Appendices
60
Much of the available family history for Barbara Kraus was in the form of family lore that provided clues. While these clues can often suggest what and where to search for records and other genealogical evidence, erroneous clues can be very misleading. And, without collaborating genealogical evidence, family lore is just mythology.
The following are several confusing/misleading clues that occured in this family research:
Spelling of Barbara’s Maiden Surname
A major confusion factor in the search for information about Barbara was the spelling of Barbara’s maiden surname. Available documents give Barbara’s last name as Kraus, Krauss, Krause, Krouse, etc. In earlier notes and letters, Norma used the spelling Krauss or Krause. However, in the summary notes of chapter Kraus – Family, Norma seems to have decided that Barbara’s maiden name was likely Kraus but might be Krause – note the summary heading “Kraus Family or Krause”.
Kraus is the spelling found in the Hutschdorf parish church records (See Chapter: Kraus – Hutschdorf Letter). And. Kraus is her maiden surname given in the marriage record of Barbara and Julius (See Chapter: Julius and Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse).
Another source of confusion was that one of her sisters, Renada, married a Krauss as was be noted in chapter: Renada (Kraus) Krauss (1836 – 1910).
Families Changing the spelling of their Surname
The Schuetz family changed the spelling of their surname to Scheetz and then to Scheets. This was commonly done around WWI. While phonetically essentially the same, these spellings would less likely to be mispronounced and these surnames appear to be less German.
Errors in Transcriptions
The german umlaut “ü” should be transcribed to “eu” in english. However, some translators wrongly transcribe Schütz as Schutz instead of Schuetz.
Another transcription problem sometimes occurs with the script “e”. If the script “e” is relatively tall, it can appear to be an “l” and thus the script Schuetz was sometimes transcribed as Schultz.
Wrong Names of Relatives
As Helen (Kirmse) Hacker noted, Martha (Kassel) Kirmse gave the wrong first names for Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse’s sisters. She had given their daughter’s first names. As is shown in chapter Kraus – Hutschdorf Letter, Norma received church records about Barbara’s family from Hutschdorf but made a wrong decision because of this incorrect lead.
Errors in Church Records
Barbara’s first child, Maria Kirmse, was baptized on February 24, 1868 in Farrar, Perry County, Missouri, USA. The Salem Lutheran Church baptism record lists Maria’s mother as being Barbara (geborn – born Schuetz instead of Kraus). According to Helen and as reflected in some of Norma’s correspondence caused the “Three Cousins” to the think that Julius Kirmse had been previously married. A fair amount of time was wasted seeking Julius’s previous marriage. However, once, the marriage record of Barbara and Julius was found, the error in the baptism record became obvious.
Errors In Books
The following entry In the Friedenberg Biographies, page 219,
KRAUSS, George. Married Wilhelmina WIRTH, daughter of Henry WIRTH. Was in the record book of 1831. Was a founding member and signed the constitution when Zion Lutheran Church, Longtown, Missouri was organized 19 July 1897. Had two daughters, Johanna born ca 1864 and Catherine born ca 1867.
has two errors:
- The statement “Was in the record book of 1831.” has a typo because the church was not founded until the 1840s. Probably the date should be 1881 because on page 48 there is the statement “The following list of names is taken from the record book of 1881. …. George Krauss …”.
- Wrong name for the wife of George Kraus – “Married Wilhelmina WIRTH, daughter of Henry WIRTH.” George Krauss was married to Renada Kraus in Germany before immigrating to the USA. (See Chapter Renada (Kraus) Krauss (1836 – 1910))
A possible explanation for the how the error in George Kraus’s wife’s name occured stems from an incorrect reading of Henry Wirth’s will. In chapter Kraus – Krauss – Krause – Notes, Mildred Brickhaus quotes the Henry Wirth will as “Henry Wirth willed his estate to son-in-law Geo Krause.” However, the actual text of the will reads “I give and bequeath my Estate and Property Real and personal, that is to say, Lands Notes and Money to George Krauss of Longtown Perry County Missouri.” This does appear to be our George Krauss, However, there is NO reference in the will as to any family relationship of George to Henry Wirth. George Krause in addition to being an undertaker also provided end-of-life services (See Chapter: George Krauss – Undertaker). And to assure repayment for these services, George apparently would have the person place George’s name in the their will.
Also, noted is “A Sittner will names Wilhelmine Krause as heir” and in another letter, Mildred comments that “possibly the name Remile is a nickname for Wilhelmine”.
Apparently the incorrect reading of the Henry Wirth will along with the observation of Wilhelmine Krause as an heir and the assumption that Remile is a nickname for Wilhelmine was the source of the error in the name of George Krauss’s wife’s name.
Errors in Newspaper Articles
Helen shared the following newspaper clipping:
An Amarilla, TX woman wants to know about George Krauss, whom she says was the undertaker in Longtown dying in 1915. There is no one old enough here to remember the gentleman, an ancient deceased cousin remembered playing in his coffins when a child. He sent this little Methodist child up hill to the Oberndofer store to buy a stein of beer in exchange for the coffin play.
Krauss name was pronounced “growse.” The Krauss came from Prussia. John born 1811, Charles 1820, Gottliebe 1811, George 1838. George had a wife Bennote. When he died, he was a coffin maker. This old German family has been in the country 140 years.
According to Helen (Kirmse) Hacker, Norma (Kirmse) Rauh telephoned a Perry County newspaper covering the Longtown area inquiring if they had any information about George Krauss, Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse’s brother-in-law. The reporter helpfully included a public request for information on George Krauss in her column. This resulting newspaper article serves as an example of how family lore can become distorted:
- “An Amarilla, TX woman” Norma lived in Alva, OK not Amarillo, TX. Norma did not often travel and according to her daughter, Kathy, there was no reason that Norma should have been in Amarillo, TX.
- “an ancient deceased cousin remembered playing in his coffins when a child.” This child was Norma’s brother, Julius Henry Kirmse, whom I remember described playing hide-and- seek among his uncle George Krauss’s coffins. (See Chapter: Kraus – Family).
- “He sent this little Methodist child up hill to the Oberndofer store to buy a stein of beer in exchange for the coffin play.” – this is not a correct statement – Julius Henry Kirmse was an active member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Alva, Oklahoma for his entire life.
- “The Krauss came from Prussia.” George Krauss emigrated from Bavaria.
- “John born 1811, Charles 1820, Gottliebe 1811, George 1838. … This old German family has been in the country 140 years.” – No relationship between these Krauss men has been yet established. Just because people have the same surname does mean that they are related.
- “George had a wife Bennote.” – George’s wife’s name was Renada.
- George “was the undertaker in Longtown dying in 1915.” True that our George Krauss was an undertaker in Longtown, MO (See Chapter: George Krauss – Undertaker). However, our George was the undertaker for the funeral of Julius Kirmse in 1915 and did not die until 1923 (See Chapter: George Krauss (1838 – 1923)).
- “When he [George] died, he was a coffin maker.” – George was first a “wagon maker” according to the US Census. Then in 1900 he listed himself as an “undertaker”. In the 1920 US census, George listed no occupation – apparently he had retired. And, George’s death certificate lists his occupation as “wagon maker”.
The reporter in writing the column article got the basic facts confused.