KORTUM, Frederick Charles (1824-1859) was born in Neustrelitz, Germany and educated in Berlin. He moved to the United States in 1855 or 1856 and settled in New York City where he worked in the office of Alexander Saeltzer, a local New York City architect who had been commissioned to design a warehouse complex for D. McInnes & Co., King Street at John Street, Hamilton, 1857-58; burned August 1879. It may be possible to attribute this distinctive Italianate design directly to Kortum, because '...the plans and specifications were prepared in the office of Mr. A. Saeltzer by Mr. Fred Korteum [sic] under whose immediate superintendence the building was erected' (Globe [Toronto], 29 Oct. 1857, 2, descrip.). Kortum took up residence in Hamilton to oversee the construction of the McInnes warehouse and quickly established his credentials as a competent designer when he was awarded First Premium in the competition for the City Hall & Market Building, Hamilton, Ont., 1857. He received a prize of £125 for his scheme, outdoing other talented competitors including Albert H. Hills, William Thomas, George Browne of Montreal, and William Hay of Toronto, but his winning design was never realized.
Kortum formed a partnership with A.H. Hills of Hamilton in early October 1857 (see list of works under Hills & Kortum) but their office was dissolved in early 1859 and Kortum continued to practise under his own name (Hamilton Times, 10 Feb. 1859, 2). In April 1859 he prepared a refined and discriminating Italianate design for the Commercial Bank, Richmond Street at William Street, in London, Ont. The structure was nearly completed within seven months, but the sudden death of Kortum in December 1859 delayed the completion of the work and William Hay, with his young assistant David Stirling, was called in to carry out the finishing of the Bank interiors (London Free Press, 21 March 1861, 3, illus. & descrip.).
His last work was that for St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Park Street North at Schaeffe Street, Hamilton, Ont. 1859-60, with interiors completed by Zephirin Perrault. The promising career of Kortum ended abruptly when he died in Hamilton on 12 December 1859 at the age of 35 years, and left an estate valued at $800 (obituary in the Spectator [Hamilton], 13 Dec. 1859, 3; obituary and biography, Weekly Spectator [Hamilton], 15 Dec. 1859, 5; OA, Wills, Wentworth County, No. 73, dated 19 Jan. 1860; biography in Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, i, 1981, 117)
HAMILTON, ONT., D. McInnes & Co., King Street at John Street, large 5 storey warehouse, 1857-58; burned August 1879 (Daily Spectator [Hamilton], 2 April 1857, 2; Globe [Toronto], 29 Oct. 1857, 2, descrip.; semi-Weekly Spectator (Hamilton), 31 Oct. 1857, 1, detailed architectural descrip.)
HAMILTON, ONT., City Hall & Market Building, a commission won in a competition, 1857, but not built (Semi-Weekly Spectator [Hamilton], 4 April 1857, 2, detailed architectural descrip., "in the Italian style")
LONDON, ONT., The Commercial Bank, Richmond Street at William Street, 1859; completed by Hay & Stirling in 1861 (Globe [Toronto], 26 April 1859, 2, t.c.)
HAMILTON, ONT., St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Park Street North at Schaeffe Street, 1859-60, with interiors completed by Zephirin Perrault (Spectator [Hamilton], 14 Sept. 1859, 2, t.c.; M. MacRae & A. Adamson, Hallowed Walls, 1975, 163, 165, illus.)