Fortmann [a Kleine] Clemens (I) August Ludwig b. 18 Feb 1824 Kleinefortmann Farm, Sudlohne, Vecta District, Oldenburg Duchy, Germany d. 16 Aug 1871 6710 Robie St (now Damen Ave) Evanston, (now Chicago), IL

1824 - 1871

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Birth	18 Feb 1824	Kleinefortmann Farm, Sudlohne, Vecta District, Oldenburg Duchy, Germany
Christened	20 Feb 1824	St Gertrud Catholic Church, Lohne, Oldenburg Duchy, Germany
Gender	Male
Died	16 Aug 1871	6710 Robie St (now Damen Ave) Evanston, (now Chicago), IL [2]
Died	After marrying at age 25 Clemens resides, with his family, on his brother, John Henry Joseph Fortmann's farm on Robie St. at age 27. It is 1851. Shockingly Clemens, age 47, is accidently killed when the axle on his wagon breakes as he is shoveling into it. The wheel crushes him under a load of Schwein-Schiebs. He leaves an 8 1/2 month pregnant wife and 9 children and a brother Heinrich living next door. [1]
Buried	18 Aug 1871	Fortmann Plot 4 Block 5 St Henry's Cemetery Chicago. IL
Person ID	I048	Schmit(t)... Schmidt...Smith...Fortmann...Fortman....Bourcier...Boursier.....Morris
Last Modified	22 Sep 2010

Father	Landwehr, a.k.a. KleineFortmann Franz Ludewig (Father of Clemens (1) & J. Heinrich, a.k.a. Henry Ist), b. 13 Apr 1771, Landwehr Farm, Sudlohne, Vecta (District), Oldenburg Duchy, Germany , d. 11 Jan 1839, Sudlohne, Vecta (District), Oldenburg Duchy, Germany
Relationship	birth
Mother	KleineFortmann Katharina Maria (wife of Franz Ludewig, Mother of Clemens, Henry 1st & Anna Maria), b. 20 Sep 1787, Kleinefortmann Farm, Sudlohne, Vecta (District) Oldenburg Duchy, Germany , d. 7 Jan 1834, Kleinefortmann Farm, Sudlohne, Vecta (District) , Oldenburg Duchy, Germany
Relationship	birth
Married	3 Nov 1807	St Gertrud Catholic Church, Lohne, Vecta (District), Oldenburg Grand Duchy,Germany
Family ID	F019	Group Sheet

Family Lauermann Maria Katherine, a.k.a. Mary (wife of Clemens), b. 6 Sep 1830, Bueschfeld, Germany , d. 21 Jul 1891, 6710 Robie St (Seeley Ave), Chicago, IL

Married 20 Nov 1848 St Joseph's Catholic Church, New Trier, Ilinois

Children

	1. Fortmann Katherine, a.k.a. Catharine, b. 25 Oct 1850, 4099 N Robie St, Ridgeville now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 23 May 1914, 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL
	2. Fortmann Barbara, b. 14 Nov 1852, 4099 N Robie St, Ridgeville, now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 19 May 1943, 6710 Robie St (Seeley Ave), Chicago, IL
	3. Fortmann Anthony, b. 1857, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave Chicago, IL , d. 23 Jan 1957
	4. Fortmann John, b. Jul 1857, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 31 Oct 1943, 6710 Robie St (Seeley Ave), Chicago, IL
	5. Fortmann Nicholas, b. 5 Jan 1860, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 13 Nov 1945, 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL
>	6. Fortmann Herman, b. 1862, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 12 Jun 1888, 4099 N Robie St now 6710 N Seeley Ave Chicago, IL
	7. Fortmann Clemens (II), b. 1864, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave Chicago, IL
	8. Fortmann Anna (a.k.a. Annie) Maria, b. 17 Oct 1866, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL , d. 2 Jul 1962, Techny, Mundaline, IL
>	9. Fortmann Frederick, b. 30 Mar 1869, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 N Seeley Ave Chicago, IL , d. 2 Jan 1955, St. Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL
	10. Fortmann Maria A (a.k.a. Mary), b. 1 Sep 1871, 4099 N Robie St, Evanston now 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, Illinois , d. 12 Dec 1930, 6710 Seeley Ave, Chicago, IL

