Daniel Korns, Jr. & wife Caroline (Tressler) Korns
Daniel Korns, Jr. material index:
This page indexes misc. genealogical materials on this website that pertain to Daniel Korns, Jr. of Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Hit your refresh button to see the latest updates.
L. Dietle
Click here to see a video of the exterior details of the 19th century timber-frame farmhouse in Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania that was lived in by Daniel, Wilson, Allen, and Melvin Korns.
Click here to see an item about the January 29, 1874 marriage of Daniel & Caroline (Tressler) Korns' daughter Lizzie Korns to Solomon Shaffer that was printed in the February 11, 1874 issue of the "Somerset Herald" newspaper.
Daniel Korns, Jr. genealogy notes
Introduction
Daniel Korns, Jr. was the son of Daniel Korns, Sr., and resided in Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Caroline (Tressler) Korns are buried in the Cook Cemetery in Southampton Township. Daniel Korns, Jr. died July 7, 1901 at the age of 81 years, 3 months and one day, and his wife Caroline died May 23, 1903 at the age of 78 years, 6 months and 21 days, according to the book "Cemeteries of Somerset Co.".
Tillie Korns, who married Jim Blubaugh but did not live with him, and had one child known as Clara Korns.
Two of Daniel's Children helped to build Comp's Church
According to the 1940 book "Pastors and People of Somerset Classis", Joseph H. Korns and Emmanuel Korns participated in the construction of Comp's Church, which was completed on Christmas Eve, 1879. Joseph H. Korns dressed the cornerstone for $2.25 during Feb. 4-6, 1879. The book (incorrectly) indicates that the cornerstone reads "Comp's Lutheran and Reformed, May 3, 1879". In a list of members that was written by Mrs. Harry I. Trautman circa 1905, Emmanuel and Louis Korns are listed as members of the Comp's Church. There were 19 members of the Church in 1900. Comp's Church closed for several decades beginning circa 1905, and in 1925 the 17 remaining members of the Church were worshipping at Gladden's.
Daniel and Caroline Korns Were Members of Gladdens/Kennels Mills Church
According to the 1940 book Pastors and People of Somerset Classis, an 1861 list of members of the church known alternately as Gladden's, Hoyman's, Kennel's and Gladden's Run includes Daniel and Caroline Korns. A possibly earlier list of members, believed to be circa 1853, also includes Daniel and Caroline Korns. Caroline, Wilson J. (sic) and Immanuel (sic) Korns were members in the 1868 to 1900 time frame.
In 1998, the "Kennels Mills Congregation Births and Baptisms" section of the Somerset County PA GenWeb internet site listed the following Korns births and baptisms:
PARENTS NAMES
CHILD'S NAME
DATE OF BIRTH
DATE OF BAPTISM
Korns, Daniel
Joseph
Dec. 6, 1846
Feb. 7, 1847
Korns, Daniel
Emmanuel
Feb. 4, 1849
March 18, 1849
Korns, Daniel & Caroline
Elizabeth
April 20, 1850
July 7, 1850
Korns, Daniel
Jacob Alfred
Sept. 1, 1853
Nov. 21, 1853
Daniel Korns, Jr. Used to Live in Richy Hollow
In 1998, 88 year-old Southampton Township resident Lester Korns (who was well versed in local Korns traditions) stated to me (L. Dietle) that Dan Korns, Jr. lived on a farm back in what is known as Richy Hollow, and said that the Daniel "Dan" Korns, Jr. family moved to the Sturtz farm when Dan's son Wilse (Lester's grandfather John Wilson Korns) was 12 years old. Since John Wilson Korns was born in 1858, Lester's story would indicate that Dan Korns, Jr. moved from Richy Hollow circa 1870. (What Lester referred to as the Sturtz farm was the farm that was later owned by Lester's grandfather John Wilson Korns, then Allen Korns, and now Allen's son.) Lester's statement is supported by a 1993 statement of Allen Korns' son-in-law Roy, who reported that Allen took once took him on a hike into the woods, leaving from Allen's farm and heading generally toward Comp's Corners to visit the "original" Korns farm. All that was left at the time was foundations. The 1860 Walker map of Somerset County shows the Daniel Korns, Junior residence in Richie Hollow, along Gladdens Run. This means that Dan Korns, Jr's house was the residence that is shown as the J.D. Roddy house along Kennel's Mill Run on the 1876 Atlas of Somerset County (near the words "Mill" and "Run").
