Cord Asendorf Sr. (27 January 1858 – 6 January 1944) was a German–American businessman based in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. A prominent merchant, he is also noted for designing Savannah's "Gingerbread House", at today's 1921

Bull Street Bull Street is a major street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Named for Colonel William Bull (1683–1755), it runs from Bay Street in the north to Derenne Avenue (part of State Route 21) in the south. It is around 3.40 miles in length, ...

, in 1899.

Life and career

Asendorf was born in

Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...

, on 27 January 1858. He worked with his father, building cigar boxes, before emigrating to the United States in September 1872, aged 14, and settling in

. He became a U.S. citizen in April 1879, shortly after which he worked for his uncle, John M. Asendorf, in his grocery store, located at the northwestern corner of Jones Lane and Habersham Street. He was living at 49

Jones Street Jones Street is a street located in Greenwich Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Bleecker Street and West 4th Street. Jones Street is often confused with Great Jones Street in NoHo, located a little more than a ...

. Cord opened his own store, on Tattnall Street at its intersection with Gordon Lane,''Savannah Morning News'', July 15, 1887, p. 5 in 1881. He sold the business to his brother, Fred, and opened at least two more locations. He owned a grocery store and saloon at today's 556 East Liberty Street (251

East Broad Street East Broad Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located to the east of Price Street, at the eastern edge of Savannah's downtown, it runs for about from East Bay Street in the north to East Victory Drive (U.S. R ...

). The property was built in 1883. One of his relatives, Peter August Asendorf (1855–1930), owned a store at the corner of East Broad and Charlton streets around the same time. With the success of the businesses, Asendorf purchased the 1888-built property at 317–319 Huntingdon Street. In 1890, he married fellow German immigrant Bernhardine Hagen, of Lehe, who arrived in Savannah six years earlier. (Her brother, an engineer, was killed in an accident on the voyage from Europe.) They married, in an evening service at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, on Bernhardine's 21st birthday, 19 February. En route to the reception, at Turner Hall, the horses pulling their carriage became startled by the music playing upon their arrival at the venue. They bolted without the driver, James Hines, who had alighted to open the door for the newlyweds, and the carriage struck a telegraph pole at the corner of

Broughton Street Broughton Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Congress Street to the north and State Street to the south, it runs for about from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the west to East Broad Stre ...

and Jefferson Street. The collision did not stop the horses, however; instead, they continued running, despite the best efforts of the driver, who was dragged under the wheels. In front of a Singer sewing-machine agency, the carriage hit a signpost, knocking it over and almost overturning the carriage. The horses were stopped and the occupants of the carriage were helped out by Asendorf's brother and groomsman. The Asendorfs lived above the East Liberty Street businesses. They had eight known children: Cord Jr. (born 1892), Anna Marie (1894), Christian (1896), Wilma (1899), Anna (1901), Adolph (1903), Sophie (1905) and Meta Johanna (1907). Their first child, a daughter, died shortly after birth. Meta died in 2004, aged 96.''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its metropolitan area, and parts of South Ca ...

'', 30 August 2004 Between the births of their second and third children, the Asendorfs took their only trip back to Germany. In 1899, the "Gingerbread House" at 1921 Bull Street in Savannah was completed, the work of Hawley Construction Company. Also known as the Asendorf House, Asendorf had designed it in the Carpenter Gothic style, and he retired shortly after his family moved in. They had lost another child in infancy in 1898, an event which almost led to Asendorf permanently halting construction on their home. As it transpired, five more children were born at their new home. His family lived there until the 1970s. In 1933, president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

stopped his motorcade so that his mother could look at the house. It has also been featured in several films. In his business and social circles he became a close acquaintance of compatriot and prominent Savannah baker Captain

John Derst John Derst (3 May 1838 – 16 July 1928) was a German businessman based in Savannah, Georgia, United States. A prominent baker, his product, Captain John Derst's Good Old-Fashioned Bread, is still produced by Savannah's Derst Baking Company, wh ...

(1838–1928). They were both members of the German Volunteers, with Asendorf being a corporal and Derst captain. The Volunteers were established 1846. Asendorf owned one of the first cars in Savannah, a Cole 30–40. Bernhardine Asendorf died on 26 December 1930, aged 61. She was buried in Savannah's

Bonaventure Cemetery Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' by John Berendt, ...

Death

Asendorf died on 6 January 1944, aged 85. He was interred beside his wife at Bonaventure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asendorf Sr., Carl 1858 births 1944 deaths 19th-century German businesspeople 20th-century German businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Savannah, Georgia Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States People from Osterholz