RAHENKAMP family

hannover-l
1

Hello,

I would like to find more information on my great, great grandparents.

Adam Heinrich RAHENKAMP

Born: about 1820 in Kingdom of Hannover (probably in Schledenhausen,
Osnabruck district)

Parents: listed on Death Certificate as "Frederik and Maria Rahnkamp" - both
born in "Germany"

Immigrated to USA from Bremen via the ship George F. Patten, arriving in New
York on 3 October 1851.

He applied for U.S Citizenship on 18 November 1859 and was Naturalized on 14
April 1862.

Died: 18 September 1886 in Newark, New Jersey, USA
Buried in Woodland Cemetery, Newark, NJ, where he purchased a family lot on
19 October 1867.

His wife was Maria Elizabeth EBERHARDT, born about 1820 in Hannover,
Germany. (Her parents were "Henry and Mary EBERHARDT", both born in
Germany.) Maria died in Newark, New Jersey, USA, on 28 November 1887 and is
buried with her husband in Woodland Cemetery in Newark.

Their daughter, Anna Catherine Gertrude (RAHENKAMP) Wegener, was born 15
August 1849 in Hannover, Germany. Anna immigrated with her parents in 1851
when she was 2 years old. A record found in the Schledehausen (Lutheran)
Church states Catharine Gertrud RAHENKAMP was Christened on 26 August 1849.

I believe Adam Heinrich RAHENKAMP must have had siblings, and I also
believe Adam and his wife, Maria, had other children before Anna Catharine
Gertrud. However, I have been unable to confirm any siblings or other
children.

I apologize for such a long posting, but I wanted to be sure to include all
the information currently known to me.

Any help in finding additional information on this family would be greatly
appreciated.

Regards,
Carol Payne in Oklahoma, USA
SnowWhite@Lakewebs.net

2

I would like to find more information on my great, great grandparents.

On the German end or stateside Carol, or both?

I believe Adam Heinrich RAHENKAMP must have had siblings, and I also believe Adam and his wife, Maria, had other children before Anna Catharine Gertrud. However, I have been unable to confirm any siblings or other children.

Not sure how you are concluding that "must", except perhaps due to Adam and Maria's ages relative to Anna (or is it simply hopeful thinking?) :wink: But if that were the case, it would suggest any additional children would have died before the couple departed German soil. And it goes without saying that if you track the family through the U.S. Federal censuses over the years (as you may already have), you will have a fair indicator if any other children were born stateside.

As for Adam having siblings, this of course will come to light once you determine his exact place of origin, and explore the corresponding records of that locale, however they may be constituted (hopefully filmed by LDS). Schledenhausen, Osnabruck district ... perhaps others will have more leads in regards to this locale. I would guess that's your main push at the moment.

If it is stateside, have you attempted to locate Adam, Maria and Anna's respective obituaries, since you have their dates of death? As you may know, some areas - other than generally the largest American cities - produced or allowed substantially more in depth newspaper accounts of deaths and funerals than other places. Always worth checking, and remember larger hubs often ran multiple newspapers concurrently, even 100 years ago (so check all if possible). How about Adam's will or probate record in Newark? Records of land deeds or title transfers sometimes shed light on possible family connections (as family relations often did the transacting amongst themselves at varying points). You ought to attempt to see if Adam had a small biographical sketch produced in any of the local histories of 19th century Newark also (or any area he may have lived at for some time). Long shot generally, but not an impossibility either.

I can see that you have made some fairly good headway so far though. It's filling in those final blanks that's always tough, especially if you happen to be removed a good distance from the location of your antecedents. It goes without saying that the tie-in to the German side remains the crown jewel, as well as the cause of many restless nights of pondering and teeth gnashing. Age old story, as many Americans with German/European backgrounds can attest. Fortunately you have Schledenhausen to work on!

Continued luck! Jb