Tombstone Tuesday

Albert Gotlieb Weidensee Albert Gotlieb Weidensee was born in Pentwater, Michigan in 1883. In 1898, at only 15 years of age, he enlisted with Company A of the 35th Michigan Infantry as a bugler during the Spanish-American War. By 1906, Albert had moved to Memphis, TN, where he began his career with the Hotel Gayoso.  Although he started as a clerk, he eventually rose to the position of manager. In 1910 he married Vella Ferrer (daughter of G.W. Ferrer and Emma Johnson)  in Memphis; she was 19 years old and 11 years his minor. By 1913 the couple had moved to Sheffield, Alabama where Albert ran the Sheffield Hotel. Two years later, he and Robert Hopkins invented an improved “card-display device” (a Rolodex-style device); they were awarded a patent two years later. Finally, in 1918, they moved to Miami, Florida where Albert continued his successful hotel management career. He managed the Green Tree Inn, Wayside Inn, Country Club Hotel, and Brighton Valley Hotel over his years in the Miami area. Albert died in 1931 following a long bout of pneumonia; he was only 51 years old.

Photo Courtesy Find a Grave (Memorial# 65964226)

Personal Data		Tombstone Data
Birth:	23 April 1880	City:	Miami, Fl
Marriage:	5 Dec 1910 to Vella Ferrer	Cemetery:	Miami Memorial Park Cemetery
Death:	4 May 1931	Section:	A & C
		GPS:

Albert and Vella, Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

It's a Small World ...

Vella Ferrer, Albert Weidensee (captioned as "Buddy Weidensee"), and Ruth Ferrer We're still trying to figure out when Albert and Vella met and how. Their age difference is much more striking in this photograph since Vella is only a child.

Hotel Gayoso, Memphis photo courtesy Historic Memphis Albert wasn’t our only ancestor who was employed by Memphis' Hotel Gayoso. Both Agnes Grace and Olin Ferrer (Vella’s older brother) worked there at the same time as Albert.

24 June 1913 letter from Olin Ferrer at the Sheffiled Hotel, Sheffield, Alabama to Agnes Grace c/o Hotel Gayoso. Note that the envelope has been directed to the Laundry where Agnes worked. In 1913, Albert is managing the Sheffield Hotel. That same year, Olin Ferrer, who was working nearby, stayed there and wrote to Agnes Grace on Sheffield Hotel stationery.