“Life is rarely a straight line; there are highs and lows. Is there an ancestor who experienced both? You could also take a more literal interpretation of mountains and valleys, or even tall and short. Feel free to share your links and stories in the comments.” Prompt for the week from Amy Johnson Crow
My second great grandfather eluded me for years. I was halfheartedly researching while my kids were young, so I didn’t really take the time needed to learn how to research. There is a skill involved that I am still trying to improve. I found him completely by accident through Ancestry DNA thrulines. I had been checking the lines and noticed a new connection. I sent a note to see if we could compare the information we each had and wondering if we were related. It turned out the son of my niece was doing a school project to find out if he would be eligible for Sons of the American Revolution. His neighbor happened to be a genealogist and she found my 2nd great grandfather’s will! You never know where help will appear.
My great grandfather Ben Cook left home sometime after the age of 16. The family story was he had changed his name from Koch to Cook. I believed he had been born in Germany and the name change happened when he came to America. It is a common myth to believe names were changed as they came thru Ellis Island or other port of entry, but I have learned that is a myth and it usually happened later. I was very frustrated when I could find nothing about Ben anywhere. I hired someone to do an hour of work for me and she was able to find the obituary and details of his accident in a Belle Plaine, Iowa newspaper. This genealogist opened a whole new world of research for me and started the spark to find more of my family. If she could find this in an hour just by knowing where to look who knows what I would find if I improved my skills.
Ben Cook was born in 1863 in Watertown, Wisconsin. His name was Bernard Anton Koch at birth. He died at the age of 37 when he was run over by a train. In the obituary it stated Ben had two brothers from Watertown, Wisconsin who came to his funeral. It didn’t give any names but it did give me a starting point. There were a surprising number of Koch families in Wisconsin during that time frame. I had it narrowed down to 2 or 3 but couldn’t find a way to connect him. This is where my niece’s son entered the picture and gave me the correct family. My 2nd great grandfather was Anton Koch born in Prussia in 1822. My second great grandmother was Anna Maria Lemair born 1828. Anton died in 1903 and in his will he mentioned Bernard(Ben) and his three descendants Frank, Maud and Bernard from Belle Plaine, Iowa. Bernard is my grandfather.
Anton and Anna Maria, also known as Mary, immigrated in 1857 with their first two sons. Their marriage record in 1853 was from Katholisch, Lichtenau Paderborn, Westfalen, Prussia. Looking through other records from this area I was able to find the births of the two boys, Engelbert (1854-1932) and Franz Heinrich (1856-?). In the 1860 U.S. Census the Kochs were living on a farm in Watertown, Wisconsin. They now have a daughter, Anna who is two years old along with Engelbert and Henry. The personal estate is valued at $250.
In 1870 the family is still farming in Watertown and they have added four more children. Josephine age 8, Bernhard age 5, Joseph age 3, and Mary age 2 were added to their family between 1860-1870. Bernhard is my great grandfather. I tried to find birth certificates but of course their court house had burned down along with all of the relevant records just after Bernhard was born. Next I looked for Baptism records. I knew from the records in Prussia they were Catholic. I found two Catholic churches in Watertown. They attended St Henry’s church in Watertown. I wrote this church and was able to get baptism dates for most of the children along with a few weddings and found out some of the family is buried in their cemetery.
In 1880, Anton is still farming in Watertown and they have added one more child to their family. The youngest child is Anton and he is 10 years old. The two oldest, Engelbert(26) and Henry(24) are both laborers on the farm. Annie(21) and Josephine(14) have an occupation of ‘at home.’ Joseph(18) and Bernard(16) have no occupation listed so they weren’t at school. Mary(12) and Anton(10) were both ‘at school.’ All in all the family is doing well, they have their farm and eight children.
The 1890 Census is like a unicorn in genealogical terms. Not many survived from that year. I did find the Wisconsin state Census from 1895. Not much data and very hard to read is the best description. This is the page heading.
I have difficulty discerning the titles of the columns beyond the first two for male and female. I thought at least I would be able to learn how many males and females were living together in 1895. Wrong! I can’t read these numbers at all.
I can read four and two a couple of columns over and that made me do a search to find out what those columns were headed. My search took me to the Wiki on Family Search. I discovered those two were for who was born in the United States and who was born in Germany.
So, at first I was guessing the two referred to Anton and Anna Maria(Mary), the parents. That would mean four of the eight children were still living at home. According to the 1885 Wisconsin State Census there were four from Germany in the household. But then I found this article.
According to this Anton was admitted to the hospital in 1893. So either Engelbert or Henry must have been working the farm in 1895. I had it in my head that Bernard(Ben) was still at home when his father was admitted to the hospital. Ben was married and living in Belle Plaine, Iowa in 1891 so he wasn’t around for this confrontation at all. Possibly he left because farming was not the life he wanted. He was a bridge builder for the railroad.
I sent to see if it was possible to get any records about Anton and his admission to the hospital. It must have been traumatizing all around. The police were involved because Anton threatened homicide. It turns out he had broken his leg about six months before this happened and it wasn’t set correctly. He must have been in a great deal of pain and probably not able to work on his farm. Anton remained at the Institution for the remainder of his life. He died in 1903 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Anton was 82 years of age. He is buried in St Henry church cemetery in Watertown, WI. His death certificate gave me the names of his parents.
I found this map from 1899 that shows the land of Anton Koch right where it says Lot 1. They had a nice property, right on the river. So it appears they were doing well right up until the time Anton broke his leg. This was the biggest high and low I could think of in my family so far. It must have been so frustrating and painful for all of them to watch him deteriorate in spirit and physically those last few months at home.
In 1900 Anton is listed in the Census for ‘Jefferson County Insane Asylum For Chronic Insane.’ It must have been more than an insane asylum as there is an entire family from age 38-4 on the same page as Anton. I am thinking the poor were also housed here.
Anna Maria(Mary) is living as head of her household in 1900. She owns the house but it is mortgaged. It says she is a farmer but the address is different than previous years. The change in address doesn’t mean a lot to me other than it is another thing that could be investigated. My husband and I lived in Wisconsin for 5 years at the same house and our address was changed 3 times. Engelbert(46), Joseph(39) and Mary(32) are all living with Anna Maria(Mary) in 1900. Anna Maria(Mary) died 26 Dec 1905. She was 77 years of age and is buried in St Henry church cemetery in Watertown, WI.
I have been unable to find an obituary for Anna Maria(Mary) at this time. These are the highs and lows in the life of Anton Koch as I know them. I have recently discovered his entire family and look forward to maybe telling some more Koch stories in the future. Do you have an ancestor who experienced highs and lows? Maybe they began life low and rose to greatness during their life. What stories could you tell?
My Tree in the Forest 