Koberstein Surname migration around the world

Hypothesis of the Koberstein Surname Migration

within Europe and

known emmigration out of Europe

This is a tree chart of the earliest years of Koberstein records in major states/areas.  The branches among the German states and European areas show the most probable location they came from, however, this is not proven.  The branches of the emmigration out of Europe is well documented.  It seems very probable that the earliest Koberstein's in the Rhineland-Pfalz area  (along the Rhine River and its tributary the Mosel River that joins the Rhine at Koblenz) moved up the Rhine river first toward Baden-Wurtemburg then secondly to the northern part of Bavaria on the Mainz tributary.  During this migration, Koberstein's started showing up in Landsburg/Warthe area.  This may have been a movement of the Koberner Knights to help settle this area and into Poland.  When we see the first Koberstein records in Berlin it also starts to appear in other areas such as Nordrhine-Westfalen and Sachsen-Anhalt.  Meanwhile the Koberstein's in Landsburg move into Czarnikow, West Prussia, other parts of Poland including the Chelm area which is very near the Volhynia (now Ukraine) area.  The earliest Berlin addressbuch entry is 1820 but the Berlin branch in this tree chart covers all major areas of the former Prussia.  Industrial centers like Berlin started to cause migration from rural areas to the cities at about this era.  Here is an article on this Urbanization process and one specifically about Germany.  So Berlin probably drew from all the surrounding rural areas, thus the connnecting line in the chart.  I also have 14 Koberstein families that emmigrated out of Germany/Prussia, Poland and Ukraine.  This is a good article talking about the emmigration out of Germany.  This article talks primarily abou the "Palatine" emigration of which the emigration of Hans (2 in the chart key below) about 1750 (the peak of this emigration) is a good example.  This Koberstein family changed their Surname to Coverston(e).  Here is a good article on emigration from Germany (Prussia) in the 19th and 20th centuries, of which the other Koberstein emmigration is typical.  It indicates that 1854 was the peak of this emmigration to America, of which the emmigration of the Ludwig Koberstein family from West Prussia in 1854 to the homestead land of Wisconsin is typical. Like so many they kept on moving first to Minnesota and then some on to Oregon.  See the key in the tree chart below for the destination American states or countires that they emmigrated to.  Also, "The short-term rise of transatlantic migration in the early 1920s peaking in the year of inflation in 1923 was above all determined by the results of World War One." speaks to the smaller group of immigrant Koberstein's at this time.

The circle of German Koberstein migration

This map illustrates the appearance of the earliest Koberstein birth dates in city-areas within modern Germany.  The lines connect them by year but they are not meant to show movement just chronology.

Here is a chart of the actual or estimated birth date of the earliest Koberstein in each of the areas along the circle starting in the Rhineland in western modern day Germany.  This list is sorted by birth year.

Area	Name	Earliest Birth Year
Altenkirchen, Westerwald, Rhineland	Johann	1359
Isenburg, Westerwald, Rhineland	Katharina von	1402
Heidelburg, Baden	Michel	1591
Gronou, Baden	Andreas Coberstein	1605
Neckerwesterheim, Baden	Christian	1682
Worms, Rhineland	Eva Elisabetha	1691
Gaungelloch, Baden	Hans Jacob	1706
Godramstein, Rhineland	Johann Wolff	1736
Halsheim, Unterfranken, Bayern	Jakob	1744
Morlesau, Unterfranken, Bayern	Johann	1757
Ohrnberg, Baden	Georg Michael	1795
Volkersteier, Unterfranken, Bayern	Adam *	1804
Gutenburg, Saxony	Dorothee Carolina	1805
Ilsfeld, Baden	Friedrike	1812
Oringen, Baden	Johann Friedrich	1813
Pollenben, Saxony	Gottfried Carl	1815
Volkersleier, Unterfranken, Bayern	Johann K **	1818
Berlin Addressbuch	G.	1820
Hirschfeld, Unterfranken, Bayern	Nicholas	1821
Berlin Church Records	Carl Wilhelm	1825
Newenstein, Baden	Johann Friedrich	1825
Dimbach/Waldbach, Baden	Gottlieb Christoph	1831
Teicha, Saxony	Christiane Henriette	1841
Berlin, Brandenburg	Johann	1841
Neuss, Nord-Rhine	Henriette	1860
Dusseldorf, Nord-Rhine	Amelie Victorine	1866
Rheydt, Nord-Rhine	Wilhelm Carl	1869

*     This is the family that immigrated to Indiana
**   This is the family that immigrated to Wisconsin then to Oregon.
*** This is the family that immigrated to Wisconsin

This is a little contrived, a pattern is most clear from Rhineland, Baden, Unterfranken county in Bayern, Saxony, to Berlin.  The jump to Nord-Rhine may not really fit as in the 1800’s there was probably a more widespread migration not following simple trends.

