Biography of Joseph P. and Matilda (Axt) Zoeller

Zoeller Book

Joseph Philip and Matilda (Axt) Zoeller of Pittsburgh

St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery

Joseph P. Zoeller portrait card

1868 - Born on March 8, on the South Side of Pittsburgh, the son of John and Fredericka Zoeller.

1867 - Wife Matilda Axt born on Jan. 14, place unknown. She was the daughter of Dr. Frederick Axt, a "Carson Street business man" in Pittsburgh.

-- Joseph was the brother of William F. Zoeller, a Carson Street druggist. In the 1892 Pittsburgh City Directory, William was listed in the category of “Patent Medicines” and resided at 1807 Carson. William was the owner of Zoeller Medical Manufacturing Company, which produced Zoeller's Kidney Remedy.

-- William was a “well known South Side druggist,” said the Pittsburg Chronicle. He resided in the South Side all his life.

-- Resided at South 19th Street and Sarah Street, the same address where his parents resided in the 1870s and 1880s.

-- Was a member of the English Lutheran Church on Sidney Street in Pittsburgh.

1887 - Daughter Matilda B. Zoeller born. In April, some boys playing at the corner of Sarah and 19th Streets were throwing stones at each other when one broke a plate glass window in Joseph's store, for which he had paid $140.

1888 - Listed in the Pittsburgh City Directory as “druggist” at 112 S. Nineteenth.

-- Daughter Viola C. Zoeller born on April 1, 1888.

Joseph's signature

1889 - Son Gilbert J.F. Zoeller born on Oct. 11. See below for more.

1889 - Competed in a series of matches with the Iroquois Rifle Club of the South Side. The Pittsburg Dispatch wrote that he and two other men would compete again against a team of three, "the losing side to defray the expenses of a duck supper. The contest promises to be very interesting."

1890 - He and his brother William were elected as deacons in the newly dedicated English Trinity Lutheran Evangelical Church on Sidney Street, between South 21st and 22nd Streets. The Pittsburgh Press reported that "It is built of red brick and stone. The architecture is gothic. The total cost of the edifice is about $7,000.

1891 - Son Joseph William Zoeller born on Aug. 11. See below for more.

1892 - Listed in the 1892 Pittsburgh City Directory in the category of “Druggists, Retail.” Resided at the old family home at 112 South 19th Street on the South Side.

1894 - In Philadelphia, he and Matilda were sued by Albert A.G. Stark on a promissory note of $1,000.

1899 - Named in an equity lawsuit filed in Allegheny County, PA - #17 Sept. 1899

Obituary, 1900

1900 - Died at age 36 on Jan. 28 or 29, at 10:30 p.m. Had been ill for one month with pneumonia. Obituary published in the Pittsburg Chronicle on Jan. 30. Left a widow and four children. Buried at St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Mt. Oliver. No obituary found in the Pittsburgh Press. Matilda Zoeller named executrix of his estate, valued at $4,200. See Allegheny County, PA, Proceedings Index 7, page 52.

-- At the time of Joseph's death, he and Matilda resided at 112 South 19th Street in Pittsburgh. The lot, valued at $1,300, was 20 ft. by 60 ft., on the southwest corner of Sarah and South 19th Streets, in the 26th Ward, “having erected thereon a three story brick store and dwelling house…”

-- When the census was taken later in 1900, Matilda resided at 19th and Sarah Streets, with children Matilda, Viola, Gilbert and Joseph; widowed mother in law Fredericka Zoeller; and boarder and future husband, 37-year-old drug clerk William L. Bohnen (1863- ? ).

1906 - Son Gilbert listed in the 1906 Pittsburgh City Directory as “messenger” and residing at 4323 2nd Avenue.

Obituary, 1941

1918 - Son Joseph W. enlisted in the US Army on Aug. 29 as a Private in Company B of the 153rd D.B. He was discharged on April 3, 1919, following the end of World War I. In later years, he resided at 71 Crafton Avenue in Crafton.

1920 - Matilda and her second husband, druggist William L. Bohnen (1865- ? ), made their home on Mildred Street in Crafton, Allegheny County. Living under their roof were Matilda's daughter Viola Z. Zoeller, son Joseph W. Zoeller, daughter and son in law Matilda and Thomas B. Estman, and Estman grandchildren. Residing just two houses away was Matilda's son Gilbert J. Zoeller, his wife Florence (1891- ? ) and their daughter Dorothy (1918- ? ).

1941 - Matilda died at age 74 on April 4. Death occurred at 10 a.m. Name misspelled as “Zoellor” in the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph obituary of April 5. Funeral held at Herbert Harshberger & Sons, 57 Station Street in Crafton, PA. Buried at St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Mt. Oliver. Grave marker reads “Matilda Zoeller Bohnen.”

1952 - Son Joseph William Zoeller, a commercial painter, died at age 61 on Dec. 16. Funeral held at James A. Larab Jr. Funeral Home at 165 Noble Avenue, Crafton. Obituary in the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph on Dec. 16. Buried at St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Mt. Oliver. John A. Zoeller named executor of the estate. See Allegheny County, PA, Proceedings Index 72, page 165.

St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery and Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph obituary

1964 - Daughter Viola Zoeller (1888-1964) died in March in Florida. Apparently she never married. She was a hairdresser.

1974 - Son Gilbert J.F. Zoeller (1890-1974) died in Montebello, Los Angeles County, CA. He was a salesman of wholesale drug goods.

Note - Daughter Matilda B. Zoeller (1886- ? ) married Thomas B. Estman (1883-1943), the son of Welsh immigrants David and Mary Agnes (Davies) Estman. They had four children -- Donald Burr Estman, June Marie Estman, Viola Ruth Estman and Helen B. Estman. A native of Midway, Washington County, PA, Thomas was a coal mine operator. In 1920, when the census was taken, the Estmans made their home with Matilda's mother and step-father in Crafton, Allegheny County. Thomas passed away on Oct. 19, 1943.