POST 116: FINDING PHOTOS & ANCESTRAL INFORMATION ON ANCESTRY’S “FOLD3” DATABASE: THE VON KOSCHEMBAHR CASE

 

Note: In this Blog post, I introduce readers to the “Fold3” database, which primarily provides access to military records and documents on the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, and WWII, incorporating the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served in these conflicts. Utilizing ancestry.com, I will explain how I chanced upon naturalization documents in Fold3 for members of the von Koschembahr branch of my family that supplement what I found on ancestry and that may be similarly useful to readers in their own familial endeavors. This post is part of a series of infrequent installments where I give readers clues on accessing ancestral databases.

 

Related Post:

POST 115: THE BRUCK VON KOSCHEMBAHR BRANCH OF MY FAMILY TREE

 

 

Figure 1. Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr with his wife Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch and their thirteen children

 

As discussed in Post 115, Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr (1885-1961) arrived in America with his wife Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch (1891-1954) in October 1938 with ten of their thirteen children (Figure 1), having by then dropped the “Bruck” portion of his surname and going simply by Gerhard von Koschembahr. A Passenger Manifest shows the arrival of the family in New York on the 1st of October 1938 from Le Havre, France aboard the “SS Paris.” (Figure 2) A New York Times article dated the 2nd of October 1938 reported on Gerhard and Hilda von Koschembahr’s arrival in New York and confirmed the names of their ten children traveling with them. (Figure 3) Included at the end of this post is a vital statistics table for Gerhard and Hilda von Koschembahr and their 13 children, only one of whom still survives.

 

Figure 2. A “Manifest of Alien Passengers” listing the names of Gerhard and Hilda von Koschembahr and ten of their 13 children that arrived in New York City on the 1st of October 1938 aboard the “SS Paris” from Le Havre, France

 

 

Figure 3. A New York Times article dated the 2nd of October 1938 reporting on the arrival of Gerhard and Hilda von Koschembahr in New York the previous day, and giving the names of the ten children accompanying them

 

Readers familiar with ancestry.com know that attached to each of the persons in one’s family tree are “leaves” representing clues possibly related to the individual in question. I carefully reviewed all the clues attached to Gerhard and Hilda and their children. Of acute interest were forms labelled either “U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991” (Figures 4a-b) or “Naturalization Petition and Record Books, 1888-1946” (Figures 5a-b); the latter are particularly interesting because they often include photographs attached to the petitions. I have mentioned in previous Blog posts, but it is worth reiterating here, that finding photographs of people in my family tree makes those people seem tangible and real.

 

Figure 4a. The “Maine, U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991” cover page for Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornella Hilda Von Koschembahr

 

Figure 4b. The 1938 Maine, U.S. Federal Naturalization Record page for Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornella Hilda Von Koschembahr

 

 

Figure 5a. The “New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943” cover page for Gerhard von Koschembahr (1917-1996), one of Gerhard and Cornelia Hilda’s sons

 

Figure 5b. The 1937 New York, U.S., State and Naturalization Record page for Gerhard von Koschembahr (1917-1996)

 

The aforementioned “U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991” linked to some of the von Koschembahr family members mostly originate from Maine (see Figures 4a-b); upon their arrival in America, as the 1938 New York Times article pointed out, the family settled in Portland, Maine so this connection makes sense. In the case of Gerhard von Koschembahr, the form he signed on the 22nd of August 1939 in the U.S. District Court of Portland, Maine entitled “Declaration of Intention” does not include an attached photograph. (Figure 6a) HOWEVER, the same form with precisely the same information and identically typed date that is found among the “Ohio, U.S., Naturalization Petition and Record Books, 1888-1946,” under “Naturalizations—Ohio Northern,” has an attached photo. (Figure 6b) Similarly, page two of Gerhard’s “Declaration of Intention” form found in the two databases includes one version of the form with a photo, the other without. (Figures 7a-b) The latter forms with the attached photos from the Northern District of Ohio are postmarked “N.D.O.” and are dated “Apr 25 1944,” but in all other aspects contain the same information. For Cornelia Hilda, I could only find the two pages of her Declaration of Intention form with photos. (see Figures 9a-b)

