John Frederick

Immigrant 1852

The story of John Frederick has long fascinated his descendants, and provoked much speculation. The kernel of information was that he had been forced to leave Germany and could not return, so his wife met him in England for the trip to America. She was pregnant with their first child at the time. It was joked that "Aunt Mary" crossed the ocean but never saw it; Mary Frederick was born in August not long after they arrived in America in 1852. The theories for why he had to leave included having hunted deer in the forest of the local noble landowner, a crime for which the penalty could be severe.

(Hitzerode belonged to the noble of Eschwege until 1823; Frankershausen to the noble of Doernberg.) It seems doubtful however that this was the reason. John Frederick's grandson, Fred Kline, said he knew the reason but wouldn't tell it; shooting a deer would surely not have caused such reticence. Another theory put forth was that the church forced him to leave because Anna Catherine was pregnant but unmarried. Church records have however been found for their marriage in 1851, before they came to America in 1852. Unless he was involved in a brawl and caused physical injury to another, the most likely explaination for his trouble is that he was simply avoiding the military draft. (See complete biography)

	Date	Location	Notes	Sources
Birth	17 Aug 1822
Marriage	20 Oct 1851	Hitzerode, Ger.	To Anna Catherine Kenemuth
Death	12 Apr 1912	Ashland Twp., Clarion Co. PA
Burial		Lieberum "Dutch" Cemetery

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 4           Generation 5          Generation 6
 
                                                     +-- Johannes Friedrich
                                                     |   (~1784-1831)
                            +-- John Frederick ------+
                            |   (1822-1912)          |
 Elizabeth Anna Frederick --+                        +-- Anna Margarethe Speck
 (1865-1921)                |                            (1785->1851)
                            +-- Anna Catherine Kenemuth
                                (1827-1889)

Children

(all children with Anna Catherine Kenemuth

Name	Gender	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Spouse	Notes	Sources
Mary Frederick	F	13 Aug 1852		William "Will" Dietrich
Jacob C. Frederick	M	31 Oct 1854			died 1875, age 20
Frank J. Frederick	M	6 Nov 1856		Louisa Dietrich
Emma B. Frederick	F	1858		1) Unknown Lintz 2) John Henry Jury
John Valentine Frederick	M	14 Feb 1862		Dena C. Lieberum
Elizabeth "Ella" Anna Frederick	F	13 Feb 1865		John Abram Kline	Direct line
Josephine Frederick	F				(died young)

Places of Residence

Location	Dates	Notes	Sources
Hitzerode, Germany	b. 1822
possibly Frankserhausen, Ger	by ( married)1851-1852
Fern, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co. PA	1852-d. 1912

Photo Gallery

John Frederick and wife Anna Catherine Kenemuth

Frederick Bible, birth & death records

Frederick Bible, marriage record

Photo of John Frederick & wife Anna Catherine, and access to Frederick family Bible provided Sept.1991 by Della Frederick Francisco, now deceased.

From Complete Calling Card Book of Ella A. Frederick

Gravestone of John Frederick & wife Anna Catherine Kennemuth, Lieberum Cemetery, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co. PA

Inscription for Anna C. followed by a long poetry or scripture, overlaid by the later inscription for John Frederick

Inscription close-up, John Frederick

Gravestone of Jacob C. Frederick, Lieberum Cemetery

These photos of John Frederick appear to be at the home of John Abram Kline and Elizabeth Frederick Kline. The photo at left shows him by the side porch before it was converted to a closed-in porch. Some of the stone steps used at this house were found down nearer the woods, the remains of the first house built on the property. The woman in the doorway could be his granddaughter Annie Kline. The center photo shows the front yard and a bit of the front vegetable garden, then plum trees to the left.

John Frederick & George M. Sheffer with grandchildren (possibly Hazel or Ailene Sheffer), Branfield & Dorothy Sheffer.

Family of John A. Kline, with John Frederick at far right

The family of John Abram Kline poses with John Frederick in front of the Kline farmhouse. From l.to rt. Beulah Gladys Kline, James Elgie Beals, Winnifred May Kline, J. Austin Sheffer, Anna Catherine Kline, Frederick Edwin Kline, John Abram Kline, Mary Philistia Kline, Elizabeth Anna Frederick, Sarah Elenore Myers Sheffer (Mrs. George M. Sheffer) in white blouse, and John Frederick.

