Search for Marriage in Cumberland Maryland

Hello Friends,

for a friend I still search the parents of
- Johan Henrich (Henry) Niehaus, should be born 17.Apr.1814 or 14.Apr.1817 maybe in Damme

  he married about 1839 in Cumberland Maryland (we believe)
     to Anna Maria Agnes Grevenkamp, born 8.Oct.1813 in Damme

After that he moved to Cincinnati, there is born the first child:
* 17.Nov,1843 Cincinnati, Henry
* 06.Jan.1845 Cincinnati, Gerhard Henry
then they moved to St.Meinrad and later to Ferdinand Indiana

Have somebody access to the marriage records of Cumberland Maryland to check this?
I hope to find the name of his parents.

Thank you,
Werner Honkomp

Dear Werner,

No luck at HQ online for the the title:

Western Maryland Catholics, 1819-1851

Did quick search for surname Grevenkamp (exact spelling off) at Family Search with very U.S. results...California, Ohio - SSI index.

Tried Grevekamp - Localities associated Darmstedt-Hesse, Oldenburg, Gieten, Drente, Netherlands, and only U.S. result Ohio.

HQ census search - surname Grevekamp or Grevenkamp - Ohio only state poping up ...

HQ book search surname Grevekamp or Grevenkamp - Nil....

However many of the citizen biographies neglect to iindex wealth of extended family information that is often included such as parent names, , sibling names, marriage partners, children marriage partners and localities associated with them.

Well...to make long story short...what data references suspected marriage in Cumberland , Allegany County Maryland? Does the friend know the names of Johan Henrich (Henry) Niehaus siblings if any? Or names of their marriage partners? Perhaps something on the parents could be found seaching out his siblings...

I think Allegany county once extended into Pennsylvania also. There is also a Cumberland Tennesee I believe as well as the Cumberland Gap in Eastern North Caroling Blue Ridge Mountains.

Did Mr. Neihaus come through Baltimore? Is this why Cumberland Maryland is suspected maybe?

Well not a pro here... Just bloviating :slight_smile:

B

P.S. Am willing to try H.Q. person search for Neihaus...however a surname of latteral family member might help in weeding out the unrelated Neihaus.

Has your friend had any luck finding biography data for his suspected Neihaus in any of the Indiana or Ohio county histories?

Hello Friends,

for a friend I still search the parents of
- Johan Henrich (Henry) Niehaus, should be born 17.Apr.1814 or 14.Apr.1817 maybe in Damme

   he married about 1839 in Cumberland Maryland (we believe)
      to Anna Maria Agnes Grevenkamp, born 8.Oct.1813 in Damme

After that he moved to Cincinnati, there is born the first child:
  * 17.Nov,1843 Cincinnati, Henry
  * 06.Jan.1845 Cincinnati, Gerhard Henry
then they moved to St.Meinrad and later to Ferdinand Indiana

Have somebody access to the marriage records of Cumberland Maryland to check this?
I hope to find the name of his parents.

Thank you,
Werner Honkomp

Hello Barb,
we know the history of Grevenkamp but not of his husband Niehus - in this case the history started with his tombstone in Ferdinand Dubois County. No parents, no siblings and others.
A notice says that this couple married in Cumberland MD, we assume he and she landed in Baltimore before 1839.
For more information we hope to find the marriage record in Maryland.
Thank you,
Werner Honkomp

Hello Barb,
we know the history of Grevenkamp but not of his husband Niehus - in this case the history started with his tombstone in Ferdinand Dubois County. No parents, no siblings and others.
A notice says that this couple married in Cumberland MD, we assume he and she landed in Baltimore before 1839.
For more information we hope to find the marriage record in Maryland.
Thank you,
Werner Honkomp

Well...to make long story short...what data references suspected marriage
in
Cumberland , Allegany County Maryland? Does the friend know the names of
Johan Henrich (Henry) Niehaus siblings if any? Or names of their marriage
partners? Perhaps something on the parents could be found seaching out his
siblings...

The book desciption:
Western Maryland Catholics, 1819-1851
Richard T. Koch and Phyllis I. Davidson

Published: 1998 Reprinted: 2000 Out Of Print ISBN: 0806348305

This is a collection of birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records for the parishes of St.Ignatius in Mt. Savage, and St. Mary's in Cumberland, Maryland. As such it makes available many of the oldest extant genealogical records for Catholics in Allegany County.

Werner,
    This the family in the 1880 census which could be the family
(Niehaus/Grevenkamp). That would make the parents 10 years older than what
you have. The mispelling of the surname could have easily happened. A son
and daughter are listed, as well as the daughter-in- law and grandson.

Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace
Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Henry NEIHAUS Self M Male W 76 OLDENBURGH Farmer OLDENBURGH
Agnes NEIHAUS Wife M Female W 76 OLDENBURGH Keeps House OLDENBURGH
Mary NEIHAUS Dau S Female W 26 INDIANA
Bernard NEIHAUS Son M Male W 27 INDIANA
Anna NEIHAUS DauL M Female W 20 OHIO
Henry NEIHAUS GSon S Male W 6M INDIANA

     I've sent an email to a person who would look in that book for the
names. She was listed with her willingness to do a lookup, but that email
address wouldn't go through. I then found her on a Google search with a
different address and I hope she will answer.

Barbara

Hello Barbara,
thank you for census list. Yes it must be the family.
Of course, the age of the parent is wrong - in case of Mary was the mother 50 years old when she was born ...!
The 1860 census listed the mother 11 years younger, but it says she come from Prussia!?
Thank you for help,
Werner Honkomp

The German Lutheran church records, and the Catholic records for Cumberland at that time do not list any marriage for Niehaus/Grevenkamp. Unfortunately, Allegany County marriage records were destroyed in a court house fire in 1903. The records that are now available have been reconstructed from various sources, and are by no means complete. Therefore, it may be possible that your folks did indeed get married in Allegany County, and there are no records available.

Are you sure they got married in Cumberland? Is it possible they got married somewhere else in Maryland, e.g. Baltimore, if that's where their ship came in? What year did they emigrate?

Sylvia

Hello Sylvia,
Thank you for the information. I think we have a big problem to find the marriage record of Henry Niehaus and Agnes Grevenkamp.
We are quite shure that they got married in Cumberland MD, but not realy. The only what we have is the census record 1840 of Cumberland MD you sent (Henry Nighhouse and wife).
It could be that they married in an other town. We could not find a passenger list record, but at this time before 1839 the most ships Bremen landed in Baltimore.
Thank you for help,
Werner

Not to put a damper on anything but marriage records, by their very nature, can be some of the most difficult records to track down. The further back in time you go, the greater the difficulties seem to magnify. Just as Sylvia indicated, fire and natural disasters play a large part in the disappearance of official records, marriage records being no exception. But that's just the start of things. Some areas may not have even recorded marriages civically (i.e. the municipal, county or state level) during the time frame in question. Church registers for the same are often nowhere to be found a century + later. Equally frustrating is the fact that county jurisdiction lines can change. What was Cumberland or Allegany county then may not be Cumberland or Allegany county now, at least in its totality (this may or may not apply to that area though, but in many areas in the US it will).

Then you have have the challenge of pinpointing the true and correct event locale itself, even if it is as large as a county. Were they married at their place of residence, or in the town chapel perhaps, or did they travel to his or hers' parents (or even a friends') place of residence - wherever that may have been - to consummate the nuptial ties. Some couples, even a hundred years ago, simply headed off to the biggest nearby city (which may or may not have been in the same county), or opted to travel further to a more glamorous "get-away" location for the marriage and honeymoon (like New Orleans or San Francisco or Las Vegas in the US). Thus, the possibilities keep on growing when it comes to marriage searches if they start out rather "blindly." Often it is a more a matter of luck than anything else that helps nab these particulars, if they can be found at all. And this perplexity carries on right to this day with contemporary marriages, only now you have additional privacy statutes that further muck the waters. The word crapshoot describes it all well. Sometimes other areas are better explored, if initial searches come up empty, due to the factors stated above.

Wishing you a little 'lady luck' here Werner.

Jb

Hello Werner,
       I've been wondering that the marriage was not in Cumberland, but
later in Cincinnati. It would be somewhat unusual at that time for a couple
to marry, but the first child would be born 4 yeas later. So, on that
possiblility, I have a contact here in the U.S. that has access to many
indexes from Cincinnati. I have sent the information to her and we'll see
what she may find.

    I have not been in touch with her for 5 years. It was she that first
found the name of Gügelmeyer in a marriage in Cincinnati. Do you remember
that name? You actually called some people by that name in order to
determine where the Gügelmeyers may have lived in the 1850's, but they had
no idea of their ancestries. You ALSO checked with the Osnabrück Archives
to see if the Gügelmeyers were on the emigration lists. You do so much for
other people!

    I have not heard from the woman who had done Lookups in that book of
Western Maryland Catholics.

Barbara

Hello Werner,

     I have received a letter from the woman who does many lookups in
Cincinnati, Hamilton county. I will include her letter in this mailing. I
had made a mistake in the spelling of Grevenkamp. What I find quite
confusing is that I looked at the Rootsweb site for that marriage. There
are 3 entries for that couple, but they vary a bit. One implies there was a
marriage in Cumberland with spouse unknown--whatever that means! Look here:

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi

Barbara

Below is Ann's letter about the Cincinnati research:

Well, Barbara;

You'll have to let me know what you think of this. The surname NIEHAUS is
prolific in all the indexes for the Cincinnati area. There is more than
one marriage for a Johan, Heinrich or Johan Heinrich. But none to Anna
Maria Agnes Gravenkamp.

