Help finding town of origin - Oldenburg
Hello,
You've all been so helpful with my translation requests, but now I could use your advice. I'm trying to find the town of origin for my ancestor, Elizabeth Korte. She's one of the last family members I need to locate and I'm having issues finding her.
Name: Elizabeth Korte
Born: 22 June 1839 - Oldenburg, Germany
Died: 27 October 1886 - Cincinnati, OH, USA
Religion: Catholic
Parents: Unknown, but mother is possibly Elizabeth, born in 1802 in Oldenburg
She married Bernard Stricker (from Damme, Oldenburg) in 1864 in Cincinnati.
I have located German church records in Cincinnati, her death records, census records, obituary, etc. Most records simply state Oldenburg as the place of origin. Her cemetery record indicates she's from Damme, but I've been unable to locate her there. I checked her birth date in every church record under the Vechta Archive on Matricula. I didn't see her, but I'm not great reading the old German Script, so I suppose I could have missed her. She is mentioned on the Auswanderer aus Oldenburg site: https://www.auswanderer-oldenburg.de/getperson.php?personID=I136163&tree=Auswanderer , but only in reference to her husband.
So, how do you recommend I proceed? Are there any other Oldenburg records online I can check? Do you have any advice for me?
Thank you in advance!
Commenti
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There is a birth record for Maria Elisabeth Catharina Kotte, born 22 June 1839 in the church book of St. Viktor in Damme. Parents Johann Heinrich Bernard Kotte and Anna Maria Elisabeth Börgen.
Could this be your ancestor?
https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=282
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If this is her with her mother in the 1860 census in Cincinnati then her mother's name was Elisabeth which matches the record Ulrich found.
An Elisabeth Korte who died in 1862 is buried in the same cemetery as your Elisabeth Korte:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179467690/elisabeth-korte
This might be the same older Elisabeth Korte who is in the 1860 census. Sometimes you can contact the cemetery and get more details on the burials (maiden name, date/place of birth, etc). Or church records for that cemetery.
And a Bernard Korte who died in 1859 buried in the same section (1) of the same cemetery. Bernard is the fathers name in the record that Ulrich found.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179467684/bernard-korte
Could be a coincidence but quite a bit matches up.
Edit: I see that the older Elizabeth Korte and Bernard Korte are actually in a different cemetery (St John) than your Elisabeth Korte (St. Joseph).
Additional edit: Your Elisabeth was married at St Philomena Church according to the county marriage record. Wikipedia says this about St Philomena's in Cincinnati.:
The Parish was closed in 1954. Records for this Parish are located at the Chancery Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 100 E. 8th St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
It would be a good idea to contact the Archdiocese and request copies of the record of their marriage and of each of their childrens baptisms.
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Thank you both! I found that same record, Ulrich, and wondered the same thing. I've been finding records from this area of Germany with two last names (for example Sund and Sunder, Brickweg and Brickwedde) so I'm wondering if this is a similar situation. Is it common for names to change like this?
It seems the chances are low that someone with such a similar name would be born on the exact birthday in the town listed. Also, I know from Elizabeth's marriage record that her name was Maria Elisabeth Korte, so that fits further.
I'll definitely be looking into the other Korte's buried in the same cemetery. I did find the death record in Germany of the father, but maybe it's a brother or other relative - https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB16/?pg=133
Maybe I'll go through the Damme church records to see if this Elizabeth Kotte ever married or died there. Can you think of any other angles or records to check?
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Some additional information:
The Bernard Heinrich Stricker b 1 July, 1833 in Damme who married your Elisabeth has different parents listed in his birth record than those attached to his familysearch ID GDBL-LL8
https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=209
I found the St Philomena marriage record in 1864 but it doesn't add much information:
But the baptism record for daughter Maria A. Elisabeth in 1868 gives Elisabeth's name as Maria so it must have been Maria Elisabeth or Elisabeth Maria which still matches up with Ulrichs record. It also gives sponsors Angela Stricker and Henrich (Henrico) Korte. Henrich is likely a close relative of Elisabeth, perhaps a brother.
