Talk:Joseph Koenig

Wichita
This is a good example of how undocumented information in a biography sometimes should be taken with a grain of salt. There is a statement in his 1923 biography that he was bankrupt in 1886 but that same year he started construction of a large house and in 1888 constructed a natatorium.

Ruby
There appears to be some embellishment in Ruby's obituary in 1968. In the obit there is a line that states that Mrs Ellis was considered to be the first woman lawyer in Wisconsin and was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois. There is no evidence that this is true. First, the State Bar of Wisconsin has a list of the first 150 women admitted to the bar in the state and her name does not appear on the list. Of the 150, seven are listed as being admitted to the bar before 1887 when Ruby was born. A total of 21 were admitted before she turned 18 in 1905.

The second issue is that there does not seem to be any evidence that she ever practiced law. She was married To William Ellis in 1916 at the age of 29, He passed away 4 years later in 1923. Their marriage license was issued in Cook County, Illinois.

In the May 1910 University of Wisconsin Catalog, she is listed as having a BL in German from Milwaukee Downer College,a Masters degree in German from the University of Wisconsin and was a first year music student. There is a gap between 1910 and 1920 where she may have earned a law degree and practiced law in Illinois I have not found any direct evidence of that yet.
 * In the 1910 census records, she is listed as living with her parents and her occupation is listed as 'none'.
 * In the 1920 census records, she and her husband are living with her parents, and again her occupation is listed as 'none'.
 * In the 1930 census records, she is listed as a widow and living with her widowed mother, brother Remus and Daughter Barbara and her occupation is listed as 'none'.
 * In the 1940 census records, she is listed as a widow and living with her widowed mother and Daughter Barbara and her occupation is blank.
 * Just finished searching the Newspaper archives and did not find any reference anywhere about Ruby attending a law school, earning a law degree, practicing law, or working as an attorney. Nyth83 (talk) 18:32, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

Birth place
I will have to do some research (not original research though) to resolve the issue of his birth place. I have two different source listing different places. I also need to resolve a conflict between his published biography and the ships passenger list. His arrival date in New York was 10 Jun 1872 and there are only five children listed. Also, I need to know how to reference that. The page link I have to a microfilm roll does not seem to have a ship's name, but the index says 'Smidt'. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Roll > M237, 1820-1897 > Roll 360, p 253 of 531