Lately, I’ve been having a lot of success in researching my Karbach/Koerbach family. They came from Germany around 1850 or 1853 and settled in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio. One of the wonderful resources I have discovered is the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Center which has an index of obituaries in several area newspapers. I’ve now ordered about 15 obituaries for only $3 each.
One of the obituaries I ordered was for my great, great, great grandmother, Mary Ann (Reuter) Koerbach. I received the ‘obituary’ with this wonderful title: “Aged Woman Answers Summons.” In it, I found two clues: one saying that she was married in 1847 and “came to America three years later.” And, the other saying she “was born in Koblentz, Prussia, May 4, 1825…” Here’s the article:
Norwalk Reflector Herald – May 22, 1914 – page 1, column 22
I did some research on Koblentz, Prussia mainly using Wikipedia. It is also spelled Coblenz (English), Koblenz (German), & Coblence (French). The word means “confluence” and it is at the confluence of two rivers: the Rhine and the Moselle. Koblenz, the preferred spelling today is located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which is one of 16 German states.
Remember: you can’t always believe everything you read! For many years I thought my Eastwood ancestors had come from Leeds, England as I found that in an obituary. But, as I learned this year, they actually came from LEES!!! (No “d” and a very different place.) So, this is just a ‘hint.’ After all, we don’t know who gave the information to the newspaper and Mary was 89 years old!
P.S. I have found out that they came from a smaller, nearby village of Ediger. You can read more about that on my “Translating Latin” post.
Do we share common ancestors? I’d love to talk! Please email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.
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