Gustave Geduldig in Front of His Greenhouses
With Members of His Florist Business
Gustave Geduldig knew that in a city known as the Rose of New England, horticulture had a special importance. Since the late 1800s, the annual Rose Festival in Norwich has featured a rose parade complete with flower-bedecked floats. It was an event directly associated with the Jail Hill Historic District and the Geduldig family.
In the late 1800s, he established a large florist business on 77 Cedar Street with eight steam-heated greenhouses on his two-acre property. The basement of his fine brick house was outfitted with coolers and arranging tables. Until his death in 1895, Geduldig’s float was the highlight of Norwich’s annual parade every year. The business, which employed many local people, was run by his family until the 1860s.
He was married to Friederike Oesterreich Geduldig, also a German immigrant. They had four children: Jennie, Flora, Louis, and Fritz.
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Unfortunately, private lives aren’t always as they appear. His family was held in high regard, and he bore an unblemished record until days before his untimely death. A reprint of the article published in the Norwich Bulletin on February 20, 1895, is shown below.
A Prominent Citizen of Norwich Kills Himself
Norwich, Conn., Feb. 20. – Gustave Geduldig, a prominent florist of this city, suicided by poison this morning, the result of shame and remorse because a woman of shame and ill-fame had died in a room which they jointly occupied on Monday night. The woman’s death was due to alcoholism. He was a man of family and heretofore bore an unblemished record.Reference
Paragraph 4a
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