My boss sent me an e-mail the other day, asking if I had ever heard of Martin Kalbfleisch, mayor of Brooklyn for three terms between 1861 and 1871. He (my boss) is reading a book about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and Martin’s name figures prominently in the building of the bridge.
I did a Google search this evening and learned that Martin Kalbfleisch was born in The Netherlands in 1804, and went to sea when he was 18. At the age of 22, he emigrated to New York City, where he found work as a clerk, and then as a chemist. Eventually, he founded a chemical factory, which he ran for nearly twenty years, until he was elected mayor of Brooklyn in 1861. A year later, he joined the U.S. Congress as a Democrat, but returned to New York after a single term and was elected mayor again in 1867. He parted company with the Democratic Party while in office, and was defeated in 1871 when he ran for reelection as an Independent.
Construction on the Brooklyn Bridge began in 1869, while Martin was in office. He was apparently involved to a great extent in the political dealings that were needed to get the project started, and he was (at least if you believe David McCullough’s account) quite the smokey-back-room politician. Deals were made, and Martin Kalbfleisch’s not inconsiderable wealth made all the difference.
(Of course, he also built the first public school in Green Point, New York, so he couldn’t have been that bad a guy.)
So, back to the original question…yes, I knew of Martin Kalbfleisch. He’s my Great-great-great-grandfather.
So, I feel a bit of a connection to the Brooklyn Bridge.
What about you? Anybody interesting in your family’s history?
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11 comments:
As my cousin is a wanna be historian, I have learned that my great great great -- ancestors did, indeed, come over to the US from Ireland around the time of the Mayflower. They were forced out because of excess drinking and thievery. Let me ask you this - how much drinking do you have to do to get kicked out of Ireland?!
My dad's side is another story. His family is North American Indian that escaped (!) CANADA and fled to Maine. So there you have it. My ancestors were drunken, thieving runaways. Yep, sure am proud of that one!
That's a cool bit of family history....thanks for sharing.
Actually, my great, great uncle was the boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett who was played by Errol Flynn in a movie, pretty cool, huh?
He was my mother's, mother's uncle. Got it?
My maiden name is Kelley, and I believed I might have been related to DeForest Kelley ('Bones' on Star Trek) because he did resemble my grandfather a bit. But I never really checked on it. Also, my maternal grandfather was Chief of the Atlanta Fire Department in the 60s and 70s. So local, hometown famous, you know? Other than that, nothing that I know of. And I am our family's historian/geneaologist. It appears we're pretty much just po' Irish done good. :-)
And Kurt, I have to admit, I was surprised to learn that your last name really IS Kalbfleisch. When I first linked to you (from a comment you posted on Waiter Rant), I remember asking if you were related to the Gambolputty family. :-) And then you recently mentioned that someone googled your name and I realized - how cool - that's his real name! AND he's a Monty Python fan. Were you an MP fan before you discovered the Gambolputtys?
Oh, yes...I have been a Monty Python fan since...oh, since I used to have to take a half hour away from listening to Dr. Demento on Sunday nights to go watch the Flying Circus on PBS. That must have been, like, seventh grade.
No, the show was not new, then.
~Kurt
I'm supposedly related to Wyatt Earp in some round-about fashion... may have to check into that.
Well, my grandfather was a drummer boy in the French foreign legion in WW1, and got lots of medals. We have a photo of him with some fellow soldiers, lighting the eternal flame under the L'arc de Triomphe. Does that count?
It's always interesting to learn something new about members of you (however ancestral) family.
I've been able to trace one side of my family back about 250 years so far, to England and Ireland. In more recent history, I had a great uncle who was the jockey who rode a Triple-Crown-Winning horse - but then disappeared under very mysterious circumstances...and it's still an unsolved mystery!
That is soooo cool! I don't have anyone famous in my family. Our cousins started Smucker's jelly, but that's not really fame--or any money to me for that matter ;-(
i hope to be that person in my otherwise obscure family :)
My family will one day say "my great great great grandmother was an extra on 21 Jump Street". Of course at that point everyone will say "what is 21 Jump Street?"
I'm not related to any famous (that I know of), but my great great great grandmother was the first female court reporter in the State of California. I always thought that was kinda cool. Women weren't even supposed to work back then. She worked because she was.... *gasp*.... divorced! Divorce was ultra scandalous as well!!
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