oldenburg-l - Nachricht 2008-02 00021

[D.L. MacLaughlan-Dumes <dmac(a)physics.ucla.edu>]

At 12:13 PM 2/6/2008 -0600, you wrote:

>  I am looking for advice on researching in Cincinnati and the Covington, KY
> areas.  I have sent a request for sacramental records for the Niemeyer's
> and Kerk's but have not heard back yet from the Archives of the Church yet.

If you know what church your Niemeyers were affiliated with this is 
probably the best route. Even so the records you may receive may not be 
very enlightening. I have Robers ancestors who lived in Cincinnati in the 
1840s and 1850s. Their St. Mary's marriage record gives just the name of 
the bride, groom, witnesses and dates, no ages, birthplace, or parents' names.

> I've noticed some listers mention cemetery records and city directories in
> Cincy and Covington, KY.  Are any of these resources online?   Would a
> subscription to ancesty.com be worthwhile?   Like I said,  I feel I'm at a
> brick wall and looking for some advice on what's available for these areas.

Which way is your brick wall, back in time to Oldenburg (I assume they were 
from there since you're posting on an Oldenburg list) or after they came to 
Ohio?

ancestry.com is fine for census work but doesn't have much in the way of 
early Cincinnati directories. But the 1840-1900 censuses show a handful of 
Niemeyer/Niemeier families there and a few Kark/Kerk/Karch families. If 
your local library subscribes to ancestry.com you might not need a 
subscription.

> I know that my ancestor John Henry Niemeyer applied for citizenship in Cincy
> in 1844, and was born in Germany in 1820.  He married Catherine Maria Kerk (
> Kark / Karch) in 1846 in Cincy.  I believe he had other family in the Cincy
> and Covington, KY area because a Frederick Niemeyer was a witness to the
> wedding, but don't know if he was a brother/ cousin or if related at all.

There's a good chance that this indicates a relationship of some kind, but 
you likely won't be able to prove it unless you find birth records for them 
in their town of origin in Germany, or unless the marriage record indicates 
a relationship. Another option: see whether you can find a death record for 
your John Henry Niemeyer in IL and Frederick in Ohio. Those may give 
parents' names.

In the 1870 census there's a Frederick Niemeyer, born about 1823, living in 
Cincinnati and married to a Mary, but he reports being from Hannover not 
Oldenburg. The only John Niemeyer I can find in Illinois, born in 1820, was 
married to a Theresia, not Catherine or Mary, and he was from Hannover as well.

There's a death of a John H. Niemeyer on 09/30/1878 in Teutopolis, 
Effingham County, IL; perhaps the son of your German-born John Henry? IL 
deaths are searchable online here:

http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/deathsrch.html

Steve Hellmann's suggestion about the Kenton County library may be helpful 
too. I found some family members from Cincinnati who had resettled in 
Covington and found some obits that helped fill in family details.

Regards,
Debra
http://sakionline.net/familypage
Oldenburg families: Bruns, Oldehues, von Oven, Melchers