Family Stories, Assumptions and Genealogical Mistakes: Fred Koshuba's Story

I know that the little boy in this picture is Fred Koshuba, since it was taken at my grandmother's wedding in 1916. This people in this picture are also in the group wedding picture.  Joseph Koshuba, Florence Holmberg Koshuba, Catherine Florence Koshuba, and Peter Wons are also pictured.  The second gentleman in the picture is not Peter Wons, which was confirmed by other family pictures and his grandson.  He is now known as "Mr Moustache."

A few weeks ago I wrote about my cousin Fred Koshuba.  He was the son of Joseph Koshuba and Florence Holmberg, born in St Paul Minnesota in 1914.  He died tragically at the age of 27 in a car accident in 1941.
The family story, told to me by my mother was that Fred was a passenger in a car driven by Stephen Koshuba, his and my mother's uncle.  I assumed that the accident occurred in St Paul or Minneapolis, since that was where most of the Koshuba family lived.  She also told me that Fred lived in Detroit, Michigan and was a reporter for the Detroit Free Press.

A little bit of research poked a lot of holes in this story.  First of all, after I found Fred's death certificate, I discovered that he died in Dolton, Illinois.  This led to some more questions--why were Fred and Uncle Steve in Dolton, Illinois?  Again, I made another assumption, Fred and Uncle Steve were on their way from St Paul to Detroit, and were driving through Illinois. 

Later, I found a newspaper story about the accident in a Dolton, IL, newspaper.  It said that the accident happened when Clarence Akerman flipped his car, seriously injuring himself and killing Fred.  What about Uncle Steve?  Was he injured as well?  There was no mention in the story about anybody else being involved in the accident.

Last month, I met some Koshuba cousins and the subject of Fred's death came up.  The story they heard was that Fred was killed in an accident and a Holmberg relative was driving.  None of us could figure out what Fred was doing in Dolton.  Since one of Fred's sisters lived in Evanston, IL, perhaps he was driving through Dolton on his way to see his sister in Evanston.  This was possible, although the cousins said that their mother never said anything about Fred planning to come to see her.

After looking at the 1940 United States census, several questions were answered. Fred was living in the Detroit area, actually in Dearborn, Michigan, and had lived there since 1935.  This was confirmed by the fact that I no longer found Fred  living in St Paul (in the St Paul directories) after 1935.  I also knew that most of Fred's immediate family had left Minnesota in the late 1930's.  It was unlikely that he was traveling through Dolton on his way to or from St Paul, and unlikely that he was with Uncle Steve.

I recently learned that one of Fred's cousin's, Geraldine Holmberg, married a man named Akerman.  I searched  for Geraldine Holmberg in Ancestry.com, and found in the 1940 United States Census, that she had married a man named Clarence Akerman, and was living in Chicago in 1940.  Now all the pieces of information started to make sense.  Fred was in Chicago visiting Geraldine and Clarence Akerman.  Fred and Clarence were driving in Dolton when the car flipped over.  Since the newspaper article never mentioned another car or driver, or any other injured people, it appears that this was a single car accident.  Clarence was driving at a high speed when he lost control of the car, hit a culvert and the car overturned.

Fred's death certificate and the 1940  United States Census disproved one of the other family stories--Fred was a newspaper reporter. Fred worked for the Ford Motor Company, first as a line hand, and later as a payroll clerk.  There was one more surprise--according to his death certificate, Fred was married to Charlotte.  He was not married in 1940.  Who was Charlotte, and whatever happened to her?

What have I learned from this--first of all, don't accept family stories as fact.   There may be grains of truth in them, but don't be surprised if you find out that they are just stories.  Second, always look for sources for any names, dates or photographs you find that may apply to the family member you are researching.  Do not assume that what you may see in a family tree you find on the Internet is accurate.  Some people are lazy genealogists, they copy any information they find on-line, and assume it is correct.  Sometimes that information has a source, but always check the source,  since you may find that it refers to another person with the same name.
So, I know that family stories and assumptions led me to make some major genealogical mistakes.

 

This may be Fred Koshuba, as an adult, but I have not been able to prove it, since it may be another cousin, Paul Popko. It was taken at Stephen Koshuba's marriage to Sally Popko.

Genealogy Mysteries: Finding Fred Koshuba

Fred Koshuba's Grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Maplewood, MN

One of the first genealogy projects I worked on is a family tree for the Koshuba Family  I have been interested in  putting together Fred Koshuba’s story, since my mother and uncle told me that he was a favorite cousin.   Since my mother’s family was estranged from Joseph Koshuba’s (Fred's father) family, finding information about them has not been easy. 

