Re: KOHN families in La Crosse WI and Tipton KS All this information may seem a jumble at first. The full story is fairly complex. I have been planning a visit to LaCrosse WI, where my great grandfather John M Kohn lived for about 6 years, until his wife Susanna Reinert-Kohn died of heat stroke in August 1887. And a visit to nearby Caledonia MN, where his parents-in-law, John Reinert and Catharina Blasius, lived a few years, approximately 1865 to 1871 or 1872, when they settled in Kansas. As part of the preparation, I have been in touch with the 2nd granddaughter of another Kohn family who lived in LaCrosse the same time our ancestors did, Cindy Bistodeau, who assisted in the development of information in of this e-mail. I recently found information that casts doubt on the birth date I had for the Mathias Kohn who also lived in LaCrosse WI at the same time our John M Kohn lived there. That birth date of Mathias' that was thrown in doubt was acquired through an online source, the Ancestral File of the LDS (the Latter Day Saints,the Mormons). The doubtful information was submitted by SIDNEY D. & GWEN E. ROBB, whose contact address is given by the online Ancestral File Submission AF93-109983. The information I received that casts doubt on the Ancestral File is a just-available online listing of about 1/3 of the burial plots in the Catholic Cemetery of LaCrosse WI. The URL referred to (far) below has the following result for a search on KOHN in the cemetery: Showing entries 1- 10 of 12 Name Birth Date Death Date Cemetery Section Lot Gravesite Note Charlotte D. Kohn 11/20/1881 12/30/1958 Catholic Cemetery 006 63 Clara Kohn 05/21/1874 01/03/1932 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Della M. Kohn 11/14/1883 08/06/1966 Catholic Cemetery 006 63 Frank Kohn 06/06/1868 09/10/1920 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Herman J. Kohn 08/24/1879 08/18/1922 Catholic Cemetery 006 63 Joseph Kohn 03/25/1886 11/11/1886 Catholic Cemetery 003 48 Sohn von J. M. & S. Josephine Kohn 11/04/1877 11/02/1962 Catholic Cemetery 006 63 Josephine Kohn 06/08/1844 02/10/1918 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Mother Katherine Kohn 09/18/1866 12/25/1949 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Mathias Kohn Jr. 03/03/1870 03/10/1899 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Mathias Kohn 08/15/1829 10/15/1888 Catholic Cemetery 004 64 Father Susanna Kohn 01/08/1848 08/04/1887 Catholic Cemetery 003 48 I believe Cindy Bistodeau can verify that all but the entries for Joseph Kohn and Susanna Kohn, are from her family. Susanna Kohn is from my family, the wife of John M, who died of heat stroke. Joseph Kohn is their son. The significant change for my data -and for the correction to the LDS Ancestral File- is the birthdate of Mathias Kohn, listed just before Susanna. My information from the Ancestral File said that this Mathias Kohn, of LaCrosse and married to Josephine Becker, was born in 1840 in "Wasserhisch Germany" and that he died in 1890 in LaCrosse WI. Thus, it was wrong on both the birth and death dates, although the name of the town was reasonably close for an American amateur genealogist. Before this correction, I had tentatively matched this Mathias Kohn born in Wasserhisch in 1840 to a Joannes Matthias Kohn born in Wasserliesch on 2 Mar 1840 to a single parent, Margarethe Kohn, of Oberbillig, which lies only a short distance from Wasserliesch. I had not researched Margarethe's parentage, and assumed that eventually I might prove her to be related to our line. I had tentatively guessed that the son of Margarethe Kohn might have been the husband of Josephine Becker in LaCrosse, based on the similar birth dates and locations. I now believe now that the corrected birth date for Mathias Kohn proves that the Mathias Kohn of LaCrosse is not the same person as Joannes Matthias Kohn, the son of Margarethe. Thus, this warranted unlinking from Josephine Becker of LaCrosse the possible husband Joannes Matthias Kohn (b 2 Mar 1840, Wasserliesch) son of Margarethe Kohn from Oberbillig. They are not the same person. As documented in the cemetery, the actual husband to Josephine Becker, an other Mathias Kohn, was born 15 Aug 1829. According to the Kirchenbuch of Wasserliesch, Kreis Saarburg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, Mathias Kohn, a brother to my great grandfather, John M Kohn, was born to Johann Mattias Kohn and Catharina Dahm before 16 Aug 1829 and baptized on 16 August 1829. (Kirchenbuch Wasserliesch 1752-1845 (FHC Film 0559037). Film Item 4: Taufregister, Heiratsregister, Sterberegister 1820-1845; volume 2; Pfarrei Wasserliesch, Dekonat Konz, Kreis Saarburg, Bezirk Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz. Baptismus von 1820.12.17 bis 1845.12.24 [pp. 1-68]; Sacramentum Copulati 1821.01.23 bis 1835.12.24 [pp.69-92; Sepulture 1820.11.30 bis 1845.11.16 [pp. 93-131]. Teil 4, Seite 24: "Decima sexta renatus est 22 Mathias Filius legitimus Joannis Mathia Kohn agricola et Catharina Dahm conjugum ex Waßerliesrsch; levantibus Mattia Hoffmann ex Waßerliesch et Christina Kohn nata Sturm ex Mola Superiori Albachensi.") I had found no subsequent death in Wasserliesch for him, and I supposed that he might have married and settled in some other nearby German town. He could just as well have emigrated to America. He did not apply for emigration, apparently, for he is not listed in the Mergen text, "Amerika-Auswanderungen aus