Louis Kohus 1858-1907
(seated center behind burro's head) Louis Kohus, (sitting on burro front center) Julia (Elbrey) Kohus 1860-1945
Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado. (circa 1890-1900)
Author of this family tree, Michael Lee Kohus 1947- , great-grandson of Louis and Julia (Elbrey) Kohus
Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado (circa 2007)
Louis Kohus, was the son of Prussian immigrants Johann Hermann Kohues (John Kohus) and Veronica Determann. He was born on November 20, 1858 in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time of his birth his parents were living at 84 Broadway just a few blocks north of Front Street and the Ohio River boat landing. Front Street in those days was a bustling center of riverboat commerce. Louis’ father, John, a tailor by trade, had immigrated to America from the tiny town of Ostbevern, Prussia just 8 years before his son was born. When Louis was born, Herman Heinrich Kohues, (Herman Kohus), John’s brother was also living with them. Herman Kohus immigrated from Ostbevern in 1852. Herman was a shoemaker by trade and learned his craft in Ostbevern as did all the Kohues brothers.
Around 1867 at age nine, Louis and his parents moved to 74 Spring Street. That was also the year John’s youngest brother Joan Heinrich Kohues, (known in America as Henry Kohus), immigrated. Henry and his wife Gertrud Fromme, with son Bernard Heinrich (known as Henry B), brothers Herman and Louis along with parents John and Veronica were all living at 74 Spring Street. At that time, Louis’ father John was working in his tailoring business location at 56 E 5th, and his uncle Herman was working with Rudolph Imwald, “Kohus and Imwald boots and shoes,” while uncle Henry was employed at a saddler tree works.
Around age twelve Louis’ parents again moved. This time to the north west corner of Western Avenue and Poplar Street. The Spring Street and Western Avenue residences both bordered the Over The Rhine area of Cincinnati. The Over the Rhine neighborhood was so named for it’s inhabitants, consisting predominately of persons of German decent. By the latter part of the 19th century, approximately 40 % of the population in Cincinnati was of German heritage. In at age sixteen Louis was employed as a clerk. It is unclear where he worked though I suspect at his father’s or one of his uncle’s businesses. The following year in October 1875, Louis’ father John died from a kidney disorder called Brights Disease. This hardly left Louis with ample time to learn his father’s business though it seems he may have given it a try because two years later in 1877 Louis and his mother were lived at 391 W Liberty Street and Louis was employed as a tailor.
Two years later on May 4, 1879 Louis Kohus age 20 married Julia T. Elbrey, age 18. Julia was the daughter of John and Mary Elbrey. Julia’s parents were also Prussian immigrants. In September 1880 their first child John William Kohus was born. At that time Louis was working as a wall paper hanger. A year later in October 1881, Julia gave birth to their daughter Veronica. Veronica was probably named after Louis’s mother Veronica Detremann. At that time Louis was employed in a wall papering business known as “Kohus and Moeller.” The Kohus and Moeller family’s were close because 2 of Louis’s aunts married Moeller’s. From 1881 until their third child was born, Louis worked as a traveling salesman, clerk and saloon worker. In January 1883 the family was living at 391 W Liberty St. when their daughter Veronica died. She was buried in St. Joseph’s Old Cemetery in Cincinnati. Three years later on September 27, 1886, their next child, my grandfather, Herbert Bernard Kohus was born.
Louis and Julia had their last child , Alma Kohus in 1891. That was the last year I could find Louis Kohus listed in the Cincinnati City directories. He was working as a wall paper hanger. That may have been about the time he moved his family to Addyston, Ohio. Addyston is a small village only a few miles west of Cincinnati located along the Ohio River. Family stories tell of Louis and Julia running a boarding house in Addyston. My grandfather, Herbert Kohus often told stories about growing up in Addyston. He talked fondly about jumping on his horse and racing around the countryside with his brother Johnnie, as Herbert referred to him. In the 1900 US Census, Louis is shown living in Addyston, Ohio, along with his wife, three children and indeed, they had four boarders living with them. Not exactly the large boarding house imagined from grandpa’s stories told many years ago but a boarding house none the less.
Louis Kohus, my great grandfather, died from pneumonia on December, 9 1907 at age 49. He was buried at St. John Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. A single Kohus Family monument inscribed with very weathered names marks his final resting place. Louis was survived by his wife Julia T. Elbrey Kohus (age 47), son John William Kohus (age 27), John’s wife Mary Schaefer, son Herbert Bernard Kohus (age 20) and Herbert’s wife Mabel Julia Duncan, daughter Alma Kohus (age 17) and one granddaughter Loretta Kohus (age 4). Julia never remarried. Some time later she moved in with her daughter Alma. Alma’s husband Peter Buckley died in 1920 and she remarried in 1926 to Clearance H. Dreyfus. The Dreyfus family moved to Atlanta Georgia some time later and grandmother Julia Elbrey Kohus moved with them. She died there on August 16, 1945.
Louis Kohus is buried in St. John Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. He shares a common headstone with his father and several siblings.