German Descent In Davenport & Scott County

View of Davenport, Iowa

The following paragraphs are from Chapter XXIX, History of Davenport and Scott County, Iowa, by Harry E. Downer. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1910.

THE GERMAN IMPRESS.

The earliest German immigration came to Scott county almost at the beginning of her history. From historic sources of unquestioned verity the population of Davenport in 1836 was about 100, consequently the history of the village cannot be said to have begun before that date. On may 15, 1836 the first German family came to this vicinity. It was the family of Carl Jacob Freitag (Friday) who with his wife and his three sons, Johann, Jacob and Gottlieb, had emigrated from Wurttemberg, pressed forward across the broad, western prairies, for the most part using a yoke of oxen for transportation, until he settled as a farmer in what is now Rockingham township, a few miles down the Mississippi river. Here in the new home three days later, a daughter, Caroline, was born to the German pioneer couple. In the year 1836 there also landed in America the Bomberg family which included Friedrich Ernst Bomberg, his wife and seven children......

Early in the year 1848 Davenport received an additional company of German immigrants numbering about 250, most of these coming from Schleswig-Holstein, where political conditions were intolerable. This stream of immigration continued, as those who had reached this land induced their friends and relatives to come. When finally the struggle of Schleswig-Holstein against Danish despotism had reached an unfortunate conclusion a larger immigration began in the years from 1851 to 1853. The German immigration was swelled by those coming from other German provinces, due to the reaction following the times of revolution in the fatherland. Until the beginning of the '1880s, a large stream of German immigration poured into this vicinity, which gradually became weaker, and although today comparatively few in the old fatherland think of emigrating it has never entirely ceased.

The Iowa census of 1890 gave Scott county a population of 43,164, of which 10,130, or very nearly one-fourth, were natives of Germany. If to this large number be added the German immigration of the twenty years following 1890 and the direct descendants of all those coming from Germany a strong showing is made for the strength of German-Americanism in this county. That not all descendants of Germans retain their German spirit is unfortunately true, yet on the other hand, it is pleasant to be able to state that in a large number of the sons and daughters of the immigrants of the '40s till '60s, the inherited spirit of the fatherland still is manifest and the love of the German language and the good old German customs has not died out. There has been no lack of continued commercial success for such true German-Americans. It is only necessary to mention here the descendants of several old forty-eighters and others more recent: Louis Hanssen's Sons, Christ Mueller's Sons, Ferdinand Roddewig's Sons, H. & H. Rohlfs, Wahle brothers, Peter Feddersen, Oswald, Walter and Herman Schmidt, Charles Naeckel's Sons, T. Richter's Sons, the sons of Henry Lischer, Alfred and Henry True, Henry and William Wiese, Ad. Eckermann, and others.

Reference

1. History of Davenport and Scott County, Iowa, by Harry E. Downer. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1910.
Viewed at the following website: http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/1910TC.html

JOHANNA "DOLLY" and HARRY CONRAD KOHRS

Children of Conrad Carston Kohrs & Anna (nee Mattausch) Kohrs

Oakdale Cemetery, Davenport Iowa

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Oakdale Cemetery was incorporated on May 14, 1856, in Davenport, Iowa, by a group of local businessmen. The original 40-acre plot has grown over time, and today the cemetery is composed of 78.3 acres. Jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke, who grew up in Davenport, is among the prominent local citizens interred in the cemetery.1

The following family members are resting at the Oakdale Cemetery:
_______________________________
Bielenberg, Gesche, 1804-1886
Bielenberg, Claus, 1819-1901
_______________________________
Kohrs, Henry, 1830-1917
Kohrs, Johanna, 1833-1919
Kohrs, Mary, 1860-1930
Kohrs, Bertha, 1865-1961
_______________________________
Kohrs, Frank, 1876-1956
Kohrs, Hilda Marie, 1885-1922
Kohrs, Frank W, 1920 -1980
_______________________________
Kohrs, Robert, 1896 -1935
_______________________________
Kohrs, Conrad C., 1868-1908
Kohrs, Anna M., 1877-1943
Kohrs, Dollie J., 1899-1970
Kohrs, Harry C., 1904-1960
Kohrs, Ruth C., 1904-1959
_______________________________
Kohrs, Harold, 1898-1955
Kohrs, Irma
Kohrs, John J. 1932-1951
_______________________________
Gehrmann, Wm. H., 1858-1933
Gehrmann, Helen Kohrs, 1863-1954
Gehrmann, William Conrad, 1889-1965
Gehrmann, Anita Paula, 1891-1975
Gehrmann, John Henry, 1892-1985
Gehrmann, Edna Marie, 1892-1985
_______________________________

