In the letters my cousin and I translated, mention is often made of Jakob Handrich. He was the uncle of Michael Harm, the one who sent the Indian vests and moccasins to Freinsheim. My great-great-great-uncle.
Jakob was just 18 years old when he arrived in Cleveland. He started out as a cooper making barrels, then went on to building steamships in a plant on Lake Erie.
One letter mentions he traveled to the south, to New Orleans. Another says he went to California for the Gold Rush. Another that he bought land and built a house for himself and his parents in Cleveland. Then that he went to Columbus to work, while his wife and child remained in Cleveland. Then, that’s it.
“It’s really strange,” my cousin said, “that we don’t hear any more about Jakob Handrich in the letters.”
The comment sparked my curiosity, so I searched death certificates on-line, and found a Jacob Handrich in Buffalo. But the dates were off. Then I thought to search other spellings of the name.
And that’s how I think I found him, under the spelling Jacob Handrick, through FindAGrave.com. At Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. The grave lists him as born 2/22/1822, died 1/25/1896. How he ended up there is still a mystery, but I’m pretty sure the lost has been found.
2 responses to “Lost and found”