The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Nine

WHAT ABOUT FRIEDRICH-WILHELM COLBERG, JR.?

Following the successful discovery of the family of Johann Colberg, after many, many years of research, cousin Gerhard Kolberg and myself had now successfully traced the descendants of 6 of the 7 Kolberg brothers - August, Heinrich, Johann, Otto, Paul and Ferdinand.  We were pleased with our success and pleased with the shared connection between ourselves.  The question remained, however?  What happened to any descendants of the eldest sibling of the 6 Kolberg brothers?  Where had these descendants ended up?  How would we begin to learn anything new about this family?

Gerhard and I compared our records and pooled our information.  What we knew was the following:

1.    Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr. had been the second son of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Sr. and Henriette Amalie Colberg.  He was, though, their first son to survive to adulthood.

2.    We had the following photo of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and his wife who are standing behind his parents with the date on the back of the photo as being 1898:

3.    Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. had been born September 28, 1852 in Klein Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern and he was christened at the Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen on October 3, 1852.

4.    He and his wife supposedly had had at least 6 children, whose names were unknown.

5.    He was to have stayed on the family farm in Klein Tuchen when brother, Johann, relocated to Berlin and his other five brothers immigrated to the US.

6.    He died in 1918.

This was the extend of our shared information and was not much to go on.

Over the course of the next several years Gerhard and I both did some research in the LDS microfilms both here in Michigan and in Berlin.  With this research, we did discover some further data.

Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr's wife was named Hermine Melchert.  Together they had 7 children that we discovered, namely:

1.    Martha Marie Franziska Colberg, born May 28, 1882 in Klein Tuchen.

2.    Paul Willi Colberg, born December 25, 1883 in Klein Tuchen.

Then the family must have relocated to the nearby village of Zemmen in Kreis Bütow because the next 5 children were born there:

3.    Fritz Wilhelm Colberg, born May 27, 1885 and died April 21, 1886 in Zemmen.

4.    Erich Ernst Franz Colberg, born November 12, 1886 and died January 24, 1887 in Zemmen.

5.    Ernst Friedrich Paul Colberg, born January 17, 1888 and died February 5, 1888 in Zemmen.

6.    Max Friedrich Adam Colberg, born November 1, 1889 and died November 20, 1889 in Zemmen.

7.    Clara Marie Emilie Colberg, born about 1893 and died February 10, 1893 in Zemmen.

This information opened up new possibilities for us:

1.    With 5 of their 7 children dying in infancy was it possible that the oldest 2 children died as well before having any children of their own?  We could find no records of that happening.

2.    If the 2 oldest children DID live through adulthood and had children is it possible they died during WWI or even WWII when many German people were killed while fleeing from their homeland?

3.    Was it even possible that there were NO descendants remaining from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Hermine Colberg?

It became evident that we had reached a brick wall.  However, I have learned more times than not that one should "never say never".  There is always hope of learning something new.

A few years ago something fell in my lap that I hope proves to be a connection to any descendants still remaining today from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Hermine Colberg.  A cousin here in Berrien County contacted me and explained that she was a granddaughter of younger brother, Ferdinand Kolberg.  She and her husband were involved in genealogy as well and wanted to meet with me.  They came to my home for some discussions and to my surprise brought with them the German photo album of her grandfather, Ferdinand.

They explained that when Ferdinand Kolberg and his family came to the US in 1910 that Ferdinand had carried with him this old photo album.  Growing up she had seen this album many times and the family here always referred to it as "Grandpa's German album of his Kolberg family".  There were 21 photos contained in this album.  All were professional cabinet photos and were in mint condition.  They were all taken in Germany, some listed the photographer's name and location, some were taken in Bütow, some in Stolp (a neighboring county), some in Berlin and other areas as well.

They allowed me to borrow the album and I scanned all 21 photos into my computer and then returned the album to them.  There were no identifications on any of these 21 photos.  I e-mailed the 21 photos to Gerhard in Berlin and he immediately responded that 4 of the photos were from the family of his grandfather, Johann Colberg.  There was a photo of Johann in his military uniform, another photo of the wedding of Gerhard's parents and two other photos of daughters of Johann Colberg. The other 17 photos were unknown to Gerhard.

Later Gerhard wrote me that he thought 1 of the unknown photos could have been a photo of Johann Colberg's mother, Henriette Amalie Kautz Colberg, perhaps at an older date than the above 1898 photo.  When I examined the photo I agreed with him as it was obvious the woman in the photo was wearing the exact same hat and she seemed to have the same posture and expression as in the earlier photo.  We decided to go with that assumption that this was a second photo of Henriette Amalie Kautz Colberg:

Gerhard even shared the photos with another cousin in Berlin but both he and Gerhard did not recognize any of the other 16 photos.  This led us to wonder that if some of the photos in the album were from the family of Johann Colberg was it possible that some of the rest were from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr.  Was it possible that the first two children born to Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Hermine did marry, have children, grandchildren and did they share their photos with "Uncle" Ferdinand for his German album?  We didn't know but there was no other explanation we could think of for the identity of these photos given the album was always known as "Grandpa's German album of his Kolberg family".