den Regierungsbezirken Bitburg und Trier im 19. Jahrhundert" (Emigrations to America out of the Governmental Districts of Bitburg and Trier During the Nineteenth Century, available as an LDS microfilm, 023839). Although his emigration is not proven, Mergen does list the 3 brothers Johann Matthias (applied 30 Jun 1865), Johann (applied 19 Apr 1866), and Michael (applied 17 Jun 1871) as applicants for emigration. These brothers are children of Johann Mattias Kohn and Catharina Dahm. Two of the earlier brothers' emigration applications corroborate that a brother had emigrated before them. Thus it is possible, perhaps even probable, that a Kohn brother had left first and that three brothers then followed. The Johann Matthias Kohn and Catharina Dahm marriage, my 2nd great grandparents, had 10 children, of whom 3 were girls (Barbara, Maria, and Catharina), and of the 7 boys, 2 apparently died in infancy. The remaining boys were Peter (b1825), Nicholas (b1827), Mathias (b1829), Joannes (b1834), and Johann Mathias (b1839). The only possible first departures for the emigrés would have been either Peter or Mathias. I do not have evidence that proves one had remained in Germany, nor do I have evidence that either certainly had emigrated, as the 3 known applicants could very well have fibbed about having a brother already over there in the Promised Land, hoping that such information would make the official more willing to permit their emigrations. The three applications for emigration occurred over a period of six years, and the first two applications raised the number of brothers already in America from one (Johann Mathias -our John M Kohn- said on 30 Jun 1865 that "er einen Bruder dort ansaessig habe [has a brother residing there] und besser fortzukommen gedenke") to two (Johann said on 19 Apr 1866 that "er bereits 2 Brueder dort habe [already has 2 brothers there] und glaube, besser fortzukommen"). But the trail of logic misses a beat with the application of Michael on 17 Jun 1871, who says that he "hat einen Bruder [has _one_ brother] in Amerika." Perhaps two of the three brothers had died? This is a topic for futher research, and perhaps it must be laid aside until we find all the immigrated brothers. It is probable that my great grandfather John M Kohn is related to the Mathias Kohn who lived in LaCrosse WI for some time. For that Mathias Kohn was documented in a secondary source (his tombstone) as having a birth date that may coincide with a known brother to our John M Kohn. That brother was also named Mathias. If we find an independent source that says the Mathias Kohn of LaCrosse came from the Trier area before June 1865, the evidence may be conclusive. Perhaps we can find other evidence that makes us more certain of this hypothesis. Perhaps the early records of the LaCrosse Catholic churches may give a clue, or perhaps the land records for 115 S 19th, the La Crosse residence of John M Kohn, or for Mathias' tavern at 111 N 3rd Street may provide clues, or perhaps contemporary newspapers (Der Nord Stern and at least one English-language newpaper existed then in La Crosse). In my visit to La Crosse, I will be researching these possibilties and others. Perhaps other Kohn researchers or La Crosse researchers have information to corroborate? Thomas G Kohn Dayton OH >>> archives <archives@lacrosse.lib.wi.us> 23 April 2002 9:18 AM >>> Bob Selbrede forwarded your message onto us at the La Crosse Public Library Archives & Local History area. The volunteers from the La Crosse Area Genealogical Society have been walking the Catholic Cemetery and so far the older sections have been completed ("old", infant 1 & 2, sections 1-8 (part of section 8). We need more volunteers to get it done and have a work day planned May 28. The parts that have been completed and have been entered in our database: http://lacrosselibrary.org/genealogy with which you may already be familiar. We print out a list in alphabetical order every so often for use in the room. If you'd like a hard copy I could send you a print out ($20 for copying time & postage) or export it as a file and attach it to an email message. To date it is 182 pages (about 1/3 of the cemetery). This file represents tombstones, so those without stones or missing stones would obviously not be included. The genealogy society and library first approached the cemetery about extracting data from their records, but the Catholic Cemetery Assoc. denied our request. The caretaker (in charge of the records) can be reached at: Catholic Cemetery, 519 Losey Blvd. So., La Crosse, WI 54601. The Mormons microfilmed the Catholic Cemetery records from 1883-1935 so this might be another avenue for you. Anita Doering Archivist > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Kohn" <tkohn@scitexdpi.com> > To: <bobselbrede@charter.net> > Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 03:04 PM > Subject: Reference to a listing for the Catholic Cemetery? > > > I appreciate your work in listing the 6 cemeteries of the LaCrosse > > area. at http://webpages.charter.net/laxcounty/indexu.htm Do you know if a hard copy listing exists for the Catholic > > Cemetery? > > > > Thomas Kohn > > researching the John M Kohn family who resided in LaCrosse > > 1881-1887/8. -- Archives & Local History La Crosse Public Library 800 Main St. La Crosse, WI 54601-4122 (608) 789-7136 archives@lacrosse.lib.wi.us La Crosse area genealogy databases: http://lacrosselibrary.org/genealogy