Person:Katherine Blank (1)

Katherine Blank
d.12 Apr 1904 Indianapolis, IN
m. 4 Nov 1823
  1. Anton Blank1824 - 1876
  2. Franz Ignatz Blank1826 - 1909
  3. Katherine Blank1828 - 1904
  4. Casper Blank1832 - 1911
  5. Franziska Blank1834 -
  6. Mary Magdalena Blank1836 -
  7. Paul Peter Blank1844 - 1929
m. 11 Jan 1853
  1. Clemens Jr. Vonnegut1853 - 1921
  2. Bernard Vonnegut1855 - 1908
  3. Franklin Vonnegut1856 - 1952
  4. George Vonnegut1860 - 1952
Facts and Events
Name Katherine Blank
Alt Name[1] Katharina Blank
Gender Female
Birth? 30 Nov 1828 Urloffen, Baden, Germany
Marriage 11 Jan 1853 to Clemens Vonnegut, Sr.
Death? 12 Apr 1904 Indianapolis, IN
Burial[1] Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States

" Katarina Blank

Across the street from the first modest shop of the Vonnegut Hardware Company on East Washington Street in the 1850s was a small German restaurant. One of the waitresses in this establishment was an attractive girl named Katarina Blank. She was one of seven children of a German immigrant family of peasants who came from Urloffen in Baden and settled on a farm in Wayne Township, Marion County, just west of Indianapolis. They were struggling to get their farm to be productive after felling the forest trees and draining the land. With so many children to feed and clothe, all had to work for their living after a few years of primary instruction in the common school. Katarina Blank went to work as a waitress in this little cafe, and soon met Clemens Vonnegut, who fell in love with her. They were married in 1852. He was twenty-eight and she, twenty-four.

Katarina was, like Clemens, small in stature and dark complected. Both spoke German in their home, but had considerable fluency in French as well. The training of their children was in the tradition and culture of nineteenth-century Germany. Katarina, although of humble origin and little formal education, became a highly respected and extremely dignified matriarch, much beloved by her children and grandchildren. "

  1. 1.0 1.1 Katherine Blank Vonnegut's tombstone and memorial page, in Find A Grave.

    Note: her tombstone reads "Katharina" Vonnegut.