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1850 census. None of the Fredericks listed were a particularly good match. John was not naturalized at this point (see 1910 census).
2	1860 United States federal Census, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co., PA, pg 11. Census dated 4 July, 1860. Lines 22-27 list: John Fredrick, head, age 40, farmer, $600 real, $150 personal prop. born Hesse, Ger.; Catherine, age 35, born Hesse; children: Mary, 8; Jacob, 6; Franklin, 4; Emma, 1. Children all born PA.
3	1870 United States federal Census, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co., PA, pg 18. Census dated 8 July, 1870. Lines 15-22 list: John Fredrick, head, age 56, farmer; Catherine, age 43, keeping house. Both born Hesse, all parents foriegn born. Children: Mary, 17; Jacob, 15, in school; Frank J., age 13, in school; Emma, 11, in school; John, 8; Alice, 5. Children all born PA.
4	1880 United States federal Census, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co., PA Dist 63, pg 9. Census dated 9 June 1880. Lines 43-49 list: John Frederick, head, age 47, farmer, $1500 real, $829 personal property; Anna C., wife, age 53, keeping home. Both (and all parents) born Kuhrhessen. Children: Frank J., age 23, farmer; Emma, 21, divorced, at home; John V., 18, in school, Anna Alice, 15 in school. Children all born PA (parents b. Kuhrhessen), all read, write, speak English; Anna L. Bertha, granddau., 3, born PA, parents born PA.
5	1900 United States Federal Census,Ashland Twp., Clarion Co. PA District 1 pg 5, ln. 84-89. Date of census: 11 June 1900. John Frederick born Aug 1822, age 77,married, (length of marriage not recorded; was actually widowered), born Germany, both parents born Germany, year of immigration 1837,number of years in the US 63, naturalized, farmer, owns farm free of mortgage. John V. Frederick, son, born Feb 1863, age 37, married 6 yrs, born PA, parents born Ger. Denie Frederick, daughter-in-law, born Dec. 1875, age 24, married 6 yrs, mother of 3 children, all 3 living. Dellie Frederick, g-dau. born Oct 1894, age 5, she & parents born PA William Frederick, g-son, born Oct 1895, age 4, all born PA Harvey Frederick, g-son, born May 1898, age 2, all born PA.
6	1910 United States federal Census, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co., PA Dist 1. Pg 7A. Dated 5-6 May 1910. Lines 3-8 list: John V. Frederick, head, age 47, mar. 16 yrs, b. PA, father and mother born Germany, General farming, owns farm, no mortgage; Dena, wife, age 34, mar. 16 yrs, 3 children, all alive, b. PA, father and mother born Germany; Della, age 15; William W., age 14; Harvey, age 11. Children all bo. PA (along with parents), all read, write, speak English; John, father, age 87, widow, born Germany, naturalized in 1852. Also on page are two families of Kennemuths.
7	Frederick Bible, published in Philadelphia 1882. Marriage record: "12 October 1850 in Hitzerode John Friederich Anna Catharina Kuhnemuth Franckersausen Birth records: "Johannes Friederich geboren 17 August 1822 fon Hitzerode. Anna Catharina Kuhnemuth 27 February 1827 in Franckersausen. Sie is gestorben 1889 Junie 26. John Friederich Efrau. Sie war alt 62 yer 4 monat 7 day. Tauf (wahr) irh." John Friederich born 17 Aug. 1822 in Hitzerode. Anna Catharina Kuhnemuth 27 Feb. 1827 in Franckersausen. She died 26 June 1889. Wife of John Friederich. She was 62 years 4 months & 7 days old. She was baptized.
8	Gravestone transcriptionLieberum Cemetery, Ashland Twp., Clarion Co. PA, 1991 by Elizabeth Wilson Williams: *"Mrs. Anna C. Wife of John Frederick Born Feb. 27 1827 Died June 24 1889 Age 62 yrs 4m 24d". (There appears to be poetry, small & illegible, beneath her inscription, with John Frederick's inscription engraved over part of it.) "John Frederick B. Aug (15?) 1822 D. Apr. 12 1912" Lieberum Cemetery transcriptions June 2007 by E W Williams: *"Jacob C, son of J. & A. C.Frederick, Apr ___ 1875 aged 20 yrs & 1 d."
9	Letter from Emma Jury , Fertigs, PA, Jan. 7, 1912, apparently to her sister Mary Dietrich. Names Estella, Papa/Father, Charley, Anna, John, Willie, Coates, Mabel, Edna, Dena, Ella. Signed Emma Jury. A note in German added and signed by John Friederich. A quarter of one page missing.	(See transcript)
10	Personal correspondence from Elna Frederick Whitling, granddaughter of John V. Frederick.
11	Interview with Della Frederick Francisco, 1991, granddaughter of John V. Frederick. Examined the Frederick Bible, various photographs, handwritten pages of notes from Jane Frederick.

Source notes

• Hitzerode, Germany is about 20 miles SE of Kassel, in Hesse.
• Lieberum Cemetery (land donated by the Lieberum family), also known as the "Dutch" (ie German) cemetery, is near the old Frederick farm. The cemetery is possibly at the site of the former St. Johns Reform Church.
• It is still unknown what the date of John Frederick's first trip to America was. It is presumed to have been in 1851 after the wedding, but that is not known for sure. It is doubtful that he went to America at age 15 (1837), as the 1900 census indicates. He was 78 at the time of that census and probably confused the date. Or perhaps the census taker misunderstood his gutteral German.
• John Frederick spent his last Christmas at daughter Emma Jury's house; possibly he lived there. Her letter reported his having a bad cold. He died 3 months later.

Conjecture

• The 1900 census reports John Frederick as immigrating in 1837, when he would have been only 15 years old. This date may be erroneous. It is believed that he did come to America once, before returning and immigrating with his wife in 1852.