Trying to figuring out who Edward Koch really was had me up against a brick wall. The reason for all the confusion? A nickname and the assumption that he was the child of someone else. On the 1900 census, a girl named Katie Bessler is shown as a widow and listed as a boarder in the household of William Koch. Her son, Edward G Koch, is shown on that same census as living with Katie's parents. The assumption was that Katie had married one of William's sons, yet no one could figure out which as the information on them just did not match up.
On the other end, was a child named Otto who was listed on the 1880 census as the eldest son of Jacob Koch and Mary Mast... yet his name on that census is crossed out. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find any other mention of Otto outside that one census. It seemed like I would never figure out either mystery, but then I took a trip to Toledo (which is where the family is from) and happened to stop into one of the cemetery offices to try and track down some family gravestones. They told me about a family plot for 'Jacob Koch' and then listed off all the names of the people buried there. One of them was Edward G Koch Richards (which does not appear on the gravestone only on their records so I would have never known had I not gone to see them!).
Richards is the family name of the man Katie later married and who adopted her son Edward. It was a family story that Katie's first husband, a Koch, had died only about a year into their marriage (and in the same year his son was born) but no one had ever heard his name (which turns out to be quite amusing when we figure out what it is since he's named after his dad!). Hearing that name, I immediately knew I had found Katie's son and could possibly unravel who his father was. But I was confused as to why he was buried in the family plot of Jacob Koch rather than William (they were brothers). Going out to the graves, I saw that there were two graves with the name Edward Koch, one dying the same year the other was born. I knew I had finally found his father, yet something still didn't add up.
With the new information I headed to the library and was able to find everything I needed to fill in most of the holes (it just takes one little piece of info to unlock things!). I discovered, through Edward Sr.'s death records that he was the eldest son of Jacob Koch - which meant he had to be Otto (that was either a nickname or a middle name, probably the latter). I tried to get Edward's actual death certificate, but the woman at the Health Department said it was pretty much blank so she just wrote down what she could and didn't charge me. The only new piece of info was that he died of Typhoid Fever, which is contagious and, back then, people were locked away in hospital's to prevent spreading.
Given all the information I gathered this is what I think happened: I believe that his name was probably Edward Otto Koch, born 1871 to Jacob Koch and Mary Mast. A short time after he married Katie, he contracted Typhoid and was confined in a hospital. Jacob owned a farm outside of the city which would have been far away from the hospital but his two brothers (William and Samuel) both lived in the city so Katie must have gone to live with William to be closer to her husband (she is only listed as a boarder in his home on the 1900 census and not a step-daughter which would have been the case had she been married to a son of his). Her family probably went with her which explains why they are right after William's on that census. She would have been pregnant at this time, but given that Edward died so soon in 1899 it is unlikely his son was born before he died. Having a newborn and just losing her husband early in 1899 meant she probably wasn't up for travel and so she stayed at William's house until after 1900 which is why she is at his house for that census.
His life was a short and troubled one but, with just a bit of luck and hard work, his living descendants are able to honor him.
On the other end, was a child named Otto who was listed on the 1880 census as the eldest son of Jacob Koch and Mary Mast... yet his name on that census is crossed out. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find any other mention of Otto outside that one census. It seemed like I would never figure out either mystery, but then I took a trip to Toledo (which is where the family is from) and happened to stop into one of the cemetery offices to try and track down some family gravestones. They told me about a family plot for 'Jacob Koch' and then listed off all the names of the people buried there. One of them was Edward G Koch Richards (which does not appear on the gravestone only on their records so I would have never known had I not gone to see them!).
Richards is the family name of the man Katie later married and who adopted her son Edward. It was a family story that Katie's first husband, a Koch, had died only about a year into their marriage (and in the same year his son was born) but no one had ever heard his name (which turns out to be quite amusing when we figure out what it is since he's named after his dad!). Hearing that name, I immediately knew I had found Katie's son and could possibly unravel who his father was. But I was confused as to why he was buried in the family plot of Jacob Koch rather than William (they were brothers). Going out to the graves, I saw that there were two graves with the name Edward Koch, one dying the same year the other was born. I knew I had finally found his father, yet something still didn't add up.
With the new information I headed to the library and was able to find everything I needed to fill in most of the holes (it just takes one little piece of info to unlock things!). I discovered, through Edward Sr.'s death records that he was the eldest son of Jacob Koch - which meant he had to be Otto (that was either a nickname or a middle name, probably the latter). I tried to get Edward's actual death certificate, but the woman at the Health Department said it was pretty much blank so she just wrote down what she could and didn't charge me. The only new piece of info was that he died of Typhoid Fever, which is contagious and, back then, people were locked away in hospital's to prevent spreading.
Given all the information I gathered this is what I think happened: I believe that his name was probably Edward Otto Koch, born 1871 to Jacob Koch and Mary Mast. A short time after he married Katie, he contracted Typhoid and was confined in a hospital. Jacob owned a farm outside of the city which would have been far away from the hospital but his two brothers (William and Samuel) both lived in the city so Katie must have gone to live with William to be closer to her husband (she is only listed as a boarder in his home on the 1900 census and not a step-daughter which would have been the case had she been married to a son of his). Her family probably went with her which explains why they are right after William's on that census. She would have been pregnant at this time, but given that Edward died so soon in 1899 it is unlikely his son was born before he died. Having a newborn and just losing her husband early in 1899 meant she probably wasn't up for travel and so she stayed at William's house until after 1900 which is why she is at his house for that census.
His life was a short and troubled one but, with just a bit of luck and hard work, his living descendants are able to honor him.
