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Note: Frederick built a home on Shirley Road , between New Oregon and Langford in the town of Collins.Township 7 Range 7 Lot #69 not far past Fox Road and next to Eders sawmill. Upon a tour of the home by Mr. Kelly,a Krebs descendant, I saw part of the original home which included a hand dug well with a hand pump in the kitchen,in the middle of the room. This room had a splendid view of the acreage about 50 and the apple orchard where I believe Frederick is buried. The other rooms were rustic in appearance and throughout the house were exposed wooden pegs that were used as nails,and the timbers were notched to fit each other. The basement floor was constructed of perfectly placed hand laid and hand cut flat solid stone and every piece touched and matched perfectly. The masonry work was unbelievabley beautiful .The old beams were solid trees and the bark was still on them.There was outside the original kitchen about 10 feet from the house,and in the present driveway a hand dug well, an artesian type and I was told that it always ran heavy and clear water as far back as anyone could remember......The house was built on top of a spring....... The front part of the house had a dirt floor and the stairs going up to the other rooms had short steps and were difficult to walk on. There was the remains of a chicken house I think that`s what it was and on the opposite side east I think was the site of the barn. It too was built on top of a spring so as to provide fresh running water to the farm animals. It was a remarkable idea even back in 1836/7 when the place was built. The house was in 1988 being remodeled and under heavy construction to the interior by Mr. Kelly and his daughter and I was glad to see it before everything was covered up with drywall and boards. The old windows were soon to be replaced with new shorter ones and the kitchen was too going to be dismanteled and replaced with all new cupboards and new appliances and the original parts were soon to be destroyed in the garbage heap. I was informed later in the year that a new wood stove had started a fire and parts of the house were destroyed. Luckily no one was hurt and the frame and parts of the house were still intact. I had driven past on several occasions and took a few photos but never went back inside,as I want to remember in my mind the way it was when I was there the first time. I learned a lot from the few hours that I was there and I will always remember how I felt when things were explained to me and what a hard life our immigrant ancestors had and what they endured and how incredibly smart they were when they built their homes.
I have a piece of wood from the barn and it is probably the oldest wood I have ever seen and is very fragileand has no weight to it.
According to the old stories about the Hoffman family,it was said that Frederick was a large framed, and was a very tall man about 6`4`` . He was hauling logs from the Brant NY area back to his home with a team of oxen when the wagon tipped and the logs rolled onto him crushing him. When he was found dead,I can only presume that he was brought back home for burial on his farm.He may have been buried at St Martins at Langford in the old burial grounds by the rectory,but I have found that other relatives were buried on their farms (ex:KREBS) during the following 10-15 years and I have my own theory on his burial. As with others,the only logical place was near the apple orchard not far from the house. He died just prior to the birth of their daughter Catherine who was born about 1839/40.
The marriage record in Achen, Moselle, France states that Frederick was 30 years old and Catherine Kern was 26 years old...................this was a second marriage for him and a first for her. His first marriage was to Lucie Wolf also of Achen in 1825 and there was a son Christoph born in 1826 and both died there. LDS film # 2006654,and # 1857949............
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