Mosel-Miami Musings: Michael Kohn

Showing posts with label Michael Kohn. Show all posts

2014-05-30

Because the internet connection in my Econolodge room was faulty, I slept fitfully. Finally at 4:00 a.m., I decided that I wasn't sleeping and should work to get a good connection. I phoned the desk, and the clerk gave me a number for technical support. The technician created a special exception for my firewall and successfully provided a network node. I spent the next two hours preparing for the rest of my work in Leavenworth. I decided to reverse my plans, eat a breakfast in the hotel, tour and photograph the city, and go to the cemetery as the last task before leaving for Dayton.

Leavenworth City Tour

I began the driving tour that was suggested online, but realized that it revealed little of the Leavenworth contemporary to the Michael Kohn family. I photographed some of the warehouses near the landing, and began searching for the known Michael Kohn residences. Seven addresses were given in the censuses and city directories.

909 North 7th Street (1882)—One source includes this address, which may be a typographic error. No building is at the location today.

722 Kickapoo, Leavenworth, Kansas
(2014, likely not a contemporary home)

720 Kickapoo Street (1884-1893)—This residence was the family's most constant location, which indicates some stability in their finances. The present building, which is numbered 722, is unlikely to be the original building. (The building to the east is numbered 718, and the building to the west is 724.) The gables and porch seem to fit into 1910s or 1920s architecture styles. View from the west.

I had parked opposite the house, in front of a similar house where two women and a child were sitting on the stoop. The child asked me why I was photographing the house. "Because my great grandfather's brother lived there," I told him. The young woman with him said, "Well, I hope he wasn't kicked out of it like we've been. We're waiting for a truck now to take us away from here."

523 North 4th Street (1894)—No building is at this location today.

919 N 7th, Leavenworth, Kansas
(2014, likely a contemporary building)

919 North 7th Street (1896)—This location faces a busy street today, and I have little reason to suspect otherwise for the city of the 1890s. The entrances to the three apartments seem to be modified from the original only in the height of the outer opening for the step to the door. The apartment nearest the street corner appears to have been modified with clapboard siding that might have replaced a set of display windows for a street-facing business. On the left is an entrance for apartments 3 and 4, likely a stairway to the upstairs.

833 Pottawatomie, Leavenworth, Kansas
(2014, likely not a contemporary home)

831 Pottawatomie Street (1899)—This location does not have a building contemporary to the Michael Kohn residence. The present building, which is numbered 833, is unlikely to be the original building. (The building to the east is numbered 829, and the building to the west is 837.) The gables and porch seem to fit into 1920s architecture styles. View from the west.

417 North 7th Street (1900-1905)—No building is at this location today.

786 Osage, Leavenworth, Kansas
(likely not a contemporary home)

784 Osage Street (1907)—This location also does not have a building contemporary to the Theodore Kohn residence. The present building, which is numbered 786, is unlikely to be the original building. (The building to the east is numbered 782, and the building to the west is 788.) The gables and porch seem to fit into 1920s architecture styles. View from the east.

While I was photographing the house, a neighbor eyed me from 788 Osage, and a man stepped out from the barber shop at 792 Osage. A barechested man opened the screen door of 786, staring at me, and a boy leaned out behind him.The barber asked, "What's up with the camera?" I told him my reason, and he said, "Well, people in this neighborhood don't think anything good can come from somebody photographing their place. Especially someone in a van with out of state plates. But go ahead and do what you want." He nodded at the man and boy at 786, and motioned them to go inside while I took the photos. I thanked him as I closed up the camera and observed, "It's a good sign that you watch out for each other here. Not every street has a careful neighborhood watch." He smiled and wished me luck in my research.

All the addresses are now in poor neighborhoods, and the size of each home implies the residents are in the lower working class or welfare stratum. Reading the number of families enumerated in the 1895 through 1905 censuses, it is likely that the blocks now with 1920s single homes had been tenement row houses or low apartment buildings.

St. Joseph Catholic Church

This last address is within a half block from St. Joseph Catholic church. When I found it locked, I went to the parish office and asked for access. The woman at reception could not leave her position and called the bookkeeper to open the church for me. As we walked to the church, we talked about the German heritage festival that comes in early June. St. Joseph was formed to serve the German population, while the cathedral parish was formed for the Irish. Today the parish has no German speakers, though many still recognize their German background.

I drove through Fort Leavenworth, as suggested by online information for the city. A few sections of the facility seem to date from earlier times, including a few residences and a set of warehouse buildings that overlook a bend of the Missouri River. However, none of the original fort has been preserved except small portions in the on-site museum.

Mount Calvary Cemetery

Some might think my research at the cemetery was disappointing. Quite the contrary; I believe I was able to corroborate my inferences from the Kohn family's homes.

In early May, I had written to the cemetery to inquire about burials I hoped to find:

Kohn, Francis John, died 22 July 1879
Kohn, John R., died 5 May 1883
Kohn, John, died 24 July 1905
Kohn, Michael, died 4 Sept 1905
Kohn, Theresia, died 22 Nov 1891

I also asked about other possible Kohn burials, children from the same family who appear in the state and federal censuses through 1910:

Kohn, Matthew, death date unknown, after 1895
Kohn, John R., date unknown, after 1905
Kohn, Peter, date unknown, after 1900
Kohn, Annie, date unknown, after 1905
Kohn, Leo, date unknown, after 1905

Her response by phone had not been helpful, in which she claimed nobody named Kohn was buried there.

I drove about 3 miles south from Fort Leavenworth to Eisenhower Road, and then east about a mile to Desoto Road, which allows entrance to Mount Calvary cemetery. Prepared with the information available in the city library, the document Mount Calvary Cemetery Index: Leavenworth County, Kansas volume 1 (1869-1919),[compiled and published by Erwin C. Baker and Charles F. Pierce, Leavenworth KS, 1983] I had several line numbers that I could give to Gladys Armstrong [check name]. She checked the database she was currently building from hand- and typewritten records, found conflicting information, and brought out an original and very worn ledger of interments. She explained that the original ledgers had many inconsistencies and duplicated numbers for line entries. I photographed the two-page spreads as we looked up each line number I had.

