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Place and date of birth of Benjamin Coffman (Kaufman, Kauffman)

Problem:  Place and date of birth for Benjamin Coffman (Kauffman, Kaufman)

The process of finding the date and place of birth for Benjamin Coffman was probably no different than what other researchers have faced.  

Family stories led us all astray for many years.  The family told us that Benjamin was born in Germany.  The tales went on to say that on the journey from Germany, Benjamin's father died.  We were told that Benjamin had 12 brothers that also traveled with him and his parents to America.  The one kernel of truth that was related to us was that a name associated with the family, besides Kauffman, was Omlör.  

Unraveling the family stories

Through DNA analysis, I found a match with the surname Omlor.  A record was found for Catherine Omlor who married Lewis Kauffman in Lorain County, Ohio on 27 SEP 1835.  In the 1840 U.S. Census a record was found for a Lewis Coffman household in Sherman township, in the adjoining county of Huron.  This record just gave the number of males and females in the family but no names, and the record did not match what I thought should have been in the family at that time. 

By 1850, Catherine was married to Anthony Armock and living in Wright township, Ottawa county, Michigan.  She had 3 children living with her that went by the surname, Caughman.  The three children listed were Elizabeth, Lewis and John. Benjamin was not one of the children listed.  Where exactly he was when this census was taken is still not known. At this point I do not know what happened to Catherine's first husband, Lewis, either.

The next step

With the information that the Lewis Kaufman household might have been living in Huron county in 1840 I started to look at land records.  Through the FamilySearch.org catalog I was able to find land records for Huron county which included an index at the start of the volumes.  In those volumes I found a record that supplied the names of Benjamin's parents and his three siblings.  
Deed naming Elizabeth Toll (sic) formerly Kaufman, John Kaufman, Benjamin Kaufman and Lewis Kaufman as the heirs of Catherine Kaufman Armock and her first husband, Lewis Kaufman.  From Huron County Deeds, 1850-1875, Volume 11, page 306, 30 acres.  


Now that I knew that Benjamin and his siblings had probably been born in Sherman township, Huron County I began to look for church records.  By searching in the nearby township of Thompson I found the church, St. Aloysius, Peru, Ohio that had baptismal records for that time period.  In those records I found a baptismal record for Elizabeth and also for Benjamin.  Hallelujah!


Thompson, 8 January 1841; I baptized Benjamin, born 18 October 1840, child of Lewis Kaufman and Katherine Umler. Sponsors Jacob Fingler, Maria Umler

Using these records I was able to verify that Benjamin was indeed the son of Lewis and Catherine Omlor Kaufman.  Not only that but I found his birth date as well:  18 OCT 1840.  His exact place of birth is not mentioned in these records but I think it would be safe to assume that he was born on his parent's farm in Sherman township, Huron county, Ohio.  

Future research

  • Where was Benjamin in 1850?
  • When did Benjamin's father, Lewis, die?







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