Adolph Niemann

I mentioned in an earlier post that newspapers can fill in a lot of information but that much of what we find is sad. Sad hardly describes the life of John’s great-uncle.

Adolph C. Niemann was born in Germany about 1883 and immigrated to the US between 1900 and 1902. By 1908 he had married Sadie Raash and their son Adolph H. was born. I have found the family on the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records. By 1930 Adolph owned his own home. Prior to finding the family in the newspaper it seemed the Adolph was living the American dream.

On Christmas Eve 1929 Adolph H. Niemann died at the age of 21. The paper does not record the cause, I found nothing about an accident, just a brief funeral notice.

The death notice for his mother, Mary A. Niemann, is found Jan. 27, 1931.

On June 3, 1931 I found another brief funeral notice, this time for his wife Sadie, at only 41 years of age.

Sometime between his wife’s death and 1934 his daughter Eleonor married James Devine……………and his daughter Anna died. As yet I have not found the newspaper record of either of these events. So how do I know about his daughters?

By 1934, Adolph was living with his sister and brother-in-law, Adam & Jennie Weis. His death made the paper in a big way. He was said to be despondent over his arrest after an automobile accident. I think he just had had enough of life.

The Syracuse Herald, July 23, 1934, pg 4

Hit – and – Run Driver Hangs Self at Camp

Adolph Nieman Found a Suicide: Despondency Blamed

Believed to have been despondent following his arrest on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, Aldoph Nieman, 51, of 216 Grumbach Avenue, ended his life yesterday by hanging at his camp on Chittenango Creek.

Nieman was arrested early Saturday morning after the automobile he was driving collided with a car operated by Louis Barricci of 305 John street, at Butternet and Lodi Street. He was arrested after a chase.

Yesterday, he had invited ushers of Holy Trinity Church to spend the day with him at his camp, situated across the creek from the nearest road. He had indormed his guests to toot horns of their automobiles when they arrived and that he would row a boat across to meet them.

They arrived about 10:30 A.M., carried out instructions, but received no response. Following a trail through the woods in a roundabout way, the guests reached the camp and found Nieman hanging from a beam.

Sergt. Earl E Stickles and Sergt. Elmer C LaPoint of Oneida Barracks and Dr Nelson O Brooks, coroner of Madison County, were summonded. They cut Nieman down and Coroner Brooks issued a verdict of suicide.

Nieman, who was a machinist employed at the Pierce, Butler and Pierce Company, had pleaded not guilty when arraigned in Police Court Saturday morning. He was released on a bond of $1,000 for his appearance in police court today.

He is survived by one daughter, Mrs James Devine, and three sisters, Mrs Adams Weis, Mrs August Korthas, and Mrs Frank Grawboski.

The body was taken by Carl J Ballweg, funeral director, to the home of Nieman’s sister, Mrs Weis, 216 Grumbach Avenue, where funeral services will be conducted at 10:30 o’clock. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery..

This originally appeared at The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree on 8 January 2006. Here are some of the newspaper articles about the family.

Syracuse Herald, Thursday, December 26, 1929, pg 24

Adolph H Niemann, 21, son of Mr and Mrs Adolph C Niemann, who died Tuesday, will be buried Friday. The funeral will be conducted at 2 o'clock from the family home, 404 Carbon Street and a half hour later from Friedens Evengelical Church by the Rev. William S Bauer. He was a life resident of Syracuse and was employed at the Onondaga Pottery Company five years. Surviving relatives include, besides his parents, two sisters, the misses Anna and Eleonor Niemann.


The Syracuse Herald, Jan 27, 1931, pg 22

NIEMANN - On the 26th, inst., MARY A NIEMANN. Survived by one son, three
daughters, a sister, and two brothers. Funeral from the home of her daughter, Mrs August Korthas, 113 Heir Avenue, Wednesday at 9 o'clock and Holy Trinity Church at 9:30. Internment Assumption Cemetery. Friends invited.


The Syracuse Herald, June 3, 1931, pg 24

NIEMANN - In this city, June 3, SADIE J, wife of Adolph C Niemann, aged 41 years. Besides her husband, she is survived by two daughters, Anna F and Eleonor S Niemann; two sisters, Mrs Harvey O Hirsch and Miss Lillian Rausch. Funeral from the family home, 404 Carbon Street, Saturday at 2 P.M. and at Frieden's Evangelical Church at 2:30 P.M. Friends invited. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Black & White & Read All Over

I read it in the news! Newspapers have been a mainstay of my research for the last several years. From the items I've found I've filled in huge chunks of my family's history.

One of my biggest newspaper finds was actually a transcription posted on the Ontario County, NY GenWeb site. It was a legal notice that listed the heirs of Laura Carter. At the time I had no idea who she was but there were a couple of names that I recognized. From that brief newspaper posting I had a starting point for further research that allowed me fill in many branches of my Hall family tree that I previously knew very little about. I originally wrote about that find here.

