Gustav Koerner
Gustav Koerner | |
---|---|
United States Minister to Spain | |
In office 14 June 1862 – 20 July 1864 | |
President | Abraham Lincoln |
Preceded by | Carl Schurz |
Succeeded by | John P. Hale |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives | |
In office 1842 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Gustav Philipp Körner 20 November 1809 German, American |
Political party | Republican (co-founder) |
Other political affiliations | |
Spouse |
Sophie Engelmann
(m. 1836; died 1888) |
Children |
|
Residence(s) | 200 Abend St., Belleville, Illinois 62220 |
University of Heidelberg, Transylvania University | |
Occupation |
|
Profession | 43rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Gustav Philipp Koerner, also spelled Gustave or Gustavus Koerner (20 November 1809 – 9 April 1896), was a German-American revolutionary, journalist, lawyer, politician, judge and statesman in
Life
Early life and education
Gustav was the son of the Frankfurt publisher, bookseller and art dealer Bernhard Körner (1776–1829) and his wife Maria Magdalena Kämpfe (1776–1847), daughter of another Frankfurt bookseller. He graduated with
Escape from Persecution in Germany
On
Koerner was one of the participants at the
The Central Federal Bureau for Investigations (German: Bundes-Central-Behörde für Untersuchungen)
Rescued by "Angels"
On 1 May 1833, Koerner boarded a ship in
They reached the
Koerner continued his legal studies in
Elected
Koerner was elected to the
Koerner was the first citizen of German extraction ever elected to the Illinois or Missouri legislatures. In 1851, in a clash with the editor of
Service for the Country
In 1861, Koerner was instrumental in raising the
The expectation was that Koerner would prevent Spain from entering into the
Pallbearer
After the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln a special honour was granted him. Koerner was one of the pallbearers who carried the corpse of the president in the state funeral.[14] The other men, all of them Lincoln's friends from his time in Springfield, Illinois, who conducted the coffin were:[15]
- Jesse K. Dubois
- Stephen T. Logan
- James L. Lamb
- Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr.
- John Williams
- Erastus White
- J. M. Brown
- Jacob Bunn
- Charles Matheny
- Elisha Iles
- John T. Stuart
Last years
In 1867 Koerner was appointed president of the board of trustees that organized the
In the same year Koerner ran for election (→
In 1874, Koerner's wife Sophia, together with Henry Raab (1837–1901), a German immigrant (1854) from Wetzlar, a librarian in Belleville and later a well-known educator,[10] established, with others, one of the first kindergartens. She became the first president of the Belleville Kindergarten Association which received $2,100 (~$51,047 in 2023) in contributions from 70 shareholders and, supported by 150 other women, one year later was serving 201 pupils taught by three educators. This institute followed the Julius Fröbel system of primary education for training children effortlessly.[16] The building was finished in April 1875 for $5,000 but it was sold in 1892 to the Belleville Philharmonic Society.[17]
Reminiscences
At the suggestion of farmer Dr. Anton Schott, a graduate in Theology and Philosophy,
Koerner was an active lawyer, and also wrote articles for several newspapers, among others the "Belleviller Zeitung" and the "Anzeiger des Westens" (published in St. Louis), American newspapers in the German language. He had great influence on the growing German community in North America in the second half of the 19th century. On the recommendation of his friend and biographer Heinrich Rattermann (1832–1923), he began at the end of 1886 to record his memoirs. Koerner did not consider publication – he wrote down the detailed retrospective of his life as a recollection for his numerous descendants. His memoirs were published in two volumes in 1909, 13 years after his death and in the year of his 100th birthday, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Today Koerner's former home is registered in the National Register of Historic Places. It was acquired in 2001 by the City of Belleville and is being restored by the historical society of St. Clair County, Illinois (St. Clair County Historical Society) as a museum dedicated to the well-known German-American. It will illuminate Koerner's friendship with Abraham Lincoln. In 2009, Belleville celebrated Koerner's 200th birthday with a festive dinner attended by Koerner and Engelmann descendants. The following day, they planted an American white oak tree (the state tree of Illinois) at Koerner's Walnut Hill grave and presented a valuable exhibit for the planned Koerner Museum: a heavy silver tablet, given by Queen Isabella II of Spain in 1864 to Gustav Koerner for his farewell as a US ambassador to Spain.
Do right and fear no one
The historical society of St. Clair County, Illinois, in which Belleville is located, will restore the former home of Gustav Koerner to a museum under the motto "Do right and fear no one," which in 2009 was also the motto of his 200th birthday celebration. "Act properly and fear no one" was, however, not quite his personal motto. Rather, in his memoirs he described this phrase as the "religion" of most Burschenschafter (fraternity students) during his student years at Jena – though he still may have made it his own basic position as an active Burschenschafter.
