Throwback Thursday : Charles Koreman?

The above Carte de Visite (CdV) came from the album of Henry Koreman (1841-1923). Henry was one of my great great grandfathers. Henry had a younger brother Charles (1844-1908) who enlisted in the Civil War but was discharged for being a minor, as can be seen below from the New York State Volunteers 177th Infantry rooster.

Family lore has it that his father, Cornelis Koreman, bought him out of military service only to have him re-enlist later into the NYSV 12th Calvary. The above CdV is of a young man in a Zouave uniform. Brief research finds that Company A of the 177th Infantry was also known as the Albany Zouave Cadets. Although Charles' rooster data indicates that he enlisted in Company E, could his company information be incorrect? And could this be Charles Koreman in a Zouave uniform?

Charles Koreman, NYSV 12th Calvary

The above tin-type is that of Charles Koreman in his 12th Calvary uniform. If this photo was taken near the time of his discharge, he was 21 years old. If the above CdV was taken at the time of his enlistment, Charles was 18 and not 19 as indicated in the rooster. I see a resemblance. Does anyone else?

Throwback Thursday : Stephen Joseph Koreman @ OLHOC Cemetery

Considering that I just got home and showered after five hours of working at the Krumkill Road cemetery, I deemed this old photograph of one of my great grandfather's older brothers, Stephen Joseph Koreman (1881-1968), appropriate. Stephen, with watering can in hand, is most likely tending to the graves of his ancestors at Our Lady Help of Christians cemetery in Glenmont. Someday I will try to determine the spot where this photo was taken.

Stephen Joseph Koreman

Military Monday : Adrian Charles Koreman, WWI

This week's military Monday is on Adrian Charles Koreman, one of my first cousins three times removed. He was a son of one of my great great grandfather's younger brother.

 

Adrian Charles Koreman

Adrian was born in Albany on 13 February 1890 to Charles Koreman and Magdelena Behrhof. His father was born in Zierikzee, Netherlands while his mom was born in Albany. Interestingly Charles' birth name was actually Adrianus Johannes Koremans. At some point after immigrating to America, his name changed to Charles; yet he eventually named one of his sons with his birth name.

Before enlisting in the Army during World War I, Adrian was a clerk for Dobler Brewing in Albany. He became a member of the 109th Machine Gun Battalion, American ExpeditionaryExpeditiary Forces (AEF), as a Private.

AC Koreman, right

AC Koreman, WWI Draft Card

AC Koreman, Military Record

Adrian never married nor had any children. He is buried with his parents at Our Lady Help of Christians cemetery in Glenmont. Adrian has no gravestone.

Joseph Wagner & Maria Koreman, bio & gravesite restoration

In mid Spring, I took a ride to Our Lady Help of Christians cemetery in Glenmont to do a quick check on the family plots to see if they needed attention this Summer. While at the cemetery I noticed that an old cast iron bench was missing which belonged to the family of a woman who married one of my cousins. I called her to notify her about the missing bench and during our conversation she asked if I would check on her grandparents grave site. I obliged and while looking for the grave I literally tripped over a set of stones that were spread over the ground and I noticed that those stones were those of my great great grandfather's older sister, Maria Koreman, who married Joseph Wagner. Then a memory from long ago immediately came back to me. Years ago, while at the cemetery with my grandfather, Joseph Koreman, we were visiting the grave site of his grandfather, Henry Koreman, and he mentioned to me that over there is another relative somehow related to the family. It was never followed up by myself and then it all clicked when I stumbled on the graves. Unfortunately, the grave site was a complete disaster. There were only three stones. One, was still attached to its base but was leaning forward just waiting to break; the second stone was broken in three sections and also broken from its un-level base; and the third stone was broken from its un-level base. Below is a photo of the site and the condition of the stones on March 30th.

