Ernst Bilhuber

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Ernst Friedrich Bilhuber (b. May 25, 1849 in Winterlingen, Württemberg, Germany; d. November 7, 1932 in Maywood, New Jersey) was the second but oldest son and one of eight children of pastor Karl August Edmund Bilhuber. Ernst was a graduate of the Stuttgart Polytechnic Institute. In 1869 he immigrated to New York (1) where he joined an engineering firm and became a design and consulting engineer. He helped design the first elevated railway in New York City.(3) Ernst Bilhuber engaged in several enterprising activities but at the time of his death had made his mark as owner of the Maywood Tile Company in New Jersey. He was a friend and associate of William and married the sister of a man, Henry Adolph Cassebeer, married to William's niece.

In 1874 Ernst Bilhuber became a US citizen (2)(4) and in 1877 married Emilie Ramsperger, who died in 1882. In 1887, he married Helene Cassebeer, daughter of pharmacist Henry Cassebeer and sister of Henry Adolph Cassebeer, the husband of William's niece Lizzie Ziegler.(5)(Diary, 1887-10-04) They honeymooned in Germany. (Diary, 1887-11-29) At that time Bilhuber was a manufacturer of tiles. Their two sons Paul Henry (Heinrich) (b. 1889)(Diary, 1889-04-01) and Ernest August (b. 1890) were born in New York City and daughter Gertrude Emily Louise (b. 1895), in Maywood, New Jersey.

From 1872 to 1875 he was an instructor at the Cooper Union Institute. In 1876 he served as Secretary of the German Commission to the World’s Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.  References in the diary to Bilhuber began with his marriage to Helene in 1887.  Ernst Bilhuber was a member of the Board, along with William Steinway, of the German American School in the 19th Ward and also the German Hospital and the Social-Scientific Society. He was an active member of the New York Liederkranz, starting in 1885 (6), attending picnics and celebrations.(Diary, 1891-08-15) William Steinway often met “Bilhuber + other friends” (Diary, 1891-02-10; 1894-06-15) Bilhuber was the Director of the Steel Wire Works of R.H. Wolff & Co. in New York (10) but lost that position, discussing it with William who promised to aid him. (Diary, 1892-01-02)  In late 1892, William notes he promised to help Bilhuber by buying some of his Wolff shares.  However, he never records that that he bought his Wolff shares. (Diary,1892-12-11)

In 1892 Ernst Bilhuber secured a position as Manager of the Maywood Art Tile Company in Maywood, New Jersey.(12) The manufacturing process used “ball clay from Perth Amboy and imported English China clay, the Maywood Art Tile Company specialized in making plain and glazed hand-enameled border tiles and vitrified floor tiles. Under supervision of Gustaf S. Jaeger, President, and Ernst Bilhuber, Secretary and Manager, their main office and plant operated along the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad in Maywood. Seven hand presses produced 2,400 to 3,000 pieces of tile daily, which were fired in five up-draft kilns of 7,000-square-foot capacity each, using anthracite for fuel. They employed 46 to 50 skilled laborers, selling their output in large Eastern cities.” (12) By 1920 Ernst Bilhuber was still Manager of the renamed company Maywood Tile Works. Ernst moved his family to Maywood where he bought a landmark home in Maywood, refurbishing it but preserving its colonial architecture.  He was also active in Maywood society, serving on the Board of Education, organizing the fire department, winning several elections to a seat on the Borough Council.(4)(11)

In the years 1885 to 1899 Ernst Bilhuber had bought property with George Ehret and Albert Gutman in New York City,(9) and in 1899 participated in the newly formed Gutman Investment Company with Gutman and Francis Ryall  and was director, along with Gutman and Ryall, of the newly formed Amador Construction company. (7)(8)

In 1901 Ernst Bilhuber was also the representative for Ford Gold Mining Company of San Francisco, with offices at 220 Broadway.(10)

At the time of his death in 1932, he was working with his son Dr. Ernst August, a chemist, in a pharmaceutical import business.  His son Paul Bilhuber eventually became chief engineer and technical innovator at Steinway & Sons. 

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Sources:

  1. "The Battery Conservancy," www.castlegarden.org
  2. "Ernst Bilhuber," www.Ancestry.com
  3. "Ernst Bilhuber," The New York Times, November 8. 1932, p. 28.
  4. "Ernst Bilhuber," U.S. Census 1900, Series T623, Roll 955, Page 179.
  5. "Henry Cassebeer," U.S. Census 1870, Series M593, Roll 998, Page 428.
  6. Mosenthal, Hermann. Geschichte des Vereins Deutscher Liederkranz in New York. New York: The F.A. Ringler Company, 1897, p. 144.
  7. "New Corporations," The New York Times, September 10, 1899, p. 24.
  8. "New Corporations," The New York Times, September 29, 1899, p. 11.
  9. "The Real Estate Market," The New York Times, December 25,1885, p. 7
  10. The Trow Co-Partnership and Corporation Directory of the Burroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, Vol. 49, March 1901, p. 165.
  11. Van Valen, J.M. History of Bergen County, New Jersey. New York: New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Company, 1900. A Google book
  12. Westervelt, Frances Augusta Johnson. History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1923. http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/books