When doing genealogy research, you have to consider what do you know, what  you think may be correct and what may or may not be correct.  These are big questions when studying a person’s history. Remember, your information is only as good as your sources.

First of all, the facts in the list below are backed up by the 1920, 1930 and 1940 US Census and Fred’s Death Certificate.

·       Fredrick Koshuba was the son of Joseph Koshuba and Florence Florence Holmberg

·       He had two sisters, Katherine Florence and Marie Olga.

·       He was born on January 18, 1914 in St Paul Minnesota

·       He was living in Detroit, Michigan in 1941.

·       He died on December 8, 1941 in Dolton, Illinois, at the age of 27, and was buried in St Paul, Minnesota

Fred Koshuba, about 10 years old.

Fred Koshuba , 1934-5

The 1920 and 1930 US Census

The first place that I found solid information about Joseph Koshuba’s family was in the 1920 and 1930 United States Census.  Since Joseph died on January 1919, on the 1920 US Census, Florence is the head of the house, living at 886 Central, in St Paul, and is listed as the owner of the house. Her mother, Ida Holmberg and her brother, Julian lived with the family.  Fred was attending school.

In the 1930 US Census, The family had moved an apartment at 177 St Albans St, Saint Paul. Fred is working as a helper in a print shop, as well as going to school.  According to family information, Fred always worked, and the Census corroborates this. 

St Paul City Directories

From the years 1930-1940, the information about Fred  comes from St Paul City Directories, which list addresses and occupation information for residents of the city.  They are good sources, but not great ones, since I haven’t found a directory for every year, and sometimes the information doesn’t agree with what I already found.

Fred graduated high school in 1932. I assume that it was Central High School in St Paul, since Fred's sister graduated in 1934.  In the 1940 Census, his education is listed as 4 years of high school.  In the years following high school, Fred worked at various jobs including apprentice at the St Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press newspaper.  In 1935, he worked as an assembler at the Ford Motor Company in St Paul.  In 1937, he is listed as working as a printer, but I’m not sure that this is accurate, since on the 1940 US Census, he is listed as living in Detroit in 1935.

The 1940 US Census

In the 1940 Census, Fred is living in Detroit, Michigan at 6436 Jonathan St.  All the information appears to be correct about Fred, his age, state of birth, but his name is spelled Kashuba.  However, the Koshuba name is spelled incorrectly more often than it is spelled correctly. Fred was boarding with a family, and had been living there for five years. His occupation is listed as line hand in an auto factory, which is consistent with his last occupation in St Paul.  The dates fit what is already known about Fred, except for two dates in the St Paul Directory for 1935 and 1937, so it is possible that the Census record may be for a different Fred Koshuba.  Both my mother and my Uncle Walter told me that Fred was working as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, but I can find no sources to back this up.  This may just be one of those "facts" that were muddled by time.

The Report in the Dolton Pointer

The next information I have about Fred is his death.  My mother told me that Fred died in a car accident and that a Koshuba uncle was driving.  Family members from the Holmberg side of Fred’s family said that a Holmberg relative was driving.  This is when I searched for some additional sources.  I found a copy of his death certificate and an article about the accident in an Illinois newspaper. 

According to the Dolton, Illinois newspaper, The Pointer, Fred was killed and another man was seriously injured on Monday, December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.

The accident occurred at Stoney Island Ave and Main Street in Dolton, IL, when a car, driven by C. Akerman (or Ankerman), was traveling west at a high speed on Main Street when he struck a culvert and his car overturned.  There is no mention of how Fred’s car was hit, but from the description, I am guessing that Fred was driving south on Stoney Island, and was hit at the intersection of Stoney Island and Main St.  When I checked Google Maps and Google Earth, I  found this intersection no longer exists; today, Main Street ends at the Bishop Ford Expressway. Fred suffered internal injuries and a crushed chest and was pronounced dead at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois.  The other driver, Akerman, survived with serious injuries; several broken ribs, an injured spine and a possible skull fracture.  In my search, I contacted the Dolton Police and was told that accident reports are destroyed after 10 years.

Unanswered Question: Why was Fred in Dolton?

