Kitty Bobinger
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Katherine Bobinger (1846 - 1916)

Katherine (Kitty) Bobinger
Born in Cincinnati, OHmap
Ancestors ancestors
Daughter of and
Sister of , and
Wife of — married 3 Mar 1864 in German Protestant St. John's Church, Sixth St., Cincinnati, OHmap
Descendants descendants
Mother of , , , , and
Died at age 70 in 2854 Accomac St., St. Louis, MOmap
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Profile last modified | Created 26 Sep 2011
This page has been accessed 658 times.

Contents

Biography

Kitty Bobinger Thonssen was orphaned at the age of three when her mother Elisabeth died in childbirth in December 1849. Her father Michael had died of cholera in May 1849. Her two brothers, Friedrich and Michael, died in infancy. Kitty's grandmother Margaret Hey raised Kitty and her sister, Louise, in the German "Over-the Rhine" neighborhood of Cincinnati. Louise died at the age of nineteen during childbirth.

Kitty evidently did not know the names of her parents, possibly because they died when she was so young. When asked for her maternal grandparent's names for her mother's death certificate Kitty's daughter Anna said "unknown" for Kitty's mother and "John Bobinger" for her father. John was not the correct name for Kitty's father, but Kitty may have considered her half uncle, Johann Hey, to have been like a father because he lived with and supported Kitty, her sister Louise and their grandmother (his mother) Margaret Keppel Hey. Johann Hey and Michael Bobinger may have been confused in Anna's mind, leading her to write the first name of one and the surname of the other.

Fortunately Kitty left a limited genealogy record: she recorded her birthdate, birthplace and the name "Margaret Hey" on a family tree document. When I began to try to figure out Kitty's ancestry I had no idea who Margaret was, but knowing her name, combined with the excellent records that have been kept by genealogy groups and Cincinnati city records, allowed me the discover the names of Kitty's parents, grandparents (Margaret was one of them) and great grandparents (who died in Germany). I think I now have more information about my great grandmother's ancestry than Kitty herself had.

Birth

Birth:
Date: 26 JAN 1846
Place: Cincinnati, OH[1]

Death

Death:
Date: 13 OCT 1916
Place: 2854 Accomac St., St. Louis, MO
Note: Acute gastritis, contributory: chronic catarrh of stomach[2][3]

Residence

Residence:
Date: 1850
Place: Cincinnati, OH, lived with grandmother after death of parents
Residence:
Date: 1870
Place: Moved to St. Louis, MO[4]
Residence:
Date: MAR 1879
Place: 915 Catalpa St., St. Louis, MO[5]
Residence:
Date: 1880
Place: 1311 Morton St., St. Louis, MO
Residence:
Date: 1892
Place: 1124 Morrison Ave, St. Louis, MO[6]
Residence:
Date: 1896
Place: 1325 LaSalle, St. Louis, MO[7]

Census

Census:
Date: 8 AUG 1850
Place: 11th ward, Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH[8]
Link to 1850 census for the Hey/Bobinger family
Census:
Date: 23 JUL 1860
Place: 11th ward, Cincinnati, Hamiolton Co., OH[9]
Census:
Date: 22 JUN 1870
Place: 11th Ward, Cinciinati, Hamilton Co.,OH
Note: keeps house[10]
Census:
Date: 7 NOV 1880
Place: 1311 Morton St., 5th Ward, St. Louis, MO[11]
Census:
Date: 4 JUN 1900
Place: 2127 Oregon Ave., St. Louis, MO
Census:
Date: 22 APR 1910
Place: 2832a Accomac St., St. Louis, MO[12]

