Surnames / Reading the yellow highlighted writing / Maria Katherina (Catherine) Kolass

Maria Katherina (Catherine) Kolass

German immigrant, mother of Mary Höck (Hague). After the death of her husband, Lorenz, she married John Miller.

Vital Information

Birth: Holzhausen, Grand Duchy of Hesse (now Germany)
Death: 1899 in Franklin Twp, Allegheny Co
Spouse: Johann Lorenz Höck
Father: Andreas Kolass
Mother: Elisabetha Henrici

→ Mary Höck (Hague)← Back to Höck surname

Biography

Maria Katherina Kolass, was a German immigrant who came to America at age 36 with her husband, Lorenz Hoch, and two young children.

Catherine, as she was later called, was born to Andreas Kolass and his wife, Elisabetha Henrici, in 1817. Prior to her move to America, she resided in historic village of Burgholzhausen vor der Höhe, located about 12 miles north of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany. Today, it is an official district of the town of Friedrichsdorf.

The marriage took place on August 22, 1841 at the Evangelische Kirche Holzhausen vor der Höhe, which still stands and is in use as a Lutheran Church. A few things needed to happen before the wedding. First, if the woman was under 25 (or similar age depending on local rules), she needed parental approval. Then, the upcoming wedding was publicly announced in church three Sundays in a row (marriage banns) to check for objections such as the couple being secretly related or one of them was already married to someone else. HOWEVER - there was a small problem about 8.5 months in the making—and it was a very noticeable, round problem that made waiting around for three weeks of marriage banns a luxury they literally did not have time for.

Reading the marriage documentation, specifically the yellow highlighted portion, you will notice an old-fashioned euphemism for "this is a race against a stork within close striking range". The phrase translated as "due to prior cohabitation/consummation—without prior proclamation" is a nicer way to put it in church records.

Documentation of August 22, 1841 wedding of Lorenz Höck and Maria Katharina Kolass — Documentation of August 22, 1841 wedding

In the year of Christ 1841, on the twenty-second of August, after preliminary certificates from the district office and the regional court confirming that there was no obstacle standing in the way of the solemnization of this marriage with respect to civil and private legal relations, and after an examination of the canonical requirements performed by myself, and—due to prior cohabitation/consummation—without prior proclamation, with the consent of the fathers of the bridal couple, the following couple were married and religiously blessed before the altar of the church: Lorenz Hock, legitimately begotten son of the late local citizen and linen weaver Johann Hock and his wife Margarethe; himself an aspiring local citizen and linen weaver here, twenty-five years of age; and Maria Katharina Kolass, legitimately begotten daughter of the citizen and estate owner at Oberstein in Nassau, Andreas Kolass, and his wife Elisabetha, twenty-three years and six months of age. Witnesses were: 1. Georg Reinhardt, local citizen and fire master , and 2. Daniel Happel, local citizen and merchant, both of whom have signed this protocol alongside me, the current pastor and dean who performed the wedding ceremony. Georg Reinhardt Daniel Happel

Jacob Höck (Hague), their first child, was born on August 29, 1841, and later immigrated to America with his parents. His baptism was documented at the same church where his parents wed and they beat the proverbial stork delivery by a week!

Baptism record of Jacob Höck (Hague), 1841 — Baptism record of Jacob Höck (Hague)

Church where Höck family worshipped — Evangelische Kirche Holzhausen vor der Höhe — Church where Höck family worshipped

In the year of Christ eighteen hundred forty-one, on the twenty-third of August, at two o'clock in the morning, following a credible report given to the local citizen and linen weaver Lorenz Höck by his wife Maria Katharina, née Kolass from Bernsheim near Solingen, their first child—a son—was born, and was baptized on the twenty-ninth of the same month, where he received the name Jacob. The godfather was: Jacob Kolass, the legitimately begotten, unmarried son of the local citizen and stocking weaver Andreas Kolass of Obernhain, the child's maternal uncle; who has also signed the present protocol alongside the father of the child and me, the current parish vicar here who performed the baptism. Jacob Kluss / Lorenz Hört Eduard Kerners, Parish Vicar here

Catherine and Lorenz had at least five children while still in Holzhausen: Jacob (1841), Lorenz (1843), Peter (1845), Mary (1847) and Katharina (1850). Only Jacob and Mary survived their first two years, and they were the ones who accompanied Katherine and Lorenz on the voyage to America in 1853. After Lorenz' death at sea, Catherine met and later married another ship passenger: Johannes Müller (John Miller), and together they had a daughter named Louisa. The 1860 Census reveals two other girls: 10-year-old Nancy and 8-year-old Catherine. It is unknown whether they are children of Catherine and Lorenz, or children of John Miller and a deceased spouse.

1860 Census showing John and Catherine Miller's home in McCandless, Allegheny County PA.

Death Record of Mary Hague Jones Miller — Allegheny County Registration of Deaths, Franklin Township — Death Record of Maria Katherina (Catherine) Hague Miller

Johannes Müller (John Miller) and Catharine Höck Miller, parents of Mary Hague Jones