Proving Family Connections.

Most of the time proving sibling’s is easy, you see a baptism record with the same parents listed and in the same town or village location, then they are likely siblings. In the United States you can prove families with census records, but in Germany I have not found any census records or anything that lists the whole family on them. So proving family in Germany can be a little tricky. As in the case of my Great Grand Aunt Henriette Gossmann.

I found a marriage record for Henriette Gossman and Albert Wilhelm Steinhauer. This was a surprise to me as I already had a marriage record for Henriette to a Johann Christoph Steinmentz. I looked for Johann Christoph’s death record and did not find anything and so far I have not found any records to search in Germany for divorces. I also searched for children of Henriette and Johann Christoph with no luck.

So did Henriette marry a second time or is this a different Henriette Gossmann all together? Names have been a real challenge in German research. I have seen the same names several time and they have been different families. The second marriage record did not mention the first marriage or her parents info. So how do I prove if this is my Henriette or not?

The second marriage record I was sure was my Henriette, born in the same small village on the same day but did not list the parents. I really felt like she was my Henriette but was really hesitant due to the common name and I wanted more proof that she belonged in my family.

I started by looking for the original marriage records (the records above were transcribed from the originals in 1953 and 1973). At the time of my search I did not locate the original marriage records. My next step was to start comparing the 2nd marriage record to the siblings marriage record. I found a connection. Henriette’s brother Freidrich Wilhelm Gossman married in 1919 just a few years before Henriette’s 2nd marriage and both their address matched on the marriage records.

Both Henriette Gossman and her brother Friedrich Gossmann resided in Kassel, Kochstr. 9 at the time his marriage and her 2nd marriage. I now had enough proof that she was my family and I could add the 2nd marriage.

I did later find a child for Henriette and Albert Wilhelm Steinhauer (2nd husband) and the original marriage record listing her parents.

I have found one child for Henriette and Albert Wilhelm Steinhauer and it appears he died during WWII and was Lance Corporal. I do not know more about his service during WWII. According to his death record (pictured above) he died 23 October 1943 and his title or job at the time was Lance Corporal and Butcher. I need to learn where to research for more records on him and his service during the war. If any one has any tips or hints on where I can find out more about his military service I would love to hear from you.

I love learning new ways to confirm family ties and using an address was new to me. Now I always check and see if there is an address listed to try to prove family.