Spring-time photo of grave site 

Seeing this I knew that I had an additional cemetery job to handle. So that nothing would hopefully happen to the stones before I could get to rehabbing them, I leaned the stones against the only upright stone and placed a flag in the ground with them. The flag was mysteriously gone when the rehab began. Joseph Wagner was mustered in the 7th Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. Below is a picture of the grave site in April. Finally work began on the site on Thursday, August 13th.

While I was waiting for the weather to warm up; some research on Joseph & Maria was conducted. Both, Joseph & Maria, were immigrants. Joseph was born 03 September 1845 in Frankfort, Prussia. He immigrated to America circa 1859 with his siblings and parents, Conrad & Barbara Wagner. Maria was born Maria Allegonda Koreman on 16 March 1838 in Zierikzee, Netherlands. Below is a scan of Maria's birth certificate from Zierikzee.

Maria Allegonda Koreman, birth certificate

Maria immigrated to the United States with her siblings and parents Cornelis Koreman and Maria Catharina Colen circa 1852. Joseph and Maria were married at Holy Cross Church in Albany on 04 May 1869. They had the following children:

• Mary A., born 15 May 1870
• Margaret A., born 17 November 1872, married Charles Aloyisus Beck
• Barbara, born 20 April 1875
• Joseph, born 03 November 1877
• Anna B., born 29 May 1880
• John Joseph, born 12 August 1884

Joseph and Maria lived for many years at 8 Osborn Street in Albany's South End. Brother, Henry Koreman lived up the street at house number 16 for over thirty years. Below is a photo of 8 Osborn Street today. Fortunately the house is still standing. I am not sure if the house is original or the facade has changed over the years. This is questioned because this style home does not fit the architectural style of the surrounding homes.

Below is a photo of a trunk key and name tag listing Joseph Wagner as living at 8 Osborn Street.

As mentioned earlier, Joseph was mustered in the 7th Heavy Artillery and before being mustered out was seriously injured. According to his pension records, his left arm above his elbow had a scar that was five inches long and three inches wide and that "all of the muscles were shattered." Perhaps he was hit with grapeshot? Below is a scan of Maria's Declaration for Widow's Pension.

Joseph died 03 August 1904 and on 08 July 1908 Maria followed him. Both buried in Glenmont. Below is a series of photos of the grave site rehab project which occurred over a three day period. Getting set up; the area looks like a construction site.

Photo below of the condition of the site before beginning work.

The first stone worked on was Maria's. Her stone was broken in three pieces and also broken at its base. First step was to clean all of the pieces with D2 to get them ready for epoxying them together.

Next, the upper two pieces of her stone were epoxied together using a conservator's professional grade epoxy from a German company, Akemi. The two stones were then clamped together overnight.

After putting the top two pieces of grave stone together, my next step was to re drill the lower stone and its base so that the marble could be re pinned for better stability, Below is the final product after cleaning, re pinning and motaring the base with a lime based mortar, Lithomex. 

Next, the stone to the right, son, John J. Wagner's was lifted and its base leveled. Had the stone been left leaning forward, in time the marble where the pins are located would have broken due to stress on the stone. This adverted a future stone failure.

Joseph's stone was worked on next. His stone's base was re leveled and there was already a repair made to his stone sometime in the past. All of the Portland cement that was on the base was chipped off to make for a smooth surface to reattach the stone and base. Both the stone and base were re pinned and mortared with Lithomex.

The next day, on Friday, I came back to check on the top two pieces that were epoxied. Unfortunately the break occurred right where Maria's dates are located on the stone. They are practically unreadable. Also there was not much surface area to bond the stones together. Therefore the upper stone was re pinned with the lower section and epoxy was placed where the sections met. The stone also has a lot of missing surface area that needs to be fabricated. Below is a photo of the stone with the top section on the lower before the clamp was placed.

Below is the stone, re pinned, epoxied, and clamped. The next day the clamp will be removed and Lithomex will be used to fill in the seams and where the stone is missing and also to help stabilize the top portion of the stone to the lower. 

The below photos are the final product of efforts at restoring Maria Koreman Wagner's grave stone and that of her husband, Joseph Wagner, and her son, John J. Wagner. When dry the Lithomex filler should fade to more closely match the actual stone color making the seam less noticeable. 

