Maria Constantina Wiser b. 31 Dec 1871 Aarau/AG, Switzerland d. 22 Mar 1961 Merritt Hospital, Oakland, California: Lucies Family History Site

1871 - 1961 (89 years)

Name	Maria Constantina Wiser
Nickname	Mary
Birth	31 Dec 1871	Aarau/AG, Switzerland [1]
Gender	Female
Immigration	12 Jan 1877	Port Adelaide, South Australia, Australia [2]
	Arrived Port Adelaide with her parents and siblings (as Marie Wyser); sailed 1876.
Travel	25 Aug 1897	Honolulu, Hawaii to San Francisco, California [3]
	S.S. Australia, arriving San Francisco 1 Sep 1897: "Mrs. M. Burns", 25, married, German, last residence Honolulu, with Florence Burns, 10 months. A "Mrs. E. Wise", 53, married, is on the next line. Identified from the names and the baby's age.
Also Known As	22 Mar 1961 [4]
	Mary Constance Burns (name on her death certificate).
Death	22 Mar 1961	Merritt Hospital, Oakland, California [4]
	Cause of death: lobar pneumonia (1 week) due to arteriosclerotic heart disease (3 years); other significant condition: fractured right hip (10 days); operation 11 Mar 1961. Physician William F. W[eeden?] MD, who had attended her since 9 Apr 1957. Informant Mrs. Florence Mann, 5013 Barrett Ave., Richmond.
Occupation	22 Mar 1961 [4]
	Housewife (usual occupation on her death certificate).
Death	22 Mar 1961	Merritt Hospital, Oakland, California
Residence	23 Mar 1961	1923 West Street, Oakland, California
	Last residence address per Certificate of Death.
	Age: 90
	Address: 1923 West Street Oakland, California United States
Social Security Number	517-09-1673 [4]
Burial	24 Mar 1961	Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California [5]
Notes	Correction 2 Nov 2026: TNG previously had her burial as 25 Mar 1961. Her death certificate (media 71) gives the burial date as 24 Mar 1961 (filed the same day).
Person ID	I27	Walsh - Wilson Family Tree \| Craig
Last Modified	2 Nov 2026

