Otto Marquard Forster

b. 24 May 1889, d. 31 December 1961

Otto Marquard Forster, 1889-1961
  • Otto Marquard Forster was born on 24 May 1889 in Saint Louis, Missouri.
  • The following appeared on 9 February 1898 in The St. Louis Republic: Marquard Forster celebrated the seventy-seventh anniversary of his birth last night at his home, 2803 Dickson street. The house was brilliantly illuminated for the occasion and his children and 23 grandchildren thronged the rooms and enlivened the festivities.
         Mr. Forster is one of the best-known men in St. Louis, and every day he is down at his office and is apparently as hale and hearty as he was 20 years ago; in fact, he says that he never felt bettin in his life.
         It was a purely family gathering last night. The children present were C. August Forster, C. Marquard Forster, Dr. Otto E. Forster, the Police Commissioner; Mrs. Adolph Brown and husband, Mrs. Dr. Henry Schwartz and husband, Mrs. Herman Overstolz and husband; Mrs. Herman C. Stifel and husband and the grandchildren before alluded to.
         They are musically inclined, nearly every one of the family possessing considerable talent, so that they formed quartets and sextets and sang the old-fashioned songs that their father liked so well when he was young and still admires, while the laughter of the romping children was music to his years.
         Mr. Forster has always been an energetic man and has been interested in every enterprise for the welfare of the city that has been agitated since he has been a resident of St. Louis. He has carried this energy into the commercial world, and the result is that to-day he is placed beyond the dreams of avarice.
         He expressed himself last night as thorooughly satisfied with the world and smiled happily when he looked around and saw his children happy and prosperous and possessing good health. He believed that they, too, would some day celebrate their seventy-seventh birthday, as he was doing, and perhaps many more, as he hoped to do.
         Mr. Forster was born in Nonnenhorn, Bedensee, Germany, February 8, 1821, and came to St. Louis in 1849. He left the old country during one of the numerous revolutions of that period and with him were scores of other regugees. He had been prominently identified with the revolutionists, but when it was known that the revolution was about to fail there was a general exodus of the leaders and principals, as well as many of the sympathizers, to the United States.
         St. Louis was a small but prosperous town in 1849 when Mr. Forster came here. He was engaged in the grocery business at first, but finally gave it up and went into the vinegar and later into the malt business, and then again into the brewing business. His different ventures proved successful and his business and his fortune grew with the town. As old age came on he turned his business over to his children and finally organized the Marquard Forster Real Estate Copany, of which he is president and principal stockholder.
         Mr. Forster was married June 10, 1852, to Miss Margaret Islar, who was a native of Switzerland.
  • Conrad August Forster and Minnie Lorey appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1900 in St. Louis, Missouri, at 1438 East Grand Avenue. Other members of the household included Otto Marquard Forster, August Frank Forster, Emma J. Forster and Elsa Minnie Forster. Also in the household were two servant girls and a coachman.
  • Minnie Lorey appeared in the US federal census of 15 April 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri, at 4957 McPherson Avenue. Other members of the household included Otto Marquard Forster, Elsa Minnie Forster.
  • He was educated at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, graduating 1912.
  • He married Louise Lyson Bulgheroni, daughter of Francesco Bulgheroni, on 26 April 1919 in Marie de Monaco, Monaco, Principality of Monaco.
  • Louise Lyson Bulgheroni Forster applied for a special one-month passport on 18 Oct 1919 at the United States Consulate at Brest, France, for the purpose of traveling to the United States as the wife of Cmdr. Otto Marquard Forster, US Navy, residing in St. Louis, Missouri, at 4933 McPherson Avenue.
  • The following appeared on 31 October 1919 in The Rockford Republic: (New York, Oct. 31) The former princess, Lyson Bulgheroni, whose ancestral estate is in southern France, not fa from Monte Carlo, arrived here today aboard the American transport Pocahontas, the bride of Lieut. Commander O. M. Forster, U. S. N., of St. Louis.
         "I don't want to be known as a princess any more," she said.
         The couple met in 1913 hwen the officers of the battleship Utah were being entertained in France. They were married nine weeks ago.