The Wagner plot restored, below, Saturday evening, 15 August 2015.

Who Are They? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 9

As I have mentioned before everyone should know the importance of lightly writing on the back of old photos as to who the individual/s are. If writing on the reverse of the photo is not an option, some means of name identification should be accomplished. I have numerous photos of relatives and ancestors that date back to the 1860s and maybe earlier. Unfortunately everyone who would be in the know as to who these people are are long gone; some upwards of one hundred years or more.

This week's ancestor biography is on ... I do not know?  Below are photos of unknown ancestors. I have an idea of who they might be but that is it. No solid proof. Only a hunch?

Below are two photos that came from the town of Zierikzee in the Netherlands. Zierikzee is the town where my great great grandfather Hendrik Koreman and his three siblings were born.  Around 1852 the family immigrated to America. On the reverse side of the photos is the address of the photographer, which is how we know the photos are from the Netherlands. The below photos could be of siblings to my ggg grandfather Cornelis Koreman. Whoever they are? They felt it important to send these photos to New York.

CJ Korsten, Zierikzee, Photographer

Zierikzee

The remaining two photos below are from Rondout, New York; just outside Kingston. My grandfather told me numerous times about his ancestors living in Rondout before coming to Albany. These photos are proof that they were in Rondout.

Vallaha, Division Street, Rondout

DJ Auchmoody, Garden & Ferry Streets, Rondout, NY

The final photo, I do not know if it can be called a photo. It is like a piece of glass with a negative print in it.  It is very difficult to see the print. However if a dark background is placed behind it then the image becomes very clear. I do not know what type of photo it is. If anyone knows the answer to this question, please let me know. One noticeable thing is the man in this photo is also the same man in the photo two pictures above. Both of these photos came from different cousins within the Koreman family.

Glass negative type photo?

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3; Charles Koreman

Until last year, since the early 1850s there have been three men named Charles Koreman living in Albany.  A father, a son, and a grandson; all with the same name.  This bio will focus on Charles I. His name was not always Charles.

Charles Koreman, circa 1872

He was born Adrianus Johannes Koremans on 31 January 1844 in the city of Zierikzee, in the Province of Zeeland, in the Netherlands; to Cornelis Koremans and Maria Catharina Colen.  Charles was the younger brother of my great-great grandfather, Henry Koreman.  The author believes that sometime after the family arrived in the United States, circa 1852, that Adrianus Johannes Koremans' (Adriaan John Koreman in English) name was changed to Charles Koreman.  From there the name stuck.

Adrianus Johannes Koremans, Dutch birth certificate

In the 1860 New York State Census, 16 year old Charles was listed without an occupation but residing with his parents.  The following year the Civil War broke out and the young immigrant boy desired to show his patriotism for his new homeland.  He longed to enlist as a volunteer soldier. Against his parents' wishes he was mustered into the 177th Regiment of NYS Volunteers as a Private on 16 October 1862; and within five weeks Charles was discharged as a minor on 23 November 1862 for enlisting without his parents consent.

Record from 177th Regt. NYSV, Adjutant General Book

Record from 177th Regt. NYSV, Muster Rolls

Record of Discharge 

However within two years Charles re-enlisted as a Private this time in the 12th Cavalry, NYSV on 8 September 1864 for a one year term.  He was discharged on 14 June 1865 at Raleigh, North Carolina.

Charles Koreman, 12th Cavalry, NYSV

Record from 12th Cavalry, NYSV Adjutant General Book

Record from 12th Cavalry, NYSV Descriptive Rolls

Charles Koreman, 12th Cavalry. NYSV, Discharge Paper

After the war Charles re-entered life as a civilian and took up the occupation as a saddler.  At one point Charles and older brother Henry were in business together as saddlers in 1873 according to the Albany City Directory for that year.  Below is a listing from the directory for their business.