Our society was open to both Jew and Gentile, and I really should not have been able to tell the religion of most of my friends. "Do right and fear no one," seems to have been the only religion adopted amongst us.
One of his personal
The whole work of his long life full of fame may be added up as a continual statement of his favorite motto, namely: No rights without duties, no duties without rights.
See also
- Gustave Koerner House
- Illinois gubernatorial election, 1852
- List of governors of Illinois
- List of lieutenant governors of Illinois
External
- Belleville Zeitung Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Works
- Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J. (ed.). Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896, Life-Sketches Written at the Suggestion of His Children (book). Digitization Projects Philologic Results. Vol. 1 (Permission: Northern Illinois University, Illinois State Library ed.). Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J. (ed.). Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896, Life-Sketches Written at the Suggestion of His Children (book, JavaScript). The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant. Vol. 2 (Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection ed.). Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- Collections of the Important General Laws of Illinois, with Comments (St. Louis, 1838) (in German)
- Körner, Gustav (1867). Aus Spanien [Out of Spain] (in German). Frankfurt a.M.: J.D. Sauerländer. OCLC 014164399.
- Körner, Gustav Philipp (1880). Das deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 1818-1848 [The German Element in the United States of America, 1818-1848]. Library of American civilization, LAC 15737 (in German and English). Cincinnati: A.E. Wilde. OCLC 011355941.
Notes
- ^ a b c Fuener, Cynthia A. (February 2005). "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: St. Clair County Illinois". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J. (ed.). "Military Disorganization". Memoirs of Gustave Koerner. Digitization Projects Philologic Results. Illinois State Library. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ "Koerner, Gustave Philipp". House Divided. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4653-1559-5. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ a b Fuhrig, Wolf D (24 April 2010). "Gustav Koerner, a German-American Liberal". New Harmony, Indiana: 34th Symposium of the Society of German-American Studies. Belleville Heritage Society. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d Stratton, Christopher (26 July 2005). "Gustave Koerner House" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior. p. 23. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
- ^ Schenk, Hans (20 August 2008). "Hessen 1848 – Zur Vorgeschichte der Revolution" [Hesse in 1848 – To the Prehistory of the Revolution] (PDF) (in German). Darmstadt: Hessische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung. p. 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ In the present German language is this manner of writing not usual any more.
- ^ Stüken, Wolfgang (7 May 2009). "Biographien wichtiger Personen der deutschen Demokratiegeschichte und Demokratiebewegung: Gustav Körner (1809-1896)" [Biographies of important people of the German democracy history and democracy movement] (in German). Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde Mainz. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
- ^ a b c Hartmut Steege (24 March 2013). "Geburtsstunde schlug im Tal der "Latin Farmer"" [Birth hit in the valley of the "Latin farmers".] (in German). Paderborn: DAFK (Deutsch-Amerikanischer Freundeskreis). Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ . (subscription required)
- ^ Mardos Rietsch, Pam (2006). "Chapter Twenty-Two". Governor Joel A. Matteson. Mardos Memorial Library. p. 246. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Gustave P. Koerner (1809-1896)". Abraham Lincoln and Friends. The Lincoln Institute. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ Le Chien, Jack; McKenzie, Molly (October 2011). "We must make them understand Lincoln is our Man" (PDF). Belleville Heritage Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ "The Funeral Train of Abraham Lincoln". Abraham Lincoln's Classroom. The Lincoln Institute. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ LCCN 2004110909. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ Nebelsick, Alvin Louis (1951). A History of Belleville. Belleville, Illinois: Township High School And Junior College. p. 155. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ Peinliches Verhör-Amt. "Steckbrief für Gustav Peter Philipp Körner" [Warrant of Apprehension for Gustav Peter Philipp Körner]. Image (in German). Deutsche Burschenschaft. Archived from the original (JPEG) on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J. (ed.). "Concluding Reflections on Jena". Memoirs of Gustave Koerner. Digitization Projects Philologic Results. Illinois State Library. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- ^ Kaupp, Peter (2004). "Burschenschaft und Antisemitismus" [Students' fraternity and anti-Semitism] (PDF) (in German). Dieburg: www.burschenschaft.de. p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
Unsere Verbindung nahm Juden und Heiden auf, und ich war in der Tat nicht in der Lage, die Konfession meiner Bundesbrüder zu nennen. ‚Tue recht und fürchte niemand' schien die einzige unter uns gültige Religion gewesen zu sein.
References
- Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1892). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
External links
- Gustav Körner (Deutsche Biographie)