References

1. Oakdale Memorial Gardens: Retrieved on April 18th from the following website: http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/lots/oakdale.asp

First National Bank & Davenport Saving Bank

Title: First National Bank
Photographer: Hostetler, J. B.
Studio Name/Location: Hostetler Studio, Davenport, Iowa
Date: Original ca. 1900-1907
Description: Photograph of the First National Bank/Davenport Savings Bank located at the southwest corner of Second and Main in Davenport, Iowa. Other businesses in the building are Louis A LeClaire's & Co. Publishers, Telephone Exchange, and the Davenport Safety Deposit Company. To the left is a sign for Dr. J.W. McKee Dental Parlors, and to the right is the Sommers & LaVelle clothing store. Also visible in the photograph is a telephone pole, a gas street lamp, and horse and buggies. A young boy sits on the steps in front of the building, and three men stand on the corner. This building was torn down ca. 1908-1910 to make way for a newer building.
Location Depicted: Southwest corner of 2nd and Main, Davenport, Iowa
Repository: Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport Public Library, 321 Main Street, Davenport, Iowa 52801
Repository Collection: Hostetler Studio Collection
Object Description: 1 negative : glass, b&w ; 10 x 8 in.
Original Database: This record is from the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive, http://www.umvphotoarchive.org, a collaborative project of cultural heritage organizations in the Iowa-Illinois Mississippi River region.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK, DAVENPORT IA
The First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa was organized June 27, 1863, with a capital of $100,000.  The banks organization papers were the first to be filed in Washington under the national banking act, and would have had the first charter issued, but for some informality in the papers which required them to be returned for correction.  This loss of time placed it at No. 15 on the list.  Its first board of directors were Royal L. Mack, Geo. S. C. Dow, Thos. Scott, J. E. Stevenson, Geo. H. French, James Armstong, Frank H. Griggs, John Schmidt, Austin Corbin.  Its first president was Austin Corbin, who was succeeded in the presidency by Ira M. Gifford, Hiram Price, James Thompson, Chas. E. Putnam and T. T. Dow.  The first cashier was Ira M. Gifford who was succeeded by D. C. Porter, Wm. H. Price, D. C. Porter, L. G. Gage and John B. Fidlar. Future directors included Walker Adams, James Thompson, T. T. Dow, A. Burdick, Henry W. Kerker, L. Schricker, J. E. Stevenson, L. C. Dessaint, Nat. French, August Steffen, Henry Kohrs.1




Title: Davenport Savings Bank
Photographer: Hostetler, J. B.
Studio Name/Location: Hostetler Studio, Davenport, Iowa
Date Original: ca. 1912-1920
Description: Photograph of the Davenport Savings Bank building, formerly known as the McManus building located at 200-208 Main Street (northwest corner of 2nd and Main) in Davenport, Iowa. Other businesses in the building are Myers Modiste, Pennsylvania Lines, Anchor Line, Tri-City Feature Film Exchange, and Dr. Stuck.
Location Depicted: 200-208 Main Street, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa
Subject: Davenport Savings Bank (Davenport, Iowa)
Notes: Dates and location determined from the Davenport city directories 1902-1913.
Repository: Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport Public Library, 321 Main Street, Davenport, Iowa 52801
Repository Collection: Hostetler Studio Collection
Object Description: 1 negative : glass, b&w ; 10 x 8 in.
Original Database: This record is from the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive, http://www.umvphotoarchive.org, a collaborative project of cultural heritage organizations in the Iowa-Illinois Mississippi River region.

