (b. 1879; d. 1941), and Edwin William (b. 1884; d. 1952).(4)  Of her children, Theodore played a significant role at Steinway & Sons as an expert on woods and veneers, factory manager, and Vice President.  He resigned from the company in 1939.(5)

William maintained a strong family relationship with Lizzie, teaching her how to play cards (Diary, 1874-06-19) attending theater, and so on.  Her wedding occurred at the time her grandfather, Henry Engelhard Steinway, was suffering from his final illness, a complication that William noted in the diary.(Diary,1871-01-16, 10-17)  William frequently noted her presence at family gatherings, where she often played on the piano.  William noted her playing at a House party at Astoria (Diary, 1877-08-21) along with Ferdinand Dulcken, a pianist who gave music lessons to William’s children (Diary, 1877-01-30) and possibly to Lizzie.  She also played at a supper party where Franz Rummel also played.  Runnel was a professional musician who played piano concertos with the New York Philharmonic (Diary, 1881-03-10).  At William’s birthday gathering in 1883, Lizzie was one of four women who played for William.  (The others were Martha Ranft, sister of William’s second wife, his daughter Paula, and his niece Hettie Steinway, daughter of Albert.)  Between 1878 and 1884, Lizzie also went with William’s family to many concerts, including operas sung by the famous singer Adelina Patti.(Diary, 1882-01-09, 12-11; 1884-11-10)

It appears that her health may have been somewhat delicate as she was reported “very sick” (Diary, 1884-11-28) and appears to have left for Europe, perhaps as an aid to recuperation in the spring of 1885. (Diary, 1885-03-21)   She suffered a “partial stroke of paralysis” in the spring of 1886.(Diary, 1886-04-26)

  

Her death came in the midst of an influenza epidemic in New York City in which people were dying of pneumonia, resulting from the influenza, at record numbers.(3)  She died short of her 39th birthday on January 13, 1890, leaving her husband with three still-young children to raise.(Diary, 1890-01-13, 01-15)   On the day her obituary appeared, seven of the forty deaths announce were from pneumonia.  In 1891, Henry married Lizzie’s sister, Julia, a widow, who raised Lizzie’s children as well as her own.(Diary, 1891-07-27)

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Sources:

(1) “Death Notices,” New –Yorker Staats-Zeitung, January 14, 1890, p. 5.

(2) “Died”, The New York Times, January 14, 1890, p.5.

(3) “The Epidemic”, The New York Times, January 9, 1890, p.4.

(4) Maniha, Ken and Richard Riley, Steinway Family Genealogy

(5) “T. Cassebeer, 63; Ex-Piano Official,” The New York Times, October 13, 1941, p.17.