Searching for my grandfather, Julius KOTTKE, born 26 June 1860 in West
Prussia.
1. Came to the US in 1884
2. He filed his “declaration of intent (to be naturalized)” at Freeport,
Illinois in 1889
3. Married at Sheldon, Iowa in 1891
4. Naturalized at Sibley, Iowa 1900
5. Died at Rock Rapids, Iowa 1915
The only evidence I can find of his origin is in his marriage record (an
excerpt at
kattke.com ) The left column says that he was 30 years
old, considered himself to be an American. The entry just below that is
supposedly his birthplace, but the county clerk obviously made a mistake and
tried to correct it by writing over it; I can find no such place. I thought
it might be Marwalde or Maxwalde; I have done "area searches" around both
places without finding anyone named Kottke.
In the right column, his father’s name is listed as Micke (Michael?) and his
mother’s name as Eva Retina (Eva Rosine?) and he says that this is his first
marriage.
Family lore is that he came from some place near Bromberg.
I have searched for years without finding more information concerning his
origin. Who has a suggestion as to how I can move forward? Are there records
in the Polish or German archives that might help?
Jerry Kattke
Chicago
g.kattke@ieee.org