The remaining 16 unknown photos follow.  It is my hope that by posting these photos here that perhaps someone will come across my blog and recognize a photo or two and we can move closer to learning more about brother, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr.:

Of these 16 unknown photos, several contain multiple photos of the same person, making it obvious that whoever they were they did share their photos with Ferdinand Kolberg.

And, the search continues!

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Eight

THE JOHANN COLBERG FAMILY IS FOUND!

I was one excited researcher as I waited to hear from this woman contact in Berlin as to whether she indeed was from the family of my elusive Johann Colberg.  It only took her a surprising two weeks to respond to me.  When I saw the letter in my mailbox, postmarked Berlin, I eagerly opened it and out spilled some photos with a letter.  There for me to see was the photo of a very distinguished white haired gentleman with the indication on the back that he was Johann Colberg of Berlin.

Johann Colberg, Berlin, Germany, ca 1930:

This lady indicated that her husband had been a grandson of Johann Colberg and that she indeed knew the Gerhard Kolberg that I was searching for.  She told me she had telephoned to the daughter of Gerhard who would stop by her apartment and pick up my letter to deliver to Gerhard.  She commented also that she was sure that Gerhard would respond to me as "he is retired and has much time to spend on his research".  I could only hope.

It was only another 10 days or so when my first letter from Gerhard Kolberg arrived.  He expressed pleasure and surprise that I had found him from his seven year old letter to the "O" family and more surprised that I was able to find him after he and his wife had moved to a new apartment.  He had extensively traced his grandfather's family and he eagerly shared the data with me.  The fact that he had been a graphic artist in his career certainly did not hurt and his charts and graphs were beautifully presented.  I, in turn, shared the data from the five Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to the US.

After just a few letters back and forth, with Gerhard writing in German and my needing to have the letters translated, he switched to using English which was just as proficient as his graphic design skills.  In the course of our correspondence Gerhard explained that the surname was originally spelled Colberg and that most of the cousins still in Germany used that spelling.  He told me something interesting in that there had been two Otto Colberg men in Berlin, both dentists.  Gerhard's father, Otto, was one of these dentists so Gerhard's father changed his surname spelling to Kolberg to differentiate between himself and the other dentist.  Gerhard uses the spelling, Kolberg, but all the other cousins in Germany, descended from Johann Colberg, spell their names as Colberg.

I now had SIX Kolberg brothers' families traced to the present generation.  It had only taken me 23 years to accomplish this but it wasn't until the Internet was popular that this connection was actually made.

Over the years since our 1999 discovery of each other began, Gerhard and his two adult grandsons have visited my mother and myself here in St. Joseph for our 2000 Kolberg family reunion.  They stayed in our home and spent three weeks with us here in the US.  Gerhard obtained the Internet and E-mail and our correspondence travels quickly through cyberspace.

Both my niece and nephew have visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin on several occasions while they were studying in Spain and Italy respectively.

My niece, Diane, (left side in black shirt) in Berlin, Germany with Gerhard Kolberg family (Gerhard not shown as he was taking photo) in 2004:

My nephew, Jay, (back row, far right side) in Berlin, Germany with Gerhard Kolberg family (Gerhard in back row, far left side) in 2007:

In October, 2008 I visited Gerhard and his family in Berlin for two weeks where I met his daughter and son-in-law as well as meeting the new wives of both of the grandsons who had visited us in 2000.

In addition, Gerhard arranged a mini Kolberg reunion in Berlin where I was able to meet other Colberg cousins.  To further prove the connections with Johann Colberg and his five brothers who immigrated to America, Gerhard had written verification in Johann Colberg's own hand contained in Johann's diary.

Entry for Vater Colberg, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr., born 1821/died 1900:

Entry for Mutter Colberg, Henriette Amalie Kolberg, born 1831/died 1908 (vital records I received from Klein Tuchen actually showed her birth as in 1832):

Entry for Bruder, Friedrich Colberg, Jr., born 1852/died 1918:

Entry for Bruder, August Colberg, born 1854, Amerika, died unknown:

Entry for Bruder, Heinrich Colberg, Amerika, born 1857, died unknown:

 

Entry for himself, Johann Colberg, 1859:

Entries for Bruder, Otto Colberg, born 1867 to Amerika with death unknown and Bruder, Ferdinand Colberg, born 1872 to Amerika with death unknown:

Entry for Bruder, Paul Colberg, born 1869 to Amerika with death unknown:

What have I learned from these years of research and what hints have I come away with from my extensive efforts in tracing my Kolberg family:

1.    All things come in time.  If I had connected with Gerhard in 1979 when I began my research, perhaps it would not have been as important to him as he was still working and raising his family.  Only in retirement did he develop his passion for his family history.

