Buried: 21 Apr 1942, St. George Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA 56
According to family stories, Ludwig was born in Unter Metzenseifen on 12 Jan 1862. His father died when Ludwig was young and when his mother remarried, her new husband adopted Ludwig and his sisters. 7. Ludwig took his father's surname - Witkofsky. At this time I have been unable to find his birth entry in the either the Ober or Unter Metzenseifen church records, so his exact origin remains unclear.
Ludwig supposedly emigrated from Metzenseifen around 188147 and settled in Pittsburgh, PA. A Ludwig Wittkowski arrived on 21 Nov 1881 aboard the SS Mosel sailing from Bremen to New York. He was listed as 18 years of age and from Hungary. 8 This may or may not be the correct Ludwig.
Next to Cleveland, OH with the factory of Theodore Kundtz, the Pittsburgh area was the second most frequent destination for the Metzenseifen people due to the large number of steel mills and mines in the vicinity. Ludwig was employed in one of the local steel mills. 6
Ludwig married on 25 Apr 1886 1 and he and his wife Pauline settled in the Beltzhoover section of Pittsburgh in the area around St. Michael and St. George churches. 7 This area was home to many people from Metzenseifen. In 1894 Ludwig became a naturalized citizen. 3
He appeared in the 1900 census on 7 Jun 1900 in Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia. 4
He appeared in the 1910 census on 30 Apr 1910 in Pittsburgh, PA. 9
On November 25, 1910, he filed for a change of name and petitioned the Court on December 10. Nearly a year later, on November 25, 1911, Ludwig Witkofsky legally became Louis Alfred Weet. 3
He appeared in the 1920 census on 5 Jan 1920 in Pittsburgh, PA. 10
He appeared in the 1930 census on 3 Apr 1930 in Pittsburgh, PA. 11
Ludwig married Paulina STARK, daughter of Vendelin STARK and Thecla EIBEN, on 25 Apr 1886 in St. Michael, Pittsburgh, PA.1 (Paulina STARK was born on 28 May 1866 in Ober-Metzenseifen, Austria-Hungary 12, baptized on 29 May 1866 in Ober-Metzenseifen, Austria-Hungary 12, died on 28 Apr 1931 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA 5 and was buried on 30 Apr 1931 in St. George Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA 56.)
Sources
1
Rev. Bernard Kohl, Marriage Record of Ludwig Witkofky and Pauline Stark, (Pittsburgh, PA, 25 Apr 1886).
2
Clerk of the Orphan's Court, Application for Marriage License for Ludig Witkofsky and Pauline Stark, (Pittsburgh, PA, 21 Apr 1886).
3
Court of Common Pleas, Re Change of Name of Louis Witkofsky, (Pittsburgh, PA, 25 Nov 1911).
4
West Virginia, Ohio County, 1900 U.S. Census, Population Schedule, (Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration), ED 118, Sheet 11, Line 8.
5
St. George Cemetery, Cemetery Records, (Pittsburgh, PA, 2 Aug 1999).
6
Thomas Hoey, Oral Interview of Sr. Beatrice Orient, (Pittsburgh, PA), May 1999.
7
Sr. Beatrice Orient, The Weet Family Tree (unpublished), (Pittsburgh, PA, Aug 1992).
8
New York., Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897., (Micropublication M237. Rolls # 95-580. National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
9
Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, 1910 U.S. Census, Population Schedule, (Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration), ED 524, Sheet 19, Line 27.
10
Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, 1920 U.S. Census, Population Schedule, (Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration), ED 890, Sheet 3, Line 14.
11
Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, 1930 U.S. Census, Population Schedule, (Washington, D.C., National Archives and Records Administration), ED 2-328, Sheet 3, Line 8.
12
St. Mary Magdalene Parish Register, Christening Records, 1807-1886, (Ober Metzenseifen, Slovakia (LDS Film 2010722)).