Why was Fred in Dolton, Illinois, when he lived in Detroit?  One of his nieces suggested that he may have been visiting her mother who was living at the time in Evanston, Illinois. He would have to travel south in order to get around the southern tip of Lake Michigan.  Stoney Island Ave, still a main thoroughfare on Chicago’s south side, now runs next to The Bishop Ford Expressway (Interstate 94).  Route 41, runs near the shore of Lake Michigan, and I94 follows the route of old Route 41.  It is possible that Fred was driving south on highway 41 on his way back to Michigan when he was hit.   

Unanswered Question: Was Fred Driving Alone? 

Since this was a serious accident, it is hard to imagine that a second person in Fred’s car could survive it with no injuries.  The article in The Pointer does not mention any other person in either car. I can find no sources to back up the family story that there was another person with Fred in his car. However, since it was mentioned by both the Holmberg and Koshuba families, there is a possibility that someone was with him and was not seriously injured in the accident.

Unanswered Question: Fred's Marriage

When and where did Fred get married?.  My mother never mentioned that Fred was married, and his nieces did not know this either. According to the death certificate, Fred was living at 1761 Seward Ave in Detroit, working at the Ford Motor Company as a payroll clerk. He was married to Charlotte. The address differs that the address shown on the 1940 US Census.  At the time of the Census, usually taken in the month of April, Fred was single.  He must have married sometime between April 1940 and December 1941.  However, I have found no other source for Fred’s marriage besides the Death Certificate.  I have found no evidence of Charlotte’s maiden name or of the date and place of the marriage.

So, I do not have all of Fred's story.  I will continue to work on it, because solving mysteries is one of the pleasures of genealogy.

Joseph Koshuba--one Year Later

Joseph Koshuba in 1916

One year ago, I published the first entry of this blog.  Since I began to research about my extended family, I discovered several things—first of just writing about my family history isn’t very interesting to most readers, unless you are closely related to my extended family. However, one of the most viewed posts on this blog is the "Genealogy of the Kleviak-Koshuba Family."    As I continued to research, I found that the history and culture surrounding my ancestors was far more interesting than just listing who was descended from whom.  And, I did find through research a lot more about my extended family, but that information didn’t fall into my lap, I had to find the sources that connected my to these ancestors.

The first  blog entry was about my great uncle, Joseph Koshuba.  Almost everything I knew about him then was incorrect, so I though that I will update his story. 

Jopseph Koshuba was born in Ouzernaya, Galicia, Ukraine, November 18, 1885, the son of Theodore Kociuba and Maria Kleviak.  He had three brothers, John, born in 1891, Stephen, born in 1899 and Myhaljo (Mike), died 1928.   His two sisters, Teckla Wons, was born in 1883 and Anna Grashkiw, born in 1897. 

Joseph came to the United States in 1904 at the age of 18.  In the 1910 census, he was living in a rooming house in St Paul, Minnesota, working as a laborer. By 1912, he was the owner of National Window Cleaning Company in St Paul. 

Advertisement for Joesph Koshuba's Window Washing Company, 1912

He married Florence Elizabeth Holmberg in February 1913, and they had three children. Frederick, born 1914, Catherine Florence born January 1915, and Marie Olga born in June 1917. 

By 1915, he owned his own home at 886 Central in St Paul.  He applied for US citizenship.  He registered for the World War I draft in 1918.  He was living the American dream.   He died suddenly, at home on January 17, 1919 of chronic myocarditis. 

Joseph’s family continued to live in the home at 886 Central, for about 10 years.  His daughters attended Central High School, his son, Fred went to work. Florence never remarried.  Marie Olga married John Poppler in St Paul in 1937.  Florence and Catherine moved to California around this time.  Florence died in Los Angeles in 1938, at the age of 1944. I can find no other records for Catherine. Marie Olga and her family moved to California in the 1940’s, she divorced and remarried. She died in San Diego in 1993.

The Koshuba Home at 886 Central, St Paul.  It recently sold for $75,000.

As you can see, tragedy affected  the Koshuba family, and it continued.  Brother Mike Koshuba died in a car accident in Hammond Indiana in 1928. In 1941, Fred died in a car accident in Dolton, Illinois at the age of 27.  He was married to Charlotte, living in Detroit, Michigan, and working at the Ford Motor Company.  Stephen Koshuba’s wife, Helen, left him in 1931 with a six year old daughter. In 1940, brother John died of suicide at the age of 49. John Koshuba’s son, named Joseph after his uncle, died of cancer in 1957 at the age of 37, leaving a wife and two young children.  

The other Koshuba children lived long and happy lives, Teckla Wons died in 1976, in St Paul, Anna Graskiw died in 1977 in Minneapolis and Stephen died in 1982 in Denver Colorado.

 

Index