2.    Snail mail is still a good option.  While e-mail has overtaken the world and researchers alike, sometimes success is found with writing letters to small villages, churches, archives.

3.    Cemetery searching and vital record searching are still vital tools for research.  Not every cemetery is computerized.  Not every archive has their records on the Internet.  Much can be found in stomping through cemeteries, reading gravestones, visiting vital record repositories to search out information.

4.     Family assistance is of the utmost importance.  I could never have even begun my research without the assistance of Kolberg cousins Grace Kolberg Gaul, Ruby Kolberg Berndt, Edna Kolberg, Walter and Iva Kolberg.  They started me on the path and encouraged me along the way and we remained close for the rest of their lives.

5.    Memories of other family members adds to the knowledge.  If not for cousin, Oliver Kolberg, I would never had made the connection that took me across the ocean to the family of Johann Colberg.  Oliver was a source of inspiration and encouragement.  His death in January, 2006 was a true loss and his memory lives on.

Oliver Kolberg:

While I sincerely appreciate all the help that I have received over the years, and truly believe I could never have achieved what I did without this help, if it were not for my very special cousin, Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder, I would never had had the enormous success that I did with this research.

Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder, 2004:

Bernice was a researcher's dream and her help and excitement over every step of this research was inspiring.  She passed away unexpectedly in June, 2007 and will never be forgotten.

Following her death, her children surprised me by presenting me with all of her genealogical documents, photos, albums and other information which they knew would be preserved and appreciated by myself.  They even gave me Bernice's copy of the Kolberg book I had written in 1980 and I now had a copy of that book for my own records.  Of course, while I had expanded the information on the family Kolberg since 1980 and that book was very much outdated, it was still important to me to have a copy showing my original research results.

To be successful in genealogical research is not a solitary venture.  It is only with the help and assistance of many, many people that success is truly just that...success.

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte

The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Seven

SUCCESS WITH THE INTERNET...1999 STYLE

In the more than 20 years that I had been researching my Kolberg family I had had many successes:

1.    I had been able to ascertain the name of the villages in Pommern where my Kolberg ancestors had originated.

2.    I had received a few documents and old letters from local cousins which verified the data that I had.

3.    I had researched heavily the five Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America.

4.    I had produced a 400+ page book on our Kolberg family which many cousins were interested in obtaining.

5.    I had "crossed the ocean" in my research and made a connection with a distant cousin near Hanover who shared her research and knowledge with me and I had visited with her and her family in 1983.

6.    I had connected with the Catholic priest in the home village of Tuchomie, Poland who shared vital records from the German Evangelical church books with me.

7.    I visited the areas of Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen in 1993 and met many current residents there.

8.    I had computerized all my Kolberg records into my Family Tree Maker software program.

9.    I was working on organizing a 1999 Kolberg family reunion.

It was truly a labor of love with extraordinary results and I was very pleased.

When I moved with my mother back to our home town of St. Joseph in 1997 I knew that I would have a greater connection with the hundreds of Kolberg cousins still living in the area.  I was hoping that with these connections I would still be able to find some clues as to the descendants of the two remaining Kolberg brothers who remained in Germany, namely Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Johann.

One of the most helpful cousins to me in my research had been the daughter of Grace Kolberg Gaul - Bernice Gaul Schoenfelder.  Bernice and I had had a long correspondence over the past 20 years and her mother, Grace, had been instrumental in starting me on the path of my Kolberg research.  Bernice had inherited her mother's love of family as well as all her mother's documents, journals, photos and most importantly, knowledge.  Thus, when I moved to St. Joseph in 1997, Bernice was the first person I contacted.  We met frequently and she always surprised me with more old photos or documents which she let me borrow to scan into my computer.  She possessed enormous knowledge on the areas in Berrien County where our ancestors had settled, she took me around to all the "old" farms of the original Kolberg brothers, told me stories and shared documents with me.  Through Bernice I made many closer contacts with area cousins.  There was not a person around, relative or not, who did not know Bernice and respect her.