Line number 1278 (page 48)—John R. Kohn, [died] Leavenworth 1883.05.05, [cause] measles, [parents] Mcl - Teresa Kohn, [marital status] single, [location] Single Grave, [remarks] German church, [priest] J.F. Cunningham
Line number 3243 (page 75)—Theresia Kohn, Germany 1852, Leavenworth Kan 21.91, paralysis, Theodore & Gertrude [Donebar or Dauter? inserted above], married, Single grave, German church, J.F. Cunningham
Line number 4422 (page 117)—Mary E. Rumpau, Michigan [This logged entry is not a match.]
Line number 4422 (page 124)—John Kohn, 11worth 1884, 11worth Kan, July 24/05, consumption, Michael & Teresa, single, single grave, St. Joseph's, John Ward
Line number 4440 (page 118)—Julia Gunn, Ireland [This logged entry is not a match.]
Line number 4440 (page 125)—Michael Kohn, Leavenworth 1878, 11worth [Leavenworth] Sept 4/05, consumption, Michael & Teresa, single, single grave, St. Joseph's, John Ward
Line number 4555 (page 120)—Thomas Flanigan, Ireland [This logged entry is not a match.]
Line number 4555 (page 132)—Michael Kohn, Germany 1845, 11worth Aug. 26/07, Consumption, [no entry], married, single grave, St. Joseph's, P.R. McNamoran[?]

Every citation listed the burial to be in the "single burial section," in the extreme southwest corner of the cemetery, beyond the crucifix.
Gladys explained that the section held welfare and poverty cases as well as deceased with no next of kin or family burial plot. In most cases, the burial would have no stone to mark its location. There is, she said, some chronological order to the interments. The very oldest are in the southwest corner, and later interments occurred in groups, somewhat arranged in concentric rings of a quarter circle.

I went to the single section, read each stone that could be made out—many were in greatly pitted or poorly etched stone, many were overgrown with heavy moss, only very few in granite that could withstand the elements. I photographed the section, absent finding any stone for members of the Kohn family.

I left the cemetery and city with the understanding that the Michael Kohn family existed at the precipice of poverty. Theirs was no story of a successful immigrant, nor even of proudly making a meager living despite economic forces set against him. Perhaps there is little wonder that the family members often died young and that the family died out in the area.

Return to Dayton

My drive to Dayton included a more leisurely stretch that jogged south from Columbia to Jefferson City so I could follow the Katy Trail from Jefferson City to Case. The Katy Trail is a 237-mile bikeway that starts in Clinton (southeast of Kansas City) and from Boonville follows the Missouri River as it passes through the state. The trail is a separated, tree-lined, crushed-rock path that has few intersectons with roadways. State Highway 94 roughly parallels the trail from Jefferson City to Weldon Spring (southwest of St. Charles). I returned to the freeway west of Warrenton, and continued toward Dayton with only one gas stop in Pocahontas IL. I arrived home after almost twelve hours of driving, at 11:00 p.m. Dayton time.

Chronology of the Leavenworth Kohn Family

End of the Journal

Chronology of Michael Kohn family

1844.07.19—birth of Michael Kohn in Wasserliesch, Kreis Saarburg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Deutschland. His baptism record of 1844.07.21 gives the birth date and his parents.

1854—approximate birth of Theresia Loerscher, as calculated from the marriage registration. Her birth may be 1853.10.19 in Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

1871.06.17—application for emigration by Michael Kohn, as also reported in the Wasserliesch Kirchenbuch. His occupation is reported as "Schreiner" (cabinet maker or carpenter).

1872.11.01—application from Michael Kohn to the Wisconsin Circuit Court for naturalization.

1874.04.21—marriage of Michael Kohn and Theresia Loerscher (spelling uncertain) in La Crosse, La Crosse county, Wisconsin. The date and names of the couple and their parents are documents in a list of Wisconsin marriage registrations from 1851 to 1907.

1875—enumerated in the Kansas State Census of Beloit township, Mitchell county, Kansas.

1876—residence reported for Michael Kohn "on Second Street between King and Jay Streets" in the La Crosse city directory. A lag of up to a year can be expected between the information gathering and publication.

1879.07.22—death in Leavenworth of Francis John Kohn, who was born 1874 in "Omaha, Nebraska." The death index identifies this entry as "line 990" in some primary source. (The name "Francis" and the location seem to be unusual for the family, but the information needs to be checked to eliminate it or contradict my assumptions.)

1880—enumeration of the Michael Kohn family in Beloit city, Mitchell county, Kansas. The U.S. Federal Census enumerates them at that location under the name "Mike Cohen" age 36 born in Prussia with wife "Thressa" age 27, son Theodore age 5 born in Kansas, son Matt age 3 born in Kansas, and son Mike age 2 born in Kansas.

1882—residence reported as "Kohn, Michael, carpenter, r 909 7th" in Green's Leavenworth Directory, p 121.

1883—residence reported as "Kohn, Michael, carpenter, Willcott & Steir, r 909 7th" in Green's Leavenworth Directory, p 138.

1883.05.05—death of John R. Kohn, who was born 1881.01.05. The death index identifies this entry as "line 1278" in its primary source, which reads "[died] Leavenworth 1883.05.05, [cause] measles, [parents] Mcl - Teresa Kohn, [marital status] single, [location] Single Grave, [remarks] German church, [priest] J.F. Cunningham".

1884—residence reported as "Kohn, Michael, carpenter, Willcott & Stier, r 720 Kickapoo" in Green's Leavenworth Directory, p 153.

1884—calculated birth of John Kohn.

1885—enumeration of "Michl" Kohn (carpenter age 40 born in Germany) family in Kansas State Census of Leavenworth county, Leavenworth. Members: wife Teresa age 28 born Germany, son Theodore age 10 born Kansas, son "Mattew" age 8 born Kansas, son "Michl" age 7 born Kansas, and daughter Gertie age 4 born Kansas. A census index in the Leavenworth library cites three entries under Kohn: a Geo numbered 142 on page 469, a Geo numbered 142 on page 473, and a Michl numbered 142 on page 581.