Daniel Korns, Jr. Bought the Sturtz Farm and Moved There
During that same 1998 discussion, Lester also said that Dan Korns, Jr. sold the Richy Hollow farm for three thousand dollars and bought the Sturtz farm for four Thousand dollars after the Sturtz's died. According to Lester, the man who bought the Richy Hollow farm had only paid Dan Korns, Jr. two thousand dollars of the three thousand dollar price, then moved on to Philadelphia. Dan Korns, Jr. went to Philadelphia to resolve the matter, and came back home with the one thousand dollars he was owed. Research after Lester's death shows that Daniel won the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Case "Patrick's Appeal" in Philadelphia, and that case is surely the basis for the Philadelphia story. Click here to see a notice in the August 4, 1880 issue of "The Somerset Herald" that indicates the case of "Daniel Korns vs. J. D. Roddy & H. Findlay" was scheduled for trial at August Term in Somerset County. Click here to see a notice in the February 2, 1881 issue of The Somerset Herald that indicates the verdict in a case described as, “Daniel Korns use of M. A. Sanner & Co., use of W. W. Patrick, use John D. Roddy and Hiram Findley, Sci. Fa. Sur. Mortgage.”
Lester also reported that Dan Korns, Jr. was born at a location just before Cook Cemetery, and reported that Dan's father Dan Korns, Sr. was born at the Michael Korns house. Lester also reported that Dan Korns built the first barn at the location of the site that the Allen Korns family refers to as the "new barn", and says that the barn that Dan built burned down when Lester was 15. Lester also reported that he was told that there was once a log barn just below the lane to the "new barn", where the lane meets the road.
There is evidence to support the contention that a Sturtz family lived at the farm later owned by Dan Korns, Jr., then by John Wilson Korns, then by Allen Korns. When I was a young boy, my grandmother Mrs. Allen Korns told me that there were two individuals buried in the garden behind her house. In the 1990s, when I talked to an aunt who has lived on that farm all her adult life, she told me that although she only knew of one burial there, it was a Sturtz. She said that the burial was located at a fruit tree in the garden, which was just beside the Allen Korns house. When the tree blew down, it uprooted the stone, and when they cleaned up the tree the stone was moved out of the garden. She didn't know there were two graves, but of that I am sure from what my grandmother told me when I was little.
I had e-mail correspondence with Keith Sturtz of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho in 1994. He said that the Allen Korns farm was once owned by his GGGG-grandfather, Christian Sturtz. He said that there were only two people buried there, said to be Christian Sturtz and his wife Margaret. He indicated that he had visited what he termed the "Sturtz cemetery" years before, and it was on the farm of John and Allen Korns, in the orchard, just back of the house a few rods. Keith wrote that the tombstone reads "C.S. died 29 Jun 1830". These things suggest Keith was quoting from the 1930s-era WPA cemetery survey, rather than trip notes. When Keith saw the tombstone, it had already been removed from the grave and was part of a stone fence on the property. In the 1990s my aunt who lives on the property told me that the stone fence near the garden on the property line was bulldozed into one or more piles, so the tombstone would be very hard to find if it had been laid up against that stone fence.
An obvious question is who exactly did Daniel Korns, Jr. buy the "Sturtz farm" from? The book "The Genealogy of Michael Korns, Sr." says that his father Daniel Korns, Sr. once lived there; but that is incorrect. Lester said that Dan Korns, Jr. moved there from Richie hollow when his son John Wilson Korns was 12. Since John Wilson Korns was born in 1858, this indicates that the move would have taken place circa 1870. Who owned the farm between the apparent 1830 death of Christian Sturtz, and the circa 1870 purchase by Daniel Korns, Jr.? Click here to find out.
h3>Who Were Caroline (Tressler) Korns' Parents?
Click here for information on what is known about Caroline Tressler's parents, and where they lived.
Information on Daniel Korns' child Jacob from Huffman book
Page 7 of Roger and Mona Huffman's 2007 book "A Look At Southampton Township Pennsylvania", Volume II indicates that Jacob Korns, who was born in 1853 and was the son of Daniel Korns, Jr., died June 24, 1918. The same page also indicates that Jacob's wife was Margaret Burkett, and they had seven children: Clayton, Joseph, Orpha, Cynthia, Mahlon, Dewey, and Sherman Korns. Page 9 of the book indicates that Margaret, known as "Maggie" died on April 21, 1933. The information was credited to clippings collected by Charles Burkett and Stella (Emerick) Shroyer.
The Great Buckwheat Year
One of the events that probably affected Daniel Korns, Jr. was the hard frost that occurred in Somerset County on the night of June 4th, 1859. This late frost killed fruit, crops and vegetables, and even the maple trees lost their leaves. Especially if he was living in Richy hollow at the time, Daniel may have been affected, because frost tends to hit lower regions hardest. The loss of crops caused widespread panic, and a run on flour supplies. Farmers across the county ultimately planted buckwheat to make up for the crop loss, and harvested a record 183,000 bushels. As a result, 1859 became known as the "Great Buckwheat year". (See page 14 of John C. Cassady's 1932 book "Somerset County Outline".) Even if somehow Daniel's farm wasn't directly affected, the situation would been an important topic of conversation all across the county.
