Johann Heinrich Kottmann and Angela Bernadine Schoenlau
A New Beginning at Ages 68 and 62
Johann Heinrich Kottmann was born in 1811, long before Canada became the country we know today. He and his wife, Angela Bernadine Schoenlau, spent most of their lives in Germany, raising their family and building a life in the place they knew as home.
Then, in 1879, they made a decision that would change their family’s future.
On October 11, 1879, Johann and Angela arrived in Canada. Leaving Liverpool, they had already traveled 1,125 km from Germany.
Johann was 68 years old, and Angela was 62. At an age when many people would have expected to remain close to everything familiar, they crossed the ocean and began again in a new country.
They did not make the journey alone. They travelled with family, including their daughters:
Johanna Feldhans and her husband, Heinrich (Henry) Feldhans
Maria Bushman and her husband, Henry Bushman
Their decision to come to Canada may not have been about adventure. It was likely about family, opportunity, and the hope that life in Canada would offer the next generation something better. Perhaps they had heard encouraging stories from neighbors, friends, or relatives who had already made the journey. Perhaps land, work, or a growing German community drew them across the Atlantic. Or perhaps the family simply decided that if one generation was going to start over, they would do it together.
That makes their story especially meaningful. Johann and Angela were not young immigrants setting out on their own. They were parents and grandparents who undertook a remarkable journey late in life. Leaving Germany meant saying goodbye not only to their homeland but also to four of their adult children who remained behind. It was a sacrifice made in pursuit of new opportunities for the generations that followed.
Their decision may also have paved the way for others in the family. Just one year later, in 1880, my 2× great-grandparents, Heinerich (Henry) Theodor Kottmann and his wife Wilamenea, made the same journey to Canada, continuing the family’s migration story and helping establish future generations in their new homeland.
Heinerich (Henry) Theodor Kottmann and Wilamenea Catharina (Annie) “Katarina” Luxenburg
Their arrival continued the Kottmann family’s migration story and helped establish them in Canada.
When I look at the photographs of Johann and Angela, I see more than old family images. I see two people who made a courageous choice late in life. They left Germany, crossed the ocean, and stepped into an uncertain future with their family beside them.
Because of that decision, their descendants’ lives unfolded in Canada.
Their journey became part of my story too.
Places to Add More Details
Johann Heinrich Kottmann
Born: 1811
Died: 1887
Place of origin in Germany: Datteln, Recklinghausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Place settled in Canada: Chalk River, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
Angela Bernadine Schoenlau
Born: 1817
Died: 1898
Place of origin in Germany: Geseke, Kreis Soest, Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Place settled in Canada: Chalk River, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
Daughter Who Traveled With Them
Name: Johanna Kottmann
Born: 1850
Spouse: Heinrich (Henry) Feldhans
Name: Maria Kottmann
Born: 1852
Spouse: Henry Bushman
My 2x Great-Grandparents Who Came One Year Later
Names: Heinerich (Henry) Theodor Kottmann and Wilamenea Catharina (Annie) “Katarina” Luxenburg
Arrival year: 26 Feb 1880 • New York, USA
Where they settled: Chalk River, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
The Kottmann family’s story reminds us that immigration was often a chain migration. One family member would leave first, establish a home, and then encourage parents, siblings, and other relatives to follow. Each arrival helped strengthen family ties in a new country.
Because Johann and Angela arrived later in life, they likely never expected to begin such a significant chapter of their lives. Yet their willingness to make that journey changed the future of every generation that followed. Had they chosen to remain in Germany, the story of this family—and the lives of their descendants—would have unfolded very differently.
Today, more than 145 years later, I can look at their photographs and appreciate the courage it took for two people in their sixties to cross an ocean, leave behind everything familiar, and place their faith in the promise of a new country.
Their journey became part of my story too.
#genealogy #familyhistory #ancestor
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