The marriage and baptism record was on Findmypast per:
https://resources.catholicaoc.org/offices/archives/genealogy
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One last set of data that I think clears it up. I found the Heinrich Korte mentioned as the baptsim sponsor. He is familysearch ID K4L9-PWY. He was born in Oldenburg in 1825 and lived in Cincinnati by Elisabeth.
When I look in the 1825 Damme baptism records there is Johann Heinrich Korte born to the same parents as listed in Ulrichs record above for Elisabeth. The only difference is that the fathers last name is spelled Korte rather than Kotte but the mothers name is identical.
So it seems certain that @Ulrich Neitzel has found your Elisabeth!
https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=101
It remains an open question whether the Elisabeth Korte and Bernard Korte buried in St Johns cemetery are Elisabeths parents although the 1860 census certainly seems to show her mother was in Cincinnati (unless there is another Elisabeth Korte of the same age). There is also another Bernard Korte who died in April 1860 in St Johns cemetery. Unfortunately there is no birth year for any of them.
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The 1844 death record you found is certainly the father. So The Cincinnati Bernard Korte deaths in 1859/1860 are coincidental. I wonder if the 1860 census is your Elisabeth. It sure looks like it.
Heinrich Korte with the correct birth date is in St Josephs cemetery :
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141574029/heinrich-korte
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The main question still seems to be whether Kotte and Korte are referring to the same person.
I found the marriage record (1826) of Johann Heinrich Bernard Kotte and Anna Maria Elisabeth Börger in the Damme St. Victor church book:
https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB10/?pg=177
This is the definitely the Johann Heinrich Bernard Kotte whose 1844 death record Steve found in the Damme church book (https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB16/?pg=133).
The life data of the these spouses are:
Johann Heinrich Bernard Kotte: born 14 June 1802, died 9 September 1844 in Damme
Anna Maria Elisabeth Börger: born 27 February 1798, died ?
The given names are exactly the same and in the same order in the birth record of Maria Elisabeth Catharina Kotte, born 1839 (https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=282); so this is most likely one family.
Other children of these parents in the Damme Church book are:
- Anna Maria Elisabeth Kotte sive Korte, born 27 September 1828 (https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=149). This record shows that Kotte and Korte are used interchangeably.
- Bernard Friederich Kotte, born 30 July 1833 (https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=210)
- Maria Engel Kotte, born 29 May 1836 (https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB15/?pg=245)
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On Ancestry there is an 1864 immigration record for Elisabeth Korte, aged 24 years:
https://www.ancestry.de/discoveryui-content/view/5444519:7488
This record states Hannover as the home country.
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Thank you both so much for your help on this. I know it must have taken a lot of time to go through those records, and I really appreciate it.
I went through the Damme death records from 1839 to 1864, and only one other Korte or Kotte appeared other than the Johan Heinrich Bernard Kotte we've been discussing: https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB16/?pg=216 . He doesn't appear to be in the immediate family, however.
Given that I haven't located death records for the mother or other siblings in Damme, I think I'll try to locate marriage records for the siblings. Maybe I can find the daughters in the US with their married names. I'll get the baptisms of Bernard Stricker and Elizabeth Korte's other children as well.
The birthday is an exact match to US records, and Damme is listed as her birth place on her cemetery record. Oldenburg is also listed on the 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses as well. Since the record Ulrich found indicates Korte and Kotte are interchangeable, what do you think the chances are that I've found the correct birth record for Elizabeth Korte?
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I'd say there is at least a 90% chance that this is the correct birth record for your ancestor, considering the correct birth date and place.
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Thank you again, Ulrich. Are you able to translate her mothers birth record? I'm having trouble with her mother's maiden name: https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/deutschland/vechta/damme-st-viktor/KB09/?pg=156
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