1

I inherited the German records of my family tree from a distant relative 20 years ago (no sources, just a descendant list). It has special meaning to me because it got me started in Genealogy. Unfortunately, I have found many errors. Below is the present state with many errors corrected and some new information.

My biggest issue right now is inconsistencies in mother Sophia's maiden name: Handen/Harra/Harrar. Below are two examples, but there are many others. I believe that all the Shrader's in my descendant list below are from the same family, but I am not certain.

I found two of the sisters births in German records (mother's maiden name Handen), but I can't find any of the brothers. Multiple German Given Names

Other Shrader family trees on Ancestry.com almost always list the mother's maiden name as Harra. They often omit the sister that is my ancestor, probably because she settled in a different state.

Can someone help me be more certain that this is all the same family? A birth record of one of the brothers with matching parents names would be good evidence.

A bonus would be birth records of the parents, but maybe that should be another question.

Edit: I updated the parents information based on new information. Mother Sophie may have immigrated after her husband died.

enter image description here enter image description here

(third marriage for Fred, first marriage doesn't list mother's name)

enter image description here

Improve this question
7
  • I'll try my luck in Archion (not sure of how much of the actual pages I can put here, but transcripts will be possible in any case). I can already tell that the maiden name is very probably "Harder" (this is pretty consistent in the records so far).
    – jadepx
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 13:53
  • When did your GGGparents immigrate? Did you have any children before that? This could help narrowing down the date of marriage.
    – jadepx
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 13:56
  • @jadepx - Mary Shrader's first child born Aug 1860. I found a "D Reimers" who immigrated from port of Hamburg in 1857 (age 24, which would be correct), no way to know if this is the right person. I have never found them in the 1900 USA census, this would give approx immigration year.
    – Mattman944
    Commented Jun 7, 2021 at 14:41
  • 1
    So far I found baptism records for all kids EXCEPT Fred. Will prepare those into an answer later, then will look after other events (marriages, deaths) in Germany.
    – jadepx
    Commented Jun 10, 2021 at 10:42
  • 1
    With regard to Mary Shrader and Dietrich Reimer, I found this 1857 marriage in Cuyahoga, OH in FamilySearch: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDF5-2WB. Could this be the couple in question?
    – jadepx
    Commented Jun 11, 2021 at 9:28

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

I have found several of the children in Archion's collection (all records from "Norddeutschland: Landeskirchliches Archiv der Evang.-Luth. Kirche > Kirchenkreis Mecklenburg"). Below are the most relevant excerpts from the records, and their transcripts. As a general note, the spelling of the surname is hard to tell, as "o" and "a" appear very similar in this script. Lines/dashes in table seem to indicate repetition of the information above (I found this used extensively in confirmation records in this community).

There are some phrases, in particular with the godparents that I find hard to decipher, so any suggestions are appreciated.

It appears that the family moves from Blankenhagen to Völkshagen at some point, as indicated by the churchbooks. Both places are very close to each other, in a region east of Rostock.

Baptism record Maria Sophia Dorothea Schröder Blankenhagen: Blankenhagen Taufen, Trauungen, Bestattungen 1787-1836, p28

Born Sep 26, 1831
Bapt. Sep 26, 1831

Father: Büdner [a special form of crofter specific to Mecklenburg] Johann Christian Heinrich Schroeder/Schraeder
Mother: Sophia Dorothea née Harder
Child: Maria Sophia Dorothea

Godparents:
1. Jgfr. [maid] Sophia Dorothea Harder, in Kösterbek
2. -- Maria Röpke --
3. Maria Dorothea B... g. [born] Ehlert, Blankenhag

Baptism record Sophia Maria Elisabeth Schröder Blankenhagen: Blankenhagen Taufen, Trauungen, Bestattungen 1787-1836, p28

Born Apr 5, 1833
Bapt. Apr 7, 1833

Father: Büdner Johann Christian Schroeder
Mother: Sophia Dorothea née Harder
Child: Sophia Maria Elisabeth

Godparents:
1. Sophia Reimer née Schroeder
2. Maria Anna Jenß Nebenfrau[?], Handels Jäger h ... [this line does not make sense to me yet]
3. Elisabeth Maria Martini née Rath, Volkshagen

Baptism record Dorothea Christina Elise Schröder Blankenhagen: Völkshagen Taufen, Trauungen, Bestattungen 1787-1836, p20

Born Sep 1, 1836
Bapt. Sep 4, 1836

Father: Einl. [prob. Einlieger, maybe "lodger"] Johann Heinrich Christian Schröder
Mother: Sophia Dorothea née Harder
Child: Dorothea Christine Elise

Godparents:
1. Sophia Dorothea Witt née Schumann, Völkshag
2. Distmädch? [guess] Christina Schumann --
3. G...? Elisabeth Schoening, Blankenhag

Baptism record Johann Carl Heinrich Schröder Blankenhagen: Taufen 1837-1894 p16

Born May 6, 1840
Bapt. May 10, 1840

Father: Einl. Johann Heinrich Christian Schröder, Völkshagen
Mother: Sophia Dorothea née Harder
Child: Johann Carl Heinrich

Godparents:
1. ...? Heinrich Harder, Kösterbek
2. ...? Carl Schröder, Hamburg
3. Einl. Johann Dunge, Völkshagen

Baptism record Johann Joachim Friederich Schröder Blankenhagen: Taufen 1837-1894 p29

Born Sep 24, 1843
Bapt. Oct 1, 1843

Father: Einl. Christian Johann Schröder, Völkshagen
Mother: Sophia Dorothea née Harder
Child: Johann Joachim Friederich

Godparents:
1. ...? Johann Kellermann, Völkshagen
2. Bdr. [prob. "Büdner"] Friederich Martienß, --
3. K...? Joachim Harder, Kösterbek

I could find neither the baptism record for Henry Schröder in 1852, nor confirmation records for the above children (which would have taken place in the 1840s). Looking around marriage and burial records, I did not encounter the names Schröder and Harder frequently. From these hints, I would guess two things:

  1. The family isn't originally from the area (the Harder godparents for example seem to reside in Kösterbek, which is close to Roggentin, also near Rostock).
  2. The family resides in a different place from the 1840s.
Improve this answer
2
  • Awesome. You deserve to be in the hall of fame for this answer. I will write another question for the parents.
    – Mattman944
    Commented Jun 11, 2021 at 8:40
  • FYI: I now have DNA match evidence that children born in 1831, 1833, 1843 are from the same parents.
    – Mattman944
    Commented Jul 16, 2021 at 10:23

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.