Family Nibbles

Let’s take a look at Anna Kloppenberg’s parents – Ignatz Kloppenberg and Anna Ross.

Ignatz Kloppenberg

Ignatz Francis Kloppenborger was born on January 31, 1864, in Häger, Nienberge, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to Bernardina Laubrock, age 42, and Johann Kloppenborger, cottage farmer, age 45.

He was baptized at St. Sebastian’s Church in Nienberge on February 1. Godparents were Johann Bernard Laubrock and Elisabeth Overbeck.

Ignatz was the youngest of five children. His mother died when he was 11.

Anna Ross

Anna Maria Ross was born on August 26, 1864, in Nordwalde, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to Elisabeth Frauning, age 36, and Johann Ross, age 34.

She was baptized at St. Dionysius Church in Nordwalde on August 29. Godparents were Maria Anna Hartmann and Johann Wehrmann.

Ignatz Kloppenborger and Anna Ross were born less than 10 miles apart. Based on family lore, they met on the ship to America, so didn’t know each other growing up.

Immigration

In 1883, Anna Ross, along with her parents and sister Josephine, boarded the SS Weser in Germany. They were bound for Kansas in America.

Anna’s older sister Louisa Ross Lobberding was already in Hanover, Kansas with her husband, having arrived several years earlier.

It so happens that 20 year old Ignatz Kloppenberg boarded the same ship, traveling by himself and bound for Baltimore.

So by the time the ship arrived at Baltimore on August 15, 1883, Ignatz and Anna had met and spent time together. Family lore says that all the young men on the ship liked to sit on the bench next to Anna, but she liked to sit with Ignatz best.

The Ross family continued on to Hanover. Family stories relate that Ignatz went to Illinois, but later decided to go to Hanover. That decision was probably based on his relationship with Anna and the Ross family.

Marriage and Kids

Ignatz Kloppenberg and Anna Ross married on April 22, 1884 at St. John’s Catholic Church in Hanover. Things happened fast, as this was just eight months after they arrived in America.

Ignatz and Anna had ten children, nine of whom lived until adulthood.

Work

Ignatz Kloppenberg built Hanover. Well, almost. He was a house builder and house mover and construction company. He built for others, and he built many rental homes in Hanover.

He was prolific. I’ve found over fifty deeds where Ignatz bought or sold real estate, houses, or farms.

Ed Kloppenberg, his grandson, told me that a telltale clue of an Ignatz Kloppenberg house is a bay window on the dining room side. Take a look at some examples:

Here are a few (of many) examples of Ignatz’s work:

Nibbles Extra Credit

Kloppenberg or Kloppenborger

Ignatz was born Kloppenborger. The church records for all Ignatz’s siblings list their father’s name as Kloppenborger. No doubt about it.

In America, the name morphed to Kloppenburg and Kloppenborg, and then finally to Kloppenberg.

1883 – Passenger List – Kloppenburg

His name on the 1883 SS Weser passenger list in Baltimore has already dropped the -er. It’s Kloppenburg.

1884 – Marriage License – Kloppenburg

On Ignatz and Anna’s 1884 marriage license, the name is still Kloppenburg.

1890 – Deed – Kloppenborg

This is the earliest deed I’ve found for Ignatz. The name is Kloppenborg.

1892 – Naturalization Application – Kloppenburg

Ignatz’s applied for naturalization in 1892. On the application, the name is back to Kloppenburg.

1893 – Deed – Kloppenberg

This is the earliest document I’ve found that uses the name Kloppenberg.

1893 – Newspaper – Kloppenberg

The newspaper consistently uses Kloppenberg. I haven’t found an example of another spelling in a news article, and there are many.

1908 – Passport Application – Kloppenborg

On Ignatz’s 1908 Passport application, the name is Kloppenborg. That’s an outlier, as most documents after 1900 use Kloppenberg.

Summary

I haven’t seen the Kloppenborger spelling on any Ignatz document in the U.S.

From his arrival in 1883 to the early 1890’s, Ignatz used the spellings Kloppenburg and Kloppenborg on official documents.

By the late 1890s, the Kloppenberg spelling became the common usage. And after 1900, it’s rare to see another spelling.

More Nibbles Extra Credit

Ignatz and Anna built the house at 205 East Elm Street in Hanover, raised their family there, and lived there until their deaths.

They built the one-story house in about 1885, and added the two-story part around 1902 as their family grew.

Coincidentally, the house just sold in 2019. So we can have a peek at the interior rooms as they exist today.

And, as good a real estate investor as Ignatz was, he might be disappointed in the 2019 selling price – $69,000.

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Sources

• Photos – Teply Family Memorabilia
• Photos – Hanover houses – Mark Jarvis – October 2015
• 205 East Elm House Real Estate – midwestlandandhome.com/property/205-east-elm-street-hanover-ks
• Anna Ross birth register – Norwalde, St. Dionysius – 1852-1895 – KB012 – Taufen – http://data.matricula-online.eu/en/deutschland/muenster/nordwalde-st-dionysius/KB012/?pg=79
• Ignatz Kloppenborger birth register – Nienberge, St. Sebastian – 1822-1876 – KB006 – Taufen – http://data.matricula-online.eu/en/deutschland/muenster/nienberge-st-sebastian/KB006/?pg=117
• St. Sebastian Church, Nienberge, Germany – https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Sebastian_(Nienberge)
• St. Dionysius Church, Norwalde, Germany – http://www.kirchengemeinde-nordwalde.de/
• SS Weser Passenger List – Baltimore Passenger Lists – M255 – Baltimore, 1883 Roll 37
• SS Weser Artwork – Emigrant Ship Images
• Marriage License – Ignatz Kloppenberg and Anna Ross – Washington County Kansas District Court Records
• All news articles are from The Hanover Democrat, The Hanover Herald, The Marysville Advocate, Washington Register. All are available on Newpapers.com and are free for Kansas residents – Kansas State Historical Society – https://www.kshs.org/ancestry/drivers/dlverify