1891.11.22—death of Theresa Kohn age 40 at 720 Kickapoo in Leavenworth. Her burial occurs on the next day at Mount Calvary. The death is caused by "paralysis," and Michael Kohn is identified as the next of kin. The Interment Register has line number 3243 (page 75) "Theresia Kohn, Germany 1852, Leavenworth Kan 21.91, paralysis, Theodore & Gertrude [Donebar or Dauter? inserted above], married, Single grave, German church, J.F. Cunningham".

1895—enumeration of Michael Kohn (carpenter age 50 born in Germany) family in Kansas State Census of Leavenworth county, Leavenworth. Members: Mathias age 17 born Wisconsin occupation cook, and Michael age 15 born Wisconsin (studying to be) carpenter.

1900.06.08—enumerated Michael Kohn as a widowed carpenter born June 1843 in Germany in the U.S. Federal Census of Leavenworth, with a location of North First Street in Ward 4. Family members include: son Michael born Dec. 1877 in Wisconsin, daughter Gertrude born Aug. 1880 in Kansas, son John R. born June 1884 Kansas, and son Peter born May 1877 in Wisconsin. Problematic is the statement that Michael Jr. and Peter were born seven months apart. Perhaps Peter is not a son, but the nephew Peter, the son of John M. Kohn who was born 1877.07.17?

1900.11.22—marriage of Gertrude Kohn to Arthur N. Wales, as listed in the marriage index in the Leavenworth library, which cites an entry in book K, page 164.

1901 to 1917—divorce proceedings between Gertrude Kohn and Arthur N. Wales, as listed in the divorce index in the Leavenworth library, which cites an entry 146-78.

1905—family of Michael Kohn (carpenter age 60 born in Germany) enumerated in Kansas State Census of Leavenworth county, Leavenworth. Members: son Michael Jr. age 27 born Kansas occupation carpenter, son John age 20 born Kansas occupation Bookbinder, son Leo age 17 born Kansas occupation R. Road Fireman, and daughter Annie age 15 born Germany. This information was reported by another researcher, and some of the assertions are now suspect (particularly concerning Leo and Annie).

1905.07.24—death of John Kohn at St. John Hospital of consumption at age 21. Burial is at Mount Calvary with Haas & Brown undertakers and A.J. Smith as certifying physician. The death index identifies this entry as line 4422. The Interment Register has line number 4422 (page 124) "John Kohn, 11worth 1884, 11worth Kan, July 24/05, consumption, Michael & Teresa, single, single grave, St. Joseph's, John Ward".

1905.09.04—death of Michael Kohn, Jr. at St. John Hospital of consumption at age 28. Burial is at Mount Calvary with Haas & Brown undertakers and Risdon as certifying physician. The death index identifies this entry as line 4440. The Interment Register has line number 4440 (page 125) "Michael Kohn, Leavenworth 1878, 11worth [Leavenworth] Sept 4/05, consumption, Michael & Teresa, single, single grave, St. Joseph's, John Ward".

1907.08.26—death of Michael Kohn, Sr. at 784 Osage Street of tuberculosis at age 62. Burial is at Mount Calvary with O'Donnell undertakers and Darrah as certifying physician. The death index identifies this entry as line 4555. The Interment Register has line number 4555 (page 132) "Michael Kohn, Germany 1845, 11worth Aug. 26/07, Consumption, [no entry], married, single grave, St. Joseph's, P.R. McNamoran[?]".

1915.09.04—death of Arthur N Wales with no corroborative information.

1924.09.29—death of Theodore Kohn at age 49. Burial is at the Ft. Leavenworth National Cemetery, location 2266-B. He was a Technical Sergeant in the U.S.Army and a veteran of the Spanish-American War.

Difficulties Encountered

At least one other Kohn family of Leavenworth in this period is unrelated. The family is likely Jewish. Their residences or businesses are likely at these addresses:
612 Cherokee (Charles Kohn and George Kohn, 1879, 1882)
North Shawnee (Charles Kohn and George Kohn, 1879)
311 Osage
111 N. Broadway (Charles Kohn and George Kohn, 1882)
407 N. 3rd
585 Miami
771 Osage
518 S. Esplanade

Gertrude Kohn-Wales is unaccounted for after her marriage in 1900.

Matthew Kohn is unaccounted for after the 1895 census.

The son Peter Kohn of 1900 is unreliable, but reported in the transcribed census index available from the LDS website.

Uncorroborated Assertions

In the 1900 census Theodore Kohn is found serving in the U.S. Army in the Phillipines.

The 1905 Kansas State Census of Leavenworth, Leavenworth Co. includes these members of the Michael Kohn family:

John Kohn age 20 born Kansas occupation Bookbinder (there is a John Kohn 1884-Jul. 24, 1905 buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery)
Leo Kohn age 17 born Kansas occupation R. Road Fireman
Annie Kohn age 15 born Germany

2014-05-29

Research trip journal, day 11

2014.05.19 Monday

2014.05.20 Tuesday

2014.05.21 Wednesday

2014.05.22 Thursday

2014.05.23 Friday

2014.05.24 Saturday

2014.05.25 Sunday

2014.05.26 Monday

2014.05.27 Tuesday

2014.05.28 Wednesday

2014.05.29 Thursday

I drove due south from Osborne to reach I-70 as soon as possible. The route was nice via KS 281 to Luray, KS 18 for a few miles to Lucas, and then a scenic highway across Wilson Dam to the interstate. The entire leg took 2.5 hours. (I was expecting a drive time of 1.5 hours!)

Millie Corbett-Fink Interview

The interview with Millie Fink was more an introduction to each other, since we've carried on an exchange of emails prior to this meeting. Millie is an active genealogist, though she confesses to doing her documentation and name entry to make it convenient to her needs. Perhaps, she advised, that the result is not in line with "established practice." To me, that is okay as an interim step, since many family history buffs barely write anything down.

