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 3rd 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.
