I have data showing the roster mate Johan Conrad Cram of the 4th Company of the First Hessian Regt. (Ralls) composed of two battalians of the Duke of Hesse Palace Guard sent to America in January 1776 to serve for England in our Rev. War. It is thought that his baptismal records were lost during the decisive Battle of the Seven Years War fought at Burguffeln near Grebenstein Hesse because his records were not in the Lutheran Church records where his relative Johan Conrad Cramm had his records showing his father to be Heinrich Cramm. It is also possible that his parents moved back closer to the Cramm ancestral home around Cramme and Piene in Hanover near Wolfenbuttel. My Conrad switched sides in the US Revolutionary War with England when Conrad Cramm witnessed the shameful treatment of the Lutheran Settlement of New Ebenezer GA in late 1778 when Cornwallis’s forces drove all the civilians out of their homes into the wilderness, took over their church treasury, the town’s orphanage (first orphanage in either N or S America), the Church, and the homes of the people driven out. At this time, my Conrad Cramm took is horse across the Savannah River to Purysburg SC where he obtained a pass from Colonel White of the Colonial Patriot Army to go to the border of NC and SC to claim in early 1779 the land promised to Hessians who agreed to switch sides. In early 1780, Conrad Cramm took the Alias Conrad Crump and joined Captain Gabriel Enoch’s Company of Colonial Lillington NC Militia Regt. which was created in NC to go to the relief of Charleston SC. At the surrender of Charleston SC to the British, Conrad (Cramm) Crump was sent on a prison ship to Long Island NY where Conrad Cramm was imprisoned for a year for desertion. He was either released in 1781 (Hessian Record) or escaped dressed as a woman (family story) with a dress from a camp follower (Probably bought by Johan Conrad Cram who did not desert until July 1783). He subsequently was ordained a preaching deacon in the Crooked Creek Lutheran Church by Rev. Marquardt who was one of the several Lutheran ministers sent over by Rev. Velthusen of the Heidelburg Society after the end of the Rev . War to assist the Lutherans who had suffered greatly during the war. This Church still exists today as Morningstar Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg County NC. It is thought that Conrad Cramm’s father was Heinrich Wilhelm Cramm who about 1778 was in the Netherlands. It is not known if his leaving Germany had anything to do with our Conrad Cramm’s surrender at Trenton NJ in 1776 or his subsequent desertion from the British forces at New Ebenezer GA late in 1778; however, our family is having a difficult time finding any documentation of our Conrad Cramm’s birth, baptism, parentage, Church records, etc. It is thought that he may have been living near Cramme and Pienne Germany before he joined the Duke of Hesse’s Palace Guards. He may also have been loaned by the Duke of Hanover who was also King George of England to the Duke of Hesse as a liaison between King George’s troops and the Duke of Hesse’s troops. Regardless, both Conrad Cramm and Johan Conrad Cram are shown on the roster for the Rall’s Regt.
Are there any church records for my Conrad Cramm in the Pienne District which included Cramme, Hanover, and probably Wolfenbuttel? Any record after March of 1776 would have to be referencing him before he left for the colonies about March 1776. The Regiment arrived in NY around July 1776 before the capture of NY town and the surrounding area because the Rall’s Regt. fought in these battles. We do know that Conrad married Maria Magdalena Leisher Hess in NC between 1784 and 1794 when Rev. Adolph Nussmann who performed the wedding died. Conrad Cramm may have been married earlier because his first son Henry Crump (Cramm) was several years older than his next sibling (Sarah Elizabeth Cramm(Crump) who married a Yandle and went west to TN about 1810 and later still to Nebraska. If there were a marriage in Germany, we would like to find out who the bride was and whether she later went to the USA. We do know that the Cramm family were devout Lutherans who settled with and married other Lutherans. It is thought that our Conrad Cramm had very close friendships with the Rev. Adolph Nussmann who was well liked by Rev. Velthusen , Missionary Rev. Roschen who Rev. Velthusen confirmed and trained to become a minister and teacher before Velthusen sent Roschen to serve in NC from 1788 to 1800 when Roschen returned to Germany to become a parish minister there. We do not have any of Rev. Roschen’s records in NC either in the Church files or in other files.
We do have some of Rev. Marquardt’s records for his service in NC until he left to serve the German Lutherans around Lexington SC where he died later after serving with the Rev. Bernhardt who Rev. Velthusen had also sent to serve (his first assignment at New Ebenezer GA did not work due to conflicts with the other pastor sent a year earlier) mostly in NC and SC. I do not know how much personal data exists in the records of the Helmstaedt Missionary Society led by Rev. Velthusen, or the data related to the mistreatment of the Lutheran Church of New Ebenezer GA to the other Dukes of Germany which led to the demand that King George compensate the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for the destruction of the Lutheran Church and society at New Ebenezer GA; however, it is thought that my Conrad Cramm was the person who informed Rev. Nussmann who informed the Lutheran Bishop of America, Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenburg in PA about the crimes. At any rate, it did not take long for the abuse report to reach Germany. It is also a little known fact that King George shortly after the report of the crimes and the demand for compensation was sent to him, soon instructed the British Parliament to reach a peace settlement with the colonies. It was near this time that Rev. Velthusen ceased being King George’s minister in the Court of St. James. If Rev. Velthusen has a diary or historical report about these situations, it would be a most important addition to the History of the USA. I have never heard of such diary or historical account by Rev. Velthusen. We do know that he took great interest in Rev. Nussmann’s churches in NC and SC, and even composed the Helmstaedt Catechism of Confession for the churches being served by Roschen, Bernhardt, and later Marquardt near Lexington NC and Lexington SC around 1793or 1794. If anyone can assist me in this multipronged request, I would be most grateful. Gwyn Norman Crump, Sr. at normcrump@yadtel.net ; mailing address 3144 Mosteller Road, Boonville, NC 27011.
Please notify me of what is available and the cost for receiving copies with source identification. This data is important for both the Crump Cramm annual reunion members (over 500) and the NC Lutheran Historical Records.