Eintracht Gesangverein & Stephen Behrhof

Late Friday afternoon a nice discovery was made while scanning old handwritten ledger books for the now defunct Eintracht Gesangverein. These books are the society board records and minutes for the singing society. The books are in the possession of the German-American Club of Albany. I am sure that at some point in the future the record books will be deposited at one of the local libraries for safe keeping and for use by historians. Scans of the books are presently being made as an additional back-up for these irreplaceable records.

While scanning the books I discovered a receipt that was taped to the inside pages of a ledger book. The receipt was for the grocery store of my great great granduncle Stephen Behrhof (1854-1917); younger brother of my great great grandmother Margaret G. Behrhof Koreman (1844-1908).

Over my many years of genealogical research I have found many items and tidbits pertaining to Stephen Behrhof. And this is my latest find. Below is a scan of the receipt for his grocery store located at 91 Herkimer Street.

91 Herkimer Street, Albany
photo courtesy Google Maps

Stephen Behrhof was a member and an officer in numerous Gesangvereine in Albany including Eintracht. Hence, his receipt being inside the ledger book. Is the handwriting on the reverse of the receipt Stephen's? Further research will need to be done to determine if he was ever a recording secretary for one of Albany's German Gesangvereine and then compare the handwriting and signatures in the old ledger books.

Genealogists and historians dig into many different types of archaic records and materials. Until one starts digging, you never know what you may find.