 

Figure 6a. Gerhard von Koschembahr’s 1939 “Declaration of Intention” form, marked in the upper lefthand corner as “Original (To be retained by clerk),” does not include his picture

 

 

Figure 6b. An identical of Gerhard von Koschembahr’s 1939 “Declaration of Intention” form, lightly postmarked “N.D.O.” and dated “Apr 25 1944” and marked in the upper lefthand corner as “Triplicate (To be given to declarant),” however, includes Gerhard’s photo

 

 

Figure 7a. Page 2 of Gerhard von Koschembahr’s 1939 “Declaration of Intention” form, marked in the upper lefthand corner as “Original (To be retained by clerk),” again does not include his picture

 

 

Figure 7b. Page 2 of an identical Gerhard von Koschembahr’s 1939 “Declaration of Intention” form, postmarked “N.D.O.” and dated “Apr 25 1944” and marked in the upper lefthand corner as “Triplicate (To be given to declarant),” however, again includes Gerhard’s photo

 

According to what is printed in the upper lefthand corner of the Declaration of Intention form, it was completed in triplicate; the “Original” without the picture was kept by the clerk but the one labelled “Triplicate” was supposedly to be given to the declarant. If this is the case, how then have ones with pictures wound up in the official Naturalization Record Books?  

There is a reason I painstakingly explain the above to readers. To be sure that one has found all the naturalization and petition forms that may exist for an immigrant ancestor, one should not only check ancestry.com, but should also peruse ancestry’s “Fold3” database. I’ll return to the specifics of what supplementary materials may exist in those forms below but let me digress and briefly tell readers about Fold3.

Fold3 began in 1999 as “iArchives,” and was involved in digitizing historical newspapers and other archival content for universities, libraries, and media companies across the country. In January 2007, they launched “Footnote.com” by digitizing 5 million original documents, many of which were military related. Then, in October of 2010 ancestry.com purchased iArchives, and rebranded it as Fold3 as part of its effort to make it a premier website for military records. According to their website, “The Fold3 name comes from a traditional flag folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor and remembrance of veterans who served in defense of their country and to maintain peace throughout the world.” Today, the database includes documents on the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, U.S. presidents, historical newspapers, and naturalization documents.

Since ancestry owns Fold3, I assumed all the information in Fold3 is included in ancestry.com; this may well be true, but it was only by accessing BOTH databases that I found all the naturalization documents related to the von Koschembahrs.

In trying to access a “Declaration of Intention” form on ancestry for one member of this family, possibly by mistake, I was unable to open it but discovered it was in the Fold3 database. Since I know my local library not only has an institutional version of ancestry but also one for Fold3, I was successfully able to retrieve the form in this manner. I then realized that not only does Fold3 include military records but also contains naturalization documents for immigrant arrivals. It took me a while to navigate Fold 3, but I eventually learned that naturalization records for the following regions and cities are digitized: 

  • Naturalization Index—California San Diego (A-Z)
  • Naturalization Index—Massachusetts (1866-1983 with gaps)
  • Naturalization Index—Maryland (1703-1968 with gaps)
  • Naturalization Index—New York Eastern (July 1865-September 1906)
  • Naturalization Index—New York Eastern (October 1906-November 1925)
  • Naturalization Index—New York Eastern (November 1925-December 1957)
  • Naturalization Index—New York Southern Intentions (A-Z)
  • Naturalization Index—New York Southern Petitions (1810-1964 with gaps)
  • Naturalization Index—Western (1892-1988 with gaps)
  • Naturalization Index—New York City Courts (1792-1958 with minor gaps)
  • Naturalization Index—WWI Soldiers (A-Z)
  • Naturalizations—California Los Angeles (A-Z)
  • Naturalizations—California San Diego (A-Z)
  • Naturalizations—California Southern (A-Z)
  • Naturalizations—Los Angeles Eastern (by “Birth Country”)
  • Naturalizations—Massachusetts (U.S. District Court)
  • Naturalizations—Maryland (by “Birth Country”)
  • Naturalizations—New York Eastern (by “Birth Country”)
  • Naturalizations—New York Southern (by “Birth Country”)
  • Naturalizations—Ohio Northern (A-Z)
  • Naturalizations—Pennsylvania Eastern (U.S. Circuit Court)
  • Naturalizations—Pennsylvania Middle (Circuit Court and District Court, 1901-1906; District Court, 1906-1911; District Court 1909-1911; District Court 1910-1930; District Court 1911-1916)
  • Naturalizations—Pennsylvania Western (Records of the US Circuit and District Courts: Declarations of Intent and Petitions. 1798-1959 with gaps)