DAVENPORT SAVINGS BANK
The Davenport Savings bank was the next to be incorporated and it opened its doors for business on April 1, 1870, with a capital of $12,000. The incorporators were Judge James Grant, C. E. Putnam, Abner Davison, James Armstrong, James Thompson, Ira M. Gifford, S. F. Smith, Thomas Scott and Francis Ochs. The capital stock has been increased from time to time until it is now $300,000. Of this sum but $35,000 has been actually paid in in cash, the remaining amount having been paid in from its earnings. During the forty-one years of the bank's existence it has had but five presidents. C. E. Putnam, the first president, was succeeded in 1884 by Walker Adams. In 1888 Anthony Burdick was elected and continued in the office until 1905, when he was succeeded by William O. Schmidt, who held the office until his death, in August, 1908. It is interesting to note that Louis Haller has served as vice president for thirty-six years, from 1874 to the present time. Francis Ochs, the first cashier, was succeeded by R. Smetham in 1874. In 1879 Charles N. Voss, now president of the German Savings bank, became cashier, serving until 1885, when succeeded by J. B. Meyer. Henry C. Struck, the present incumbent, succeeded Mr. Meyer in 1892. The present officers are: directors, Louis Haller and Henry Kohrs, who have served since the organization of the bank forty years ago, Anthony Burdick, John F. Dow, Henry C. Struck, W. H. Wilson, August E. Steffen, John W. Gilchrist, and Theo. Krabbenhoeft; president, John F. Dow; vice president, Louis Haller; cashier, H. C. Struck; teller, Otto L. Ladenberger; assistant teller, A. Brunig; attorney, W. H. Wilson. The total amount of surplus and undivided profits at the time of the last public statement was $294,363, and the deposits, $4,016,442. 2

References

1. Celtic Cousins. Retrieved 06 December 2008 from http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/historyofdavpart3.htm

2. Celtic Cousins. Retrieved 06 December 2008 from http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/chapter25.html

Davenport's German-American Heritage Center

Renovation gives Standard Hotel new life as German Heritage Center

Once home to drug addicts and prostitutes, the Standard Hotel has been given a new life. On May 27, the German American Heritage Center will open its doors to the public with a traditional MAIFEST celebration according to board member Harlan Meier. The $1.8 million dream is becoming a reality after years of planning. About six years ago Scharlott Goettsch Blevins persuaded a handful of people to join her in creating a center to preserve the heritage of the German immigrants who helped establish this part of the country. ``If this generation doesn't preserve our heritage, it will be gone forever,'' he said. ``Many people think of St. Louis as the gateway to the west. The Quad-Cities was also a gateway. Those who settled in Nebraska, Dakotas and Iowa would come here before starting their journey.'' The former hotel was the perfect location for such a center because it stands in what was once the hub of German life in Davenport and most likely was a place of refuge for many immigrants. Standing at a fourth floor window of the former hotel, German American Mr. Meier ponders about how many people, German immigrants specifically, stopped at the same window to admire the view of the Mississippi River throughout the building's 132-year history. It would be impossible to guess how many over-nighted in the hotel at the foot of the Centennial Bridge on the corner of 2nd and Gaines streets, he said. It is likely the hotel was the first stop for newcomers after landing near where John O'Donnell stadium now stands. Mr. Meier guesses that many immigrants were German since the area was heavily settled by Germans. They would be attracted to the hotel because it was built and owned by Germans. The original three-story west wing was built in 1868 by an unknown person who called the hotel Germania Haus. In 1875, the building was bought by John Frederick Miller who expanded to the east as well as adding a story.Mr. Miller kept the name Germania Haus and added a likeness of a Roman goddess who was said to protect the ground called Germania. As the former hotel's history is being stripped to make way for the new, the past becomes evident in the charred ceiling rafters and the tongue-and-groove floor that still mark the size of the old hotel rooms. ``They were small, but probably comfortable for then,'' Mr. Meier said. Throughout the next 100 years the building continued to provide shelter; however, the clientele changed dramatically as did the neighborhood. Rooms were rented by the hour and became a haven to undesirables and parts of society that had hit rock bottom instead of those who were seeking a better life, Mr. Meier said. Today the building is in the pathway of renovation, Mr. Meier said. [The restoration includes bringing the exterior of the building to its original\par likeness during the turn of the century - circa 1898.] Businesses and organizations have been supportive in the group's efforts to rejuvenate the building and create a place for the community and tourists to visit and learn. For those wanting to learn more about the association a web site has been created at www.germanamerheritage.org or by calling 322-8844. ``One of our goals is to have a place to preserve grandma's things,'' Mr. Meier said. ``To preserve her history and our families' histories. Someday we'll have German language classes, family trees...perhaps a floor devoted to women of German heritage. The women were very significant in the profitability and success of the German family.''


