The Firstborn Son

On April 28, 1874, John Poggenburg Sr married Johanna Adelhaid Ruebsamen, affectionately known as Jennie, in New York. Two years later, on April 14, 1876, Jennie gave birth to their first child, a boy they named John Henry Poggenburg Junior. John Sr. and Jennie would go on to have a total of six children, five boys and one girl. He was an agent for Louis E. Neuman in New York, eventually becoming a well-known lithographer.

In August, 1898, John Jr. married Amy Burkner in Manhattan, New York. John and Amy took up residence in Connecticut, where John continued his work as a cigar salesman and tobacco dealer. He soon became his own boss, setting himself up as proprietor of a cigar stand in the Mahackemo Hotel. One of John's cousins, Ferdinand Poggenburg, was a prolific amateur billiard player of the time, making the family even more well-known.

The Poggenburg Tragedies

Tragedy struck the family in 1904, when John Jr's brother Gustave (Augustus by some sources) was found dead in the room he rented at 204 Wilson Street, the boarding house of Mrs. Margaret Matthews. While originally considered a suicide by police, his death was ultimately reported to be an accidental death by suffocation, a fact that his father vehemiently defended. Poggenburg Sr. denied that his son had any reason to commit suicide, and a faulty key on one of the stove burners in the room was blamed for the escaped gas that suffocated Gustave to death. This article states that Gustave was despondent over the death of his brother Arthur, which will come into play shortly. A few months later John Henry Poggenburg, whether Junior or Senior is unknown, would be selected to serve as a juror in the infamous Nan Patterson case that gripped the nation.

A Trip To New York

In December, 1907, John Jr and Amy made the trip from Connecticut to New York to see his family for Christmas, but this is where the simplicity of Poggenburg's tale ends. John celebrated Christmas with his parents, brothers Arthur and Edmund and his sister, then spent the night intending to return home the following day. The family was residing at 2040 7th Avenue in Manhattan at the time. No one knew that it would be the last Christmas that John's family would spend with him. The next day, on December 26, was the last time John Henry Poggenburg Jr was seen alive.  Newspapers were quick to cover the family's plight.

The Undead Brother

Most sources state John was last seen with his mother, and that he may have taken his wife back to Connecticut before returning to New York and attending a theatre with his mother prior to his disappearance. In others, around 5:30 pm on December 26, 1907, John Jr said goodbye to her at the 72nd Street subway station, intending to return home.  however a December 29, 1907, article in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle paints a different picture. In this article John's father and brother, Arthur (the same Arthur who Gustave was supposedly despondent over) accompanied John to the subway station. It's here they say he left them with the intention of visiting his personal doctor before returning home.

The Sherman Square Hotel

Dr. Gennerick was located at the Sherman Square Hotel on 71st Street and Broadway, a 12 floor high-rise in what is now the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Upon questioning, Dr. Gennerick stated that John Jr had indeed visited him, but that he had given the young man a clean bill of health. His only recommendation was that Poggenburg visit an oculist (optometrist), although it is not mentioned why the recommendation was made.

He called a friend around 7pm that night and stated that he was at Grand Central Station, waiting for the 7:46pm train to South Norwalk, Connecticut. Whether or not he ever actually boarded that train remains unknown, as do any other clues to his whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. Poggenburg's family and the police searched extensively for the young man, checking every morgue, hospital and institution in and around Manhattan and South Norwalk.

Missing Person Agency Contacts

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