Father	Bruno Albert Wiser, b. 6 Nov 1841, Solothurn, Switzerland d. 7 Dec 1895, San Francisco, California (Age 54 years)
Mother	Elisa Schoenhals, b. 20 Mar 1841, Simmersbach, Germany d. 19 Jul 1910, 573 Jones Street, Oakland, California (Age 69 years)
Marriage	3 Feb 1869	Montevideo, Uruguay [6]
Marriage Witnesses	03 Feb 1869	Montevideo, Uruguay
Marriage Witnesses	Louis Frey and Leo Tugginer
Minister	03 Feb 1869	Montevideo, Uruguay
Minister	Pastor Hoppe
Notes	WHEN BRUNO AND ELISE MARRIED (resolved 2 Nov 2026). The Montevideo church registers (media 1509, 520, 521) are the definitive record: Bruno Wyser and Elise Schoenhals married at the German Evangelical Church, Montevideo, on 3 Feb 1869. Their daughter Ida Alice had been born there on 30 Oct 1867, "unehelich" (out of wedlock), and was baptised on the same day as the wedding, which made her legitimate. Bruno's brother Otto Wyser was one of her godparents, and she shares her name with Bruno's sister Ida Rosalia (INFERENCE that she was named for her). Fifteen years later, in Sydney, Bruno declared on Fanny's birth certificate of 29 Sep 1884 (media 78) that they had married on 16 October 1866 in South America. INFERENCE: a respectable earlier date, which put the wedding before Ida's birth. The same certificate claims 11 earlier children (2 boys and 3 girls living, 3 boys and 3 girls dead). TNG has 9 children before Fanny, 3 of them dead by 1884. The two missing children, if they existed, may have been born and died between Ida (1867) and Maria (Dec 1871) in Uruguay, but nothing has been found. Not changed. Ages: the marriage register gives Bruno as 27 (TNG born 6 Nov 1841, which fits) and Elise as 25 (TNG born 20 Mar 1841, which would make her 27). Not changed. Ida went on to repeat the pattern: her own daughter Amy Winifred "Lena" (born 1887) was illegitimate and was raised as Bruno and Elise's child.
Documents » Slide Show		Bruno Wyser's Obituary - December 8 1895
		Marriage of Bruno Wyser and Elise Schönhals - German Evangelical Church [Lutheran] - Montevideo, Uruguay First name/family name of groom: Bruno Wyser, Solothurn, Switzerland Occupation and address of father of the groom: Armoury Manager; Solothurn, Switzerland Age of groom: 27 years First name/family name of bride: Elise Schönhals, Simmersbach, Grand Duchy of Hessen [Germany] Name, address and occupation of father of the bride: Johannes Schönhals, Pastor, Simmersbach Age of bride: 25 years Date of ceremony: 3 Feb 1869 Name of pastor who performed the marriage ceremony: Pastor Hoppe Witnesses: Louis Frey and Leo Tugginer German-English translation by Ingeborg Gowans. [2 Nov 2026: names corrected against the full register pages in media 1509: Hoppe, Frey, Tugginer, Funke.]
		Arrival of the Wyser Family in Adelaide, South Australia - 23 Jan 1877 This passenger manifest, from the collection of State Records of South Australia, shows the arrival in Adeliade on 23 Jan 1877 of: Bruno Wyser (age 35), Elisa (age 32), Ida (9), Marie [?] (4), Emilie (3), Adolph (2), and Otto (3/4). According to the Palmer List of Merchant Vessels: "The British ship EDITH BYRNE (Official No. 16216) was built by the Canada Works, Birkenhead, in 1856 (first registered, Liverpool 9 June 1857). 729.44 tons register; 165.4 x 30.2 x 19.7 ft (length x beam x depth of hold); 2 decks. "In March 1865, the EDITH BYRNE was purchased from Byrne, of Liverpool, for £8,250 by the Hamburg shipowner, Robert Miles Sloman, who renamed her HERSCHEL, after an earlier vessel that he had sold in Indonesia in 1859. Measurements (Hamburg): 333 Commerzlasten /787 tons; 50,3 x 9,1 x 5,79 meters (length x beam x depth of hold)." The master from 1875-1878 was J. J. Kammann. The vessel's voyages in the 1870's: 1871/73 - Brisbane/intermediate ports/Amsterdam/Cuxhaven 1873/74 - Queensland/intermediate ports/Cardiff 1874/75 - Brisbane/intermediate ports/Greenock 1875/76 - Wellington/Peru 1876/78 - Adelaide/intermediate ports/Huanillos 1878/80 - Queensland/intermediate ports/Corinto, Nicaragua According to the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, Inc. fact sheet, this voyage of the Herschel originated in Hamburg. Sequence 77/6 -- see http://www.saghs.org.au/ships/shipsH.htm On On 1 June 1891 the HERSCHEL was sold to Hartvigsen, of Arendal, Norway. There is no record of her final fate. Please see: http://www.geocities.com/mppraetorius/com-ed.htm#edithbyrne1856 GRG35/48 – Assisted Passage – Consignment/Sub-series 1, Unit 22; Volume 22 1877 – Adolph Wyser through Elsie Wyser. FROM THE MANIFEST ITSELF (re-read Oct 2026): Bruno Wyser 35 (married), Elise 32, Ida 9, Marie 4, Emilie 3, Adolph 2 and Otto under 1 (3/4). Summary of the voyage: 218 adults, children 1-12 and 16 infants embarked, 305 souls in all; 4 births and 5 deaths of children on the voyage; 304 landed alive. The immigration agent's certificate is dated 29 Jan 1877. DATES: embarked Hamburg 26 Sep 1876; anchored Port Adelaide 12 Jan 1877; immigrants landed 23 Jan 1877. The voyage, the passengers' petition against Captain Kammann (Bruno Wyser was the eighth signatory) and the commission of enquiry are told in "Rich Man, Poor Man" (media 1377).
		Birth record for Bertha Fanny Wyser (15 Mar 1880) and Bruno Wyser (11 Apr 1882) Birth records published by the South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society, 1997, page 3377. Bertha Fanny Wyser = book 234, page 456; Bruno Wyser = book 278, page 217.
		Bruno Wyser and Elise Schoenhals - marriage, and Ida Alice Wyser - baptism - German Evangelical Church, Montevideo, 3 Feb 1869 (full register pages, with the Estudio Batres Franzese cover letter of 6 Nov 2008) Seven pages, obtained for Craig by Arq. Maria Gabriela Batres, Estudio Batres Franzese, Buenos Aires (cover letter 6 Nov 2008), from the registers of the Congregacion Evangelica Alemana (German Evangelical Church), Montevideo. MARRIAGE REGISTER 1869 ("Aufgebotene und Getraute", pp. 105-106), entry 3: Bruno Wyser of Solothurn, Switzerland, Catholic; father Zeughausverwalter (arsenal administrator) in Solothurn; aged 27; parents' consent given by letter. Bride Elise Schoenhals of Simmersbach, Grand Duchy of Hesse; father Johannes Schoenhals, Pfarrer (pastor) in Simmersbach; aged 25. Married on the third of February 1869 (3.2.1869) by Pastor Hoppe. Witnesses: 1. Louis Frey, 2. Leo Tugginer. BAPTISM REGISTER ("Geborene und Getaufte", entries for 1868-69), no. 51/3: Ida Alice, born 30 Oct 1867 at 6 in the evening, UNEHELICH (born out of wedlock); father Bruno Wyser, Landwirth (farmer), of Solothurn, Switzerland; mother Elise, born Schoenhals, of Simmersbach, Grand Duchy of Hesse; parents living in Montevideo; baptised 3 February [1869] by Pastor Hoppe. Godparents: 1. Eugen Funke (in Vertretung Louis Frey), 2. Otto Wyser (in Vertretung Leo Tugginer), 3. Alice Cartier (in Vertretung Elise Wyser, born Schoenhals). The cover letter dates the marriage 4 Feb 1869, but the register itself says 3 February, the same day as Ida's baptism. Readings corrected 2 Nov 2026 against the earlier translation on media 520-521: the pastor was Hoppe (not Hopper), the witnesses Louis Frey (not Freyo) and Leo Tugginer (not Fugginer; Tugginer is an old Solothurn family name).
Histories		S.S. Arawa - Built for Shaw, Saville & Albion in 1884 An 11,570-ton emigrant steamer of Shaw, Savill & Albion. Her career from the Dumbarton yard in 1884 to her torpedoing off Cyrenaica in 1915, with a photograph of the ship.
Family ID	F11	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family James Edward Burns, b. 12 Feb 1867, Trenton, New Jersey d. 29 Jan 1959, Oakland, California (Age 91 years)

