I am having trouble determining where my 4-g grandfather was born. His name is Georg Friederich Mauerhoff (also spelled more recently as Maurhoff). I have found his marriage (on 25 FEB 1768 to Dorothea Margaretha Harnack in Hannover) and death (on 18 OCT 1817 in Hannover at age 77 yrs. 10 mos.) records, and baptismal records for his children (all in Hannover). I have checked all churches in and around Hannover which had records for the possible years of his birth and have found nothing. He was an Uhrmacher, as were two of his sons (August Friederich, my 3-g grandfather, and Johann Diedrich Ludwig who moved to Celle). Georg Friederich had a high position in the Reformed Church -- he was a sponsor for Johann Diedrich's first son, and was described as "Varsteher der reform Gemeinde Hannover." Church records I found for the family were from Lutheran churches in Hannover. Unfortunately, the records for the Reformed church cover only a narrow period in the mid-19th century.
I thought I could write the church and ask them if they could check their records. Does anyone know how I could do that ? Would they have an e-mail address ? I also thought that maybe there might be an obituary on Georg Friederich's death in the paper at the time. Does anyone know how I would go about finding out if there were papers in Hannover at the time, and if any of them might contain an obituary ?
Additional info: Johann Diedrich was also a church elder in the Reformed church in Celle. In researching the Maurhoff name and spelling variants I discovered the name "Mohrhoff" in the Hannover area. In Georg Friederich's marriage record his name was spelled in this way. I thought that might mean that he was from outside the area, as the Pastor was more familiar with the Mohrhoff name than his. Also in my research I discovered several Maurhoff families in Ostpreussen (Darkhemen church records). The name begins in the 1780s, although could be earlier as the earlier films are barely readable. Does anyone know how I could contact either an archives or the church itself ? This area is now Ozersk, Russia.
Any ideas anyone has on helping me track down Georg Friederich's place of birth would be greatly appreciated. Also, any info on the Maurhoff name would be appreciated as I'm sure they're all related to me, one way or another.
Thank you very much for your assistance,
Paul N. Woessner