I have a lot of information here but I am hoping with the various names
someone will be able to help me find the following answers:
Who and where are the parents of Ferdinand Bernard Kaufmann?
Who and where are the parents of Johann Frederick Osterhaus?
Ferdinand Kaufmann was born in North Germany in a land they
called Prussia.
We do not know anything about him until he was 27 yrs old.
On the 20th day of June 1837 he left Bremen, Germany and arrived in the
Port of NY on 16th day of August, almost two months later.
This information is from his declararation of intention when he applied
for citizenship in Cincinnati OH 9 Oct 1844.
He married Elisabeth NIEMANN (daughter of Herman Niemann of Dinklage,
Oldenburg, GER) 20 Nov 1845 in Teutopolis, Illinois.
She was a widow of Johann Frederick OSTERHAUS (born 1806 in ?).
When a young man, he joined the German Army, from which
he was discharged at Osnabruck in April, 1833. Following this, he,
with several friends, came to America, where in 1840 he was issued a deed
to some land by President VanBuren. This was mostly wooded land near the
small town of Teutopolis, Illinois.
Mr. Osterhaus, with two companions (Fischer and Dornkamp), at. first lived in a
dugout (a space dug into the ground, bridged by small poles and covered
with grass or leaves) while they, using their few crude tools, built a log cabin
and began to clear the land.
The following year he met and married Elizabeth Nieman, a daughter of
Herman and Mary Selhorst Nieman, who came here from Oldenburg, Germany in 1839.
Also with them were three sons and brothers of Elizabeth, all of whom pioneered
this south central section of Illinois.
On July 15, 1842, a son, John Henry, was born to them. When this boy was just
past two years old his father, Johann Frederick Osterhaus, died.
Back to Ferdinand Bernard Kaufmann who had also aquired a great deal of land.
This is an excerpt from one of his other actions:
The other small settlement in Douglas Township, Illinois would be St. Mary's or Green Creek,
which is in section 22 of North Part Douglas in 1860. It was platted by H.H. Mette and
Ferdinand Kaufman and was surveyed by James Anderson.
Ground was set aside for a church and 56 lots but none were ever sold.
It did maintain a post office for awhile.
Ferdinand and Elizabeth had 8 children. He died in 1863.
Thank you for any assistance.