Genealogy of the Kobernuss Families of Alt-Gaarz Mecklenburg
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Genealogy and Immigration History of the Kobernuss Families of Alt-Gaarz, Mecklenburg, Germany 1752-2010 The Hammonia Immigration ship of Carl and Sophie Kobernus November 14, 1873 “As you look toward the future, always remember the treasures of our Past. Every generation stands on the shoulders of the generation that came before. Jealously guard the values and principles of our heritage. They did not come easy.” -Ronald Reagan- Author: George Martin Kobernus, Colonel USAF (Ret.) Revision 7, Publish date: 1 January 2013 Destroy all previous versions Table of Contents DEDICATION ............................................................................................ 4 FORWARD ................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1: Overview ............................................................................ 7 Synopsis ............................................................................................. 7 Background ........................................................................................ 7 A Short History And Geography Lesson ............................................. 7 Early Likely Ancestors ........................................................................ 9 Distribution Of Families In Germany ................................................... 9 Possible Origins Of The Names ....................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: The Challenges of Family Research .............................. 12 Naming Customs .............................................................................. 12 First Names ...................................................................................... 12 Family Surnames.............................................................................. 12 Problems With Spelling .................................................................... 14 The Soundex System ....................................................................... 15 Mecklenburg Church Records .......................................................... 15 US Church Records .......................................................................... 18 US Civil Records .............................................................................. 19 CHAPTER 3: Immigration ..................................................................... 21 A Short History Of German Immigration ........................................... 21 Kobernus And Kubbernuss Immigration ........................................... 22 Where They Settled .......................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 4: Slicing and Dicing the Data ............................................ 24 How We Found Our Ancestors ......................................................... 24 The Breakthrough! ............................................................................ 24 The Next Step .................................................................................. 25 The Kobernuss Family Tree in Alt Gaarz, Kirch Lütgendorf ............. 25 Migration From Alt-Gaarz ................................................................. 26 The Buffalo Connection .................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 5: Wrapping it up ................................................................. 29 Loose Ends ...................................................................................... 29 Summary & Conclusion .................................................................... 33 2 Appendix 1: The Cobernus Family Coat Of Arms ............................... 34 Appendix 2: The Voyages Of Our Ancestors ...................................... 35 Transatlantic Travel – The Early Days .............................................. 35 Advent Of The Steamship ................................................................ 36 Appendix 3: Kobernuss Families Emigration Records ...................... 38 “Palmerston“ Hamburg-New York. Sept 1869 - 18.Sept.1869 .......... 38 “Cimbria“ Hamburg-New York 11.1870 – 14.11.1870....................... 38 “Hammonia“ Hamburg--New York 01.11.1873 - 14.11.1873 ............ 39 “Bohemia“ Hamburg & Havre – NY 30. 10. 1881 ............................. 40 Appendix 4: Still More Information On Names ................................... 41 Recognizing German Names ........................................................... 41 Farm Names ..................................................................................... 42 Jewish Names .................................................................................. 42 Patronymics ...................................................................................... 42 Appendix 5: Significant Locations In Mecklenburg ............................ 45 Appendix 6: Kobernus Family Home Oak Park IL. ............................. 47 Appendix 7:Kobernus Family Plot ....................................................... 48 Appendix 8: Castle Garden ................................................................... 49 Immigration Portal For The Kobernuss Families .............................. 49 Appendix 9: Kirch Lütgendorf Marriage And Birth Records ............. 56 Early Records ................................................................................... 56 The Earliest Known Birth Record ..................................................... 57 Earliest Known Marriage Record ...................................................... 57 Birth Records For The Family Of Carl Kobernus .............................. 57 Appendix 10: German Script ................................................................ 61 Appendix 11: Kobernus Auswanderungskonsensakten .................... 62 Appendix 12: 1965 Letter ..................................................................... 66 John Kobernus Letter to George Kobernus 1965 ............................. 66 Appendix 13: Descendants of F.W. Kobernuss .................................. 69 Appendix 14: Birth, Marriage and Death Dates ................................... 83 Appendix 15: Kobernuss Family Tree ............................................... 106 INDEX ................................................................................................... 152 3 DEDICATION John Kobernus In late October 1965, my college study was focused on early American History and the role that European immigrants played in the creation of our nation. This led me to wonder about my own family and the contribution they might have made. Since anyone who might know something in my immediate family was deceased, I wrote a letter to John Kobernus of Chicago, the only other Kobernus I could find in a phone book I found in the San Francisco Public Library. His reply, which is included as appendix 13 to this genealogy, was very helpful and interesting. However, this was before the advent of the Internet and personal computers and despite John’s encouragement, further work on the family history just seemed too hard to do. The war in South East Asia and a subsequent military career kept me from pursuing my interest in the Kobernus family history further. We spent five years in Germany during the cold war and as close as we got to Mecklenburg was East Berlin. I retired from the Air Force in 1994. During a review of my personal papers, I discovered the long forgotten letters from John Kobernus with a notation ”Research of Family Tree -- to be finished someday.” This seemed like an interesting summer project while trying to determine where we would finally settle. Thus began what turned out to be a 40,000- mile, four-year search for some very elusive ancestors. We visited many cemeteries and libraries from Buffalo to Seattle looking for mention of the Kobernus families, met and corresponded with many newly discovered cousins, and learned a great deal about our family history. Although we never met John Kobernus, his spirit is still with us, urging us on. George Martin Kobernus, Colonel USAF (Ret.) 6296 Red Fox Run, Traverse City, MI 49686 Ph 231-933-9321 E-Mail [email protected] Internet Homepage http://kobernus.com/ 4 FORWARD This is a draft volume of a larger study of the 30 or more KOBERNUSS and KUBBERNUSS families of Mecklenburg Germany that immigrated to the US between 1853 and 1888. This specific volume focuses on the Kobernuss families that immigrated in four increments from villages in Kirch Lütgendorf and Kirch Grubenhagen parishes Mecklenburg Germany. These immigrations took place in 1869, 1870, 1873 and 1881. Two families remained in Tonawanda-Buffalo NY and two families settled in Oak Park Illinois. A final immigration took place in 1884 when Friederike, the sister of Carl Kobernuss immigrated to Oak Park with her Husbd. Frederick Sanftleben from Alt-Gaarz, Kirch Lütgendorf. This has been a collaborative effort of many people; however, a word of caution is needed. In order to understand the times and places of our ancestors, we collected quite a bit of historical and background data on German and US politics, history, sociology and economics. Some of that information is presented without attribution. We’ve looked at many original records and have tried to faithfully document our sources; however, by necessity, some of the data in this paper is unverified or anecdotal. We encourage other family researchers to check our work. Particular attention should be paid to the references and sources cited in the footnotes as they often indicate our assessment of the quality of the information