I found the specific information on the von Koschembahr branch of my family in Fold3 under “Naturalizations—Ohio Northern.” (Figures 8a-b) Simply typing the surname in the “Search” bar on the portal page of Fold3 will yield the broadest number of hits; occasionally one may have to search for one’s relatives using name variations. Case in point. There may be as many as ten different variations by which to search for Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr since she was a baroness in her own right and was a descendant of the Roosevelt family (e.g., Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch; Hilda Cornelia Roosevelt Koschembahr; Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr; etc.).

 

Figure 8a. Screen shot from Fold3 for five von Koschembahr family members’ naturalization records found under the Northern District of Ohio alphabetized under the letter “V”

 

Figure 8b. Screen shot from Fold 3 for “Hilda Cornelia Roosevelt Koschembahr’s” naturalization forms found under the Northern District of Ohio alphabetized under the letter “K”

 

Figure 9a. Page 1 of Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr’s “Declaration of Intention” form with her photo

 

 

Figure 9b. Page 2 of Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr’s “Declaration of Intention” form with her photo

 

In the case of the father Gerhard von Koschembahr’s “Declaration of Intention” form, suffice it to say, a lot of vital data are provided. Because Gerhard had 13 children, a separate form was attached, naming them, and giving their dates and places of birth. While this information was previously known to me from elsewhere, had it not been this would have been useful ancestral information. On Gerhard’s wife’s “Declaration of Intention” form, her vital data is similarly shown, and the identical form attached with the names and vitals of her children. (Figures 9a-b)

In addition to Gerhard and Hilda’s 1939 Declaration of Intention forms, in Fold3, for both I discovered combined 1945 “Affidavit of Witness” and “Oath of Allegiance” forms (Figures 10-11); 1939 “Certificate of Arrival” forms (Figures 12-13); and 1939 “Petition for Naturalization” forms which were withdrawn in December 1944. (Figures 14-15)

 

Figure 10. Gerhard von Koschembahr’s combined 1945 “Affidavit of Witness” and “Oath of Allegiance” form

 

Figure 11. Hilda Cornelia Roosevelt von Koschembahr’s combined 1945 “Affidavit of Witness” and “Oath of Allegiance” form

 

 

Figure 12. Gerhard von Koschembahr’s “Certificate of Arrival” form postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.”

 

 

Figure 13. Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr’s “Certificate of Arrival” form postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.”

 

Figure 14. Gerhard von Koschembahr’s “Petition for Naturalization” form

 

Figure 15. Gabriela Hedwig Clementina Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr’s “Petition for Naturalization” form

 

As mentioned above, Gerhard and Hilda arrived in America on the 1st of October 1938 with ten of their thirteen children. I was able to find forms with photos like those of their parents for only four of the children (Figures 16-19); two were also required to sign “Certificates of Loyalty.” (Figures 20a-b) For two of the boys, Clemens (Figures 21a-b) and Hans (John) Christoph von Koschembahr (Figures 22a-b), I found their WWII Registration cards since both were of an age appropriate to be drafted into the armed forces. This is something I would have expected to find in Fold3 since the database includes primarily military records.