I pulled out my audio recorder soon after sitting at her kitchen table. It's a good thing, since her information came like leaves falling in an autumn windstorm. Lots of isolated tidbits that eventually get pulled together into a bushel basket.

When I interviewed Fronnie Slothower, Millie's information was stressed as an important source of all the family detail that my database lacks. Millie was happy to work with me to create a GEDCOM from her data software... The name of the software escapes me, but it seemed to perform a good part of the functions of Legacy, which I use. The key was to export a GEDCOM, which the software seemed to hang on, after it had paced through all the individuals. Its progress screen didn't report processing marriages, locations, or sources. So I hope the result is complete.

More to come after I've checked the recording and the output file...

On to Leavenworth

The drive to Leavenworth was through stretches of I-70 that I knew well from traveling to and from KU. My phone connectivity was very poor, and messages I left for Paul Deneke and Joe Hyde were likely too garbled to be understandable. I tried to leave two each, hoping that some part of the drive had better connectivity.

I was arriving so late that I went directly to the Leavenworth Public Library instead of checking in at the Econolodge as I drove past it. I would have to retrace my path by about five miles to do so.

I researched the Leavenworth City Directories and found five or more addresses for the family from 1879 through 1918. I photographed them all, opening to pages for "Cohn," "Cone," Kone," "Kohn," "Krohn," and "Kuhn" to make sure that typical misspellings were available for later review. Before she left a bit after 5:00 p.m., the librarian brought several other books with indexes to marriages, deaths, and burials. She said the birth indexes were online and at the courthouse. The marriage index at the library showed Gertrude Kohn's marriage. The death index and burial index may help me find the graves for the family in Mount Calvary cemetery. I finished by 8:30 with photographs of the relevant index entries, a half hour before the library was to close.

After a passable Thai meal downtown, I spent the evening at the hotel identifying the files. Unfortunately the internet connection in the motel was unavailable throughout the evening. I had not printed any materials in advance, so an online connection was critical here. When I called the front desk about the connection, I was assured the internet would be available by the morning. I woke at 4:00 a.m., found the wireless could not connect, complained again, and was given a tech support number. The service set up an exception for my computer so I could pass through the firewall, whether it was theirs or mine. With that, I was able to plan my drive through the city to photograph homes and churches, as well as to plan alternative routes for the drive home.

Chronology of the Leavenworth Kohn Family

The Michael Kohn family did not have a happy time in Leavenworth. He continued to work as a carpenter, and one son followed the same occupation.

2014.05.30 Friday

2012-06-02

A Kohn family: lost, found, lost, found, and repeat

The Familienbuch 1 Pfarrei St. Aper Wasserliesch 1752-1899 (the first family book for the St. Aper parish in Wasserliesch, Germany) has a similar notation beside the baptism entries for Matthias Kohn (b. 1829.08.16), Johann Matthias Kohn (b. 1839.01.10), and Michael Kohn (b. 1844.07.19) that reads "nach Nord-Amerika ausgewandert." Before reading this, I had known only of my great-grandfather Johann Matthias as the emigré from Germany. Afterwards, I knew I had two other emigrés to account for.

With a bit more research, I found that in addition to my great-grandfather's emigration in 1865 were Matthias Kohn's emigration around 1855 and Michael Kohn's in 1871. Because of information from Irene Streit-Keller, I found evidence of Matthias Kohn's life in La Crosse, Wisconsin quickly. He owned a saloon, which he operated as a restaurant and hotel. He married Josephine Becker, the "oldest settler of La Crosse," (as reported in the La Crosse obituary for her) and had 11 children and adopted 2 children who had been orphaned by a family friend. I found a descendant of Matthias, Cindy Bistodeau, who supplied ever increasing detail about the family and introduced me to the last Kohn family member still living in La Crosse, her grandmother Charlotte Kohn-Troyanek.

But Michael Kohn was apparently lost.

With more detailed research, I found Michael Kohn in La Crosse. He had been a Schreiner in Germany, and he continued his trade as a carpenter in La Crosse. I believe he worked at first for a furnniture maker, but he had a business listing as a cabinet maker in the city directory of 1876-1877. The only other evidence of his life in La Crosse was a marriage in 1874 to Theresa Loerscher, who was born about 1854. And their names were not in the 1880 census of La Crosse.

Again, lost.

Then I happened to find a Michael "Cohen" in the 1880 census. In Beloit, Kansas. So much matched correctly: age 36, occupation carpenter, born in Prussia, parents born in Prussia, wife "Tressa." Her age was given as 27, and they had 3 boys: Theodore age 5, Matt age 3, and Mike age 2. I felt enough matched to have confidence that I had found the Michael Kohn family again.

I asked the Mitchell County Historical Society to request a search of the church records for any baptisms for children of Michael and Theresa Kohn through the next ten years. Nothing. I asked also for a search of city directories and tax records for the next few years. Nothing.

Again, the family seemed to be lost.

Then I searched the 1900 census nationwide for Michael Kohn and his family. There seemed to be matches in Leavenworth, Kansas. I wrote a query on the Leavenworth county message board hosted by Ancestry.com. Within a day, a fellow researcher provided summaries for the state and federal censuses of 1885, 1895, 1900, and 1905. Found again!

But the family seems to have little presence there after 1905. Are they lost again?

Update, 27 June 2013.

Further online research suggests these facts:

Wife Theresa Loerscher-Kohn died in Leavenworth on 22 Nov 1891 (age 37).
Daughter Gertrude Kohn married Arthur Wales on 26 Dec 1900 (ages 20 and 35). They had at least one child, Millie T, born in 1903.
Son John R. Kohn died in Leavenworth on 24 Jul 1905 (age 21).
Son Mike Kohn died in Leavenworth on 4 Sep 1905 (age 27).
Husband Michael Kohn died in Leavenworth in 1905 (age 61).
Son Theodore Kohn died 29 Sep 1924 and was buried at the Ft. Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Children Matt, Peter, Leo, and Annie are not accounted for.

Update, 8 May 2014.