1873 Albany City Directory Ad

Also around 1873 Charles married Magdelena Behrhof (1854 - 1892). Magdelena was the younger sister of Margaret Behrhof who married Henry Koreman in 1863.  Two Koreman brothers married two Behrhof sisters.

Magdelena Behrhof Koreman, circa 1875

Charles and Magdelena resided in Albany's South End on Osborn Street for a number of years before moving around the corner to 77 Catherine Street in a neighborhood known as the "beehive." The couple had eight children;

• Charles (1874-1877)
• Henry (1876-1876)
• Margaret (1877-1938)
• Charles Joseph (1878-1938)
• Peter Edward (1880-1933)
• Henry William (1884-1939)
• Frank Joseph (1886-1915)
• Adrian Charles (1890-1927)

Charles Koreman seated center of picture with crossed arms

From 1888 till 1893 Charles was employed as a foreman at the Carriage Manufactory of James Goold Company until his eye sight started declining.  I believe the photo above to be the workers from the Goold Carriage Company.  His poor eyesight enabled him to apply for a pension with the United States government for service during the Civil War.  An affidavit from his Civil War pension files is below detailing his troubles.

Affidavit from Koreman's pension records

Charles kept his ties with other Civil War soldiers by joining one of the local Grand Army of the Republic posts.  As of this writing, the author knows that Charles was a member of one the three GAR posts in Albany but not which one.  Below is a photo of Charles on the right; seated perhaps next to his brother-in-law, Joseph Wagner, who also fought in the war.  Both men are wearing GAR dress uniforms.

Charles Koreman, seated right

Charles died on Christmas Day 1908 in Albany at 77 Catherine Street.  He collapsed and was found in the hallway of his home according to the Albany Evening Journal.  One of the last photographs of Charles is below.  Charles is seated left; brother Henry is seated right; and an unknown Koreman relative is standing behind them.  The unknown man may be Henry Koreman Jr.?  Charles was buried in Our Lady Help of Christians Cemetery in Glenmont, NY.

Koreman photo circa 1908

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1; Henry Koreman

It is hard to believe that I did not find the challenge of writing a blog/biography article on 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks until this weekend.  I am a little behind so I have my work cut out for me if I am to catch up with other genealogical bloggers! Some bios will be longer and more detailed  then others.  My first bio will be on Henry Koreman; one of my great-great grandfathers on my mother's side.

Henry Koreman, circa 1910

Henry or Hendrikus Koreman was born in the city of Zierikzee, in the Province of Zeeland, in the Netherlands on 27 March 1841.  He was the son of Cornelis Koremans who was baptized on 29 August 1810 in the city of Oosterhout, in the Province of Noord Brabant and died in Albany, New York circa 1867 and Maria Catharina Colen who was born circa 1803 in Antwerpen, Belgium and died in Albany, NY on 11 May 1873.  Cornelis and Maria were married on 18 August 1837 in Zierikzee.

Hendrikus Koremans birth certificate

Cornelis and Maria had three other children; all born in Zierikzee.  Maria Allegonda born 16 March 1838, Catharina born 5 March 1839, and Adrianus Johannes born 31 January 1844.  Cornelis was a shoemaker in Holland and continued his trade in the United States after he and his family immigrated circa 1852.  I have yet to find the exact date when the Koreman family sailed to America yet I know that by 1855 they found a home in Albany, New York.  Below is a copy of the 1855 New York State Census.  Note the incorrect spelling of the Koreman name.  The census enumerator listed them as Coleman.

1855 New York State Census

In the 1860 Census, 19 year old Henry was listed as a shoemaker  as was his father Cornelis.  By 1863 Henry entered the trade of harness maker and saddler.  Not yet married he still lived with his parents and boarded at 49 Jefferson Street according to the 1863 Albany City Directory.  At the end of 1863 on December 29  Henry married Margaret G. Behrhof; born August 1844 in Grossbardorff, Bayern, Deutschland and died in Albany on 4 February 1908.  The couple were married at the Holy Cross Church on Hamilton Street.  The church was the only German Catholic church in the city at the time.  The newly weds resided at 160 Broad Street.  Interestingly Henry's younger brother Adrianus Johannes, who in all New York records is found as named Charles, married Margaret Behrhof's younger sister, Magdelena.  Therefore two brothers married two sisters.

