Carl Kohn was born in the Karlovy Vary Region of Bohemia, one oftwelve children born to Simon and Sara Kohn. When he was still in histeens, he travelled to New Orleans, where his uncle Samuel hadsettled. Samuel had arrived around 1806 and quickly becameprosperous—first as an innkeeper, then as a banker, financier, andreal estate promoter. Soon after Carl’s arrival, Samuel—apparentlysatisfied with his accomplishments—set sail for Europe and made anew home in Paris. Carl, no doubt grateful for the assistance andintroductions that assured his own success, wrote his unclefrequently, keeping him abreast of his life and news of America:Andrew Jackson’s reelection campaign, the Black Hawk War, and thenullification crisis in South Carolina. More than any subject, it wasthe outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever, which regularly grippedthe city, that filled his letters to his uncle.

Like his unclebefore him, Kohn made a small fortune in finance and real estate andwas among the founders of the Atlantic Insurance Company and theUnion National Bank. In 1850 he solidified his position, marrying adaughter of the so-called New Orleans aristocracy, Clara White,daughter of Héloïse de la Ronde and Colonel Maunsel White. Clara’sfather was a politician, merchant, and plantation owner, bestremembered for cultivating hot peppers and producing a tabasco saucewhich would profoundly shape New Orleans cuisine.

Carl and Clara hadone child, daughter Eveline, born in 1851.