Ewald Biele became a US Citizen 132 years ago today

On September 1, 1884, one hundred and thirty two years ago today, Ewald Biele (1863-1912) became a citizen of the United States.

This certificate is a recent addition to my collection.  Thank you Brandi!  It was found for sale at an antique shop in Nashville and is believed to have been acquired from an estate sale in the area.  How this certificate of Ewald Biele, who lived his whole life in New York City, is a bit of a mystery.  One theory is that is was passed onto his daughter Edith (1897-1981) who moved from New York City to Daytona Beach, Florida in the late 1920s.  In 1938 she married Winder Cowan who was originally from Franklin, TN which is in the Nashville area.  It is possible that after his death in 1980 or Edith's death in 1981 that a member of his family in Tennessee took possession of it and brought it back there.

More information on Edith and Winder "Red" Cowan can be found a be found in my August 30, 2015 post.

More information on Ewald can be found at the following webpage.

Below is a copy of the naturalization card for Ewald from the NYC archives. It has the same date as the certificate and includes the address he lived at the time, 218 Rivington in New York City.  The Caspar Biele family lived there together when they first emigrated to America.  It is in lower Manhattan and in the 1800's was an area of immigrant tenants known as "Little Deutschland".  Note that the witness was his brother Charles F. Biele who became a citizen in 1878.  His address was 77 Pitt St. which was just around the corner.  More information can be found at the following webpage and more or less the same information at this webpage.  For more Biele naturalization cards, please see my July 4, 2012 post.  

Naturalization Card for Ewald Biele.

Edith Biele and "Red" Cowan

Edith Biele (1897-1981) was the second daughter of Ewald Biele (1864-1912), the third son of Caspar Biele (1823-1875).  She was born in the Bronx on January 24, 1896.  Her father died in 1912 and she lived with her mother Anna and older sister Irene in the Bronx through 1925.

Edith's first marriage was to Eugene A. Gamba, a first generation Italian, on April 29, 1925.  The marriage did not last long since by the 1930 census, Edith was listed as divorced and living in the Daytona Beach, Florida area working as a manager of a hotel.

Edith's second marriage was to Edwin H. Marshal on June 1, 1933 in Florida.  That marriage was also short lived.

Marriage License of Edith Biele and Edwin Marshall June 1, 1933 Daytona Beach

Edith's third marriage was to Winder M. Cowan on June 8, 1938 in Florida.  This marriage had more staying power as they looked to have stayed married until Winder's death in 1980. Edith died a year later in 1981.

Marriage License of Edith Biele and Winder Cowan on June 8, 1938 Daytona Beach Florida

Winder Cowan was known as "Red" and seems to have led a colorful life.  Upon his death in 1980, he was hailed as a "Famed Rum Runner" and a "Prohibition Hero".

During the 1920s Cowan ran an establishment on Daytona Beach called "Red's Place"

Reds Place circa 1925 Daytona Beach, Florida

The "Florida Memory" website describes it as follows:

• Winder "Red" Cowan built this shack on the beach several miles south of the Main Street pier. It operated as a refueling station for aircraft using the beach, as well as a "refueling" station of sorts for those pilots with a taste for whiskey (this during Prohibition). Cowan owned several planes himself, including a Standard (with Hisso engine) used to transport cases of whiskey. A big storm in 1932 floated Red's Place away "like a houseboat."

Additionally, Cowan reportedly interacted with Howard Hughes.  A recent Ebay auction had Hughes memorabilia with the following description:

 "ORIGINAL EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS OF HOWARD HUGHES AND ONE OF HIS AIRPLANES IN DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA DATED 1928 ON A REFUELING STOP ON HIS WAY TO HAVANA CUBA THESE PHOTOS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SCRAPBOOK, WITH A NEWS PAPER CLIPPING DATED APRIL 6, 1976, A FEW DAYS AFTER HOWARD HUGHES DEATH, TALKING ABOUT " RED COWAN " AND A SCRAPBOOK OF PHOTOS, RED COWAN WAS A LOCAL RUMRUNNER AND AVIATOR IN DAYTONA, PLEASE READ NEWS PAPER CLIPPING FOR FULL STORY, PHOTO IN NEWS PAPER CLIPPING TAKEN ONE PHOTO BEFORE OR ONE PHOTO AFTER ONE OF THE ORIGINAL PHOTO IN THIS GROUP"