Mary (Maria) Axinger Miller

1848 – 1905

This photo of my great grandmother, Mary Axinger Miller
was taken when she was 48 years old.

Not a great deal is known about my great grandmother, Mary. She was born in Berlin, Germany, on March 8, 1848 and died of breast cancer in Oakland on February 17, 1905.

The inscription on the back of the above picture indicates that she came to America at twelve years of age, went to work in a shoe factory in Pennsylvania, and later came to San Francisco. This is corroborated by information that Eileen had compiled on a family group record provided by Aunt Cora

A Maria Axinger, age 13, is also shown on a passenger manifest for the bark, Elisabeth, which departed Bremen, Germany and arrived on December 1st, 1860 at Philadelphia, PA. This seems likely that this is my great grandmother.

Also, of interest, is a passenger named Christopher Axinger, age 44, listed immediately above her on the manifest. Could this be her father? If not, an uncle?

Aunt Cora’s account also says that she came to Philadelphia where she had a married sister (name unknown). She later came to San Francisco where she worked for Buckingham and Hecht, a boot and shoe company located at Haight and Gough.

I have great grandmother’s and grandfather’s wedding certificate that indicates that they were married in San Jose on September 20th, 1881.

I’ve often wondered how they met. Could there have been a German community in the San Francisco Bay area? Could this have been a means for meeting each other?

Great Grandmother Mary died of breast cancer on April 3rd, 1913 in their home on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. She was a Christian Scientist, so she had refused medical treatment. My Grandmother, Lola, had recently married my grandfather, and they had moved in with them. Grandmother took care of Mary until she died.