The first two years I was back in St. Joseph we batted around the problem of the descendants of Johann and Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg.  Despite the numerous records Bernice had from her mother, she could not come up with anything that would give me a clue as to these elusive Colberg brothers.  In 1998, one of her close cousins, Oliver Kolberg and his wife, Anne, came to visit from Arizona.  Also interested in the family history they came to my home to view all my records and information.  When they returned to Arizona, Oliver and I began an e-mail communication.  In one of his e-mails in early 1999, he mentioned the following and I quote from his e-mail:

"I was thinking about your quest to find German relatives from the two brothers of my grandfather, Otto, who remained in Germany.  You know, Cheryl, I remember something.  When I was a young boy in the 1930's I can remember an older German lady coming to visit each summer.  If I remember correctly, she came from Germany to Chicago where her son was living and they would all come out to Grandpa's farm in Baroda and we would all pick berries.  I think she must have been a Kolberg relative because she was always calling Grandpa "Uncle Otto".  I remember her coming year after year and I remember hearing that after I was grown she returned to the US again, became ill in Chicago and died there around 1946 before she was able to return to Germany.  I think her name was Greta but I am not sure.  But I can tell you for sure that Bernice would certainly know".

My first clue!

Armed with that information, I gave Bernice a call, repeated Oliver's e-mail and asked Bernice if she remembered someone visiting her grandfather's farm in the 1930's and 1940's from Germany named Greta.  She immediately responded "YES" and stated that the woman's name was Greta "O" and she did indeed come each year from Berlin to visit her son and family in Chicago.  Bernice seemed to remember that Greta's son was named Hans "O" and his wife was Julie and they had two small children at the time.  They all enjoyed playing on Otto Kolberg's farm in Baroda, Michigan where they would pick berries.  Bernice said that she even remembered specifically when Greta passed away because it was while Bernice was pregnant with her first child and she remembered driving to Chicago for the funeral in the fall of 1946.  She even thought she might have the funeral card in her home and she would search for me.  Bernice said that she didn't know why she had never thought of Greta before when we were talking about any German cousins.

Of course, this did not prove that this Greta was indeed from the family of Johann or Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg but there were a few clues that led me in that direction, namely:

1.    She came from Berlin where Johann Colberg was to have settled.

2.    She called Otto Kolberg "Uncle".

Now what was I going to do to expand on these clues?  It was a good 53 years since Greta had passed away in Chicago and what would be the chance that her son or wife, Hans and Julie "O", would even still be living?

To the Internet I went which would be my first attempt at using this tool in my Kolberg research.  I first looked for a listing in Illinois of a Hans "O".  Up came one listing in a suburb of Chicago with the names of Hans and Julie "O".  Okay, this was good!  Now what?

I drafted a letter to Hans and Julie "O" in which I explained who I was and asked them if they were from the family of Greta "O" who had previously visited the US and Uncle Otto Kolberg's family in Baroda, Michigan in the 1930's and 1940's.  I mentioned cousin, Bernice's, name because everyone knew Bernice and that was a good opening.  I included some dates that I had and asked them if perhaps Greta "O" could have been a daughter of Johann Colberg of Berlin.  I included my phone number and address and off went the letter on a Thursday.  I admit that I even kissed the envelope for good luck because this was the closest I had come to any clues on this elusive family in over 20 years of research.

Three days later, on Sunday afternoon, I had a phone call.  The caller identified herself as the daughter of Hans and Julie "O" and stated that they had received my letter.  She affirmed that her grandmother was indeed Greta Colberg "O" and that she was indeed a daughter of Johann Colberg of Berlin.  She herself could remember visiting Baroda, Michigan in the 1930's and 1940's and definitely remembered Bernice.  She said that her father, Hans, was deceased but her mother, Julie, was in her 90's and still sharp.  She said that she believed there were more family members in Germany but over the years they had lost touch with them.  She then told me something very intriguing.  She said that her mother had received a letter in 1992 (7 years earlier) from a German cousin who was researching their Johann Colberg family.  She said they had the letter "right here" but had never answered it.  She agreed to mail the letter to me.  Talk about exciting.  Now I was sure I was getting somewhere.

About 10 long, long days later the letter came to me from the "O" family in Chicago.  This letter had been sent to them in 1992 from a cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, of Berlin.  I quickly sent the letter for translation and it indicated that this Gerhard Kolberg was a cousin of Hans "O" and that Gerhard's father, Otto Kolberg" (another Otto Kolberg) of Berlin and Greta Colberg "O" had been brother and sister.  Gerhard was doing a Kolberg family history on the family of his grandfather, Johann, and he was asking the "O" family for information on their branch.  To my translator went a letter to have prepared in German and off it went to the address on Gerhard Kolberg's letter to the "O" family.  I knew his address was 7 years old but was hopeful it was still an accurate location.  However, three weeks later the letter came BACK to me marked "no such person at this address, moved, no forwarding address".

