Kathryn Ryan

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Biography

Kathryn Jeanette Ryan was born in Moline, Illinois on 12 Aug 1947. She is the only daughter of John Joseph Ryan and Elsie Beatrice Tegethoff. She had two brothers.

She graduated from Rock Island Sr. High School in 1965. She married Eldon Anthony Yoerger in St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Milan, Illinois on 12 Oct 1968. She had three wonderful sons. She divorced Eldon Yoerger in August 1996.

She is retired from a large Florida Law Enforcement Agency after many years of civil service and is currently enjoying a peaceful and harmonious life in Iowa. She enjoys her sons and six grandchildren.

Kathryn and her older brother, Michael Laird Ryan, were severely physically abused by their mother, Elsie Beatrice Tegethoff throughout their childhoods. Below is a picture of them with cuts, bruises, black eyes, split lips, and choke marks on their necks. While a picture of abused children may be difficult for some, however, this is a profile of truth. The abuse was real and the picture is real.

Abused Children ^[1]

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The following DNA match between L.O. (a living person) and me was made by Ancestry.com and is based on DNA test results and not on some random family trees. Please scroll down to see Source Number 1 below.

My DNA Match with a Living Descendant of Frederick Koch ^[2]

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Research Notes

I’m new to this and having difficulty figuring out this site. Following are my “Research Notes” on my grandmother, Agnes Elsie Koch. I don’t know if anyone is going to read them, and then by some miracle, be able to help me, but here goes:

I am 74 years old and personally knew my grandmother. She was not a nice woman. I will spare you all the details and try to stick to genealogy issues. My grandmother never talked about her childhood. Not even my father could get her to talk. He wanted to know about his grandparents.

My research on Agnes Elsie Koch has lead me to believe she was raised by people who taught her how to be less than honest. I have some information on her trying to file for Social Security under two different names, using two different dates of birth, etc. As proof, just look at her application for Social Security—which is item one of her images. She uses a different birth year than the one listed on her tombstone—the image just below. You might think that it was probably unintentional as I did with the first few discrepancies. There are many more.

But first some history on her parents. I ordered that copy of her SS Application using the government Freedom of Information Act because I knew she had to include her parent’s names. Up until then, she would not give her parent’s names. On that Application she lists her father as John Koch and her mother as Fredericka Round. There are a million John Koch’s, but only a few Fredericka Round’s. I have never been able to link a John Koch up with a Fredericka Round. It could be just poor skills on my part. But there are other things.

Supposedly she was born in Clinton County, Iowa on either 10 or 11 October 1890 or 1893. I have written Vital Records in Clinton County and they have no birth records for her. I even paid some company $75.00 to provide her birth certificate. They kept my money and said there is no record of her birth in Clinton County. I called all the surrounding countries; same story. I contacted all the County Historical Societies in the surrounding areas. They all had nothing.

Then one glorious day I was searching for Koch’s in Iowa on Newspapers.com and found a Frank Koch’s obituary. He was just 20 years old and died as a result of a work accident. He was about the right age for a sibling. I kept reading. He was born in Clinton, Iowa. He was survived by three siblings; William Koch of Waverly, Iowa, Frieda Rosenthal of Waverly, and John Koch of Waterloo, Iowa. I next did a newspaper search for Frieda. I found her obituary. She was survived by brothers William and John and a sister named Agnes Elsie Ryan of Moline, Illinois!!! I had just found my grandmother’s siblings. Twenty plus years of searching and I found them.

Eventually I learned the sad tale of the Koch children. In approximately 1890, their father, John Koch, drove them from their home in Clinton, Iowa to the Salem Lutheran Church Orphanage in Andrew, Iowa and dumped them off. All four siblings were there until that orphanage closed in approximately 1900. They were then transferred to the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Orphanage in Waverly, Iowa. All four remained there until they aged out. Gathering this information took many months of phone calls, emails, and internet searching.

I have Census records from both orphanages showing that the Koch siblings were there. I was also finally able to get someone at St. Paul’s to search their archives for the children’s Confirmation Records. On one of them, I think Frieda’s (sorry, I’m doing this from memory), her parent’s names are listed as John and Maria Koch! Another curve ball. Who is Maria? My grandmother’s Social Security Application says her parents are John Koch and Fredericka Round.

