Zion on the Mississippi lists a bunch of Hoffmann’s who came to America aboard the Johann Georg as part of the Gesellschaft in 1839. Almost all of them were said to be from Frankenberg, Germany. I will be attempting to tell the story of the 17 year-old weaver named Friedrich Ernst in the image below.
There is a bit of mystery here because the actual passenger list for the Johann Georg leaves Friedrich Ernst off their list. One has to wonder why Friedrich Ernst is not found in this image.
Christian Friedrich Ernst Hoffmann was born on October 11, 1821 in Frankenberg, Germany. He was the son of Friedrich and Charlotta Henrietta (Seyrich) Hoffmann. A Frankenberg birth record for him is displayed below.
Friedrich Ernst’s mother died in Germany, and his father married again. His second wife was Eleanore Buchheim. She is the wife listed on the passenger list shown above. This Hoffmann family settled in St. Louis.
Friedrich Ernst would get married prior to finding him in the 1850 census, so we will take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Catharine Anna Steiner, who was born on September 1, 1830 in Germany. I am not 100% sure who her parents were. When she was just 7 years old, her family moved to America. They came to this country aboard the ship, Olympia, in 1837. We can see them on the passenger list for that ship shown below.
On March 5, 1846, Catharine Steiner married John Koch in St. Louis. I really don’t know anything about this John Koch. I do know that there was a teacher that came with the Gesellschaft, but that John Koch’s history does not jibe with the one who married Catharine. We can take a look at a St. Louis marriage record for this couple here. They were married by a justice of the peace.
John Koch must have died not long after this wedding because on August 12, 1849, Friedrich Ernst Hoffmann married Catherine Koch. That makes today the 175th wedding anniversary for this pair. They were married at the newly established congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis. The pastor of Immanuel at that time was Rev. J.F. Buenger, one of the builders of the Log Cabin College in Altenburg. I am able to display the marriage record from that congregation’s books which are now available on Ancestry.com as part of a collection of Missouri Synod records.
Some Ancestry.com family trees list 8 children born to this couple, but I found 6 baptism records in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. When the 1850 census was taken, we find the Hoffmann’s living in St. Louis where Friedrich Ernst was called a laborer. At least, I think this is their entry. There is a 17 year-old named Aug. Hoffmann, who may be Friedrich Ernst’s half-sister, Augusta.
The 1860 census shows the Hoffmann’s with 5 children. Friedrich Ernst is still called a laborer.
It turns out that the 1870 census was the last census that includes Friedrich Ernst. There were 7 children in their household at that time. The youngest was only 1 year old. This time, Friedrich Ernst was called a cooper.
I located these 2 photos of Catharine and Friedrich Ernst.
Friedrich Ernst Hoffmann died in 1871 at the age of 49. Then, when the 1880 census was taken, we find Catharine as a widow with 4 children. Three of those children were part of the work force. There was also a boarder named Charles Engel living in their household who was a student at college.
Catharine Hoffmann died in 1885 at the age of 55. Both Friedrich Ernst and Catharine have entries on Findagrave.com that say they are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis, but there are no gravestone photos.
Neither Friedrich Ernst nor Catharine lived very long, but their legacy was passed on to next generations by having several children who lived to adulthood. I’m sure this branch of the Frankenberg Hoffmann family tree is quite large.