The Koryta-Kundmueller and Related Families is an extended family group which grew out of one Bavarian family from 19th Century Germany, which settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Intermarriage with other Germans from Silesia and eventual marriages with neighbors from Bohemia part of the present day Czech Republic, produced five major lines of this family.
The Koryta-Kundmueller and Related Families Papers (1847-2003) provide in detail the historical background for the forbearers of the Koryta and Kundmueller families in America.
Josef and Barbara (nee Poskocil) Koryta were natives of the Tresne/Zahori area of Bohemia, a part of 19th century Austria-Hungary. They, and all of Barbara's family, emigrated in the 1870s and settled in Cleveland, Ohio in the E. 37th and Broadway Bohemian enclave. George Stipek and his family emigrated in 1867 from Pilsen, Bohemia; and he and his brother Josef enlisted in the U.S. Band. When discharged in 1870, George settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Just before the turn of the century, the Koryta and Stipek families were merged via the marriage of Frank Koryta and Clara Stipek.
Peter and Margaret (nee Boyer) Kundmueller emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1857 from Proelsdorf, Bavaria which was a principality of 19th century Germany. Eventually all of Peter's siblings and his parents, Albert and Barbara (nee Duemler), also emigrated to the Cleveland area. They settled in the Woodland Avenue and Irving Street area, adjacent to the Bohemian area. Paul and Katherine (nee Klein) Wichert arrived in 1873 from Silesia, a part of Prussia then and of Poland now. These two families merged in 1887 with the marriage of George John Kundmueller and Katherine Margaret Wichert. In the 20th century, three of their children married into the Bohemian families discussed above.
A descendant of all five families compiled the sources and information and created five publications, one on each family. Each family book contains a narrative of travel from Europe to America, Cleveland in the 1800s and Czech or German background plus narratives on the people, charts and the database on that family.
The Koryta-Kundmueller and Related Families Photographs, 1879-2003 and undated, consist of more than 700 images in color and black and white, depicting the events in family life over the span of more than one hundred fifty years, including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, and holiday gatherings. Most of the images have been identified and dated by family members.
This collection will be of interest to researchers studying immigration and assimilation of European groups into American life by observing them through the photographs in this collection. Of particular interest to the Catholic Education system in the Cleveland, Ohio diocese is a graduation picture from the Girls Catholic High School, Class of 1923, a school which only existed for ten years. Photographs of family members who served in the United States Navy during the late nineteenth century are also of interest.
The collection is arranged in two series. Oversize Materials are maintained at the end of the collection but are described in their logical place within.
The researcher should also consult MS4936 Koryta-Kundmueller and Related Families Papers.
Processed by Patricia J. Stahley in 2005.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 4936 Koryta-Kundmueller and Related Families Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Rose C. Koryta Wolf.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.