One of my most fun trips through the newspaper archives was researching the history of my grandparents house. I "knew" it had been an orphanage at one time. It turned out it was the Syracuse Baby Camp. Take a peek at what I wrote, it's a piece that I'm quite pleased with (except for the lack of source citations).

The Wreck of the Flyer was a local bit of history that I was unfamiliar with. I was surprised that I'd never heard the story as a cousin was the fireman that was killed in the wreck. Since I wrote about it originally, I've found several more articles and the original newspaper reports and I should write a follow up. I cross the tracks just south of the site of the wreck and have told the story to students several times so my family history is their local history.

John has no interest in genealogy and his sisters knew very little. I took out a subscription to the archives of the local paper and found more than I thought possible. Obituaries helped me sort all the August's and Adam's. The other items were mostly sad. I've written about Helena Grabowske and the loss of three of her sons. Then there was the sad tale of Adolph Niemann that played out in the paper over several years. I have dozens of transcriptions that I made detailing the public record of his family. I have posted a couple of them and may post others in the future.

My family hasn't been written about very often but some of the items I've found have been gems. I found the article announcing my mother as salutatorian of her class. I also found a wedding announcement that listed Mom as the maid of honor. I asked her about the yellow chiffon dress that was described and she demanded "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!" lol Mom and chiffon, not something I ever would have pictured! I also found several articles about my father's science fair entries.

There have been many other interesting finds. In looking through my archive I found it interesting that I haven't written about any of these finds in about a year. I'll have to get more of the transcriptions published here soon.

This was written for the 57th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy to be hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

Maria Niemann Alien Registration

One of John's cousins just sent me the Alien Registration Card of his great-grandmother, Maria Klotz Niemann, that she received from another cousin. This is the only picture of her that I have and it is the first record I've seen where her name is recorded as Maria rather than Mary. Loose inside the card was a picture of a younger man which is in the third scan. I am guessing that it is her son, Adolph. It lists her address as 113 Hier Ave, Syracuse, NY so she would have been living with her daughter and son-in-law, Anna & August Korthas.




Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY
1931-01-26
Mrs. Niemann, Native of Germany, Dead

Mrs. Mary Niemann, widow of Carl Niemann, died today at her home, 119 Hier Avenue, after a long illness. She was born in Germany and had lived in this country 28 years. Mrs. Niemann was active in Holy Trinity Church circles, and was a member of the Altar Society and Pour Souls' Union.
Surviving are one son, Adolph Niemann; three daughters, Mrs. Adam Weis, Mrs. August Korthas, and Mrs. Frank Grabowski, and a sister, Mrs. John Schwartz; two brothers, Robert and George Klotz, and 15 grandchildren.

Burial Assumption Cemetery.

Madeline Korthas Thater 1922 - 2007

Madeline A. Thater November 14, 2007 Mrs. Madeline A. Thater, 86, of Syracuse, died Wednesday, November 14, 2007, at St. Camillus Health and Rehabilitation Center. A native and life resident of Syracuse, Mrs. Thater was a health aide for the former city of Syracuse Health Department and Onondaga County for 16 years, retiring in 1983. She was a communicant of Holy Trinity Church and a former member of its Altar Rosary Society. She was a former member of the United German-American Society. She was predeceased by her husband, Edward J. Thater, in 1987. Survived by one son, William (Sharon) Thater of Austin, TX; former daughter-in-law, Agnes Thater of Syracuse; five grandchildren, Edward, Kristen, Allison, Joseph and Michael Thater; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services are MONDAY at 8:15 a.m. at Keegan-Osbelt-Knight Funeral Home and 9 a.m. in Holy Trinity Church. Burial in Woodlawn Cemetery. Calling hours are SUNDAY from 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home, 900 N. Salina Street. Contributions: Holy Trinity Church Food Pantry, 501 Park Street, Syracuse, New York 13203. Keegan-Osbelt-Knight Inc. 900 N. Salina Street
Published in the Syracuse Post Standard on 11/17/2007.



I didn't know Madeline, to me she is just a name in my tree but I know she is missed by her family and to them I extend my deepest sympathy. She was one of the dozens of local cousins that John was not aware of.

1. Madeline A Korthas

2. August Korthas abt 1883 - 1949
3. Anna Nieman abt 1891 - 1959

6. Carl Niemann
7. Mary Klotz abt 1854 - 1931

John descends from Carl and Mary's daughter, Mary.

Older Articles

I decided to start a seperate blog just for genealogy. I will continue to post articles of general interest at The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree and link to them here.

All articles written prior to December 2006 can be found here.

Some of my favorites:
Syracuse Baby Camp - The history of my grandparents house and my struggle to find it

Thank You Veterans - My Mom was an Aerographer's Mate and a cousin served on the Robin Moor

The Wreck of the Flyer - Some Fulton / DL&W Railroad history with a family connection


And some short Biographies of some ancestors:
Thomas David Berry
Michael Camfield
Tamesin Hall
Hannah Lewis Glover
Helena Grabowski
Adolph Niemann