A Rottkamp family gathering

Nearly 200 people gather last Sunday for the Rottkamp traditional family reunion, held at the Irish American Society of Nassau, located at 297 Willis Ave. in Mineola. The Rottkamp name has been associated with Long Island for more than 150 years, and the family has held its reunion in the community since 1947.

The Rottkamp history began in 1843, when Bernard Rottkamp left Germany to come to the United States, and began working on a farm in what is now uptown Manhattan. In 1851, Rottkamp, then 28, married Caroline Engel, then 17, in the St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Manhattan, and the couple bought a small farm in Astoria, Queens to begin raising a family. The Rottkamps had 14 children, 10 of whom survived to maturity, married and became parents to a total of 103 children.

In 1861, the Rottkamps sold their farm in Astoria and purchased a larger farm in Fosters Meadow, a portion of which is now home to Elmont. In 1947, Josephine Seidler, the granddaughter of Elizabeth (Rottkamp) Froehlich, one of Bernard and Caroline’s children, held the first Rottkamp family reunion, which included the family’s 10 branches and nearly 400 attendees. The next Rottkamp reunion wasn’t until 1966, but since the 1980s, a reunion has been held every five years.

Over the years, the Rottkamp family has grown in leaps and bounds, and contact between the families has become stronger. Since 2000, the traditional family reunion has consisted of only the Henry and Theresa Rottkamp branch (Henry was one of Bernard and Caroline’s children). The oldest living member of the family is Rose (Finn) Joseph, who turned 95 on April 1.