Center keeps heritage alive

A Bush for president sticker on the bill of his cap, a corn grower's emblem on his jacket, praises for the German American Heritage Center being completed in Davenport -- are symbolic of Harlan Meier's life. Mr. Meier has spent his life promoting, either a product or an organization, in addition to running a large farming operation. ``The more I had going for me the happier I was,'' Mr. Meier said. The only regret is that I didn't spend more time with my children. Looking back, well I've had quite a life.'' It started on a farm settled by his grandfather in 1900. He grew up during The Great Depression never learning they were poor, but learning the value of hard work. As a boy on the farm he would ride the grain binder cutting oats that would be bundled then put into shocks. Later he and his father would bring the shocks in on a horse drawn hayrack for threshing. His father's job would be to pitch the bundles into the thresher, while Mr. Meier carefully put the straw into stacks that would shed water. His reward for helping his father was to visit his aunt in Davenport where he could use the shower with hot running water, ride bicycles on pavement and wash a nickle bag of potato chips down with a nickle bottle of pop. It may not sound like a great reward but it beat washing in a galvanized tub on the back porch and using a building with two holes and a Sears and Roebuck catalog. In his spare time he'd peddle his bike around neighboring farms and sell garden seeds. Doing so would earn him a watch or another ``gift'' from the seed company. After serving in Korea, Mr. Meier attended Iowa State University, but his mind was on farming. He farmed in partnership with his father, then with his son. He retired from farming in 1993, but works part time as a grain trailer salesman. His goal when he started farming in the 1950's was to farm 1,000 acres and be worth $100,000. Those were lofty goals for a young man back then, he said laughing at the memory. By 1972 he was farming 2,000 acres in three counties, including the farm homesteaded by his grandfather in 1900. ``I was young, ambitious and foolish,'' Mr. Meier said. ``I did everything could to make an honest dollar. If you really want to farm today, you have to have a job in town and salt away money earned on the farm.'' During his farming career, he had a successful chemical supply and grain bin business. The chemical supply business started when he bought a old Studebaker truck and installed a model A drive line in it to slow it down. That enabled him to spread pounds instead of tons. He got a contract with a fertilizer company and cleaned out the chicken house -- he was in business. While selling bins and supplying fertlizer along with farming 2,000 acres would have been enough for most men, Mr. Meier was active in the corn promotion board, served 15 years with the Iowa Corn Growers and National Corn Growers, was on the U. S. Meat Export Federation Board and the U. S. Feed Grain Council. ``If you have a passion for agriculture, you have to make it better for the coming generation,'' he said. ``I believe strongly in these groups, someone has to speak for them. Without those lobby groups, agriculture would be much poorer.''Visiting Korea on a food-safety mission 44 years after the war ended, Mr. Meier said he saw first hand what freedom and help can do. The two-lane dusty streets traveled only by a few men and maybe horse that had survived pulling a cart he remembered had turned into a 12-lane highway with Mercedes and Hyundais speeding by highrises. Mr. Meier's passion is not just for agriculture, but for the past as well. Mr. Meier isn't a founding member of the organization, but he's a vocal member. He's taken on the task of helping build the organization's membership and helping raise money to see the work is completed on the once proud establishment known as the Germania Haus owned by J. F. Miller and later the Standard Hotel. ``I like to make people aware of what is being done,'' Mr. Meier said. ``The heritage center is important to people on both sides of the river. Heritage is important. The best way to learn about someone is to ask about their heritage. Start asking questions, people enjoy sharing information. Preserving history, it's not something you realize the importance of when you're young.'' [Mr. Meier has demonstrated that typical hard work ethic that was brought from the old country by so many of our German immigrant ancestors as a Board Director of the German American Heritage Center. Through his support and enthusiasm, the Center is becoming a reality. It is hoped that many other Americans throughout the mid-west with German ancestors will join in with such enthusiasm and support of the German American Heritage Center's opening. Information on the MAIFEST will be forthcoming.


January 9, 2000
By Pam Berenger, Dispatch/Argus Staff writer
Copyright 2000, Moline Dispatch Publishing Co.

Visit Davenport's German-American Heritage Center at: http://www.gahc.org/

Corner of 2nd Street and Harrison Street, Davenport, IA (1907)

Photo by Frederick J Bandholtz (1877-19__), August 26, 1907

The original is a gelatin silver print, 10-inches high by 47 inches wide.