Scanning v. photocopying - the Tract Index

The joke is on me. I've been scanning my genealogy papers to PDF and JPG formats in preparation for a research trip to Kansas. I woke last night, remembering that I hadn't seen an important set of photocopied tract indices of recorded Osborne County deeds. I actually reached a pad and wrote a note to remind me for today's work.

After searching a few hours for them—fruitless—I thought, Hey, you were writing a Wikipedia post about this resource. I remember now that I had to use Photoshop to piece four pages into one. Maybe you scanned at least a few of the pages.

Well, they were all scanned. Waiting for me to look in the right place. And one set had been sewn together for that Wikipedia entry.

Tract index of section 27 of town 8 south, range 11 west of the principal meridian, Bloom township, Osborne county, Kansas

What is a tract index?

This tract index, a somewhat dynamic historical record, has dates that range from 1890.05.21 to 1903.09.29. The tract index clarifies that

1. The Sheriff owned the land title to the northwest quarter section (NW/4) and granted it to the Mutual Life Ins Co on 1891.02.03 via a Sheriff's Deed (a type of Quitclaim Deed).
2. Michigan Mutual Life Ins Co transferred the title to Peter Simeon on 1898.0214 via a Warranty Deed.
3. Peter Simeon and his wife transferred title to Michigan Mutual Life Ins Co on 1898.02.14 via a Mortgage.
4. Michigan Mutual Life Ins Co transferred the title to Peter Simeon on 1903.09.29 in Satisfaction of the mortgage.

Atlas page, Bloom township,
Osborne county, Kansas, 1900

For comparison, here is an atlas page (sometimes called a plat map) that includes the section as part of Bloom township, published in 1900. Click on the image to see it enlarged. As a static document, it records the current ownership prior to publication. Section 27 is in the middle of the map, below the middle indicated plateau. The atlas shows that Peter Simeon is the sole owner of NW/4.

Correlation between the tract index and the atlas is made a bit difficult by the pagination of the tract index, which shows the NW/4 at the top of the right-hand page. This is not always the case, so note carefully whether the tract index has such a reversal.

Other owners mentioned in the tract index are John Brummer, Crippen Lawrence, Sullivan Barton, John Endres, Theodore Arens, Ignatz Hake, F.M. Owens, William O. Harrison, and A. Anderson. Only Peter Simeon and John Brummer are named on the atlas section.

oo-oo

Once everything is scanned to JPG or PDF format, I'll no longer have an urge to page through binders, trying to find the item I need. So far, that's true just for my Kansas materials. I'm not sure what is next, but the longest shelf now is marked "DEU" for the Germany materials.

The John M. Kohn family photos

Yesterday, I received two family photos from my 3rd cousin-once-removed Barbara Schuh. Her father Robert Schuh received them from his godmother Marie Irsch.

The family is the John M. Kohn family, my great grandfather. He was born 1839 in Wasserliesch, Germany; his wife is Susanna Reinert, who was born 1848 in Igel, Germany. These two towns are across from each other on the Mosel River, a few miles upstream from Trier. The couple likely knew each other in Germany before they emigrated—he in 1865 and she in 1867, and they lived 30 miles from each other in Minnesota and Wisconsin from 1867-1872. John M. followed Susanna when she moved with her mother and siblings to Kansas. They married at Waconda, Kansas in 1874.

This photo was taken about September 1881 to June 1882. Susanna likely was pregnant with her 5th child (the 4th child to live through infancy). The children in the front row are Mike J. (born 1879), Peter (born 1877), and Katie (born 1881) . The family had moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin in late 1880--the couple and two sons were in the June 1880 census of Kansas, their daughter Katie was born January 1881 in La Crosse.

This photo was taken about 1887-1889. The children (left to right: Katie (born 1881), Mike J. (born 1879). Ben (seated, born 1884), Peter (born 1877), and Annie (born 1882)) have recently experienced the death of their youngest brother Joseph (born March 1886, died November 1886) and mother (died August 1887). John M. and family moved to a farm near Cawker City, Kansas in 1887 or 1888.









 

Only a guess, but this photo comes from about 1890, when Katie was about nine years old. Annie was eight in that year, so the other girl seems a bit small to be Annie.

This photo must come from about 1904. The family moved to a livestock farm in Bloom township, Osborne county, Kansas after they resettled from La Crosse. The youngest boy, Ben (left) was born 1884 and appears to be ten to twelve years old here. The two sisters Katie and Annie would be about twelve to sixteen. The older boy, either Peter or Mike J., would be in his late teens. The photographer is likely the other older boy. The father John M. (1839-1919) lived on the farm until his death at age 80.



Other researchers also document some of the family.

• Peter Kohn (1875-1941) married Elizabeth Ottley (1880-1947) and had a family of 7 children (a sixth child did not survive infancy).
• Mike J. Kohn (1879-1965) married Louise Ohnsat (1875-1959) and had a family of 8 children (two others did not survive infancy).
• Katie Kohn (1881-1955) married Phillip Gasper (1877-1964) and had a family of 8 children (a 9th child did not survive infancy).
• Annie Kohn (1882-1956) married Frank Streit (1881-1951) and had a family of 10 (an 11th did not survive to childhood).
• Ben Kohn (1884-1955) married Barbara Streit (1887-1974) and had a family of 9.

• The two deceased infants were John Nicholas (1875-1875) and Joseph (1886-1886).