  • The following appeared on 3 November 1919 in The Washington Times: (New York, Nov. 3) Along with fifty-four other war brides, there arrived here on board the transport Pochahontas an erstwhile Princess who has forever renounced her title, to become the wife of Lieutenant Commander Forster, U. S. N., of St. Louis, whom social Europe knew up to a few months ago as the Princess Lyson Bulgheroni, daughter of prince Bulgheroni of Monte Chrristo, but from now on she will be just plain American," because titles have gone out of fashion, you know, and, besides, as she said, "I'd rather be the wife of an American naval officer than a princes, or even a queen, for that matter."
         The wedding, which took place at the home of the bride's father, a wealthy inventor and engineer, followed a romance dating back for five and a half years, to a midsummer evening in 1913, when young forster, then an ensign on the Utah, called at Villafrance, along with his fellow officers, to attend a reception given in their honor by the father of the princess.
         The couple had already been introduced when the young officer asked the princess, then only seventeen years old, to dance with him. She accepted. Fifteen minutes later they adjourned to the conservatory. There the young ensign proposed and was accepted. Before the wedding could be arranged the war came on and Ensign Forster was assigned to duty in other parts of the world. It was five and a half years before he could get back to the enchanting isle for the wedding.
         "And isn't that a terrible, terrible long time for a girl to have to wait to kiss her big, big boy again?" submitted for former princess in telling of it. "But it was worth it." Incidentally, the young officer started for the island twice before making a successful trip, the warship upon which he was traveling breaking down in midocean both times.
  • The following appeared on 9 November 1919 in the Denver Post: Lieutenant Commander and Mrs. Otto M. Fo[r]ster of St. Louis arrived in New York on the S. S. Pocohontas from France, coming to America after an interesting war romance. Mrs. Fo[r]ster was Miss Lyson Bulgheroni of Monte Carlo, and in days of yore her ancestors were royalty of the principality. Her husband met her at a ball given by the Prince of Monaco at Monte Carlo while the U. S. S. Utah was in port there. His was in 1913 and the war kept them apart until seven months ago, when Lieutenant Commander Fo[r]ster visited his fiancee at her home in Monte Carlo. They were married and spent their honeymoon abroad. Commander Fo[r]ster and his bride will make their home in St. Louis.
  • The following appeared on 27 March 1934 in The Seattle Daily Times: To join her husband, Commander Otto M. Forster, in New York City, Mrs. Forster, daughter of Commandeur Franz Bulgheroni and the Marquise Elynor Blank de la Salette, sailed from Seattle Saturday on the Ruth Alexander for Los Angeles, to board the S. S. President Hoover for the voyage through the Panama Canal.
         Mrs. Forster's father built the famous Casino at Monte Carlo, the hotels and villas of the principality and for several years was president of the colony there. Mrs. Forster, who speaks seven languages and pilots an airplane, was a schoolmate in the convent she attended in Munich, of the Empress Zita of Bourbon Parma, sister-in-law of the assassinated Archduke Ferdinand, when the empress was still a princess. Two years of her life Mrs. Forster spent in the royal castle of Nymphenburg, Munich, Bavaria.
         Commander and Mrs. Forster met and were married in France, and have two daughters, Elynor and Muriel, who spent three years with their mother in the Orient and now are visiting their grandmother in St. Louis, Mo. Commander Forster has been ordered to the War College at Newport, R. I.
  • The following appeared on 28 April 1939 in the St. Louis Star-Times: Mrs. Minnie Forster, former St. Louisan who died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Elsa M. Buckman, at Langhorne, Pa., Wednesday, will be buried tomorrow in Bellefontaine Cemetery after services at 2:30 p. m. at Arthur J. Donelly Parlors, 3840 Lindell boulevard. Mrs. Forster, who had been residing in Belleville after moving from St. Louis in 1928, became ill three years ago while visiting her daughter and had been unable to return to the Belleville residence at 515 North Church street. She was 75 years old and the widow of C. August Forster, who died in 1902. Before her marriage she was Miss Minnie Lorey. In addition to her daughter, she is survived by two sons, Commander O. M. Forster of the United States Navy and August F. Forster.
  • Otto Marquard Forster and Louise Lyson Bulgheroni appeared in the US federal census of 1 April 1940 in Seattle, King County, Washington, at 4505 East 33rd Street. Other members of the household included Elynor Forster and Lyson Muriel Forster. Also in the household were a maid and a houseboy. In 1935, the family was living in Newport, Rhode Island.