Talk about a roadblock.  Now what?  I thought about this for a few days and went back to the letter that Gerhard had sent the "O" family in 1992.  He had indicated the names of a few other family members still living in Berlin so back to the Internet I went to search for addresses for any of these names.  One name was found, whether it was the correct person I did not know, but I sent off a letter to this address including my original letter to Gerhard.  I asked the lady I wrote to whether she was from the family of Johann Colberg of Berlin and, if so, if she knew Gerhard Kolberg of Berlin.

Now the wait began, again!

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Otto and Alvina (Truhn) Kolberg Family Photos:

 

  

    

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte 

The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Six

CONNECTING WITH GROß TUCHEN

The year was now 1983.  In the near ten years that I had been researching my Kolberg ancestry I had learned much and made some great discoveries.  The biggest discovery was the connection I had made with a distant cousin, Liane, in Hemmingen near Hanover, Germany.  In numerous letters back and forth, we both shared data with each other and I am sure I was the lucky one in receiving far more data than what I was able to share.  In genealogy, though, that doesn't matter as I believe this cousin was just as pleased to have made a connection with family in the US.

It was at this time that Liane suggested I try my hand at writing to the Priest at the Catholic Church in Tuchomie, Poland where she knew the Evangelical church books of Groß Tuchen were housed.  I decided I would give this a whirl and see where it would lead me.  I first had to search for a Polish translator and found one through the German translator that I had used.  I then drafted a letter to this Priest, had it translated into Polish and sent it off to Tuchomie.  I had decided to start small and asked only for the birth records of my great-grandparents, August Kolberg and Bertha Kramp, their marriage record and the birth record of their first born child, Hedwig Kolberg.  I had all the appropriate dates and used both spellings of Kolberg/Colberg in my letter and was hopeful that would make the search by the Priest much easier.

Within six weeks of mailing the letter, I received what would be the first correspondence between myself and Father Josef Kornaus with our correspondence lasting eleven years.  In this letter, Father Kornaus sent me three records - the birth record of August Kolberg, the marriage record of August and Bertha (Kramp) Kolberg and the birth record of my great-aunt, Hedwig Kolberg.  He apologized for not finding the birth record for Bertha Kramp who had been born in the neighboring village of Borntuchen.  He explained that Borntuchen was not a part of the diocese that Groß Tuchen was and, thus, there were no records from Borntuchen at his church.  In any case, I was thrilled with the letter from Father Kornaus and the three records.  While the data on the records did not provide me with any more information from what I already had from Liane, these were absolute proof that the information I had been given was accurate.

Over the next eleven years, I had a steady stream of correspondence with Father Kornaus and his secretary including Christmas cards and continuous records that they extracted and sent me.  Yes, I did send small donations of money which they never requested but for which they thanked me each time.  In addition each letter from them had the offer to search for more records if I was interested.

With the information I received from Father Kornaus I was able to fill in more family lines of my 3rd, 4th and 5th great-grandparents including the addition of many children and extended family members.  While some genealogists will scoff at researching all collateral lines in a family, I am here to say that this additional knowledge has aided in many connections that I would not otherwise have made.  I was very pleased with this correspondence, and while I did have to use a Polish translator for the letters we exchanged, I was able to decipher the records.  It was amazing to me to see these Evangelical German records come to me translated into Polish (or occasionally Latin) and with the stamp of the Catholic Church of Tuchomie.

In 1993 I made a trip to Germany to visit my brother and his family.  My brother was stationed in Hanau, Germany and we had determined that we would make a genealogical research trip and visit the 16 villages of our ancestors that I had discovered.  This would take us through the former East Germany, into Poland and on to what had been Pommern.  I arranged for a guide to meet me in Gdansk, Poland and he drove me to the villages of Groß Tuchen, Klein Tuchen and Borntuchen where I met several Polish individuals who invited us into their homes and talked about the times at the end of WWII when the German inhabitants had been forced out of their land and became refugees.  Many years had passed since my Kolberg ancestors had lived there and nobody knew any former Kolberg residents.  This was to be expected.

Groß Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern - 1993 - now Tuchomie, Poland:

I was pleased that we were able to visit the former Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen where we walked inside to see the structure in renovation.  I was told that this renovation had been going on since the end of WWII and was still in progress.  It was inspiring to actually stand in the church where my ancestors had worshiped and where my great aunt, Hedwig Kolberg, had been baptized.  I picked up a piece of the brick from the destruction and brought it home with me.

Former Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern - 1993 - now Catholic Church in Tuchomie, Poland:

Brick from renovation in Evangelical church:

We also visited nearby Klein Tuchen and were invited into people's homes as well where they were more than eager to show their hospitality and talk to the American visitor.  It was a wonderful experience for me and very emotional as well.

