Research help needed in Illinois pre 1860 Surname KNOPPE

Question

One of my ancestral lines has brick-walled in Illinois, and I honestly don't know where to begin looking.

George Bernard Knoppe was born 5 Mar 1845 somewhere in Illinois according to a newspaper article with a brief biography of him that was written in 1886.

In 1866, he arrived in Cincinnati.  From his arrival, I have been able to track his life through various Cincinnati newspapers as his police career was covered very thoroughly.  He died in 1893 in Cincinnati.

The 1870 census in Cincinnati says he was born in Hanover.
The 1880 census in Cincinnati says he was born in Germany

Despite the census records, I have been unable to find any immigration information for him.

I have not been able to find any Civil War records that I could say were him for sure.

There are 4 George Knoppe / Knopp / Knobb living in Illinois during the 1860 census that are all around the right age.

In the 1850 census, there aren't any George Knoppe / Knopp / Knobbe living in Illinois who were born in Illinois.

I do not know his parent's names, nor do I know any siblings for him.  He has been a brick wall for me for over 15 years. I would really like to find him.  Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Was your George Bernard Knoppe married?  If so, do you know his wife's name, where or when they were married, or names of any children? Do you know the names of any siblings?

Comments

George Bernard was married.  His wife was Julia Anna (or Juliana) Schroeder. They were married circa 1867 in Cincinnati. (Cincinnati vital records for that time period were destroyed in a...wait for it... courthouse fire!)

Their children are:

Henry A. Knoppe (b. 1870 / m. Sophia L. James in 1899 / d. 30 Dec 1934)

Anna Marie Knoppe (b. 1871 / m. Edward Zoller in 1891 / d. 28 Nov 1942)

Louis Ludwig Knoppe (b. 1874 / d. 24 Apr 1884)

George Bernard Knoppe Jr. (b. 31 Jan 1876 / m. May Rose Marie Hoffman  26 Jan 1909 / d. 16 Mar 1939)

Ella Knoppe (b. 8 Apr 1878 / m. Arthur Chester Paul 19 Jan 1904 / d. 19 Dec 1956)

Mary J. Knoppe (b. Aug 1880 / d. 18 Apr 1956)

Benjamin Knoppe (b. Jul 1882 / d. ?) Unverified child

Bernard Knoppe (b. 5 Jul 1882 / m. Bertha C. Haverkos in 1911 / d. ?) Possibly Bernard and Benjamin are the same person, or twins, I don't know.

Charles Louis Knoppe (b. 17 Aug 1884 / m. Rose Burns / d. 20 Jun 1935)

Edward Theodore Knoppe (b. 19 Aug 1888 / m. Hilda Gentsheimer / d. 8 Aug 1946)

I do not know of any siblings that George had. There is another Knoppe / Knobbe listed in the 1869 Cincinnati Directory (the earliest I have found that mentions him) by the name of Lena, but I have been so far unable to determine whether there is any actual relationship.

Answer 2

Check the Illinois Secretary of State archives. Go to cyberdriveillinois.com. In quick links select Illinois State Archives. Then select Genealogical Research. If George did anything in Illinois, there might be records - birth, marriage, death, land, etc.

Comments

Thank you Robert.  Unfortunately the records that they have do not go back far enough. Birth records weren't kept in the state until 1877, State Census records only list the head of household. He wouldn't be listed in the death records.

However:

Doing a land sale search (original purchasers of land from the federal government) came up with several "KNOPP" or "KNOBB" entries.

KNOPP HEINRICH - Cook County - Land Purchased 1848

KNOPP JACOB - Randolph County - Land Purchased 1847

KNOPP JOHN A - Monroe County - Land purchased in 1843

KNOPP WILLIAM - Randoph County - Land purchased in 1845

KNOPP BERNARD - Cumberland County - Land purchased in 1867 and 1870

KNOPPER BERNARD - Effingham county - land purchased in 1847

KNOBB WILLIAM - DeWitt County - Land purchased in 1847

The problem is, I don't know any sibling or parent names for my George. While he did name some of his children Henry (Heinrich?) and Bernard (and his own middle name was Bernard) I wouldn't know where to try and narrow down the search yet.

 

Suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Answer 3

The profile you have on him says he was born in 1945. 

I did a quick search for service records and found 

 

George Knopp --- which said see George Knapp Co. B  23 Ohio Infantry  

 

There are some George M or George W Knopp in ILLINOIS.  Nothing else so far.

Comments

Thank you!  Where did you find the military records?

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See http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cemeteryproject/23rd/CoB.html for the military record.

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Thanks so much! I really appreciate that!

Answer 4

I want to add some additional information that may or may not be relevant. I'm still struggling with this.

In the 1870 census, there is a man living with George and his wife Julia. This person is named "John Kabbes" and was born in Illinois.   I was unable to find this John Kabbe in the 1860 census, but I did find him in the 1850 census in Effingham, IL.

One of the families of Knoppes living in Illinois was in the Effingham area and I found them in the cenus a few pages away from John Kabbes. Unfortunately, they do not have a child by the name of George B.  They have a child by the name of John G Knoppe and a child named Gerhard Knoppe.  I have no way of knowing whether this is my George yet.

Additionally, seeing as how John Kabbes and George B Knoppe were the same ages (approximately) I went through civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/county/effingha.html looking for all Kabbes / Knoppes in Effingham-based Civil war regiments and was unable to find any.

Is there anyplace else I can look?