Well I had this blog just about finished and while correcting my horrific spelling I accidently deleted the whole thing, grrrrrr! So here goes, again.

Fredrick Joseph Kornmeyer was born in 7 July 1867 to Joseph and Josephine (Good) Kornmeyer in Hawkinsville, Oneida county New York. Joseph from an earlier blog was shown as being born in Boehringen, Baden, Germany. Josephine born in New York was the daughter of Lewis P. and Mary (Richards) Good both from France.  Now we should find the family in the 1870 census, but I have had no luck to date. We do have a daughter born Mary Louisa to Joseph and Josephine on 26 December 1871. Unfortunately she dies on 2 May 1872, as shown on findagrave.com in the St John’s Catholic Chrisoton Cemetery, Hawkinsville, New York. The following year on the 19 June 1973 their third child George Lewis is born. Now the story I was told is that Joseph was working on the St. Lawrence River, hauling freight on the river with a team of mules or oxen pulling the canal boat along from the towpath. Now the St. Lawrence is quite a distance from Hawkinsville. Closer to their home is the Black River Canal, which can lead into the Erie Canal.

That looks like quite a formidable river in winter. I wonder if he could have been working along the towpath on the Black River Canal, when he fell into the river and came down with pneumonia? Subsequently Joseph died from pneumonia on 13 October 1873.  Now George was only 4 mos. old and Fredrick was  just 6 when they lose their father.

The next piece of evidence in this story for Fredrick is found on findagrave.com, in that same cemetery where Mary Louisa Kornmeyer is buried. We find this stone for George. I personally can not read the date and I have not as yet visited this cemetery but it is indexed with a death year of 1874. Could it actually be 1884?

Another three years later Josephine herself gets pneumonia and on 27 August 1877 she too dies. Fredrick is barely 10 years old and both of his parents are gone. The family story is that Fredrick and his brother go and live with a relative of Josephine possibly  a Good.  So, was that George Lewis or was there another brother. Until I can locate Fredrick and whom ever in his family in the 1870 and 1880 census, I can not resolve this.

The family story goes on to tell of Fredrick moving west with the Fred Good family. What year, we can not be sure, but the story continues with  Fredrick as a young man working on two separate cattle drives from Texas to Colorado. It is during one of those cattle drives that he meets Laura Tabler in Great Bend, Kansas.

On 19 December 1893 Fredrick Joseph Kornmeyer marries Miss Laura Ellen Tabler in Great Bend, Kansas.

Now this is another time I wish the 1890 US census had survived. As it were the first census we have for Fredrick is not until the 1895 Kansas State Census.

In this census for Russell County, Kansas we find Fred Kornmeyer (25 years old) born in New York and having moved from New York to Kansas and  working as a Farmer. Laura (25) born in Kansas. Clarence (6 months old) born in Kansas.  It is known that Clarence was born on 21 October 1894. Notice two doors up is a F.J. Good and family. Could this be the family member that Fredrick came west with? While it shows F.J. Good was born in New York it has him moving to Kansas from California. Hmmm!

So we do find the family in the 1900 census for Fairview, Russell county, Kansas. Fredrick (30) is a Farmer, Laura (30) is shown as born in Missouri, Clarence (5) born in Kansas, Roy (3) born in Kansas, and Howard (6 months)also born in Kansas. We still see the Good family two houses away but F.J. Good is shown as Frank Good in this census.

In 1902 there is the County map for Township 11 South Range 13 West. It shows Waldo, Kansas and highlighted is the Fred Kornmeyer 3/4 section with Frank Good in the section directly south. Also note a CE Tabler has that  remainder of the section where we find Fredrick.

24 May 1903 Wilma Kornmeyer is born in Waldo Kansas to Fredrick and Laura. On 20 December 1908 the couple celebrate the birth of twin girls Alma and Ida. Sadly less then two months later 5 February 1909 Ida dies.

From here until 1936 we have the census proof that Fredrick and Laura continued on working this same farm outside of Waldo, where they raised not only their five children but also cattle, and crops, which would have included alfalfa, corn, and wheat, which Fred faithfully rotated, being the  good farmer.

I am surprised that I have not found them in the 1940 census for they should be either there near Waldo or maybe they have already moved into Luray for Fred would be 73 and hopefully retired from the farm.

Laura (85) dies 30 December 1954 in Luray Kansas and  is buried in Waldo, Kansas. Fredrick (90) dies 24 September 1959 in Luray and is buried along with Laura in Waldo.