Record ID Number MH:F75

Children

+	1. Loraine Florence Burns, b. 1 Oct 1896, San Francisco, California d. 14 Oct 1974, Walnut Creek, California (Age 78 years)
+	2. Virginia Loretta Burns, b. 18 Jun 1900, San Francisco, California d. 8 Jul 1940, Oakland, California (Age 40 years)
+	3. Gilbert Charles Burns, b. 1908, Oakland, California d. 1992, San Diego, California (Age 84 years)

Documents

» Slide Show

James E. Burns and Family - 1920 United States Census
The 1920 U.S. Census shows James E. Burns, age 54 born in New Jersey circa 1866 (father born in England, mother born in New York), a waiter in a cafe, living with his wife Mary C., age 46 born in Switzerland circa 1874 (father born in Switzerland, mother born in Germany). With them is their son Gilbert C., age 11 born in California circa 1909. Also in the household is Otto Wiser/Wyser, age 37, James Burns' brother-in-law. Otto was born in Australia circa 1883 (father born in Switzerland, mother born in Germany). Otto is a machinist's helper at a shipyard.

They are living at 821 20th Street, Oakland, California 94607. Otto and Mary C. were naturalised as U.S. citizens in 1895.

Source Citation: Year: 1920; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll T625_89; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 91; Image: 789.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009

James E. Burns - 1930 U.S. Census
The 1930 U.S. census shows James E. Burns, age 62, born in New Jersey, a waiter in a restaurant, living with his wife Mary C. Burns, age 54, born in Switzerland. They own their home, with an estimated value of $4,000. Living with them is "Gus Wise," age 45 born in Australia, a machinist in a factory. This is Otto Wyser, whose nickname was Gus.

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll 101; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 15; Image: 708.0.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

James Edward Burns [misspelled Burke] and Family - 1910 United States Census
The 1910 census shows James E Burns (age 42, born in New Jersey, married 17 years) living with his family at 573 Jones Street, Oakland, California. He was a machinist with Union Iron Works. Living with him: his wife Mary C., age 35; daughter Florence, age 13; daughter Eugenia [Virginia?] age 3, and son Gilbert, age 1 1/2. Also living in the household is Annie Wyser, sister-in-law, age 24 [possibly Fannie Wyser, b 1884], a cashier at a dry goods store.

Located, despite spelling mistake on surname, by Cathy Key.

Family ID F74 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 22 Aug 2008

Event Map

Residence - Last residence address per Certificate of Death.,Age: 90,Address:
1923 West Street
Oakland, California
United States - 23 Mar 1961 - 1923 West Street, Oakland, California

= Link to Google Earth

Photos » Slide Show		Lily Wyser Wilkinson and Maria Constantina Wyser Burns
		Mary (Maria) Constantina Wyser Burns, 1940's
		Maria Wyser - Date Unknown
		Maria Constantina Wiser Photo taken in Honolulu on (apparently) boat day, date unknown. I like the malevolent boys lurking in the background on the right.
		Maria Constantina [Wyser] Burns, Collette Burns, Bernadet [Ruth Reay Burns, Gilbert Charles Burns, Virginia Loretta [Virgie Burns] Richardson, Diane Richardson