Last Modified 6 Jun 2009

Family ID F014 Group Sheet

Photos		Crest: The Kleine FORTMANN VORTMANN Family Origin: 1200's, Sudlohne, Oldenburg Duchy, Germany located abt 65 miles South of the Baltic Sea, between the Weser and the Ems River in the marshy lowlands 80 miles East of Holland. ........Note the raft carrying the hay-wagon across the shallow marshland. The name comes from the German word "furt" meaning "a man who lives by poling rafts across shallow water". ........The earliest peoples of the area were of the "Cheruscian Tribe"....lived as animal herders (pigs and cattle) in the forests and grew oats and rye on raised dry land. ........They were known for their independence.
		1889..... Maria Katherina Lauermann Fortmann, ......age:60 ......wife of Clemens August Ludwig Fortmann ..... b. Buschfeld, Germany ..... daughter of John Lauermann, owner of Lauermann's General Store, 1848, New Trier, Illinois .......Mother of Frederick Fortman (husband of Louisa Schmidt) and 8 other children
		1882.....Anna Maria (Annie) Fortmann,.....Age: 16.........Sister of Frederick Fortmann, ..............daughter of Clemens August Ludwig Fortmann & Maria Catherine Lauermann,...........a single lady of 95 years residing at 6700 Robie St............... as one of 10 children,.............. also see "Fortman burial Plot" in "Headstones"
		April 25, 1894 Photo .............Fredrick Fortmann, age 25, takes Louisa Schmidt, age 23, as his bride.......their marriage shall see Louisa bear 4 sons and last 61 years until Fred's death in 1955.
		1921, June....Frederick Fortmann, (age 52) Louisa Smith Fortman (age 50) and standing, Fred, (age 26) Edmund, (age 20) Lawrence, (age 25) seated Albert Joseph (age 16) on south lawn of 6836 N. Ridge, Chicago
		January 5, 1918 a sled in front of the Fortmann Home at 4099 Robie Street (today: 6710 Seeley)
		Old Catholic Church & its Cemetery, Steenfelde, Germany The Fortmann's attended a Catholic Church in Oldenburg, Germany similar to this Church 50Km west of Oldenburg.
		German, French, English and American Ports of Departure ca. 1800 Bremen, LeHavre, SouthHampton, Calais, Brest, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, 2500NM to the Carribean, Bermuda, New York
		Johann Peter Schmidt & J Heinrich Fortmann's Atlantic crossing from LeHavre & Bremen to America in 1840 & 1838? The Ports and Sailing route of Ships traversing the North Atlantic Ocean from Europe to New York in 1840. Ports: Bremen, LeHavre, Calais, Southhampton, Brest, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, South Caribean, Bermuda, New York.
		St.Henry's Catholic Church #3, the East Facade, Ridge & Devon, Chicago, IL. Completed,1905. Church # 1 was a single-room single-story wooden building built in 1851 by the Prussian Heritage German speaking Catholic Community. An examination of gravestone names confirms this Prussian Heritage. This Church served the growing Catholic Community for 20 years. Prior to this Church, Catholic Mass and services were celebrated by Fr. Fortmann, a traveling missionary priest, in the 2-story wooden frame home of Peter Schmidt Smith(Jr) at 6816 Ridge Trail, (a sandy Indian Trail leading to Green Bay Trail that went to Milwaukee). This house was about 1 mile North of the Church's location. Church # 2, a steepled wood Gothic style, was built in 1871, at a cost of $10,000 and utilized until Church #3 was completed in 1905. It served for 34 years. The Cemetery adjacent to Church #3 was established in 1863. Many of the early German residents rest here. A plot cost $6.00 then. Today the Church charges $1300 for decendents to open a grave on a 144 year old family site if one can overcome the bureaucratic hurdles and legalisns of today's Church. Burials prior to 1863 were either "on the farm" or in the City Cemetery that is now Lincoln Park. That City cemetery was closed and almost all residents were reinterred to Calvary Cemetery (Catholic) or Rosehill Cemetery if Protestant. It is also apparent that the recording of Children's Burials was not rigorously applied. The accuracy of Children's burials appears to have improved about 1960. Records prior to 1960 and earlier omit many children's burial records since they were probably performed by undertakers without a concern for Cemetery records. The recording of Adult Burial dates appears accurate since 1863 and correlation with Census data after about 1880 improves. Current Catholic burial records were moved in 2004 from St Boniface Cemetery to Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, IL. The original "Books of Record" for funerals, (the accuracy responsibility beng that of Pastors until about 1930), has since been taken over by Archdiocosean Personnel. These original records were of course in German until about 1920 and then a "translation" transpired in the '30's and of course the error factor immediately grew. Finding and obtaining access to a "Book of Original Record" can be a daunting task. The whereabouts of these original records of St. Henry's is at this time an open question. In about 1928 Cardinal Mundeline gave Church #3 to the Angel Guardian Orphanage. This infuriated the Congregation. The Pastor, Fr. Rittersoph, asked for and received reassignment, stating he could "no longer hold up my head" to his parishoners in light of this heavy handed action. The parishoners had just finished paying off the mortgage the previous year. The parishoners were given a small piece of land a block west on Hoyne Ave to construct the current two story fortress style Church. The second floor was the grammar school. This Church #4, a small stone block building, served as St Henry's Church from 1928 to today. It's parishoners grew but peaked in 1952. With middle-class flight to the suburbs beginning in the 60's; the parish stagnated in the 80's; declined in the 90's and is currently utilized by a small Catholic Vietnamese Congregation and Pastor. It's school is closed. The fruits of "multiculturism" in Rogers Park have decimated a once vibrant Catholic Church. A sad ending to a great beginning.
		1834 "Thaler", a German Silver Coin. Used for 400 years, this coin is a one "Thaler" coin and = to 30 Silver "Groschen" ( Sgr. means silbergroschen or silver penny). In 1834 one day's farm labor was paid 1 1/2 Silvergr. A farm laborer earned 450 Silvergr. or 15 Thaler a year. A simple farm hand would earn 9 Thaler a year. A boy 5 Thaler a year. A servant 3 Thaler a year. Johann Peter would have carried a pouch or tin box of these as he left Germany. Johann's Passport shows "15 Sgr" or 1/2 a "Thaler" for the "tax stamp". And, "20 Sgr" for "passage permission". Thus, his 35 Sgr fees represented about 24 work days or 4 weeks of work.
		1854 Weimishkirch Funeral Services founded. 1920's Hand Bill of Weimishkirch Funeral Services

