The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Two

"THE SEARCH FOR FRIEDRICH-WILHELM COLBERG, JR."

As I indicated in the first chapter of this Kolberg/Colberg saga, my great-great-grandparents were Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Sr. & Henriette Amalie Kautz of Klein Tuchen, Kreis Butow, Pomerania. They were the parents of 12 children, of whom 7 sons lived to adulthood. Through many years of research I have been able to trace the lives of 6 of their sons down to the present generation. But the life of their eldest, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr., remains elusive.

What we do know is that Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr. was born on September 28, 1852 in Klein Tuchen, Kreis Butow, Pomerania. He was christened at the Evangelical church in Gross Tuchen on October 3,1852. Sometime prior to 1882 he married Hermine Melchert and the births of two of their children are known to me from records obtained from the Catholic Church in Tuchomie (Gross Tuchen)in recent years. These two children were (1) Martha Marie Franziska Colberg born May 28, 1882 in Klein Tuchen and (2) Paul Willy Colberg born December 25, 1883 also in Klein Tuchen. It is believed that they had at least 4 more children. Other than this information, the only other information I have is that Friedrich-Wilhelm Colberg, Jr. died in 1918 in Klein Tuchen and was buried in the Evangelical Cemetery there as well.

Over the years, despite extensive research, I have not been able to learn anything further about the descendants of Friedrich-Wilhelm and Hermine Colberg. Certainly there must be some descendants still living today, and with the help of the Internet and the interest in genealogy throughout the world, I still have hope that connections may be made.

A few years ago another cousin here in Berrien County contacted me. She is a granddaughter of the youngest Kolberg son, Ferdinand Kolberg, and she and her husband were involved in genealogy as well. We decided to meet and discuss our mutual research and when she and her husband arrived at my home they had brought with them the German photo album of her grandfather, Ferdinand. They explained to me that, as her Uncle Walter Kolberg had shared with me years ago, her grandfather, Ferdinand, his wife, Helena, and their 6 children had lived in Barkotzen, Kreis Rummelsburg, Pomerania for many years and had immigrated to the US in 1910. At that time, Ferdinand Kolberg carried with him this old album that contained his photos of his family in Germany. It was stressed that this was an album of the Kolberg family and there were about 40-50 photos contained in this album. All were professional cabinet photos of the time and were in mint condition. These cousins allowed me to borrow their album and I scanned all the photos and e-mailed them as well to my cousin, Gerhard Kolberg, in Berlin. Gerhard is a grandson of Colberg brother, Johann Colberg. Gerhard was able to identify some of the photos as being from his family, the family of Johann Colberg, but the rest remain unidentified.

In an effort to see if perhaps these remaining photos could be from the family of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr. & Hermine Colberg, I will display them here. Perhaps someone will come across this blog and will recognize any of these photos. They were all taken in Germany, some list the photographer's name and location; some are shown as having been taken in Stolp which was another Kreis in Pomerania just to the north of Kreis Butow. It just seems logical that perhaps one or more of the children of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr moved to the area of Stolp and had these photos taken. It is obvious that families enjoyed sharing these photos and for Ferdinand Kolberg to have this album in Germany and then carry it to the US meant that it was valuable to him. I think he would be pleased to know that these photos are still of interest today, almost 100 years after he brought them to America.

I don't think this poor woman wanted her picture taken!

What kind of 'prop' is this for a child's photo?

Obviously the same woman as in the photo below

This man could be a twin to my great-uncle, Hugo Kolberg.

Obviously another Kolberg person.

(Click on any photos to enlarge)

Anyone reading this blog, or anyone reading Gerhard's website, who think they might have a connection to our Kolberg/Colberg family, please either respond to this blog or e-mail me at ancestrylove(at)gmail(dot)com. The e-mail address on Gerhard's website is no longer active and we don't want to miss the opportunity to connect with someone if they write him directly and their e-mail returns to them. Any mail that comes to me in German I will immediately forward to Gerhard for response.