Burial

Katherine "Kitty" Bobinger Thonssen's Burial

Religion

Religion: Lutheran

Sources

  • WikiTree profile Bobinger-1 created through the import of Davidson_Fink.ged on Sep 26, 2011 by Shayne Davidson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Shayne and others.
  • Source: S10 Type: Periodical Author: Gould Directory Company Title: Gould?s St. Louis directory Periodical: published yearly Volume: various years Source Locality: Missouri History Museum Library, 225 S Skinker Blvd, St Louis, MO, 63105-2317, (314) 746-4500
  • Source: S111 Type: Vital Record Title: State of Ohio, Hamilton County Marriage Record Date: 3 Mar 1864 Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH Media: paper copy of original Source Locality: Hamilton County Probate Court
  • Source: S15 Type: Letter Title: personal letter of Gustav Thonssen
  • Source: S16 Text: Thonssen Family Record of Births and Deaths
  • Source: S18 Text: Bellefountaine Cemetery Records, dates on stone are incorrect for Gustav Thonssen
  • Source: S182 Type: Book Author: Jeffrey G. Herbert, Indexer Periodical: Restored Hamilton County, Ohio, Marriages, 1808-1849 Publication: Hamilton Co. Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society Page: 30
  • Source: S241 Type: Web Site Author: HISTORY OF THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN CINCINNATI Title: Robert C. Rau URL: http://jungclas.com/gensite/hamilton/gchuhist.htm
  • Source: S242 Type: Census Title: 1860 US Federal Census Place: 11th ward, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, OH Date: 23 July 1860 Media: digital Source Locality: Heritage Quest DATV Oct 2010
  • Source: S243 Type: Census Title: 1870 US Federal Census Place: Hamilton County-11-ward, Cincinnati, OH Date: 22 Jun 1870 Media: digital Source Locality: Heritage Quest DATV Oct 2010
  • Source: S277 Type: Vital Record Title: Certificate of Death-Katherine Thonssen Date: 13 Oct 1916 Place: St. Louis, MO File Number: 35907 Register: 9491
  • Source: S35 Type: Newspaper Title: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Deaths
  • Source: S44 Type: Census Title: 1880 Federal Census Place: MISSOURI > ST LOUIS > 5-WD; ST LOUIS Date: 7 Nov 1880 Media: digital Source Locality: Heritage Quest DATV Oct 2010
  • Source: S601 Type: Census Title: 1910 Federal Census Place: 1910 > MISSOURI > ST LOUIS > 14-WD ST LOUIS Date: 22 April 1910 Media: digital Source Locality: Heritage Quest DATV Jun2010 SERS Series: T624 Roll: 818 Page: 26
  • Source: S710 Type: Census Title: 1850 Federal Census Place: Cincinnati, ward 11, Hamilton, Ohio Date: 8 Aug 1850 Media: digital Source Locality: beta.familysearch.org DATV Oct 2010
  • Source: S970 Type: Vital Record Title: Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 Record for Gustave Thonssen Date: 17 Mar 1879 Place: St. Louis, MO File Number: St Louis > Record images for St Louis > 1879 > 86 Media: digital Source Locality: Missouri Birth Records [Microfilm]. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives.

Notes

Note N418
About marriage for Kitty and her parents:
In 1841 St. John's Church changed pastors, and August Kroell arrived. He was a liberal man, and under him peace and harmony finally came to the congregation. Under his 33-year leadership the congregation grew very large, until a new and larger church building became necessary. In 1868 the congregation moved into their beautiful church on the comer of 12th and Elm Streets, in the "Over-the-Rhine" region. In the following years the congregation continued in their liberal leanings, and in 1924, under pastor Hugo Eisenlohr, this first German congregation in Cincinnati joined the Unitarian denomination. Today this congregation is the St. John's Unitarian Church in Clifton.
  1. ↑ Source: #S16
  2. ↑ Source: #S35
  3. ↑ Source: #S277
  4. ↑ Source: #S15
  5. ↑ Source: #S970
  6. ↑ Source: #S10
  7. ↑ Source: #S10
  8. ↑ Source: #S710
  9. ↑ Source: #S242
  10. ↑ Source: #S243
  11. ↑ Source: #S44
  12. ↑ Source: #S601






Memories: 1
Enter a personal reminiscence or story.
Shayne Davidson
Kitty lost both her parents in 1849 when she was three years old. Her dad died of cholera and her mom died in childbirth later that year. Luckily for Kitty she had a grandmother, Margaret Hey, who was willing and able to raise her and her one surviving sibling, a sister two years older named Louise. John Hey, Margaret's son from her second marriage, also lived with the family and provided support. The family ran a boarding house in the German Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati and had a coffee house called Deer Creek House on Lebanon Pike Road on the outskirts of town.

In 1863 Louise died in childbirth with her first child and John Hey died of tuberculosis.

All of my information about Kitty and her early life in Cincinnati came from combing the various records on the internet such as the federal census, marriages and baptisms indexed at familysearch.org, cemetery records and the early directories of Cincinnati available through the Public Library of Cincinnati.

posted 5 Oct 2011 by Shayne Davidson
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It may be possible to confirm family relationships. Maternal line mitochondrial DNA test-takers: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Kitty: Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Images: 12
Kitty Thonssen with her son Gus and his wife Katherine
Kitty Thonssen with her son Gus and his wife Katherine
Thonssen family home on Morrison Avenue
Thonssen family home on Morrison Avenue
Interior of home on Accomac Street
Interior of home on Accomac Street
Kitty, Anna and Mattie Thonssen
Kitty, Anna and Mattie Thonssen
Thonssen and Hils ladies
Thonssen and Hils ladies
view all


Comments: 1

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Davidson-1387 Shayne Davidson
Kitty's daughter Grace thought the world of her mom and missed her very much after she died (only a week before Grace got married). Kitty was truly a survivor: she was the only person in her immediate family to make it beyond the age of 27. In addition to loosing her entire family at a young age she also lost her first two children, both of whom died in infancy, and another daughter died in adulthood. The story handed down in our family was that Kitty visited the grave of her adult daughter, also named Kitty, nearly every week, crying each time over the loss of this dear child. She may have thought also of her two infants buried in Cincinnati whose graves she was no longer able to visit.
posted by Shayne Davidson

Featured German connections: Kitty is 26 degrees from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 26 degrees from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 27 degrees from Lucas Cranach, 22 degrees from Stefanie Graf, 25 degrees from Wilhelm Grimm, 25 degrees from Fanny Hensel, 25 degrees from Theodor Heuss, 16 degrees from Alexander Mack, 35 degrees from Carl Miele, 21 degrees from Nathan Rothschild, 24 degrees from Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering and 24 degrees from Ferdinand von Zeppelin on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.

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