Cosman Family

            There are several versions of how the first Cosmans made it to the United States. The following information comes from “cousin Larry Cosman”, who got it from his parents, Oliver and Evelyn Cosman.   Possibly of German/Dutch descent as they may have lived on the border, or traveled from the home in Germany through Rotterdam, thus arriving from Holland.  There was reportedly a Hans Cosman/Dosman, mayor of Esslingben, Germany in 1443, but if this was where Johannes lived, it was not near the Dutch border.   One version is that there were 3 brothers (and maybe a sister) whose parents were lost on the trip from Europe. Reportedly, the 3 young men, under the age of 21 were bound out to a miller in New Jersey.   Johannes married Barbara, and immigration is reported to be about 1659 from Germany. He had one son, Rouelf, born before 1700.  There was a John Cosman naturalized in New Jersey in 1769 who may have been a descendant of one of the original brothers, according to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, v. 28, 1897, pg. 87. 

            There is a house (owned by Shirley George) when I saw it that is reported to be the site of the first log cabin built by Johannes Cosman, where one story is that his remains were found in the basement!  She indicated that even before the first cabin was built there was a mud hut built into the small hill. There is a land grant from Queen Anne made around 1700, 200 acres bordered by the Hudson and Wallkill Rivers.  It is reported that this area is the site of the first grist mill in Orange County, started by Johannes.The map below is from a 1903 Atlas and shows several Cosman parcels in Middle Hope.  In addition there were 2 Cosman parcels just above the Westlake parcel along the Marlboro Turnpike (Rt. 9W). Although most of this early history is from stories, the documented history begins with Rouelf's son Johannes.  Johannes Cosman, son of Rouelf was born about 1720 and naturalized in New York in November 1751.  He was a private in the Revolutionary War. Reportedly when Johannes was naturalized he changed his name to John.  His military service is recorded in Muster Rolls of NY Provincial Troops 1755-1764, pgs 76, 77.

 

 The above tax list from Orange County in 1801 shows Johannes as the occupant of 2475 acres and $200 in personal estate.  The owner is listed as John Polhemus!

    

                  

He is described as a 38 year old  5' 6” brown haired butcher from Germany when he enlisted in Captain Richard Hulet's Company of NY provincial Troops.  John lived to be about 90 and at his death on 15 September 1810 he was buried in the Cosman Cemetery at the corner of Lattintown Rd and Lockwood Lane, in Middlehope, NY, near the original house. The first occupant appears to be Johannes' wife, Barbara in 1801, followed by Johannes in 1810.

  

             

Now to  connect our recent ancestors to this early line:  My grandmother, (Mary) Edna Rhodes was the daughter of Edith Cosman, who married Eugene Lewis Rhodes.  Edith's father was William J. Cosman, the son of Jacob Cosman and Eliza Coutant (another early family line I have not covered yet).  William married Mary E. Halstead (yet another line to be covered in more depth).  Mary outlived William and at her death left the property on Frozen Ridge Rd. to their son Homer.  I remember going to see Uncle Homer, who had married Daisy Polhamus (double connection there) and his sister, Aunt Ethel who never married.  There was also Aunt Fannie, who married late to John McQuay, and who made the  quilt squares given  to me and passed on to my sons.  You can see William J. Cosman's property on the 1903 map above, marked by a small blue arrow.  My sons may remember Mary Smith who used to visit Grandma Polhamus.  She was the only child of Homer and Daisy, and eventually married William A. Smith, of the insurance company in Newburgh. 

            We know that William J Cosman's parents were Jacob and Eliza, from census records.  I have been unable to find documentation of Jacob's parents, but from proximity in census records, from naming patterns and from mention of cousins in my grandmother's writings, I have come to believe that Henry Cosman is Jacob's father.  On the 1850 census for the Town of Newburgh, Henry and his wife, Phebe Cosman are living 2 houses away from Jacob and Eliza.  Henry's father was Jonathan Cosman, brother of the first Jacob Cosman who was the father of Phebe, Henry's wife which would make them married first cousins.  The first Jacob, his wife, Margaret Sabin and his daughter Phebe (Henry's wife) are buried in the Cosman Cemetery.  There must have been some sort of epidemic in 1823, as a number of the Cosmans all died within a few weeks.  Brothers Jonathan and Jacob both died in the week of August 20-23.  Jacob's children Caroline (2 years) died in November; Jeremiah (4 years) died  in October; Mary Ann (10 years) died in August.  Jonathan lost Maria (15 years) and Samuel Watts (19) in August and September.  There is a listing in Wikipedia for ambiguous “fever” epidemic that began near the Schuylkill River at that time. 

We   know that Jonathan Cosman is Henry's father from baptism records. (U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926. https://www.ancestry.com, and also from Jonathan's will (“my two oldest sons, James and Henry.  They have had their 400 pounds or share each, and are to get nothing more”.

Jonathan was married to Hannah Watts.

Jonathan's parents were Rouelf and Barbara, bringing us back to  the first couple of generations. 

           

            As expected, with the family passing down the remnants of the original land grant, most of the Cosmans were farmers.  One exception was my 3^rd great grandfather, Jacob, William's father.  Up through the 1870 census Jacob was listed as a farmer, with 2 horses, several cows, a pig, and acreage in rye and Indian corn.  Suddenly, in the 1880 census, Jacob is living in New York City, and is listed in the census and several directories as a clerk on a railroad dock,  and is also listed as a clerk in an 1886 directory.  This is the last time he is seen, but I haven't found any information on where or when he died.  Eliza continued living with her daughter in Brooklyn through the 1900 census.  She was admitted to the State Hospital in Poughkeepsie at some point and died and was buried there in 1910.

1948 - Four generations, me, my mother, Ethel Polhamus Stoehr, my grandmother, Edna Rhodes Polhamus, and my great grandmother, Edith Cosman Rhodes.  Grandma Rhodes died on March 9, 1949, when I was just a year old.