The only disappointment I had on that trip was that Father Kornaus had just been transferred out of the Catholic parish there in Groß Tuchen and I was unable to meet him.  When I returned home I wrote him a letter at the address that I had been given in Tuchomie and expressed my appreciation for all of his help and told him I was sorry I had missed him during my recent visit.  I received an answer immediately from him.  He expressed his disappointment over not being able to meet me and stated that the Catholic diocese had decided it was time for him to be reassigned.

My correspondence with Father Kornaus was now at an end but I truly appreciated all the help he had given me with information that would have been difficult to ever find elsewhere.  As an interesting sideline, residents in Tuchomie had informed me that their new Priest was totally uninterested in helping researchers and this has been true as letters I sent to the church after this were never answered.  In any event, I believe that I received an enormous amount of help and information from Father Kornaus and I am truly pleased with that.

Even though my initial quest when I began my research was to search for descendants of the two remaining Colberg brothers, Johann and Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr., I had still not achieved that.  However, it was amazing to me just what I WAS able to uncover in 15 years of research.

From 1994 until 1999 my research on my Kolberg family languished due to the illness and death of my father, my move across the state of Michigan back to my home town of St. Joseph with my mother, beginning a new career, buying a home, etc.  During these years I did manage to finally computerize all my Kolberg data into my Family Tree Maker program (which took over a year of steady computerizing) but I made no progress in uncovering any information on the descendants of the elusive brothers Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Johann Colberg.

1999, however, would prove to be a successful year in more ways than I could ever have imagined!

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte  

The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Five

EXTENDING THE GENERATIONS

What could be more exciting than making a connection with a distant cousin in the homeland of my ancestors?  It would be the enormous amount of records and information that were garnered through the relationship with the cousin from Hemmingen that I discussed in Part Four of this series.  This cousin had spent a great number of years tracing our mutual Kolberg family and had made trips to the ancestral homeland of Groß Tuchen and Klein Tuchen long before travel to the former "East" was commonplace.  She had come away from those visits with numerous records that she had meticulously copied from the church books there.

Now, years later in 1982, she made the connection with me and graciously shared this data as well.

Our correspondence was on a magic track as I would write a letter to her in Hemmingen and she would counter with a response immediately upon receiving my letter.  Our letters flowed back and forth consistently and I could depend on receiving a letter from her every two weeks.  Each packet that would arrive contained not only a letter but copies of numerous records and much information.  I contributed with data on the five Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America and we were both pleased with the shared information.

From the information that I received from Liane I was able to extend my knowledge on my Kolberg family back more generations from what I had discovered on this side of the ocean.

My ancestry is as follows:

Jakob Colberg, born about 1737, married to Dorothea Maria Schlutt who was born about 1737.  Jakob died about 1808 while Dorothea died about 1808 in Pyaschen (Franzwalde), Kreis Bütow, Pommern.  They were my 5th great-grandparents.

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Their son, Martin Colberg, born about 1754 in Pyaschen (Franzwalde), Kreis Bütow, Pommern.  He married on November 12, 1777 in Pyaschen to Catharina Schlutt who had been born about 1760.  Martin died on July 28, 1820 in Pyaschen and Catharina died on April 11, 1818 also in Pyaschen.  They were my 4th great-grandparents.  

In addition I learned that the above Catharina Schlutt was the daughter of George Schlutt who was born about 1730 and his wife, Catharina Wohler who was born about 1730.  They were also my 5th great-grandparents.

In another exciting bit of information I learned that the above Catharina Wohler, born about 1730 (my 5th great grandmother) was the daughter of Kayser Wohler, born about 1700, and his wife, Maria Elisabeth Schaper, born about 1700 as well.  This Kayser Wohler and Maria Elisabeth Schaper were my 6th great-grandparents.

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Martin Colberg and Catharina Schlutt's son, Johann Jakob Colberg, was born March 30, 1779 in Pyaschen (Franzwalde), Kreis Bütow, Pommern.  He married on November 28, 1814 in Groß Tuchen to Katharina Pliske who had been born on December 10, 1792 in Klein Tuchen.  Johann Jakob died on May 22, 1862 in Klein Tuchen and he was buried on May 25, 1862, also in Klein Tuchen.  Katharina had died on March 29, 1854 in Klein Tuchen and she was buried on April 1, 1854 also in Klein Tuchen.  They were my 3rd great-grandparents.

In addition, I learned that the above Katharina Pliske was the daughter of Michael Pliske who was born before 1759 in Morgenstern, Kreis Bütow, Pommern and who died on December 2, 1830 in Klein Tuchen.  He was married about 1785 to Maria Szarnowski who had been born before 1759 in Tangen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern and who died April 26, 1822 in Klein Tuchen.  Michael Pliske and Maria Szarnowski were my 4th great-grandparents.

