Here's the web site...Rootsweb.com
Dana Boyles--daughter of
Ellen Borner, Stanley's #2...

This enclosed document is one I believe most if not all of you have seen,
but I thought I would recirculate it; what was sent before was a
copy--this is the original.

For those who did not receive it or may not remember, it is the delayed
birth certificate for Melchior (Michel) Schild, who was the husband of the
subject of the previous photograph, Suzanne Waffler. Melchior was born in
1831 in Interlaken and, since certificates issued at birth were not common
then, this was issued in 1859. It clearly notes that his parents were
Melchior Schild of Brienzwyler and Catharina Huber of Meiringen. It is a
most precious document. Note the old Germanic script. Again, please spread
it around to those I missed.

I have not included the translation this time; if any of you would like
the translation, please request it.

Christi

My dear cousins of Borner, Challandes, Walder, and affiliated branches,
our_foremothers.jpg

Those who have been to my grandmother's house recently have already seen
this picture, but I thought you might like to have a copy of it to save
and share yourselves.

I am EAGERLY awaiting Russ Sr's affirmation of what I already believe,
that this picture--the greatest find so far--is the first known glimpse of
our common ancestor.

Suzanne Waffler Schild emigrated from Switzerland in 1899 with her husband
Melchior and granddaughter Alice at the age of 60. Her daughter Anna
followed a few months later with the rest of the grandchildren. Alice
later married and had a daughter of her own--also Alice, born in 1905.

In the enclosed picture, the first four American generations of
Schild/Borner/Challandes women pose. Seated is Suzanne Waffler Schild,
looking quite regal and holding a mysterious book. Behind her are Anna
Suzanne Schild Borner, Alice Lina Borner Challandes, and Alice Helene
Challandes (later Elsesser). The young Alice looks to be about age 2, and
so I would suggest the date of the photo is ca 1907. The seal at the
bottom reads: "Hesse Studio 985 8th Ave."

I hope you all marvel over this picture as much as I do, and I lament that
you cannot hold it in your hands and examine the finer details yourselves.
It is really quite spectacular. Notice that Suzanne is the only one who is
wearing earrings. Notice too the broad, square Swiss face and the large
hands.

Those who have been working on the Schild/Borner genealogy project do not
know yet when Suzanne died. In fact, we know very little about her; even
less about her husband. But, to paraphrase the old quote, this picture
speaks volumes. Please pass it on to anyone whose email address I don't
have listed.

Lovingly,
Christi

Just a quick note...

I noticed that "Shilds" was also on some family documents. So we can add
that to Shild, Shield, Shields, Child, and Childs as a potential spelling.

But here's the hilarious anecdote for the evening:
Apparently (I just tonight learned this) death announcements many years
ago were sent in mail and they had a heavy, thick black border...anyone
who received one had his/her heart sink, to be sure. Well, my
great-grandmother Helene Borner Walder was visiting the Challandes family
in Mt. Kisco with her children--Helene, Marge, and Paul Jr. One of those
dreaded letters was sent to her from her husband back in Danville. Imagine
the trembling fingers opening that envelope! My grandmother says her
mother was furious for days to find that her thoughtful (and mischievous!)
husband had sent a death announcement declaring that the family's pet
canary was no more.

Dick's discovery that Poppy spent time in the Five Corners came as a complete surprise to me. He had never talked about it. It told something about his character. Some one else might have used the story to excuse everything that went wrong in his life. After reading what kind of place it was, so reminiscent of Dickenss' Oliver Twist, I stood in awe of his courage and determination to climb out of that situation to become a very successful business man, quite wealthy by standards of his time, with no rough edges to show for his experience. My respect for him grew even stronger as I recalled that he not only pulled himself up by his bootstraps, but his wallet was always open to all of his kin. I never saw any one beat him in picking up the check, and he was always first on line to buy the tickets for every one. I know for a fact that he carried several of his siblings through some hard times. He was quick to announce his name as Ed. His mother was the only one who continued to call him Adolphe. 
His brother Sam also managed to overcome the difficulties imposed on him and moved on up. Unfortunately, the work he did in World War I caused him to develop TB, and this cut short his career at too early an age. 

Actually, there is an entire book about the Five Points (called Five
Points) that was published a year or so ago and the library should have
it. Five Points is now sort of the Southwestern edge of Chinatown. If
you go to City Hall and walk a block or two North along the east side of
City Hall Park, you reach Foley Square, where the courthouse are. Five
Points is more or less where the new Federal Courthouse is. Another bit
of family trivia: when they were building the courthouse, they
discovered the old African Burial Ground. One of our ancestors donated
that plot of land to the city for the cemetary.

In a message dated 5/30/2003 8:32:49 AM Eastern Standard Time, Thomas.Berner@kmzr.com writes:

> Five Points is now where the courthouses and a large park are. Even the streets have been changed so that there is not even a five corner intersection. If you have a street address, we could check, but there is very little chance it's still around, I'm afraid. Great picture, though. I didn't even know there was a Five Points House of Industry. By the way, Martin Scosese's not very good movie last year, The Gangs of New York, took place around the Five Points and the only good thing about the movie was that the architecture was faithfully 
> recreated.
> Best to all
> Tom

Tom, you are the best! This continues our quest. Sorry to be so ignorant, but where are the courthouses? Is that in the Chinatown area? Little Italy? I found this on a site that turned up on a Google search, and the picture of the Five Points was on the cover page of a Chinatown organization. There's got to be a place where we can find out more info on Five Points, like what street it was on, what happened to the program, and where are the records?

I've communicated on this with Sam's grandson, Tom Borner, who was Stanley Borner's son. Tom lives somewhere in Connecticut, I believe.

In a message dated 5/30/2003 5:26:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, borner1@earthlink.net writes:

> Thank you for keeping me in the loop. Why do you think the 
> building is in Chinatown?
> Tom Borner

Hi, Tom. Nice to hear from you. I'm glad we've got your address. Hope you and your family are well.

The search on Google came up with the site maintained by some organization in Chinatown and the main page had the pictue of the Five Points House of Industry as the feature. The other information has come out of Jacob Riis' Book (I hope you received all that) and talks a lot about what life was like in the city at the time of the family's arrival in NYC in September, 1899. (My sister, Evie, actually studied the Jacob Riis book in college.) We figured that Anna Borner was unable to feed all that clan in the appartment with Helene, Alice, Sam, Adolphe, Harry, and probably Anna's parents who came over on the first boat with Alice in May of 1899. The census of 1900 showed that Anna's household did not contain Sam and my grandfather. They were listed as living at Five Points. I guess things were pretty bad in New York at that time. Christi Timm is responsible for getting so much of this information. Christi is Tante Helene's great granddaughter, and has been wonderful.

It would be great now if we can find out some more info about 5 Points House of Industry, exactly where it was in the City, whatever happened to it, etc. Do they keep records? My grandfather never talked of the experience, so this was quite a surprise to my father.

Cristi is compiling info about our family and has not been able to link up with anyone on your father's side long enough to get some details. Would you be interested in linking up with her? Let me know.

Best wishes,

Dick Borner