Henry and Margaret resided in Albany's South End at 16 Osborn Street for upwards of thirty years. This section was called "Dutch Hollow" which centered on the area of Elizabeth, Delware, and Alexander Streets.  The area was called "Dutch Hollow" not for the number of "Holland-Dutch" residents that lived there; but for the large number of German or "Deutsch" immigrants who lived in that neighborhood.

Henry and brother Charles were in business together in 1873 as saddlers according to the Albany City Directory for that year.  Below is a listing from the directory for their business.

1873 Albany City Directory, p. 123

By 1880 Henry was listed as a harness maker and his business was located at 373 South Pearl Street, which was the building immediately next to Eintracht Hall, number 371.  Eintracht Hall was the premiere German Hall during this time.  Numerous German societies including many of the Gesängvereine or singing societies held their practices and meetings there.  Singing would play a large role in Henry's life.  Henry kept his harness making business in the Albany's South End on South Pearl Street at various locations for the remainder of his working career.  From 1899 till 1919 he was located at 395 South Pearl Street.

373 South Pearl Street - vacant lot & Eintracht Hall to right (2004)

Henry and Margaret had ten children all born in the South End of Albany.  One child is unknown. Their children were

• Mary Louisa (1866 - 1962)
• Henry (1867 - 1916)
• Catherina (1872 - 1911)
• Theresa Ann (1873 - 1959)
• John Henry (1875 - 1942)
• Anthony George (1878 - 1936)
• Stephen Joseph (1882 - 1968)
• Edward George (1884 - 1945)
• Joseph William (1886 - 1979)

The photos below are of Henry and other family members most likely after a Saengerfest or at one of the German Day festivals that Albany held on a yearly basis.  These fests always ended with a large picnic.  One such picnic area was Dobler Park which is in the vicinity of today's Hoffman Park. Another picnic area popular among the Germans was the vicinity south of Dobler Park, known as Schaller’s Grove.  The grove was established in 1903 and was used until the early 1950s when New York State procured the land for the New York State Thruway.  Around 1914, northwest of Dobler Park another picnic ground popular with the German element was Marshall’s Grove, located on Delaware Avenue.  The German Holy Cross parish held picnics and field days at this locale.

Henry Koreman seated center 

Henry Koreman seated left

Singing held a large role in Henry Koreman's life.  On September 20, 1875, the Mozart Singing Society was established.  It was a very small Gesängverein, having only eight members.  Although, the club was diminutive, it was still able to compete with the larger singing clubs, on account of the talents of its members.  In 1884 Henry Koreman was its president, Peter Behrhof was vice president, and Stephen Behrhof was secretary.  The Behrhof brothers were also brothers-in-law to Henry. By 1886 the society numbered fifty-three members. 

In 1860 Henry joined the Holy Cross choir and in 1910 the choir held a 50th Anniversary banquet for him. Below is a scan of the program.

Front cover

Rear cover

Pages 1 & 2

Pages 3

Below left is an article from the Times Union detailing the events of the anniversary banquet and to the right is a scan of the Holy Cross Choir from 1912.  Henry's sons Edward and John along with son-in-law Andrew Hahn were also members of the choir.

Henry Koreman, a many faceted man.  He was a son, an immigrant, a husband and father, a singer, and a prominent tradesman.  Henry passed away on 18 February 1923 in Albany at the home of his daughter Theresa Ann Koreman Hahn at 120 Morton Avenue.  When Henry died there was a lot of coverage on his passing in the Albany newspapers.  Below are some of his obiturary articles.

 


 

 

Henry Koreman was buried in the Koreman family plot at Our Lady Help of Christians Cemetery in Glenmont, New York.