Again, in another bit of exciting information, I was able to also learn that the above Maria Szarnowski, my 4th great-grandmother was the daughter of Johann Szarnowski and Catharina Polzin.  The records, however, did not list any dates of birth or death for them.  Records did indicate, though, that they had been married in Tangen. Johann Szarnowski and Catharina Polzin were my 5th great-grandparents.

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Johann Jakob Colberg and Katharina Pliske's son, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr., was born August 18, 1821 in Klein Tuchen.  He married on April 5, 1850 in Groß Tuchen to Henriette Amalie Kautz who had been born on December 25, 1832 in Klein Tuchen.  Friedrich-Wilhelm died on April 15, 1900 in Klein Tuchen and Henriette Amalie died on June 21, 1908 in Klein Tuchen.  They were my 2nd great-grandparents.

Years later, with continued research, I would be successful in learning the parents of the above Henriette Amalie Kautz and I was able to trace back her Kautz family many, many generations.  That is information for a further post in another series.

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Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr. and Henriette Amalie Kautz' son, August Gottlieb Kolberg, was born November 24, 1854 in Klein Tuchen.  He married on October 4, 1878 in Groß Tuchen to Bertha Kramp who had been born on July 26, 1860 in Borntuchen, Kreis Bütow, Pommern.  August died on April 24, 1920 in Lincoln Township, Michigan, USA and he was buried in City Cemetery in St. Joseph, Michigan. Bertha died on February 26, 1915 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and she was buried as well in City Cemetery, St. Joseph.  They were my great-grandparents.

Again, as in the above "Kautz" ancestry, I would be successful after years of research in learning the parents and further ancestors of my great-grandmother, Bertha Kramp.  That is also information for a further post in another series.

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I was beyond excited and pleased to have received all this data from cousin, Liane, in Hemmingen, Germany.  She also included copies of documents from the former Evangelical church in Groß Tuchen which is now part of Poland and called Tuchomie. From the beginning of my research, and with only the knowledge of my great-grandparents' names, I had now gone back four more generations on my Kolberg family.  I had also learned parentage on the female lines of some of these generations as well.  This added many more surnames to my list of ancestors.

In addition to the above data, Liane offered me the mailing address of the Catholic Church in Tuchomie where the church books from the former Groß Tuchen were housed.  What had once been Evangelical German communities known as Groß Tuchen, Klein Tuchen, Tangen, Borntuchen, etc were now Catholic Polish communities with new names as well.  Liane suggested that I should try writing to the priest in Tuchomie to see what information I could obtain.  She was aware that the priests assigned to that small parish changed frequently and she was hoping that a new priest would share more data with me than what she had personally been able to obtain.

And, thus, the search continues...

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Johann and Berta (Hepke) Colberg Family Photos:

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte  

The Family Kolberg/Colberg - Part Four

CROSSING THE OCEAN

Following the completion of my book on my Kolberg family and the complimentary responses from many of my cousins, my quest to further my research intensified.  I was fairly satisfied with the information I had gathered on the five Kolberg brothers who had immigrated to America.  I had their families, including children and grandchildren, nearly 100% documented.  There would always be gaps to fill in, new marriages to add, new children to add, etc., but with the assistance and cooperation of so many cousins I had documented these lines up to the present generation with statistics, photos, census images and vital records.

Now my attention turned to tracing the descendants of the remaining two Kolberg brothers, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. and Johann, who had remained in Germany.  This would be challenging since knowledge on "this side of the ocean" was pretty sketchy.

The most I knew was that Johann Kolberg was to have moved to Berlin where he had a family of "at least six children" according to cousin, Walter Kolberg.  Walter also had memories of his uncle, Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr., remaining on the family farm in Klein Tuchen and that he also had "at least six children".  I had a photo of Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr. and his wife but no photo or other information on Johann Kolberg.

At this time in 1980 I was an avid reader of the Genealogical Helper magazine.  I happened to see an advertisement where a person could send to Germany for a listing of people with a specific surname in a designated location and then would receive addresses from that telephone directory.  Off went some of my money (I don't remember now how much) and a request for a listing of ALL Kolberg names in Berlin.  I was convinced that someone had to be remaining from the family of Johann Kolberg and I was hopeful that this might be a way to connect with those descendants.

The list came to me with 110 names of Kolberg individuals and their addresses in Berlin.  I then drafted a simple request letter and had it translated into German.  Basically it stated that I was searching my family history and that my great-great grandparents were Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Sr. and Amalie Kautz of Klein Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern.  I further stated that I was searching for any descendants of their son, Johann Kolberg, who lived in Berlin from approximately 1890-1930 and who was to have had at least six children.  I included the specific dates that I had already gathered, made 110 copies of this letter and mailed them off to each of the names on my list along with an International postal coupon to cover their cost for return postage.