Further online research in the census databases available from the Family History Library suggests these facts:

Gertrude Kohn-Wales and her husband Arthur and child Millie are enumerated in the 1910 census. Their address is in Ward 4 (ward locations are not known, not identified in 1878 and 1903 plat maps of the county and city). I note the transcription error "Anthin" for "Arthur.
It's unclear whether the Kansas censuses of 1915, 1925, and 1935 exist or whether the enumeration included city residents.
Gertrude remarried to a BROWN, who is not enumerated with her and daughter Millie Wales in the 1920 census. Their address is in Ward 1. A changed family name implies that Arthur Wales was divorced from Gertrude or deceased. The name "Brown" could be a transcription error, since no husband is enumerated. I presently feel trying to uncover further linkages is not worth the return.

Neither Gertrude nor Millie appears in the 1930 or 1940 censuses.

I have planned a research stop in Leavenworth for May 29-30. At the city library, I will review and photograph entries in the City Directories and their databases of births, marriages, tax returns, school records, and deaths. I plan to visit the Mt. Calvary cemetery to see if more burials are there than the seven reported in the county database of burials. I will take a bike or auto tour of the city's historical locations and the six locations of family homes. Finally, I'll visit St. Joseph Catholic Church and request scans of their sacramental registers for known family dates.

Chronology of the Leavenworth Kohn Family

2012-06-01

The Ohnsat mysteries on the National Road

Catheritne Ohnsat-Bulthaup told me a family story that my great-grandfather John Robert Ohnsat took his family by Conestoga wagon from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Tipton, Kansas in 1877. Her story was not detailed. It did not tell why the family made the 1100-mile move, why Tipton was the chosen destination, nor how difficult was the trip.

The Ohnsat Family in the United States

John Robert Ohnsat (known in our family as Robert) was born 18 September, 1835 in what was then called Grüben, East Prussia, in the province of Silesia (Ostpreußen, Schlesien, Kreis Falkenberg; today named Graben, Niemodlin county, Opole province, Poland/Polskie). He was baptized in the Catholic church there two days later. At age 36, he emigrated with his brother Joseph, who was about 30. They both immigrated to the United States and lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from about 1872. It is possible other members of the family also emigrated, as the family name appears for a few years in the Detroit area.

Robert was identified as a butcher in the City Directories of Pittsburgh PA (in publications dated 1872-73, 1876-77, and 1877-78); he lived at 135 Nineteenth, East Birmingham in 1872.

Robert married Leopoldine Salinger (b. 29 May 1839, Deutschland, Baden-Württemberg, Kreis Breisach-Hochschwarzwald, Breisach am Rhein) on 26 November 1872 at St. Michael Catholic Church by Father Fredericus with witnesses Joseph Ohnsat and Jacob Müller. Leopoldine emigrated from Breisach am Rhein, Baden-Württemberg probably in the early 1870s, perhaps with her sister Anna Maria Josephine and brother Anton Hermann. A family anecdote says that she was a nurse in an insane asylum, and that the experience there was so harsh that she made her children promise neither to become nurses nor to allow their children to do so. Robert became a naturalized citizen on 7 February 1873 in the Court of Common Pleas, Pittsburgh, Allegheny county.

Two children were born in Pittsburgh: Frank Robert on 19 October 1873 and Louise Katherine on 2 December 1875. Around the time Louise Katherine was born, the family moved to 75 Seventeenth, S.S. —perhaps this is Shady Side—as reported in the 1876 city directory. Then, within the next year or so, they moved to Brownsville Road, Mt. Oliver, 27th ward, according to the 1877 city directory.

Sometime in 1877, when Robert was 42 and Leopoldina was 38, they resettled to Kansas. Their third child Bernard O. was born near Tipton Kansas in April 1878. Soon after their arrival, John Robert bought land in Bloom township, in the southeast corner of Osborne county, Kansas. The family is entered in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census of Osborne county, Kansas as the "Robert Ohnsol" family that included Leopoldina (wife, age 31), Frank (son, 6), Louiza (daughter 4), and Barney (son, 2).

The gently rolling, rocky land is more suited to cattle grazing than crop farming. Robert died on the ranch as a result of being kicked by a horse, four days short of his 62nd birthday, in 1897. His widow Leopoldine lived on the ranch for a short while and then lived with her daughter Louise, who had married a neighbor boy, John Michael Kohn. Her granddaughter Isabella Kohn (Sister Edna Louise) remembered Leopoldina's fretting that her children just wanted her land and her money. She died in 1919 from dropsy (probably a cerebral stroke) at age 80.

The brother who emigrated with Robert was Joseph Ohnsat (born 3 July 1842). He also lived in Pittsburgh and worked also as a butcher on Larimer Avenue near Broad Avenue. Joseph died in 1880, as a result of being struck by a metal piece that flew from a tanning factory he was walking by, leaving a wife Elisabeth and children Charles (age 6), Dorothea (5), and Catherine (1). The widowed Elizabeth married Matthew Elliott within a few years, and the children were adopted by him. Others have researched this line. Another brother Carl Anton (born 13 October 1844) may have emigrated to live in or near Detroit, Michigan; however, more research is needed to verify that he is the same person as the husband Charles Ohnsat to Helena Kauf and father of Mary Ohnsat-Bargo (1875-unknown), Annie H. Ohnsat-Priemer (1884-1920), Martha Ohnsat (1891-unknown), and Charles J Ohnsat (1893-1960).

The National Road

The National Road was envisioned to provide a paved roadway from Washington DC first to Wheeling, West Virginia and then, with Congressional direction in 1825, to St. Louis, Missouri. The National Road construction continued from 1806 until 1839, up to Vandalia, Illinois, some 65 miles short of its planned terminus.

The road construction reached Wheeling WV in 1816, and construction in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois occurred roughly simultaneously. In Ohio, the completed road reached Columbus in 1833 and Springfield in 1838. Surveying in Indiana was being completed in 1827, construction was begun to the east and west from Indianapolis IN, and construction was completed in Richmond IN in 1834. The State of Indiana funded the completion of its part of the road through 1850. The Illinois segments were left as hardened clay, in part because of a lack of stone and for a greater part because of the cessation of federal funding.

