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.