The Kolb Family & Candy
All of us know of our great-grandfather (or grandfather) William Kolb, the candy Maker. But what you may not know is that almost all of William’s Aunts and Uncles were also in the candy business.
First a little history about the Kolb Family and name:
The Kolb Surname translates from Middle High German kolbe meaning ‘mace’ or ‘cudgel’ which was both a weapon, and part of an official's insignia, in some cases the insignia of a jester. So the Kolb’s were either a family of warriors or jesters. Knowing our family I think the jokers, jesters, and entertainers is more likely.
Our line of the Kolb Family can be traced back to a small town in Germany: Trebur. Trebur was the home of the family for many generations and all the women who married into the family were also from that town for many generations back. It is in lush farming land just south of Frankfort and close to the Rhine River.
Images of modern day Trebur
The Kolb Family Immigrates to America
Johann Adam Kolb immigrated with his family and 3 sons to New York City sometime before 1839. Soon after, in the decade from 1845 to 1855, more than a million Germans fled to the United States to escape economic hardship. They also sought to escape the political unrest caused by riots, rebellion, and a revolution in 1848.
Johann’s son Peter, our 3rd great-grandfather, fought in the Civil War. He was in many famous battles, including Gettysburg. Peter had 9 children, almost all of whom were involved in the confectionery business.
Peter Kolb
John Vincent Kolb
Peter’s eldest son John Vincent Kolb is my great-great-grandfather. He was born March 18th, 1861 in New York City. For the first 5 years of his life, his father was fighting in the civil war and he was alone with his mother. But after the war, the house was soon filled with his 8 siblings. John went to school through 8th grade and then began to work at age 13 or 14. He became a well-known horse trainer at the Monmouth Park Race Track in Oceanport, New Jersey. He was also a trainer for Pierre Lorillard in Eatontown, NJ. “In his youth he was a trainer for the noted Wither Stables from which many of the fastest horses raced at Monmouth Park and other important tracks.”
When he was 26 he married Jennie S Worthley, the daughter of William Worthley. They most likely met when John was working as a horse trainer in her hometown, Eatontown. They married on September 1st, 1887 in Red Bank, New Jersey.
When their children were young, John worked as a hatter/milliner. Later in life, he worked with his sisters and son William at his candy business.
He died when he was 79 at his home on 80 North 11th St, Newark, New Jersey. He is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Plainfield.
Totally random but funny: In 1899 one of his chickens was born with 3 legs! The news article said the chicken seemed healthy and normal otherwise.
I believe the man on the far left may be John Kolb
Jacob Kolb
Jacob Kolb was born on May 17th, 1865 in Yorkville, New York City. He and the youngest brother in the family were the only siblings to not work in the candy business. He lived in Queens and New York City most of his life, and was a butcher. He married Margaret Hewitt on January 1st, 1888 in Astoria, New York. He died April 30th, 1927, in Bronx, New York City, New York.
Jacob Kolb
Thomas Phillip Kolb
Thomas Phillip Kolb was born on Oct 1st, 1868 in West Hoboken, New Jersey. He only went to school through 8th grade and then began working. He married Margaret (Maggie) Maher when he was 23, on August 22nd, 1891 in New York City. They had 8 children.
Early in their marriage they lived in Plainfield, New Jersey and he had a candy shop in nearby Bridgewater. Thomas opened a few more candy shops, and in 1910 he incorporated his candy company: Kolb’s Candies. Thomas had at least 4 candy shops in the early 1900s; he had a candy & ice cream store at 112 West Front Street in Bridgewater, one in New Brunswick, one in Brooklyn, and the main store on Broadway in New York City.
By 1920 he had moved his family to Elmira New York and he worked as the superintendent of a Candy Factory. Margaret died suddenly on January 12th, 1921, and was buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Plainfield, NJ. Their youngest, Doris, was only 8 years old at the time, and Thomas was left to raise the children on his own, though I’m sure he had a lot of help from his eldest child Celeste who was 28 at the time. By 1950 Thomas retired from the superintendent job and opened a new candy store in Irvington, New Jersey. Thomas lived there with his daughter Vivian who had never married. He was still working at the store into his eighties. He died when he was 92, on Nov 27th, 1960 in Irvington, New Jersey.
Annie Maria Kolb
Annie Maria Kolb was born April 15th, 1871 in Matawan, Monmouth, New Jersey. She lived in Newark in the 1940’s. Annie always lived with her sister May and May’s family. She worked as a sales lady and a chocolate dipper at her nephew William Kolb’s confectionery store. May died in 1929 and Annie continued to live with May’s family. She died August 2nd, 1958 in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was 87.