The National Road.was most active from the 1830s to the 1860s. The traffic was especially heavy in the 1840s. "Stage coaches and freight wagons contended for running room with families traveling in Conestoga wagons, people walking, snappy carriages, hand drawn carts, hand pushed carts, and improvised vehicles beyond description." [Harry G. Black, Pictorial America: The National Road, 1984, HMB Publications, Hammond IN.] Various sources estimate the speed of travel between 7 and 15 miles per day, depending on the mode of travel. The stage coach lines traveled as fast as 110 miles in a day. [Black cites a published schedule, "The Mail Pilot Line leaves Columbus for Wheeling daily at 6 a.m., reaching Zanesville at 1 p.m. and Wheeling at 6 a.m. next day, through in 24 hours, allowing five hours repose at St. Clairsville."] During this period, way stations, inns, taverns, hotels, and stage liveries enjoyed a great influence on local and interstate trade. Locals could often see as many as 20 coaches in a row on the road.

Following this active period, use of the National Road diminished with the rise of the railway systems. Rails were set to Wheeling from the east by 1853. [Norris F. Schneider, The National Road: Main Street of America, 1978, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus OH.] The Illinois Central line arrived in central Illinois near East Dubuque in 1855, and the transcontinental railway was authorized in 1862.[3] These two milestones indicate the quick growth of the railways that supplanted the National Road. By the 1870s, several train routes were laid from the eastern states into the plains states. However, most routes followed short-run schedules that required several train changes for a long interstate trip.

Little of the original National Road route is evident today, because the individual states turned their attentions elsewhere and the road fell into ever greater disrepair. Where I live in Dayton OH, some road remnants are visible but not celebrated. A small bridge exists in the Englewood Reserve park, an inclined stretch of road leads up from Taylorsville Reserve to Vandalia, a crossing of canal locks has earthworks remaining, and the ruins of bridge abutments are visible near the Great Miami River and Stillwater River.

By 1870, parts of the road had become little more than a country road in stretches. Beginning in 1925, federal funds were allocated for the building of U.S. Highway 40, which generally follows the path of the National Road. The surveying of the National Road was a solid foundation for the purposes of U.S. 40 Many bridges were replaced, earthworks were removed or expanded, and the filigree of the National Road was stripped away. From Washington PA through St. Louis MO, the 1960s routing of Interstate 70 followed the National Road, and the construction further obliterated remaining vestiges of the National Road.

Few of the hotels, inns, taverns, and stage houses still exist. I have begun to search for guest registers that might include the Ohnsat family. However, their supposed travel by Conestoga wagon—or, more likely, by the wagon called a "Prairie Schooner"—could have made such overnight accommodations unnecessary or infrequent.

Many questions arise about the family's resettling to Kansas, and these are the Ohnsat mysteries on the National Road.

Why did Robert decide to leave Pittsburgh in 1877, at age 42, when he was apparently well established as a butcher?
When exactly was the trip begun? Logically, it could have started in the Spring, or perhaps as late as September 1877, when Leopoldina might have known she was pregnant.
How did the family choose Tipton as their goal? Were advertisements published or books for sale in Pittsburgh that encouraged settlement in Tipton or Kansas in general?
Were any tracts of land available along the path of the National Road in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, or eastern Kansas?
Was land still available in Kansas from the federal Land Grant program?
Did Robert bring any cash that would allow him to set up his home and purchase land?
Why did Robert decide to drive a wagon instead of using the railways? Rail travel was available through at least Abilene and west of Salina.
What was the cost in 1877 of a Conestoga wagon and team of horses or a Prairie Schooner and a team of oxen?
What would need to be packed for the trip by wagon?
Would the wagon mean only occasional need to stop in an inn or hotel? Would there be need to stop for a mid-day meal, and to leave the evening meal at the time of stopping for the night, with breakfast before setting off the next morning?
What was the condition of the National Road in 1877-78? (Contemporary plat maps of Ohio and Indiana show that roads did exist from Wheeling WV through St. Louis. The contemporaneous plat maps for Indiana I have found so far are not detailed to parcel owners, but only to township divisions, and do not clearly indicate any road-worthiness of the route.)
What is revealed about the route by plat maps of detail for Indiana, and any type of maps for Illinois, Missouri, and eastern Kansas?
What was the time needed for the trip? I guess that easy routes could be traveled at 15 miles per day, or more on long days of summer. Unpaved roads likely were the rule in Missouri and Kansas, and average speed would be slower because of rains and ruts after the rains.

I presume travel was easy and quick from Pittsburgh to Washington, Pennsylvania. (32 miles, 2 days or less)
Relatively quick from Washington to Wheeling, West Virginia. (32 miles, 2 days or less)
Still pretty quick from Wheeling, West Virginia to Richmond, Indiana. (226 miles, 15 to 22 days)
Moderately paced from Richmond to Terre Haute, Indiana. (140 miles, 9 to 16 days)
I presume travel was moderately paced from Terre Haute to St. Louis, Missouri. (169 miles, 11 to 18 days)
Moderately slow from St. Louis to Kansas City. (274 miles, 27 to 40 days)
Slow from Kansas City to Tipton. (294 miles, 29 to 60 days) This route might have followed the Smoky Hills Trail west from Fort Riley and the Solomon Valley Trail northwest from near Abilene.
I estimate the trip would have required 95 to 160 days.

An interesting historical footnote is that the closest town to the Robert Ohnsat ranch is Tipton, Kansas. It lies about 10 miles to the northeast of the Ohnsat ranch, in the southwestern corner of Mitchell county and was originally named Pittsburgh. The name was chosen about 1871 because its founder was named Pitt, and the spelling of "burgh" was taken from the spelling of the Pennsylvania city. However, the name Pittsburg was already in use by another town in Kansas, some 120 miles to the southeast. In deference to clarity for the mail system, the town fathers decided to change the name to Tipton, although the town is still situated in Pittsburgh township.

© Thomas G. Kohn, 2013, revised 2014.05.08.