Amazingly, over the next 18 months, I did receive 87 responses to my letter which were very gratifying and exciting.  All responses were in German, of course, and I had to have them each translated.  But unfortunately there were no connections.  People were very gracious and willing to share their own personal line of ancestry with me but nobody was even remotely connected with my Kolberg line.  I was beginning to think that Kolberg was as common of a surname in Germany as Smith, Jones or Miller are in the US.

At the same time I also placed a similarly worded advertisement in two different Berlin newspapers that offered a listing free of charge.  But, again, two years went by with no response to those ads.  Success with genealogy research, in those years, was a long, long process before the use of personal computers, the Internet, Google, e-mail and instant responses.  So, wait I did - but not patiently I might add!

During that period of time I continued to tweak the data that I did have on the five branches of my Kolberg line and kept questioning cousins as to any memories they might have of the German branches.

It was, therefore, in November, 1982 that I was totally surprised by a letter that I received with a German postmark and fancy stamps.  This letter was to be the start of a correspondence that would last only a few years but would give me my first direct German connection.  While it was NOT a connection with either of the families of Johann or Friedrich-Wilhelm Kolberg, Jr., it was actually a connection taking me back more generations.

This letter came to me from Hemmingen, a village near Hanover in Germany, and was written by a woman who informed me that, while she had not personally seen my advertisement in the Berlin newspapers, a friend of hers had and he shared my ad with her.  She explained that from my data in the advertisement she could inform me that HER great-grandmother, Carolina Wilhelmina Colberg, and MY mother's great-grandfather, Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg were indeed brother and sister emphasizing to me the correct spelling of the surname was Colberg.

To say that I was excited with this connection is an understatement.  Of course, initial pleasure was tempered by the fact that the letter had to be sent off for translation.  During these years, I was fortunate to have a wonderful woman in California who did all my translations for me and translated my English into German and then translated the German responses back into English.  I wish now that I had kept a tally of just how much money I spent on this Kolberg research but, perhaps, it is best that I don't know.  However, without these expenditures I would never have gathered the information that I did.

My correspondence with my newly discovered cousin in Hemmingen spanned a short period from 1982 until her death in 1989.  During those seven short years we had twice/monthly correspondence and I even made a trip in 1983 to visit her and meet other members of her family.  After only about two months of correspondence her letters changed from German into English and she explained that she hated to see me spending my gelt (money) on translators so she would attempt to use her English skills from her school days.  Actually her English was near perfect and there was never any difficulty with communication.

It is amazing to me, even now, to go back and re-read all the materials, data, maps, newspaper clippings and vital records that she shared with me.  She told me that on two different occasions she had personally driven in her own car into Poland to visit Groß Tuchen and view the Evangelical church books that were still housed there in the "now" Catholic church.  This was in the 1960's and 1970's and was long before the Berlin wall came down.  She stressed that these trips were dangerous but she was determined to obtain all the information she could.  She was a very forceful woman and it was obvious when I visited her in Hemmingen that she meant business and I am sure any travel difficulties into old East Germany and then into Poland were difficulties that she handled easily.

From this cousin, Liane vonJutrczenki Koppe, and her extensive amount of research materials, I was able to take my Kolberg ancestry back several more generations as follows:

My great-grandparents:  August Kolberg and Bertha Kramp

My 2nd great-grandparents:  Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr. and Henriette Amalie Kautz

My 3rd great-grandparents:  Johann Jakob Colberg and Katharina Pliske

My 4th great-grandparents:  Martin Colberg and Catharina Schlutt

My 5th great-grandparents:  Jakob Colberg and Dorothea Schlutt with Jakob Colberg having been born in approximately 1737.

This was certainly more detail than I had ever imagined.

When I look back and remember the 110 letters that I sent off to Berlin and the two advertisements that I placed in Berlin newspapers with such high hopes of a match, it is obvious that a genealogist never knows what connection is going to appear.  I did learn from Liane that my chances of a connection were probably hindered by the fact that our family Kolberg was actually spelled Colberg originally (but not always!) and that I had missed a whole contingent of listings in the Berlin telephone book under the spelling of Colberg.  She also explained that I would have done better to extend my search into East Berlin as well.  

These suggestions would prove to be correct and would actually help in my journey to finally make one of the connections I so desperately sought.  But that is another subject for another chapter in this series and would take another 17 long years to come to fruition.

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Heinrich and Ottilie (Kramp) Kolberg Family Photos:

Copyright 2010, Cheryl J. Schulte