One of my great grandmothers was an Albert, Mary Albert; daughter of John Albert & Sophia Albert from Second Avenue in Albany's South End. Years ago my grandfather, Joseph Albert Koreman, mentioned to me that there were a lot of Alberts in the South End and they were all related. He could not explain the connections at the time. Years pass and now I am tracing all of the South End Albert families and tying them together.
With the help of other researchers who also happen to be cousins this mass of Albert surnames is coming together. The family originates in the province of Baden in a farming community known as Tollnayshof/Tollnaishof/Dollishof just outside of Leibenstadt. Most of this information comes from Wikipedia. However I have a book in PDF form written in Deutsch on the history of the town. The translated title is The Dollishof: History of a Dissolved Village by August Haeffner, Schoeckingen, 1970. It is mandatory that I translate this book.
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| Leibenstadt Flag |
The farming village was actually a colony of a manor estate that was established by the Hungarian noble Franz von Tolnay in 1703. By the mid 19th century the community grew to approximately 250 residents. The area was relatively small therefore agriculture was limited to the personal needs of the residents who mainly subsided by peddling and begging.
In 1830, Tolnayshof had 24 citizens plus their relatives. The first population count was in 1832 and the village had 166 inhabitants. Due to the area's poverty it was decided not to continue the settlement of Tolnayshof. By 1847 the area had about 250 residents. Finally in 1850 the Baden state decided upon forced immigration to America. By 1852, the population fell to 155. All of those inhabitants homes were demolished. After this first successful immigration campaign, the further depopulation of the village was slow. In 1865, 117 people still lived in the remaining 16 houses.
By 1880 the Baden state acquired the remaining buildings and demolished them. Only the village well and the cemetery remained. The cemetery deteriorated and was later leveled also. Today a memorial stone and fountain are reminiscent of the former settlement.
The following maps of Tollnaishof come to me courtesy of cousin, Joseph Jennings.
Other surnames from the town of Tollnaishof that immigrated to the United States and resided in Albany's South End include: Herbinger, Hoffmann, Ittinger, Maier, Salg, Schwind, and Wolpert.
