Children of Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp (3) - Henry

Henry Christian Kotkamp was the third child of Frederich and Catharina. He was born in Germany and came to the US with his parents separately from his older brothers. Family lore says he was ill and he and his parents came in through New Orleans since the immigration was reported to be more lax there than the East Coast ports. Henry dropped a "T" from the name. Henry was a farmer in Kehoe KY near where the other Kottkamps lived. Henry Christian Kotkamp Born: May 12, 1849, Prussia, Germany Died: February 7, 1911, Greenup County KY Henry married Nellie Grant on September 19, 1908 in Greenup County KY Nellie (Grant) Kotkamp Born: February 27, 1858, Ohio Died: August 15, 1925 Greenup County KY Parents were ? Grant and Maggie Sheets, both reported from Ohio Henry and Nellie Kottkamp

Children of Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp (2) - William

William M, "Billy" Kottkamp was the second child of Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp. Family lore says that William and his older brother Fred Jr. came to the US separately from their parents. It is not certain what dates or at which port any of this family arrived. There are records of Kottkamps arriving on the bark Weser from Bremen to Baltimore which would have been the likely departure point. There is one log with frederich and a Catharina but they are identified as children. There are other Kottkamps that settled in the York, PA, Indianapolis IN and Southern IL near St. Louis. It should be noted that the generation of Frederich and Catharina's children all seem to have dropped a "T" from the surname and went by Kotkamp. Subsequent generations after them used various spelling including Cotcamp. Their gravestones however have the original Kottkamp spelling. William lived his life in Carter County Kentucky in the area known as "Upper Grassy". He came to the US when he was nine years old and apparently met his future wife Dora Nolte on the trip over. They were married September 1, 1869 in Vanceburg KY. William Kottkamp Born: September 17, 1945 in Germany Died: March 23, 1920 in Carter County KY Aged 74 years and buried in Arms Cemetery Dora (Nolte) Kottkamp Born: October 17, 1850 in Germany Died: August 9, 1937 in Carter County KY Aged 86 years and buried in Arms Cemetery Dora was the daughter of William Nolte and Anna Gulsman and was reportedly born in Sandebeck Germany which was also the town where Williams mother Catharina had come from. William and Dora had seven children: Laura - married a man named Parker and lived in Ruggles KY Frederich William - became involved in a paternity controversy and left for Fayetteville WV Anna V. - Born October 24, 1875 and Died March 27, 1945, Married a man named Osborne and lived in Tannery KY as well as Vanceburg KY Emma Katherine - Born Oct. 24, 1875 and Died March 27, 1945 Also married an Osborne and lived in Tannery KY Fred - Born 1878 and Died 1966 in Dayton KY. Lived in Ruggles and Smith Creek KY Minnie - Married a man named Edward Bush and lived in Ruggles KY and Alice OH Dora B. - Born Sept. 10 1882 and Died March 4th 1896 at age 13 in 1896 before her parents William and Dora (Nolte) Kottkamp William Kottkamp's headstone in Arms Cemetery - Carter Co. KY

Dora (Nolte) Kottkamp's headstone in Arms Cemetery - Carter Co. KY

Dora (Nolte) Kottkamp's death certificate

This is a mystery photo of Kottkamps that I believe to be on Williams side:

This is William and Dora's son Fred. Fred relocated to Fayetteville WV after a local paternity dispute in Carter County. Rumor had it that some other mule had been kickin' in his friends stall. My uncle told me he uused to come back occasionally for Kotcamp reunions in Greenup County.

William and Dora at house with Fred and other family.

Children of Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp (1) - Fred Jr. (Frite)

Frederich and Catharina had four children. Three in Germany Fred Jr. and William that came over on their own and Henry that came over with them. In Kentucky they had a daughter Anna. Dates are as follows: Fred Jr. (Frite) The 1860 census has Fred Jr. as born in 1843 ans 17 in 1860. There are records of him as an ore digger but he disappears from the 1870 census. I thought that maybe he entered the Civil War and after a lot of searching I found an entry for Fred Kottkamp joining the Union Army in 1861 at Muldraugh Hills which is south of Louisville. It as a long way from Carter County but maybe the effort seemed more noble or at least maybe easier than hard rock mining. His military career seemed however brief. Enlistment: In hospital in Louisville: Death in Louisville Hospital: Death in Louisville again: There were no other documents regarding Fred Jr. and I found documentation that soldiers that died at the Louisville hospital were buried on hospital grounds. After the war the hospital was closed and those soldiers were re-interred in the National Cemetery in New Albany. I went through he records of the National Cemetery using the various spellings of Kottkamp with no results. Eventually I did find a Fred Cotcomb that was re-interred there. Curious, I could find no records of anyone by the name of Cotcomb ever being in the Civil War. If fact there was only a couple of obscure references to anyone with the surname Cotcomb ever and those were in the 15th century. With no further proof I have assumed that Fred Cotcomb is probably a miss-identified and re-interred Fred Kottkamp. Here is a photo of his marker in the New Albany National Cemetery.

Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp continued...

It is not clear where Frederich and Catharina lived at any particular time. Some census show them in western Greenup county in (now) Kotcamp Hollow on Leatherwood Creek. Some have them in the adjacent western Carter county in an area called "Grassy" just north of the town of Carter. Fred Jr. was 17 when he came to the US and disappears after the 1860 census. William was about 10 when he came over with Fred Jr. I suspect he lived with his parents after they arrived and he later stayed on the "Grassy" area. At some point Fred Sr. and Catharina seemed to have moved over the line into Greenup County. They had a fourth child after arriving in the US. This was the only girl and she was named Anna. There are only a couple or artifacts from Fred and Catharina Kottkamp. Oe is a bok that my Aunt Mary Lou (Kotcamp) Allen gave me that she said was brought with Catharina from Germany. It is written on Old German and appears to be a religious text. It may have actually belonged to or was given to Henry and Nellie Kotkamp since written inside are the birthdates of both Henry and Nellie as well as the birthdates of their first three children. One other artifact was a pair of wooden shoes also brought from Germany. Since they came from Northwestern Germany they used the same king of wooden shoes as were worn in Holland with a piece of leather trim for beauty and I guess comfort. My father took a photo of them on display at the Greenup Old Fashioned Days celebration an I will post it below. The photo incorrectly attributes then to Holland. They were eventually lost down the Darby line when they moved west. The photo also include some fiddle-head ferns that I know nothing about. Kottkamp name spellings... The paragraph above includes three different spellings of Kottkamp. Kottkamp is the original but it changed often after arriving in America. Fredrich and Catharina's children dropped one T to spell it Kotkamp with the exception of the oldest Fred Jr. The next generation down my (Henry's) side changed the K to a C and adopted Kotcamp spelling. William's family had many different spellings including Kotcamp, Cottkamp, Cotcamp and others.

Frederich Wilhelm Kottkamp and Catharina (Hobank) Kottkamp

These were my Great Great grandparents that moved from Germany to the US. Family lore says that they had two sons, Fred Jr. and William (Americanized names) that came over separately from them and their son Henry. They all moved from the area of Minden and Oberbauerschaft in then Prussia. They all settled in the Eastern Carter County/ Western Greenup County part of Northeastern Kentucky. They were farmers as they were in Germany and I have been to the area in Germany where they cam from and it is remarkably like the part of Kentucky where they settled. I have not been able to find records of any of the family entering the US. The two older sons probably entered via Baltimore. Family lore says that Fredrich Sr. along with Catharina and younger son Henry entered through New Orleans since Henry was sick and the Port of New Orleans had less scrutiny than the East Coast ports about illness. I have no proof of this other than family lore and have not been able to find any entrance records for them. If so I guess they traveled up the Mississippi to the Ohio and onto Eastern Kentucky. Rather than settle into Louisville or Cincinnati with well established German communities family lore also says that Fred Sr. rejected that and wanted to settle in a rural area and be a farmer as he was in Germany. It is said that speaking German was forbidden in the household. Only a couple of German vestiges are known including a housekeepers manual written in Old German that Catharina brought with them as well as a pair of wooden shoes that were eventually lost down the Darby family line when someone apparently moved west. I still have the book and a photo of the wooden shoes. Upon arrival in Eastern Kentucky Fred Jr. and William took up residence in the area known as "Grassy" in Northern Carter County Kentucky just North of the town of Carter. They were both known to have worked in the iron ore industry as well as farmed. Fredrich Sr. and Catharina settled slightly to the east on Greenup County along Big White Oak Creek near York KY. When in Greenup County Frederich Sr. and Catharina ha a fourth child, a daughter and named her named Anna. Here are photos of Frederich Wilhelm and Catharina Kottkamp:r

And here are their gravestones located in the Darby Cemetery on Big White Oak Creek in Greenup Country KY:

Birth and death dates: Frederich Wilhelm Kottkamp Born in Germany: September 17, 1795 Died in Greenup County Kentucky USA: August 22, 1879 aged 83 years Catharina (Hobank) Kottkamp Born in Germany: December 25, 1813 Died in Greenup County Kentucky USA: June 2, 1886

Introduction

This blog is intended to pass information and photos of my various ancestors on the web so that others interested might have access to them without me having to email them individually. While titled Dead Kottkamp Club it also includes information on other family lines including Cooper, Wheeler, St. Clair and others. For those of you new to the Kottkamp name it has many different spellings as different generations tried to simplify it in the US including Kotkamp, Kotcamp and others. I hope you find it useful and welcome your comments.