Documents » Slide Show		Ship's Manifest for S.S. Australia - Honolulu to San Francisco - Departing June 14, 1895 The manifest shows Bruno Weyser (age 55 yrs 6 mos), a Swiss farmer who had last been in San Francisco in 1892), his wife Elisa (age 49 yrs 7 mos), daughters Marie (age 18 yrs 9 mos, possibly crossed out), Fanny (age 9 yrs 11 mos), and Lena (age 7 yrs 10 mos). The ship left on June 14, 1895, and arrived on July 1, 1895.
		Eliza Schoenhals Wyser - California Certificate of Death
		William Wilson (Otto Wiser) Obituary Member of Eastbay Machinist Union Local 1304, C.I.O.
		Certificate of Death - Mary Constance Burns State of California certificate of death, Alameda County, local registration 6015 1699 (copy certified by the Alameda County Recorder, 5 Mar 1980). Mary Constance Burns died 22 March 1961 at 2:00 PM at Merritt Hospital, Hawthorne & Webster Sts., Oakland. Female, white, born Switzerland, 1 January 1871, aged 90; widowed; housewife; U.S.A. citizen; Social Security no. 517-09-1673. Father Bruno Wyser, Switzerland; mother Eliza Schoenhause, "Allace-Lorraine". 52 years in the county, 73 in California. Last usual residence 1923 West Street, Oakland. Informant Mrs. Florence Mann, 5013 Barrett Ave., Richmond (her daughter Loraine Florence). Physician William F. W[eeden?] MD, 3310 Elm Street, attended 4-9-57 to 3-22-61. Cause: lobar pneumonia (1 week) due to arteriosclerotic heart disease (3 years); other condition fractured right hip (10 days); operation 3/11/61. Burial 3/24/61, Cypress Lawn Mem. Park; funeral director Truman's, Oakland. Filed 24 Mar 1961. (TNG has her birth as 31 Dec 1871 at Aarau; the 1 Jan 1871 here was given by her daughter.)
		Obituary for Mary C. Burns from the 23 March 1961 issue of the Oakland Tribune, page 51
		Passenger Manifest of S.S. Arawa - Depart San Francisco 12 Jan 1895, Arrive Honolulu 19 Jan 1895 - Bruno Wyser and Family, from Switzerland, "seeking employment" Sheet 2 of the passenger manifest, for steerage passengers, shows Bruno Wyser, age 53, a tanner from Switzerland, arriving in Honolulu "seeking employment." With Bruno are wife Eliza (48) and children Mary (23), Lily (22), Bruno (10), Fanny (8), and Lena (6). [We believe Lena is Amy Winifred, daughter of Ida Alice Wyser.] Manifest courtesy of the Hawaii State Archives, Honolulu.
		World War I Draft Card - Frederich [Bruno] Wyser The WW1 draft card shows Frederich Wyser, age 36 and not employed, living at 182 - 20th Street, Oakland, California [94666]. He is living with Mrs Mary Burns, his sister. His date of birth is shown as March (date not certain) 1882, and his citizenship is Australian. Medium height, medium build, grey eyes, brown hair. Draft card submitted by Cathy Key.
		Alien Manifest - S.S. Australia - Honolulu to San Francisco, 25 Aug - 1 Sep 1897 - Mrs. M. Burns, Florence Burns, Mrs. E. Wise List or Manifest of Alien Immigrants, S.S. Australia, sailing from Honolulu 25 August 1897, arriving San Francisco 1 September 1897. Line 4: Mrs. M. Burns, 25, F, married, reads and writes, German, last residence Honolulu, destination San Francisco, passage paid by herself. Line 5: Florence Burns, 10 months. Line 6: Mrs. E. Wise, 53, married, reads and writes. Identified as Maria (Wyser) Burns and her daughter Loraine Florence (born 1 Oct 1896) from the names and the baby's age. Mrs. E. Wise may be Maria's mother Elisa Wyser (then 56), but that is not proven, so this item is not linked to her. The page is filmed sideways.

Sources

[S56] California State Registrar, District 6015, Certificate 1699.
California Certificate of Death shows date of birth as 1 Jan 1871
[S5004] Ancestry.com, 12 Jan 1877, South Australia, Australia, Incoming and Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1845-1940 (Reliability: 2).
Marie Wyser, born about 1873, arrived Port Adelaide 12 Jan 1877 with parents and siblings.
[S90932] San Francisco passenger lists, (National Archives and Records Administration), Certificates junk drawer, scan p. 55 (media 1485) (Reliability: 3), Copies in the family papers.
[S56] California State Registrar, Certificates junk drawer, scan p. 44 (media 71) (Reliability: 3).
[S56] California State Registrar, District 6015, Certificate 1699; Certificates junk drawer, scan p. 44 (media 71) (Reliability: 3).
Burial 3/24/61, Cypress Lawn Mem. Park; Truman's, Oakland.
[S4968] Arq. Maria Gabriela Batres, Estudio Batres Franzese, Marriage register 1869, German Evangelical Church, Montevideo, pp. 105-106, entry 3 (media 1509) (Reliability: 3).