From the late 1890s to the late 1960s a newspaper called the Kentucky Irish-American was published in Louisville Kentucky. This is in the town that my grandmother was born in and that her parents and her parent’s parents lived in going back to the 1850s. This newspaper catered primarily to the Irish Catholic community and through association, German Catholics and people who were loyal Democratic voters. The readership of this newspaper would most assuredly have included my grandmother’s Irish relatives on her mother’s side and her father’s German family.

My great, great-grandfather, Constantine Kollros (1838-1916) was a music teacher and band leader in Louisville. Advertisements for either his school or appearances by his band/orchestra often appeared in the pages of the Kentucky Irish-American.

Here is advertisement for a concert in New Albany, Indiana. My great, great-grandfather and his brother-in-law Erhardt Eichhorn (1841-1906) lead a very popular band that performed up and down the Ohio river valley.

Below is a review published in the Kentucky Irish American (February 21, 1903) which includes a listing of the program for the dedication of a new church building in the neighborhood in which my grandmother was born into in 1907. The program lists my great, great-grandfather, C. Kollros, as composer of the first number. The composer of the last number performed at the evening dedication ceremony is listed as Leo C. Kollros (1878-1965). He was my great-grandfather’s brother. Then as kind of a surprise to me, I see that my great-grandfather, Erhardt Joseph Kollros (1883-1948), is listed as organist of this choral group.

The Church of the Holy Name is located a few blocks from where my great-grandparents owned a home and was their parish church. My grandmother would have been christened and confirmed in this church. My grandmother was married three times and each time, she eloped.

Here is the church as it appears today.