Trying to figuring out who Edward Koch really was had me up against a brick wall. The reason for all the confusion? A nickname and the assumption that he was the child of someone else. On the 1900 census, a girl named Katie Bessler is shown as a widow and listed as a boarder in the household of William Koch. Her son, Edward G Koch, is shown on that same census as living with Katie's parents. The assumption was that Katie had married one of William's sons, yet no one could figure out which as the information on them just did not match up.
On the other end, was a child named Otto who was listed on the 1880 census as the eldest son of Jacob Koch and Mary Mast... yet his name on that census is crossed out. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find any other mention of Otto outside that one census. It seemed like I would never figure out either mystery, but then I took a trip to Toledo (which is where the family is from) and happened to stop into one of the cemetery offices to try and track down some family gravestones. They told me about a family plot for 'Jacob Koch' and then listed off all the names of the people buried there. One of them was Edward G Koch Richards (which does not appear on the gravestone only on their records so I would have never known had I not gone to see them!).
Richards is the family name of the man Katie later married and who adopted her son Edward. It was a family story that Katie's first husband, a Koch, had died only about a year into their marriage (and in the same year his son was born) but no one had ever heard his name (which turns out to be quite amusing when we figure out what it is since he's named after his dad!). Hearing that name, I immediately knew I had found Katie's son and could possibly unravel who his father was. But I was confused as to why he was buried in the family plot of Jacob Koch rather than William (they were brothers). Going out to the graves, I saw that there were two graves with the name Edward Koch, one dying the same year the other was born. I knew I had finally found his father, yet something still didn't add up.
With the new information I headed to the library and was able to find everything I needed to fill in most of the holes (it just takes one little piece of info to unlock things!). I discovered, through Edward Sr.'s death records that he was the eldest son of Jacob Koch - which meant he had to be Otto (that was either a nickname or a middle name, probably the latter). I tried to get Edward's actual death certificate, but the woman at the Health Department said it was pretty much blank so she just wrote down what she could and didn't charge me. The only new piece of info was that he died of Typhoid Fever, which is contagious and, back then, people were locked away in hospital's to prevent spreading.
Given all the information I gathered this is what I think happened: I believe that his name was probably Edward Otto Koch, born 1871 to Jacob Koch and Mary Mast. A short time after he married Katie, he contracted Typhoid and was confined in a hospital. Jacob owned a farm outside of the city which would have been far away from the hospital but his two brothers (William and Samuel) both lived in the city so Katie must have gone to live with William to be closer to her husband (she is only listed as a boarder in his home on the 1900 census and not a step-daughter which would have been the case had she been married to a son of his). Her family probably went with her which explains why they are right after William's on that census. She would have been pregnant at this time, but given that Edward died so soon in 1899 it is unlikely his son was born before he died. Having a newborn and just losing her husband early in 1899 meant she probably wasn't up for travel and so she stayed at William's house until after 1900 which is why she is at his house for that census.
His life was a short and troubled one but, with just a bit of luck and hard work, his living descendants are able to honor him.
On the other end, was a child named Otto who was listed on the 1880 census as the eldest son of Jacob Koch and Mary Mast... yet his name on that census is crossed out. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find any other mention of Otto outside that one census. It seemed like I would never figure out either mystery, but then I took a trip to Toledo (which is where the family is from) and happened to stop into one of the cemetery offices to try and track down some family gravestones. They told me about a family plot for 'Jacob Koch' and then listed off all the names of the people buried there. One of them was Edward G Koch Richards (which does not appear on the gravestone only on their records so I would have never known had I not gone to see them!).
Richards is the family name of the man Katie later married and who adopted her son Edward. It was a family story that Katie's first husband, a Koch, had died only about a year into their marriage (and in the same year his son was born) but no one had ever heard his name (which turns out to be quite amusing when we figure out what it is since he's named after his dad!). Hearing that name, I immediately knew I had found Katie's son and could possibly unravel who his father was. But I was confused as to why he was buried in the family plot of Jacob Koch rather than William (they were brothers). Going out to the graves, I saw that there were two graves with the name Edward Koch, one dying the same year the other was born. I knew I had finally found his father, yet something still didn't add up.
With the new information I headed to the library and was able to find everything I needed to fill in most of the holes (it just takes one little piece of info to unlock things!). I discovered, through Edward Sr.'s death records that he was the eldest son of Jacob Koch - which meant he had to be Otto (that was either a nickname or a middle name, probably the latter). I tried to get Edward's actual death certificate, but the woman at the Health Department said it was pretty much blank so she just wrote down what she could and didn't charge me. The only new piece of info was that he died of Typhoid Fever, which is contagious and, back then, people were locked away in hospital's to prevent spreading.
Given all the information I gathered this is what I think happened: I believe that his name was probably Edward Otto Koch, born 1871 to Jacob Koch and Mary Mast. A short time after he married Katie, he contracted Typhoid and was confined in a hospital. Jacob owned a farm outside of the city which would have been far away from the hospital but his two brothers (William and Samuel) both lived in the city so Katie must have gone to live with William to be closer to her husband (she is only listed as a boarder in his home on the 1900 census and not a step-daughter which would have been the case had she been married to a son of his). Her family probably went with her which explains why they are right after William's on that census. She would have been pregnant at this time, but given that Edward died so soon in 1899 it is unlikely his son was born before he died. Having a newborn and just losing her husband early in 1899 meant she probably wasn't up for travel and so she stayed at William's house until after 1900 which is why she is at his house for that census.
His life was a short and troubled one but, with just a bit of luck and hard work, his living descendants are able to honor him.
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