Koerner Marriage Certificate

1. Adam Koerner

+ Maria Eberhardt

2. Adam Koerner

+ Pauline Von Deck

3. Ruth E Koerner

+ George Willard Munson

4. Edward Deck (Ned) Munson

+ Debra Florence Dahlquist

5. Scott Edward Munson

I was very excited recently to receive in the mail two marriage certificates from the City of New York. One was for my Grammy Munson's paternal grandparents and the other for her maternal grandparents.

Adam Koerner & Maria Eberhardt's Marriage Certificate

Adam Koerner and Maria Eberhardt were married on April 27, 1879 in New York City. Quite a bit of information is included on the certificate and the Return of a Marriage form. First, notice that the original German spelling of Koerner is used for Adam's name: Korner with the umlaut over the o. While most of the documentation I have found for the family show that "Koerner" was used after coming to the U.S., occasionally Korner was used. Here, even though his name is listed as Korner, he signs the return as Koerner.

Adam was born in New York and his address is listed as 500 East 12th Street, New York. This is the address where Adam's parents are listed as living a year later at the time of the 1880 Census. It proves this is my great great-grandparents and not some other Adam Koerner and his wife. This is further confirmed by the listed occupation: barber.

Return of a Marriage - whatever that means!

Next, Adam's parents are identified as Adam Korner and Maria Bercke. This is the first indication I have found of the immigrant Mary Koerner's maiden name. Remember that they came from Germany just before Adam Jr. was born and I have been unable to find any information about the family in Germany. Now I have a clue to further investigate. Too bad I don't know German!

One of the great thrills in researching family history is discovering maiden names, and marriage records are one of only a few sources for this information. Here, the bride is listed as Maria Eberhardt born and currently living in College Point. This is a neighborhood in Queens not too far from where I now live. Her parents are listed as Jacob Eberhardt and Maria Weickes.

It turns out that there is a family listed in the 1870 Census in College Point which is almost certainly that of Maria. Jacob "Everhart" age 52 is listed with his wife Mary age 48 and children Philip age 23, Adam age 18, Peter age 15, Mary age 13, Jacob age 10, Lizzie age 8 and Johnnie age 6. The parents and two oldest children were born in Prussia and the other children were born in New York. Jacob and his two oldest sons worked in a Rubber Factory of which there were several in Queens. Adam Eberhardt is one of the witnesses to the marriage of Adam Koerner and Maria Eberhardt. The other is Adam Koerner's brother, Philip.

102 St Mark's Place today.  Adam was a barber and
possibly lived here with his family in 1884.

Further research has revealed that Philip Eberhardt, Maria's older brother, had almost certainly married Lena Koerner, Adam's older sister in 1875. It is also almost certain that two of Maria's brothers were butchers, the occupation which would eventually be passed down to our happy couple's oldest child Adam, my great grandfather.

Adam and Maria are recorded in the Census a year after their marriage living at 544 East 11th Street with their newborn baby Adam, my great-grandfather.  Adam was a Barber and is listed at 102 St. Mark's Place in the 1884 and 1888 New York City Directories.  This was the heart of Little Germany at the time.  By 1892, though, the family had moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where young Adam met and fell in love with his future wife, Pauline Von Deck.

Pauline's father, Emil Von Deck, was also a barber in Greenwich who had moved from New York City. My next post will be regarding his marriage to Maria Zantop.  She was still alive when my father was a child and was known as Grandma Von Deck.