John Kanis I was born in Saxony, Germany on September 17, 1821. Saxony, located in southern Germany, is where members of the Kanis Family most probably had lived for many years. As a matter of fact, a search shows there are still Kanis family members living there today.
Early in the spring of 1854, at the age of 32, John Kanis I left everything and everybody he ever knew behind in Saxony and set out for America to start a new life. Directly below his name on the ship’s manifest was a 28 year old Johanna (Hannah) Seidel. We can only assume these two were traveling together. However, there is the possibility that they met on the cruise. Nonetheless, their destinations were both listed as Ohio.
The ship departed from the Port of Bremen, Germany most likely traveling northward up the Weser River to the North Sea and then turning its sails westward for the 4,485 nautical mile trip to America.
John Kanis I's boarding papers listed his city of origin as Drunzig. However, after discussions with our European contacts, we are still uncertain as to where or what Drunzig actually is. Some say it is quite possibly a misspelling, something lost in translation or transposed improperly. This type of thing was not uncommon with immigration papers in those days. Others say it could possibly be Braunschweig (Brunswick) located in lower Saxony. The German pronunciation sounds quite similar to Drunzig. We are just not certain.
On the ship’s manifest young Hannah’s city of origin is illegible but other documents we have found mention Württemberg. Again, we are just not certain as of this writing.
John's papers also listed his occupation as a farmer. A farmer was a good occupation to list as an immigrant. They were highly sought after in America at that time.
The ship's name was listed as The Adalphine. Ships like these were carrying cargo like cotton and grain from America to Europe. On their return voyage, rather than sailing back empty, they would often carry passengers with them back to America. Immigrants would normally cross in the crowded steerage areas below deck.
Only more affluent Germans would have their own private cabin on ships like The Adalphine. And a private cabin is probably something a young German farmer would not have been able to afford at that time. However, John Kanis I's papers listed him as being in cabin 2-B.
Traveling to America from Europe by ship could be a harrowing experience in the middle 19th century. The trip could take upwards of six or more weeks depending on what weather was encountered. In the close quarters below deck viruses would often spread quickly causing sickness and even death to a large number of the passengers. Other ships carrying immigrants were simply lost at sea, their passengers never to be seen again.
The ship's port of entry was stamped as Baltimore with John and Hannah's final destination listed as Cincinnati. So, for whatever reason, their plan was to come directly to Cincinnati.
They arrived at The Port of Baltimore on May 6, 1854. From there, it’s likely that John and Hannah made the 423 mile trip from Baltimore to Cincinnati via rail. The railway lines of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had just reached the Ohio River two years earlier, in 1852.
Very soon after arriving in Cincinnati John Kanis I married Hannah Seidel. John and Hannah wasted no time in starting a family. That next year, in 1855, Hannah gave birth to their first child, Louisa. Louisa would marry John Bode and have one child, Catherine. Sadly, John Bode would die of consumption just a few years later at the young age of 26.
In 1857, their second child Kate was born. She would marry Emil Rehbaum and have two children: Laura and Willard. Willard would die at the age of four. Kate however would be the longest surviving member of the second generation living to the age of 94, passing in 1951.
In 1858, John and Hannah had their third child, the first born male, John Kanis II. He would marry Emma Josephine Wolf, eventually moving to West Virginia to apprentice in the grocery store business. It was there that he and his wife Emma started their family having two children: Clarence and Harvey. Harvey would marry but have no children. Clarence would be the only third generation Cincinnati Kanis to carry the family name onto future generations.
In 1860, John and Hannah's fourth child, Louis, was born. Louis would marry Anna Elizabeth (Lizzie) Dhonau, move to Dayton and have three children: Clifford, Melvin and Gilmond. Melvin would die at the age of one.
In 1865, their fifth child, Henry was born. Henry never married and would live the shortest life of any of the second generation passing in 1891 at the age of 26.
In 1868, their youngest daughter, Doretta (Dora), was born. Dora would marry George Joseph Momberg and have four children: Arthur, Howard, Jeanette and an unnamed infant who died at birth. Their child Jeanette would die at the age of two in 1903.
In our research we also found an infant, Eugenia Kanis, born in 1876. She died at the age of 15 months on September 6, 1877. Very little information is available about Eugenia. Currently we can find no direct connection between her and the John and Hannah Kanis Family, although we feel that there must be.
In 1891, at the age of 70, John Kanis I passed. His death certificate stated pneumonia as the cause. Census records from this same period listed John I's address as 917 Vine Street and his occupation as clerk. Seeing that Cincinnati was the third largest city in the United States at the time and that John I was living in the center of town gives us good reason to believe that he probably never worked as a farmer in America.
One year later, in 1892, Hannah Seidel Kanis, John Kanis I's wife passed at the age of 66. Her death certificate simply stated "causes not known" for the reason for her death. Records listed her residence at that same 917 Vine Street address.
By the end of the 19th century, the first- generation American Kanis family, John Kanis I and Hannah Siedel Kanis had passed. With the death of their son Henry at age of 26 in 1891, only five members remained of the second generation. And sadly, of the twelve children born into the third generation, three had died at very young ages, leaving only nine living by the end of 1899. The fourth would die just three years into the new century.