Now as you explore the earliest birth Koberstein’s by area in the Prussia/Germany area you notice an interesting phenomena. The above list of area’s by earliest birth date form a circle around the state, Hessen, leaving out all of the Northern most states. There is jumping back and forth in similar time periods but the overall trend is unmistakable. However, as you look at the eastern Kreis of the Brandenburg area and the Prussian states of Posen they are much earlier than the Berlin area, in fact the earliest are more like the birth dates for those in the Rhineland-Pfalz/Baden-Wurtemburg areas. The trend of migration is from Brandenburg to Posen, West Prussia, Poland, Ukraine. Here is a map of the appearance of the earliest Koberstein birth dates in city-areas within Poland.

Here is the list of that progression.

Area	Name	Earliest Birth Year
Landsburg, Brandenburg	First name not given	1579
Sternburg, Brandenburg	Christoph	1600
Schwerin,Posen	Mertin	1637
Czarnkow	Matys	1671
Belsin	Christoph	1748
Ksawerow, Leczyca, Lodz, Poland	Peter Kaminski	1754
ColonieBrinsk,Strasburg,WestPrussia	Christoph	1775
Volhynia, Ukraine, Russia	Andreas	1843
Opoczno, Poland	August	1887

From this analysis I have constructed a chart that illustrates this situation:

Koberstein Surname population growth concepts

Here is a real intersting article on Surname growth mathamatics.

More simiply you can derive these growth curves for various assumptions.

Surname growth curves.

#	1	2	3	4
1	1	4	9	64
2	1	8	27	256
3	1	16	81	1,024
4	1	32	243	4,096
5	1	64	729	16,384
6	1	128	2,187	65,536

* The vertical  left numbers are the generation number beyond the parents

The horizontal top numbers are the number of surviving males that become parents.

Of course these numbers all double if the wife takes on the Surname of the husband,

which is the general tradition in western civilization.

This all assumes that each generation has the same number of male offspring that reproduce also.



Here are these growth curves:

In the modern era of two children per family the Surname would eventually become extinct (see the article for the statistically valid derivation of this).  An interesting deduction can be made that those populations that have only 2 births per family will have the Surname go extinct, but those that have larger birth rates the Surnames will increase.

In the 1800's and 1900's it was not uncommon to have 6-8 children, which is 3-4 males of which I will guess 2 might survive to reproduction.  This would put you on the relativly modest Surname growth curve of only 128 (254 with wives) in 6 generations.  I always assume a generation for marriage age to be about 20 years on the average, so this  is 120 years.  So over the 500 years (25 generations) from 1500 to 2000 that will be 3,554,432.  That is clearly not the case, in fact based on my research I would guess there are at most a few thousand Koberstein surnames in the world today, so these assumptions must be drastically reduced.

Edward A. Koberstein

Edward A. Koberstein was born April 5, 1874 at Kenyon, Goodhue, Minnesota to Gottlieb and Ernestine Emilie (Hoffmann) Koberstein. Gottlieb was born in Colonie Brinsk, West Prussia. Ernestine was born in Grunberg, Posen, Prussia. She and her sister, Caroline, married Koberstein brothers, Gottlieb and Ludwig respectively.

A biography is herein constructed from facts ,photos, entries in the Kenyon Leader newspaper during his life in Kenyon, and his short stay in Oregon ending in his death.

Here is a photo of Edward as a young man:

No mention of his growing up years are known, but he must have grown up on his father's farm 3 miles south of Kenyon. He was married to Louisa Mata Fritz on January 26, 1901 just three months short of 27 years old. I suspect the photo above is about this age, perhaps his wedding photo. Louisa was born December 23, 1879 at Courtland, Nicollet, Minnesota. This is about 77 miles west of Kenyon and 40 miles west of Elysian there apparent first home. Courtland is just a few miles East of New Ulm a well known german immigration destination. Her parents were Henry and Catherine (Schrap) Fritz. Henry was born in Germany and Catherine in Wisconsin. Her parents were married in Courtland.

Here is a postcard of the Kenyon public school, the probable school he attended as a youth. His obituary in the February 23, 1911 Kenyon Leader newspaper states he finished his school and worked on his father's farm until he was married in 1901.

Public School, Kenyon, Photograph Collection, Postcard ca. 1905, Location no. MG6.9 K r6, Negative no. 57438

The first mention of Edward in the Kenyon Leader was February 7, 1901. He would have been just two months short of 27 years old.

At this time he was living in Elysian. Here is a modern map from Elysian to Kenyon. The distance is 37 miles.

The business of Edward is indicated by this advertising in the October 17, 1901 Kenyon Leader. There is a problem with the date given for the sale in the article of Sept. 27 and the date of the newspaper of Oct. 17. The newspaper date is given by WorldVitalRecords.com and verified by looking at the newspaper header as shown below:

Apparently both Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Koberstein were living in Kenyon according to this November 21, 1901 entry. Their stay in Elysian was only about 10 months.

this is further evidenced by the visit of her mother from Courtland listed in the November 28, 1901 Kenyon Leader article. It must have been for their first Thanksgiving celebration as a married couple on their own.

