I am searching for information about my German g g grandfather Joseph Schmerbach and his family who settled with his second wife Margaretha about 1860 at 2, Washington Avenue in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. I believe that he was involved in the beer/brewery industry as his name appeared in the U.S. IRS Tax Assessment List between 1862-1866 as Joseph Schmerbach retail Liquor Dealer.
In 1870, the U.S. census has the Schmerbach household consisting of Margret(Margaretha), age 42, boarding house keeper; Joseph, age 18, with occupation of carpenter; John, age 14; Louisa, age 10; August, age 8; plus the names of 10 lodgers, 6 of them working in the nearby sugar refinery of Kattenhorn and Hopke. The value of the real estate was listed as $6000. The house was sold in 1881 to a Thomas Maher from Hastings. The Schmerbach's were devout Catholics.
If anyone has any comments, inquiries or information to share with me could you please contact me. Thank you.