  • The following appeared on 11 April 1940 in The Seattle Daily Times: The two daughters of the man who designed and built the world-famous Casino at Monte Carlo--Mrs. Otto M. Forster, wife of Comdr. Otto M. Forster, U. S. Navy, of Seattle, and her sister, Mlle. Lyane Blanc de la Salette Bulgheroni if Monte Carlo and Paris--were gay in a reunion today at the Laurelhurst home of the Forsters.
         Mlle. Bulgheroni, an authoress, was here after a 7,000-mile journey across war-infested waters and the peaceful United States, just because she wanted "to see my sister, my brother-in-law, my two beautiful nieces."
         The two sisters last were together eight months ago in Monte Carlo after the death of their famous father, Sir Franz Bulgheroni, who not only built the Casino, but also the hotels and villas of the principality, and who for several years was president of the Monte Carlo colony.
         "That was a sad occasion and there was no enjoyment, but this is a gay time," said Mlle. bulgheroni. "Now there is only the war to cloud our gaiety, and I have promised myself I would not think about the war all during my journey."
         But, fresh from the darkened street of Paris, and fresh from the gray-painted nameless steamer Champlain, she could not forget the war entirely.
         "Paris is a different Paris today from that we wish to remember," Mlle. Bulgheroni explained, "and the usual pleasant voyage here is just a means of transportation now.
         "the vessel carried no flags nor name. She was gray. Her windows were painted blue. There was no light at night. One could not even smoke. We could not tell our position. We zig-zagged. We took nine days to cross. It was not pleasant and I have no horror of the war.
         "But many have. There were only sixteen other first-class passengers, and the Champlain normally carries 300.
         "In Paris, too, there are no lights. Each pedestrian carries his small electric lamp, and when he crosses the street, he waves it, hopes he will not be struck. Vehicles carry only a small light."
         A peculiar effect of the war is the regulation regarding sounding automobile horns.
         "Before the war, we could not klaxon after 9 at night," the visitor explained. "Now we must klaxon at night, but must not expose lights."
         Mlle. Bulgheroni flew via United Air Lines across the nation. This was astonishing to her.
         "All commercial and private flying is banned in France," she pointed out. She is a member of the Women's Air Club of France, which is dormant because of the war.
         Authoress of learned works on feminine psychology, Mlle. Bulgheroni will remain at least a month in Seattle, perhaps longer. She is at the home of the Forsters, 4505 E. 33rd St.
         Commdr. Forster is head of the Seattle Bureau of Hydrographics. He and Mrs. Forster, who met and married in France, have two daughters, Elynor, 19 years old, and Muriel, 17, students at the University of Washington and Roosevelt High School, respectively.
  • He was a commander in the US Navy, according to the 1940 census.
  • A biographical sketch was published in the the Navy Cruise Book Waves, Overseas Unit, Company C, USN Tadcen, Shoemaker, California.
  • The following appeared on 3 September 1958 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Funeral services for August F. Forster, former sales manager of Hyde Park Breweries Association, will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Donnelly undertaking establishment, 3840 Lindell boulevard, with burial in Bellefontaine Cemetery. [:CR;]      Mr. Forster, who was 74 years old and lived at 4311 McPherson avenue, died Monday at St. John's Hospital after a long illness. He retired in 1952.
         Surviving are his wife; a brother, Navy Comdr. O. M. Forster (Ret.), Lafayette, Calif., and a sister, Mrs. Elsa Buckman, Langhorne, Pa.
  • The following appeared on 7 October 1958 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The estate of August F. Forster, former sales manager for the Hyde Park Breweries Association, was valued at $287,746 in an inventory filed yesterday in probate court. Forster, who lived at 4311 McPherson avenue, died Sept. 1 at the age of 74. He had retired in 1952.
         Corporate stocks with a market vaue of $227,747 made up the bulk of the estate. Real estate was valued at $33,470, and bank accounts, $25,960.
         Under terms of Forster's will, filed earlier, one half of his estate is left to his wife, Mrs. Eleanor Moffitt Forster, and one fourth each to a sister, Mrs. Elsa Buckman of Langhorne, Pa., and a brother, Navy Comdr. Otto M. Forster (ret.), Lafayette, Calif.
  • Otto Marquard Forster died on 31 December 1961 at age 72 in Alameda County, California.
  • Louise Lyson Bulgheroni became a widow at his death.
  • He was interred at Golden Gate Natiioal Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California.
  • Last Edited: 1 Sep 2016

Family: Louise Lyson Bulgheroni b. 18 January 1896, d. 28 May 1985