Also, I learned that William, the oldest sibling, was born in Detroit, Michigan. According to Church / orphanage records, the next three children were born in Clinton. I have searched both places looking for the parents. To complicate things further, Agnes Elsie was not put in any orphanage that I can find. At first I thought the mother, Fredericka may have died in childbirth and that’s why the father dumped his children in an orphanage. But I can’t find anything on the death of a Fredericka or Maria Koch in Iowa.

Agnes Elsie Koch’s wedding announcement from a Davenport newspaper says she “recently returned to Davenport”, but from where? I’ve learned that John Koch was kind of a shady character. Lots of trouble with the law. I know that not every newspaper article that I have collected regarding the exploits of a John Koch is absolutely referring to my John Koch, but if only 50% of the articles I have collected are about him, then, sadly he was not a good role model for his children. I do have one article from Davenport in the early 1900’s where he (John Koch) was arrested for trying to get a butcher knife from his ex wife’s house, and another where Maria Koch got a divorce on the grounds of physical cruelty. That was early 1900 in Davenport, so it might be them, but I don’t know how to proceed. Or even if I should proceed.

This is just part of the story of Agnes Elsie Koch Ryan. I doubt if anyone read this far, but if you did and know how to advise me, please do. I am out of gas. This has been a burden and not the joy I thought I would feel at finding my grandmother’s siblings. Any help or advice would be welcome.

* NEW NOTES: SEE DOCUMENTS BELOW:

• FRIEDA'S OBIT MENTIONS HER SISTER ELSIE RYAN IN MOLINE, IL
• JOHN KOCH’S OBIT SAYS HE IS SURVIVED BY A SISTER, MRS. C.J. RYAN OF MOLINE, IL
• FRIEDA'S TAX RECORD DOCUMENT MENTIONS HER MOTHER AS FRIEDA ROUNDS
• WILLIAM'S OBIT LISTS HIS MOTHER AS FRIEDA ROUNDE
• AGNES ELSIE'S SS APPLICATION LISTS HER PARENTS AS JOHN KOCH AND FREDERICKA ROUND

Kathryn J Ryan.

Sources

1958, 6th Grade, Irving Grade School, Rock Island, Illinois ^[3] Wedding of Kathryn J Ryan ^[4] Divorce From Eldon Yoerger ^[5] Agnes's Application for Social Security: with (1) names of parents, and (2) wrong year of birth ^[6] Agnes Koch Death Certificate ^[7] Charles Is Missing! ^[8] Problems With the Agnes Ryan's 1940 United States Census ^[9]

Frieda Koch's Obituary Where She Names (Agnes) Elsie Ryan As A Sister ^[10] Source Where Frieda Koch Names Fredericka Rounds As Her Mother ^[11] William Koch's Obituary Where He Lists His Mother as Frieda Rounde ^[12] John Koch’s Obituary - It says he is survived by a sister, Mrs. C.J. Ryan of Moline, Illinois ^[13]

^[14]

1. ↑

   Mike and I

2. ↑

   Relationship between Frederich Koch / Fredericka Bell Koch and my DNA Match

3. ↑

   Irving Grade School, 6th Grade Classmates

4. ↑ Publication Date: 5/ Oct/ 1968; Publication Place: Moline, Illinois, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/338372430/?article=d0a78956-5dff-40c8-a1e9-33f9e853f477/a42473d9-18cd-4f2a-828b-f0bc31a6e314&focus=0.8354296,0.29243723,0.9717575,0.40723085&xid
5. ↑ Citation "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKZD-2MS : 25 December 2014), Eldon A Yoerger and Kathryn, 27 Aug 1996; from "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Hillsborough, Florida, certificate 048077, volume , Florida Department of Health, Jacksonville
6. ↑

   Agnes Elsie Koch’s Application for Social Security Card

7. ↑

   Death Certificate

8. ↑

   Charles is Missing

9. ↑

   1940 Census

10. ↑

    Frieda Koch Obituary

11. ↑

    Frieda Koch Believes Fredericka Rounds is her mother

12. ↑

    William Koch Obituary

13. ↑

    John Koch Obituary

14. ↑ 5th Great Grandfather Reeves

    My 5th Great Grandfather-Reeves