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Rudolph A. Topel

Re: Rudolph A. Topel

Posted: 16 Jul 2014 5:08PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Topel, Luck, Taylor
I know a little about Rudolph Topel - he was my great-great-grandfather on my father's side. He was the head gardener for Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany. Back in the day when Berlin was the other Paris the Pembroke Jones family met with the Kaiser and Mrs. Pembroke Jones interest in gardens (via her 67 acre plantation Airlie) brought her in contact with Mr. Topel. Apparently she made him an offer he could not refuse and he left Germany for life at Airlie. His wife and 3 daughters followed soon after. His youngest was my great-grandmother Wallie Topel.
What I primarily know are the stories from my father (Frank Davis Luck III) who as a young boy remembers evening picnics in the gardens at Airlie with his grandparents. These picnics would take place at the edge of the pond. My father said the pond was ringed in cedar trees that turned the water dark and in the gloaming the snowy egrets would come to roost in the crowns of the stately cedars and the trees crowned with hundreds of snowy egrets would all be reflected in the black waters of the pond.
The only photo of Mr. Topel that I know of is in the Airlie Book written by Susan Taylor Block. He is pictured with his wife Emma and one of the daughters Hilda.
The history I have is that Rudolph (b. Aug 23,1860 & d. July 6, 1937) and Emma (b. Nov 1860 & d. Nov 21, 1932) had 4 children - Hilda (b. Feb 15 1895 & d. Feb 6 1954 - m. Walter A. Taylor), Gertrude, Wallie and Herbert. Herbert - the only boy was born in 1925 & died in 1926.
They are all buried at St. Andrews on the Sound in Wilmington, NC.
Please keep me posted if you locate any more information and I will do the same.
Thank you - Lauri Luck

Re: Rudolph A. Topel

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 12:30AM GMT
Classification: Query
As I indicated in my message post of 27 Jun 2010, I am descended from Rudolph Topel and Emma Schultz through my mothers mother Gertrude Helen Emma Topel, the youngest of their 6 children: William Ernest Topel 1883 - 1980, Walli Frieda Topel 1886 - 1971, Frederick Ernst Topel 1889 - 1951, Hilda E Topel 1895 - 1954, Herbert Alexander Topel 1898 - 1975, and Gertrude Helen Emma Topel 1900 - 1989.
The ship manifest for Rudolph Topel (35) indicates he traveled alone to Baltimore with $10. 3/22/1893.
The ship manifest for Emma Topel (38) indicates she traveled with her son Willy (9), daughter Wally (7), and son Ernest (3), 3/25/1894.
Son Herbert Alexander Topel 1898 - 1975, married Mabel Lee Murphy about 1924 and they had a son Herbert Alexander Topel Jr. who died in 1926, and a daughter born 1927.
I have a public tree on ancestry.com called Michelles tree, that supports all the info I have.
However, I am still hoping to find more information about Rudolph and Emma in Prussia, (Germany).
Also please keep me posted if you or anyone has any more information.
Thank You - Michael Cook
mjcook@comcast.net
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