- HOME
- ABOUT
- BEFORE AMERICA
- 1800's
- 1900's
- 2000's
- FAMILY TREES
- GRAVESITES
- FAMILY LORE
- ABOUT FAMILY LORE
- BABE-A-LICIOUS
- BALLOONING
- THE BERTKE FAMILY
- CORKS IN THE WAR
- THE CRYSTAL SET
- EARL KANIS AND WW II
- FIVE JOHNS THREE
- FRANCIS PATRICK CORCORAN
- ON GOLDEN AVE.
- GONE FOREVER
- GRAM CORK
- HARRIS AVE.
- HARVEY KANIS
- HOT RODS
- KANIS & GUNNINK COFFEE
- THE KOTTIG FAMILY
- LETTERS FROM EUROPE
- MEETING MY FATHER
- MC LEAN DRIVE
- MORTIMER CORCORAN
- PROHIBITION
- SAINT PIETER KANIS
- SAINT ROSE CHURCH
- TATTOO YOU
- REMEMBERING TOM KANIS
- UNCLE HENRY
- OLD NEWS
- CONTACT US
The average German immigrant arriving in Cincinnati would have had little reason to fear that he had ventured into a strange and hostile territory. Stepping off his train, his chances were already about two in five of meeting someone not only able to understand him but to answer him in German, and in his own dialect.
(Excerpt from "Disintegration of an Immigrant Community", Guido Dobbert)
PHOTO ABOVE: Fifth & Vine Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio, Circa 1850
John Kanis I was born in Saxony, Germany on September 17, 1821. Early in the spring of 1854, at the age of 32, he left his homeland behind and began the long journey to America in search of a better life. He arrived at The Port of Baltimore on May 6, 1854 and continued directly to Cincinnati. He soon took a wife, started a family and began his pursuit of the American dream, this is his story...
IMAGE LEFT: An early charcoal of John Kanis I, first-generation American, Saxony Germany, Circa 1827
Over the years there have been many colorful characters in the Kanis family including Balloon Pilots, CEO's, Coffee Moguls, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Equestrians, Librarians , MD's, Military Officers, Nannies, Nurses, PhD's, Race Car Drivers, Rock’n Rollers and even a Canonized Saint, this is your story too...
IMAGE LEFT: 500 Years of Kanis