 

Figure 16. “Declaration of Intention” form for Gisela von Koschembahr postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.,” including her photograph

 

Figure 17. “Declaration of Intention” form for Heinz von Koschembahr postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.,” including his photograph

 

Figure 18. “Declaration of Intention” form for Wolfgang von Koschembahr postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.,” including his photograph

 

 

Figure 19. “Declaration of Intention” form for Ursula von Koschembahr postmarked “Apr 25 1944” and “N.D.O.,” including her photograph

 

Figure 20a. “Certificate of Loyalty” form for Wolfgang von Koschembahr signed in 1945
Figure 20b. “Certificate of Loyalty” form for Ursula von Koschembahr signed in 1944

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 21a. Page 1 of Clemens von Koschembahr’s 1944 WWII Registration Card
Figure 21b. Page 2 of Clemens von Koschembahr’s 1944 WWII Registration Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 22a. Page 1 of John Christoph von Koschembahr’s 1945 WWII Registration Card
Figure 22b. Page 2 of John Christoph von Koschembahr’s 1945 WWII Registration Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In closing I would simply advise readers coming across naturalization and petition records for immigrant ancestors to check both ancestry.com and Fold3, naturally as well as other ancestral databases, to ensure you have not inadvertently overlooked anything. And you too may be rewarded by finding photos of your predecessors.

  

VITAL STATISTICS FOR GERHARD VON KOSCHEMBAHR, CORNELIA HILDA VON ZEDLITZ UND NEUKIRCH, & THEIR THIRTEEN CHILDREN

 

NAME

(relationship)

 VITAL EVENT DATE PLACE SOURCE OF DATA
         
Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr (self) Birth 28 July 1885 Berlin, Germany Berlin, Germany birth certificate
Marriage (to Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch) 21 March 1914 Dresden, Germany Dresden, Germany marriage certificate
Death 3 October 1961 Rye, Westchester, New York New York State, U.S. Death Index, 1957-1970; headstone
Cornelia Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch (wife) Birth 1 April 1891 Berlin, Germany Berlin, Germany birth certificate
Marriage (to Gerhard Bruck von Koschembahr) 21 March 1914 Dresden, Germany Dresden, Germany marriage certificate
Death 26 May 1954 Port Chester, Westchester, New York New York, U.S. Death Index, 1852-1956; headstone
Gisela von Koschembahr (daughter) Birth 24 November 1914 Berlin, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 1 January 1999 Palmdale, Los Angeles, California Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Irmela von Koschembahr (daughter) Birth 7 November 1915 Berlin, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 15 September 2001 Mayfield Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio Ohio, U.S. Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018
Gerhard von Koschembahr (son) Birth 22 January 1917 Berlin, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 11 May 1996 New York City, New York Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Gundula von Koschembahr Daughter) Birth 13 November 1918 Berlin, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 16 August 2004 Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio Ohio, U.S. Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018
Heinz-Hasso von Koschembahr (son) Birth 3 December 1919 Baden-Baden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 19 March 1999 Winnetka, Cook, Illinois Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Wolfgang von Koschembahr (son) Birth 1 July 1921 Dresden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 22 June 1996 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Ohio, U.S. Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018
Ursula von Koschembahr (daughter) Birth 14 September 1923 Dresden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 31 October 2018 Pennsylvania U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current
Cordula von Koschembahr (daughter) Birth 28 November 1924 Dresden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 15 December 2004   U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
Clemens von Koschembahr (son) Birth 20 February 1926 Dresden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death Living    
Hans Christoph von Koschembahr (son) Birth 28 May 1927 Dresden, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 20 June 2006 Middletown, Connecticut Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2012
Dietrich von Koschembahr (son) Birth 10 July 1929 Erfurt, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 6 January 1995   U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
Edela von Koschembahr (daughter) Birth 23 May 1931 Erfurt, Germany 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 24 November 2001   U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Gottfried von Koschembahr (son) Birth 5 November 1934 Bern, Switzerland 1939 “Declaration of Intention” U.S. Naturalization forms for Gerhard & Cornelia Hilda von Koschembahr
Death 17 December 1995   U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014