Peter Henry Kolb JR
Peter Henry Kolb was born October 18th, 1873 in Matawan, New Jersey. In his early twenties he worked as a candy maker and lived in Queens with his parents. In 1901 he moved to Wisconsin and worked for Tillema Candy Company in Milwaukee. He met his future wife there in Wisconsin. Peter married Margaret Ann Butler on July 31st, 1905 when he was 31 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. They had 3 sons: Richard, Robert, and John.
In September 1905 they moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Peter started a small candy shop with another candy maker, John Oaks. Just a few weeks later John sold his share of the business to Peter and retired due to poor health. In 1907 Peter moved his candy shop to a new location and built it out to be one of the “most handsomely appointed confectionery stores in the northwest.” The grand opening had an orchestra, and the building had a soda fountain and candy shop in the front, and an ice cream parlor in the back through beautiful arched stained glass doors. “The store, with its opalescent lamps, huge mirrors, and its elegant marble (soda) fountain, has the atmosphere of a real Parisian bonbon shop.”
He served ice cream, cake, and lunch in the parlor, and his candies, “have always enjoyed the reputation of being absolutely pure and wholesome.”
Soon after, Mr. Oaks’ wife opened another candy shop in town. The competition from her shop slowed Peter’s business. Unfortunately, two years later Peter went bankrupt. He owed about $7,500 dollars, which is equivalent to $240,000 today. He claimed that the cost of running the business was higher than the profits, and the competition of the other shop affected his business. He sued Mr. Oaks, because Oaks had signed a non-compete contract, but the case was dismissed because it was Mr. Oaks’ wife who had opened the candy shop, and she had not signed the non-compete.
They soon moved back to Milwaukee, and I believe Peter opened another candy shop. At some point after 1910 Peter and his family moved to West Elgin, Canada, which is about 2 hours from Buffalo, New York on Lake Erie. He worked as the manager of the candy department for Noble Manufacturing Company for several years. Noble was a factory that opened in 1913 and manufactured candies, cookies, and paper boxes. In 1916 Peter was doing very well, and he bought the company. I cannot find any information about him later selling the company, but by the early 1920's he had moved to Buffalo, New York.
Peter was now much closer to his siblings; Thomas was only about 3 hours away in Elmira. In 1927 he was working as the superintendent of the Mary Lincoln Candy Company in Buffalo, New York (at the time it was popular to name candy companies, and other companies, after famous people, it was not at all associated with the Lincoln family). By 1937 he opened his own candy company, the Kolb Candy Company, at 1460 Hertel Ave in Buffalo, New York. He worked there until he died, suddenly, on July 20th, 1950, at the age of 76.
Recipe for Mary Lincoln Candies at the bottom of the page!
Margaret Kolb
Margaret Kolb was born August 18th, 1881 in Matawan, New Jersey. She worked as a manager at a William Kolb’s candy store throughout the early 1900’s. She lived with her sisters Annie and May and May’s family in Newark. Sometime in the 1920’s she moved and lived on her own in Brooklyn NY. She died July 12th, 1970, in East Orange, New Jersey.
Frank Kolb
Francis “Frank” Kolb was born October 23rd, 1884 in Queens, New York. He was one of two of the Kolb siblings who did not work in the Confectionery business. He worked as a Machinist for the New York City Railroad. Frank married Helen C Luhrs when he was 29, on November 12th, 1913, in New York City. They had one son, August Kolb. Early in their marriage they lived in Bronx, NY, and later they moved to White Plains. He died when he was about 76 around 1960.
Mary Jane Kolb
Mary “May” Jane Kolb was born Feb 20th, 1876 in Matawan, New Jersey. May married Zachary Forster in 1902. He was a candy store manager, and a candy maker. His brother was also a candy maker. May and Zachary probably met through one of her older brothers, Thomas or Peter, the candy makers. Peter worked as a candy maker in Queens as a young man so possibly he worked with Zachary. It looks like as a young couple May and Zachary lived in Queens, New York with Zachary’s family. Later in life, they moved Newark and both he and May worked for William Kolb. They had one child, Ella Mae Forster. May died March 4th, 1929 when she was 53.
Ella Kolb
Ella Kolb was born in 1877 and died when she was 6 years old. Her sister Mary Jane named her daughter Ella Mae Forester after her.
