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.

Thievery at the Cemetery?

About four hours ago I took a ride to Our Lady Help of Christians Cemetery in Glenmont to check how my ancestor's graves held up over the Winter and to note whether I had any upcoming projects to attend to there. While at the cemetery I took a look at a grave site where there was an old cast iron bench at an unrelated grave site. Years ago this cemetery had quite a few of these benches within it. I remember seeing them as a kid when I visited the cemetery with my grandparents.

As of March of 2013 there was only one remaining bench left in the cemetery. All of them had disappeared one way or another. Today I checked for the bench because numerous times in the past when my kids were at the cemetery with me, we would photograph them sitting on the bench. The last time I did this was in 2013 and I will no longer be able to do the same in the future because today it is missing, gone, not there.  Below is the first picture we took of my kids at the bench. It was taken in 2003.

Summer 2003

Summer2008

The next photo below was taken in March 2012. In order to keep the peace within the family and not start WWIII with the girls; their faces have been whited out. "Are you happy girls?" The bench can clearly be seen between two grave stones.

March 2012

The photo below is of the same spot taken today. The cast iron bench is gone. In the top photo, the bench was wired together. Obviously it was damaged at some point. The question here is: did the cemetery workers remove the bench because of the damage or was it removed by thieves?

30 March 2015

It is very aggravating that this happens and I am sure that it happens all the time. Another item that is no longer found here are the old GAR medallions that hold flags. This cemetery had numerous ones again when I was a youngster. I hope that these small relics from the past are not disappearing for ease of up keeping of the grounds. This will be looked into further.

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

Follow up to Restoring a Cemetery

Summer's over and the kids are back at school.  I am finally posting after a short break.  The beautiful weather this weekend brought me out to check up on my Spring cemetery restoration project.  Today I took a ride to Our Lady Help of Christian's cemetery in Glenmont where I restored the grave site of my great-great-great grandparents.

I cleaned the stones with D/2 Biological Solution, which is a monument cleaner.  The stones were clearly much cleaner immediately after the initial cleaning.  However, after almost three months since I restored the site, the stones are noticeably brighter and cleaner.  I am extremely satisfied with the results of this product.  A link to D/2 is http://www.gravestonecleaner.com/welcome-to-cemetery-preservation-supply-llc/

Anyone wanting to clean gravestones should check out this product.  It costs $40 per gallon plus shipping but in my opinion it is worth every penny.  Below are final pictures of what this product can do.

Above: This photo was taken today, 29 September 2013

Above: This photo was taken in May 2013


Additional photos from another ancestor's grave site clearly show what D/2 Biological Solution can do for cleaning old marble tombstones.

This grave stone is for John Albert, a German immigrant from Baden.  He is one of my great-great-great grandfathers.  He is also buried in Our Lady Help of Christian's cemetery.  Note the black coloring on the stone.  This is a combination of lichens and the effects of acid rain on the stone.  Around 1980 I cleaned this stone with a wire brush.  I do not remember how "dirty" the stone was but I know now that scraping/rubbing the stone with a wire brush is an incorrect method for cleaning it. This stone was photographed in February 2013.

Note how bright and clear this stone is.I cleaned this stone in June 2013.  This photo was taken today, 29 September 2013.  The cleaning method was to scrub the stone with a soft nylon bristle brush and clean water. This lifted and removed a lot of the loose lichens on the stone.  Then I heavily sprayed the stone with D/2 and after 15 minutes I used the same brush and then re-scrubbed the stone. After another 10 minutes I scrubbed the stone with clean water and the cleaning process was complete. The stone was clean but over a period of a few weeks the stone brightened and became cleaner.  The chemical continues to work after your work is done. 

To clean this stone I spent about 10 minutes of active work to get the job done.  Most of the time spent was on waiting for D/2 to do its work.  This was a very easy process and very rewarding.

Restoring a Cemetery Plot (part II)

Ahh, I most definitely, and probably my father, are now feeling the pain, tight/sore back muscles from restoring the grave site of my great great great grandparents Michael & Magdelena Behrhof and some of their children at Our Lady Help of Christians cemetery in Glenmont.  The project took a little under four hours to complete.  It was hard work digging up the marble bases and the lower foundations and then leveling them.  But it had too be done.  All four grave stones had toppled over from age, gravity, settling of the soil, and I am sure the stones were hit by lawnmowers over the years.  

A series of photographs and details will be used to explain how this was accomplished.  Unfortunately the project is not 100% complete.  The stones need to be fully scrubbed with a monument cleaner called D/2 Biological Solution and the upper stones will need a monument epoxy spread in between the upper stone and the lower base to fully secure them.  All of the stones have been re-pinned with new steel rod.

Plenty of hand tools, levels, rakes, shovels, stone dust, crusher-run, a hammer-drill, a portable generator, steel rods, tampers, water, and cleaning materials were brought to the cemetery.  I did not want to forget anything that I might need!  The area looked like a construction zone.

After the grave stones were moved out of the way and the lower bases also removed, the bottom foundation was dug up and removed.  It was tilted approximately 45 degrees.  Very far from being level.

Next the soil under the bottom foundation was tamped down and a crusher run base was laid over the tamped soil.  The crusher run was then tamped down (upper photo).  A layer of stone dust was then put over the crusher run and leveled (lower photo).

The foundation stone was then placed on top of the leveled stone dust and checked for levelness (above picture).  Next the area around the foundation was back-filled and tamped (lower picture).  Note the drilled holes in the foundation.  Originally these holes had steel nails which held the base stone to the foundation.

Although this next photo is a gravestone base for a different tombstone at the Behrhof plot, it shows the new steel pins which were measured, cut, and installed in the base.  The actual gravestone then was set upon this base stone.  Holes were already drilled in the gravestone to accommodate the steel pins.  Note the cracks in this base stone.  My next project here will be to epoxy and seal the cracks.  The stone is cracked but not broken.

The remainder of this project will be continued in part III.

Restoring a Cemetery

Now that the warmer weather is here I will be restoring and repairing the grave site of my great great great grandparents, Michael and Magdelena Behrhof.  They immigrated from Bayern around 1849 and are buried in Our Lady Help of Christians cemetery in Glenmont.  It is a small family plot with only four gravestones.  However in the last few years all of the stones have fallen over.  

To prevent further damage and deterioration to their gravestones I will be digging up the lower foundation stones, removing them, laying and compressing crusher run stone, and then leveling the foundation stone with stone dust.  The base needs to be firm and level.  Next, all of these foundation bases and gravestones had holes drilled into them and the gravestone had a steel pin which held the stone upright on the base.

Over time these pins have deteriorated, rusted, and have broke toppling the stone.  I intend to replace the pins with stainless steel rod the size of the drilled hole opening.  This will prevent the rods from rusting and breaking in the future.  

This project will be a work-in-progress.  Perhaps I can finish it in one day?  But I will be creating another post with the actual procedure on how I did this work.  Also I will be cleaning the stones with a product called D/2 Biological Solutions.  D/2 is made specifically for cleaning marble.  It costs $40 per gallon and should be enough to clean upwards of 30 gravestones.  I will be posting how this chemical works.

Note the drilled holes in the base of the gravestone and the base stone.  The stones will be re-pinned with stainless steel rod.

The stone of Peter Behrhof on the left is still amazingly pure white without any cleaning.