2012-04-29

Planning the ships research project

2012.04.28
The Dayton Public Library has about 75 shelf feet of published books that list immigrant passengers of ships that arrived in the New World. Each book lists from 50,000 to as many as 500,000 passengers' names, along with the date of arrival and the ship name. There are no indexes of the names,except for some of the books that index just that book. Some of the series are grouped chronologically, but not all. Some books list all immigrants in alphabetic order, some by the ship's arrival in port. I have yet to review all, but at least some list the original sources that the volume documents

Books that list immigrants to America, Dayton public library, main branch

Since Robert Schuh's questions about when each of the Kohn brothers emigrated, what ships they took, and where they arrived in the U.S., I've been planning the research that's needed to answer the questions. Not that I didn't have the same questions, but I put it off because I knew the detailed work that the research entails. Because of the huge number of secondary resources and the lack of indexes, I want to go through the volumes only once, though there are many ancestors who made the crossing at various times.

I am now building a spreadsheet that lists each person who emigrated. Where possible, I'm including the last known date in Europe and the first known date in the U.S. I'm lucky for the Johann Reinert family and two of the Kohn brothers. (See the list in the report about Robert Schuh's visit.)

But I plan to include as many emigrées as possible, including these ancestors:

Great-grandmother Maria Stephan left Königheim, in today's Main-Tauber-Kreis of Baden-Wurttemberg and was naturalized in 1872 or 1873. (She was born in 1849.)
Great-grandfather Anton Deneke left Brakel, in today's Kreis Höxter, Nordrhein-Westfalen and apparently immigrated in 1872. He resided in Cincinnati, Ohio before 1876. (He was born in 1836.)
Great-grandmother Leopoldina Salinger left Breisach-am-Rhein, in today's Kreis Breisach, Baden-Wurttemberg, perhaps in 1872 with a sister Maria Anna Josepha Salinger and brother Anton Hermann Salinger. (They were born in 1839, 1838, and 1836.)
Great-grandfather Robert Ohnsat left Grüben, in what was once Kreis Falkenberg, Schlesien, Ostpreußen, but now called Grabin, in Niemodlin county, Opole, Poland. He resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by 1872, as did his brother Joseph Ohnsat. It's possible that another brother Carl Anton Ohnsat emigrated and settled in the Detroit, Michigan area. (They were born in 1835, 1842, and 1844.)
Second-great-grandparents John Butler and Mary Kennedy left Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland with their four children to settle in or near Syracuse, New York by February 1837. (They were born in 1801 and 1797.)
Second-great-grandparents Dennis Cummings and Margaret Walsh, who left Ireland, perhaps with their family of two daughters. They were recorded in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census in Dane County, Wisconsin. (They were born in 1806 and 1800.)
Chuck's grandfather Giovanni (John) Iacano or Chuck's great grandparents Francesco Gacomo and Francesca Rovetto left Ragusa, Siracusa Province, Sicily. If it was his grandfather Giovanni, he arrived on his own—or perhaps with a brother Emanuel—on 20 March 1904. (They were born in 1882, about 1855, and about 1855.)
Chuck's great grandparents Vincenzo Russo Femminella and Rosa Blogna (or Bologna) left Miltello Rosmarino, Messina Province, Sicily, arrived at Ellis Island on 29 June 1911 with their two children Angela, who is Chuck's grandmother, and her brother Biagio. (They were born in 1879 and about 1869.)
Chuck's great grandfather Charles Derry, or Chuck's 2nd great grandfather, whose name is unknown so far, were in the United States before 1857. (He was born about 1820.)

I want to do this research only once, because the list of sources is so daunting. I encourage other family genealogists to add a comment if there's another immigrant I should research. In your comment, include all that you know about the arrival, such as

Full name
Likely date of arrival, or range of time
Departure port
Accompanying family members and their relationships

At least for now, I plan on focused work on arrivals at New York, but I can expand the search with other requests. I'll update this post as my plans reach the next stage, of actually going through the sources.

2012.06.02
I added the brothers to Robert Ohnsat and added birth years for each person.
2012.05.08
I added dates to the listed family who immigrated.
2012.05.01
A discussion of American immigration by ship refers to the National Archives holdings and essential secondary sources in multi-volume books. The Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library has some of these multi-volume books in its 75 shelf feet of materials. They include:

The famine immigrants : lists of Irish immigrants arriving at the port of New York, 1846-1851 Ira A. Glazier, editor ; Michael Tepper, associate editior. (7 v. : ill. ; 24 cm. Contents: v.1. January, 1846-June, 1847.--v.2. July 1847-June 1848.--v.3. July 1848-March 1849.--v.4. April 1849-September 1849.--v.5. October 1849-May 1850.--v.6. June 1850-March 1851.--v.7. April 1851-December 1851.) The Great Potato Famine, brought on by a blight that struck the potato crop, reduced nearly all of Ireland to poverty. Between 1846-1851 over a million men, women, and children emigrated to the U.S. and Canada, the majority of them entering through the port of New York. In essence, this work is a chronological listing of nearly 651,000 passengers with name, age, sex, occupation, date of arrival, port of embarkation, and vessel.
Germans to America. series II : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports in the 1840s edited by Ira A. Glazier. (v. <1-7 > : ill., maps ; 24 cm. Contents: v. 1. January 1840-June 1843 -- v. 2. July 1843-December 1845 -- v. 3. January 1846-October 1846 -- v. 4. November 1846-July 1847 -- v.5. July 1847-March 1848 -- v.6. April 1848-October 1848 -- v.7. October 1848-December 1849.) Approximately 70,000 names in each volume. Lists are arranged chronologically by ship arrival. "Every passenger is identified by full name, age, sex, occupation, destination and when . . . available [the] country, province, or town of origin."
Italians to America : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports edited by Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby. (v. ; 24 cm. Contents: v. 1. January 1880-December 1884 -- v. 2. January 1885-June 1887 -- v. 3. July 1887-June 1889 -- v. 4. July 1889-Oct. 1890 -- v. 5. November 1890-December 1891 -- v.6. January 1892-December 1892 -- v.7. January 1893-September 1893 -- v.8. October 1893-May 1895 -- v.9.June 1895-June 1896 -- v.10. July 1896-June 1897 -- v.11. June 1897-May 1898 -- v.12. May 1898-April 1899 -- v.13. May 1899-November 1899 -- v.14. December 1899-May 1900 -- v.15. May 1900-November 1900 -- v.16. November 1900-April 1901 -- v. 17. April 1901-September 1901 -- v.18. October 1901-March 1902 -- v.19. April 1902-June 1902 -- v.20. June 1902-October 1902 - v.21. November 1902-March 1903 - v.22. March 1903-April 1903 - v.23. April 1903-June 1903 - v.24. June 1903-October 1903 - v.25. October 1903-March 1904 - v.26. March 1904-May 1904.. Includes indexes.)
Emigrants from Baden and Württemberg in the eighteenth century by Brigitte Burkett.
Nineteenth century emigrants from Baden : volume 2 : Graben, Linkenheim, Spöck & Staffort / by Brigitte Burkett.
German immigrants, 1820-1920 / by Helen Frost. (32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm. Contents: Early German immigrants -- Life in the old country -- The trip over -- Arriving in America -- Surviving in America -- Keeping traditions -- Timeline -- Famous German-Americans -- Words to know -- To learn more -- Places to write and visit -- Internet sites.)
Passenger and immigration lists bibliography, 1538-1900: being a guide to published lists of arrivals in the United States and Canada / edited by P. William Filby. Gives "full bibliographic information for more than 2,550 published passenger and immigration lists." A revision of A Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists, 1538-1825, compiled by Harold Lancour. 3rd ed., rev. and enl. by Richard J. Wolfe, 1963.
Passenger and immigration lists index: a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries / edited by P. William Filby, with Mary K. Meyer. (3 v. (xxxv, 2339 p.) ; 29 cm.) Alphabetical listing of passengers who arrived in North America and the West Indies between 1538-1900, compiled from published sources: passenger lists and naturalization records. Entries include age; year of arrival or naturalization, with an abbreviation for the bibliographic citation with volume and page. Some 125,000 names are added annually in the published Supplements.
Passenger and immigration lists index. Supplement. (v. ; 29 cm. Latest issue consulted: 2005. Issued in two pts. per year, 1998-<2004> Cumulates in: Passenger and immigration lists index. cumulated supplements.)
The Immigration History Research Center : a guide to collections compiled and edited by Suzanna Moody and Joel Wurl ; production coordinated by Judith Rosenblatt and Anne Bjorkquist Ng ; foreword by Rudolph J. Vecoli.

2012.05.08

The website Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide To Published Sources includes these other relevant sources, which may be in the Dayton library.

Hamburg (Germany). Auswanderungsamt. [Records, 1850-1873.] LC call number: Microfilm 10,897GA-43N-43P Listen Direkt, Manuscript Division; Microfilm 10,897GB-23N-23P Listen Indirekt, Manuscript Division LC control number: mm 83070243

Finding aid, Manuscript Division Reading Room. See also the vertical file, LH&G. Names east European emigrants from two lists covering the period 1850-1873: Direct Lists (indexed) are passengers who sailed directly from Hamburg, Germany, to their destination; Indirect Lists (indexed) names passengers who sailed from Hamburg, but who stopped at another European port before reaching their destination. Handwritten in German script, the names are arranged by first letter of the surname. Entries include name of the ship, master of the vessel, departure date, name of passenger, age, previous residence, occupation, and destination.

Irish Passenger Lists, 1847-1871: List of Passengers Sailing from Londonderry to America on Ships of the J. & J. Cooke Line and the McCorkell Line. Compiled under the direction of Brian Mitchell. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1988. xvii, 333 p., ill., index. LC call number: E184 .I6I69 1988 LC control number: 87082306

For business reasons two Londonderry shipping firms kept passenger lists of their Atlantic crossings: J. & J. Cooke, 1847-1867, and William McCorkell & Co., 1863-1871. Cooke's include name of ship, year of embarkation, destination, Irish address of the passenger (usually town), and ages of children. The McCorkell lists provide name and address of passenger, month and year of embarkation, ages of children, month and year "engaged" at Philadelphia by the Robert Young and Co., name of the ship, month and year of embarkation.

Kaminkow, Jack and Marion. A List of Emigrants from England to America, 1718-1759. Baltimore, Md.: Magna Carta Book Co., 1988. xxvii, 292 p. Includes 3,000 names. "Transcribed from microfilms of the original records at the Guildhall, London." LC call number: E187.5 .K3 1988 LH&G LC control number: 88083835

Luxembourgers in the New World: A Reedition Based on the Work of Nicholas Gonner, "Die Luxemburger in der Neuen Welt," Dubuque, Iowa, 1889. Edited by Jean Ensch, Jean-Claude Muller, Robert E. Owen; original translations by Gerald L. Liebenau and Jean-Claude Muller. Esch-sur-Alzette, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Editions-Reliuers Schortgen, 1987. 2 vols. Ill. LC call number: E184 .L88L89 1987 LH&G LC control number: 87170772

Vol. 1, discussion of Luxembourger emigration, 1840-1890, with comments on settlements, occupations, and activities in the U.S. Vol. 2, principally an index to approximately 4,000 personal and place names cited in the Luxembourger Gazette (Dubuque, Iowa), 1872-1892.

Schenk, Trudy, Ruth Froelke, and Inge Bork. The Wuerttemberg Emigration Index. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, Inc., 1986-92. LC call number: CS627 .W86S34 1986 LH&G LC control number: 85052453

Projected 8-volume work, each with approximately 12,000 names of individuals derived from 19th-century immigration registers of Wuerttemberg, Germany. Data include date and place of birth, date of emigration application, destination, home district of the applicant, and number of the microfilmed originals at the Genealogical Society of Utah.

Further reading may be necessary at these websites.

PASSENGER LISTS: The Pitfalls - A Personal Experience
Finding Passenger Lists & Immigration Records 1820-1940s

Certainly there are other references to look up.