Descendents of Wilhelm Steinitz

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

I've been looking into the family of Wilhelm Steinitz recently. His first daughter, Flora, died at 21. The two children from his second marriage (? I don't think he officially married Caroline Golder and I haven't yet found documentation for the second marriage) survived him and his other daughter, Julia, lived until 1986. His son, William, appears with his mother and her second husband, Peter Baust, until the 1925 US census, but after that the trail goes cold. I was wondering if anyone on here knows what happened to him after that?

I wondered if William Steinitz might have taken his stepfather's surname so searched for William Baust. There are records of a William Baust in some sort of veterans' hospital in 1930 and 1940 which I suppose might be him.

[Tim Harding]

As William Steinitz Jr. had not taken his stepfather's surname by the time he became an adult, it is unlikely he would have done so later - unless it was a condition of receiving a gift or bequest from Peter Baust.

It would also be interesting to trace what became of Steinitz's niece Hedwig (daughter of his half-brother, she joined his household in New York in the 1890s). In my book Eminent Victorian Chess Players (page 194) I point out that in the 1920 census there was a woman named Hedwig (married with a child) living next door to the Baust family so this was possibly her. I have not seen the 1925 US census or done any further investigations into this, nor do I intend to.

If there is anyone out there ready and able to take on the challenge of writing the necessary American sequel to Steinitz in London, I am sure the publishers McFarland would be delighted to hear from them and I may be of some assistance but I have declined to do this book myself.

[John Townsend]

Jon, I don't think this William Baust is William Steinitz. On the 1940 census, the patient in the institution is given with his middle initial "H". He seems to be William H. Baust (machinist) in the 1920 census, while William Steinitz has his own 1920 entry. There is also a 4-5 year age difference between them.

"Mr. W. Steinitz" (not a common name) appears on a New York passenger list in 1935, so there could be a line of enquiry there.

Best regards,

John

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Thanks Tim and John. I think I'll abandon my pursuit of Wilhelm's son for the time being and take a look at that neice, Hedwig.