Headstones		1870 Fortmann Burial Plot in St Henry's Cemetery, 9 plots, purchased abt. 1866 by Clemens August Ludwig Fortmann … Status:
Headstones		1875 b. Smith Monument Plate … Status:

Histories		1852 Henry Fortman, b. 1802, Germany...farmer (1850 Census, New Trier)....Rev?....Pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church 1847 - 1852, said Mass in the Schmidt House on "the Ridge" …
		1833-60 the Roman Catholic Church in Northeastern, Illinois, 1833-60, her Priests and their Baptisms, Marriages, and Funerals. …
		1839 The Fortmann migration decision in Sudlohne, Germany …

Notes

Brothers Heinrich (Henry I) and Clemens farm several non-adjacent pieces of land, just west of Ridge Trail, in Ridgeville, Illinois. They acquire a second piece on 17 April 1851 via Warranty Deed from John Wender (Johann Zender in Germany's records).......the transaction is recorded 24 April 1854.

Prior to this.

John H. J. Fortman (Johannes Heinrich Joseph Fortmann (Henry I)) bought several acres of land, along Robie St (Damen Ave)in Ridgeville, Illinois in his name only on 1 Sep 1849 from John Wagner and Wife. This couple is his brother-in-Law and sister-in-law. The deed is recorded 17 years later on 29 Jun 1866.

John H. J. (Henry I) marries Catherine Lauermann 29 Jan 1846 at St. Joe's in Wilmette and his first Son John Henry (II)is born Nov 1850.

Clemens marries Maria Catherina Lauermann 20 Nov 1848 at St Joe's and his first daughter Katherine is born 25 Oct 1850.

These men are marrying sisters and it is now known from pre-Chicago 1871 Great Fire records that John H. J.'s land purchase is from his brother-in-law, John Wagner and sister-in-law, Barbara Lauermann.

The best man of both brothers is Anton Haskamp whose brother married a Fortmann sister in Germany.

Sources

[S2265] David A. Fortman, records at 6836 N Ridge Chicago, IL davidfortman@hotmail.com (Reliability: 3).
[S5344] St Henry's Baptisms Marriages Deaths Communion Confirmations Accounts Lists of Pastors and Assistants 1863-1985 , Pastor, St Henry's Catholic Church, (St Henry's Church) (Reliability: 3), 18 Aug 1871.