WALLBAUM / WALBAUM FAMILY

My husband and I went to Lincoln, NE to visit his cousin, and while there I went to the historical library to research some of our ancestors. His 2nd gr-grandfather, Charles Christopher Wallbaum, was a photographer in Nebraska City, NE and I was able to find a 2-page biographical sketch on him. It stated that when he came to America from Hanover, Germany in 1837, he first settled in St. Louis. "but in 1847 was one of the Social Reform Society who settled a colony in Atchison county, Missouri. The colony broke up but he remained in the county until 1862 after the Civil War began, when he moved to Nebraska City."OTOE COUNTY PIONEERS: A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, Part X (W-Z), by Raymond E. Dale, 1965, pp 2653-4.

Also, the name seems to have changed too ... In the "territorial census in the spring of 1865, Mr. Wallbaum and Matilda, his wife, were each 52 years of age and both were born in Germany. There were five children living at home, all born in Missouri: Bianca, aged eighteen years; the twins, August [should be Augusta--my husband's gt-grandmother who had a twin brother--I have a picture of her with her father's studio address printed on the back] and Charles, aged fifteen; Flora, aged eleven; and Rosamond, aged nine. There seem to have been older children."

That info sent me looking on the web for census records, where I found your site. For the 1850 Census of Atchison Co., everything appears correct except the spelling of the last name (Wallhaum vs. Wallbaum).

In the 1860 Census, the last name is misspelled as Walburn. Also, Bianca is Blancha, Augusta is Augustus, and Rosamond (later called "Rosie") is listed as a male named Osman F. I have tried to decipher the handwriting of the census takers, so I understand how these errors are made. I had enough information to be able to verify that it is the right family, but it would be nice to have it corrected so that someone else searching for the names could find them too. Due to a misspelling of the last name (Walbaum vs Wallbaum), I wasn't able to find any reference to them until I found the picture of Augusta in my husband's aunt's home after she died. Thank you for your efforts. When I retire, I'd like to do something similar. Eloise Franks