Here is a modern map showing the direction from Courtland to Kenyon.

Her mother left after a two week visit as given in this December 12 th article. One might wonder about the visit being just over 9 months from their wedding.

Another visit by Sarah Shrapp, perhaps an aunt (her mothers maiden name was Shrapp) in the January 2, 1902 Leader shows they were there at the start of 1902.

They were still in Kenyon as of this April 24, 1902 article. They were visiting the "Boelter Bros" on Sunday. They way it is listed makes you think it was a company owned by the Boelter brothers. These brothers may be related somehow to the Michael Boelter that married Justine Koberstein daugher of Ludwig Koberstein, Gottlieb's brother. That would make Edward and Justine cousins.

Interstingly, Edward was sick enough to be reported in the April 24th Kenyon as well. How he managed to be a guest of the Boelter Bros. and be sick is unanswered.

Oddly, Edward's little daughter was listed as "quite ill" in the May 22, 1902 Kenyon Leader. The funeral program for the daughter Laverne Hazel lists her birth as May 3, 1902. Her illness was reported 19 days after birth. Here is a photograph of her as a young lady.

Another visit is recorded in the July 10, 1902 Kenyon Leader to New Ulm for July 4th festivities. Edward returned on Monday, but his wife stayed a few day.

The July 31, 1902 Kenyon Leader shows Edward A. visiting the city of Kasson which is about 24 miles south east of Kenyon in Dodge county. The purpose is unknown.

The Edward and Louisa family was off visiting in Faribault on Sunday as reported in the August 21 1902 Kenyon Leader newspaper.

Now the business of Edward is made clear by a series of advertisements in the Kenyon Leader.   November 6, 1902:

With the emphasis on a "Full Line of Canned Goods" its seems probable he carried products produced at the local Goodhue Canning Company in Kenyon. Here is a Photograph of the cannery in 1900. Records indicate that members of the Koberstein Family worked here at various times.

November 13, 1902:

December 2, 1902:

The January 22, 1903 Kenyon Leader newspaper reported Edward as "on the sick list."

More advertising in the February 12, 1903 Kenyon Leader shows an emphasis on coffee.

Now we see that this daugher, whose name is given as Laverne in the May 28, 1903 Kenyon Leader. She was taken by her mother Mrs. Louisa Koberstein nee Fritz and her mother in law Mrs. Ernestine Koberstein to visit her parents in Courtland, Minnesota.

Their second child, a son named Harrison Sylvester Koberstein, was born March 21, 1908 at Courtland, Minnesota. Here is a photograph of the new son Harrison and his older sister Laverne in 1908.

The November 24, 1910 Kenyon Leader shows Edward and wife now living in St. Paul, but visited his parents in Kenyon.

The January 12, 1911 Kenon Leader reported that E. A. Koberstein left to Seattle Washington. I don't know the connection to Seattle. Edward had extended family living near Spokane, Washington and near Portland, Oregon. Interestingly his obitiary reported he left to Oregon January 17, 1911.

The Kenyon Leader newspaper of April 13, 1911 states that the Koberstein building was taken over by Mrs. P. H. Holtan's stock of millinery. It appears Edward divested himself of this building in order to make the visit west.

Edward had his uncle Ludwig (Louis) Koberstein living in Gaston, Washington county, Oregon which included his cousins Martha?, Emma, Samuel, Fredrick, and Albert.

Obituary for Edward A. Koberstein in the February 23, 1911 Kenyon Leader newspaper. This indicates that he lived in St. Paul, Minnesota about 1908/1910. Due to health problems he joined some of his family in Oregon leaving on January 17th, 1911. His health didn't get better and he died January 17, 1911.

Here is a thank you in the February 23, 1911 Kenyon Leader for sympathy shown at the death of husband and son, Edward A. Koberstein.

November 30, 1911 (Kenyon Leader) shows the widow visiting at Kenyon nine months after her husbands funeral. She and her children appear to be either living with her parents or in the same city.

Judith E. Goldmann did research into the records of V. R. Limber, Undertaker of Forest Grove, Oregon. The record states "Edward A. Koberstein died 5 Feb 1911 in Gaston, age 36 years, 5 mo, 6 days; shipped to Kenyon Minnesota on Feb 19, 1911, In a six foot casket. Charge to Louisa Koberstein and J. H. Hoffman. Also the death record in book I, page 24, line 10 (Wahington County, Oregon): Edward A. Koberstein died 5 Feb 1911, age 36y, 5m 6d; male, white, married, born Minnesota, occupation: Clerk. Father born in Germany, mother: Amelia (Anna?) born Germany. Died of acute yellow atrophy of the liver, report by Dr. J. A. Baker (of Gaston).

The Oregon Death Index, 1903-98 about Edward A. Koberstein

Name: Koberstein, Edward A., County: Washington, Death Date: 5 Feb 1911, Certificate: 572