So, I switched to her surname -- which is very rare, apparently.

Maria A. Gravenkamp married J. Wilhelm Willen 25 May 1841 Holy Trinity Cath.
Ch.

Louise Engle Grewenkemper - obit - 7, 8 August 1904 age 77, 7, 2, nee
Barnholz
  Cinci. Volksfreund german language newspaper.

Now, there are also more than one Johan Heinrich Niehaus possibilities in
the Citizenship index for the 1840's, but no Gravenkamp.

An Agnes Niehaus was buried 12 Dec 1853 age 28 from St. Paul Catholic.

Now -- was your Niehaus/Gravenkamp couple Catholic?

Is there any possibility there were other marriages for either of the two
you are seeking, which would change the names I'm looking for?

What were the names of the children they had in the Cincinnati area and when
were they born (I'm wondering if perhaps any might have died in between)?

Any suggestions - let me know. Still many obituaries, etc. to look
through - but if they left the area, I need to know when to stop looking.

Best wishes,

Ann

Hello Barbara,

yes we know the rootsweb records - no news.
But we have now
    - about 1839 married in Cumberland MD, Johan Henry Niehaus - Agnes Grevenkamp
- 1840 census record of Cumberland MD: Henry Nighhouse and wife

- 1840 --No Henry Niehaus, Cincinnati City Directory
    * about 1841 first child Anna Maria is born (no place), died 1843 in Cinci
- 1841 - There is no City Directory for 1841
- 1842 - Henry Niehaus, drayman, living on Fifth St.
- 1843 - Henry Niehaus, drayman, living on Fifth St.
    * 17.Nov.1843 Henry Niehaus in Cincinnati
    * 06.Jan.1845 Gerhard Henry Niehaus in Cincinnati
- 1846 - There is no Henry Niehaus listed anymore.
          This is probably when he moved on to Indiana.
    * 24.Jan.1847 Maria Catharina Niehaus in Ferdinand IN

This family is catholic.
Maybe the dead record of Anna Maria Niehaus in Cincinnati (1843) shows where she was born - Cumberland???

Thank you,
Werner

Hello Werner,
      It turns out that Ann also has information about Ferdinand, Ind.
Here are 3 more letters from her. You may find something helpful. Is
"Henry" Niehaus not listed in Oldenburg records? Surely this is all proof
that he comes from there. Here are the letters from Ann:

Barbara

This is quite a co-incidence. Generally, my area of geographic "expertise"
consists only of the greater Cincinnati area, due to my collection of
indexes.

However, you mentioned St. Meinrad and Ferdinand, Indiana. Just happens I
also have a little info on that area, as my husband's WILMES family
(Covington and Cincinnati) led us there on one trip to see if all the Wilmes
in Ferdinand cemetery might be connected.

Never proved a connection (but it is still strongly suspected). While
there, I did purchase a list of members of St. Ferdinand church and will dig
that out later and see if the Niehaus/Grevenkamps might also show up.

It's a really unique little town, by the way, totally established by the
church for some immigrants who wanted to come downriver and live in a much
more rural setting than Cincinnati. St. Meinrad Abbey sits on a hill
overlooking the area and is very impressive.

OK -- back to you later!

Ann

Barbara;

I think this information definitely ties in with what Werner is seeking.

The book I have here is called, "Ferdinand, Indiana, A Sesquicentennial
History" and was published by the Ferdinand Historical Society in 1990.

One index is of the local cemetery (very big - I've been there) behind the
church, St. Ferdinand, in the center of town. There are 19 NIEHAUS
burials. The index gives birth, death and grave location for most of them.
The two oldest are:

Agnes Niehaus born 8 Oct 1813, died 13 Aug 1895 B2-10
Henry Niehaus born 17 Apr 1814, died 24 Dec 1901 B1-3

All the others appear to have been much younger -- probably young enough to
be the next generation.

Now, another index in the same book lists residents by the areas they
originated, and some give the town names as well.

Under "Oldenburg" --
NIEHAUS, Heinrich born 17 Apr 1814 reference #U8F, 47b
and right under him
Rebenkamp, Agnes 8 Oct 1813 reference #U7F, 69B

It appears from the rest of the entries that the wife's name is listed under
the husband's, using her maiden name. So, they apparently have quite an
error in spelling, probably due to old German Script. However, am going
to go back into the Hamilton Co. OH indexes and check for "Rebenkamp" where
I looked for "Grevenkamp" before.

The second index does not give a town name for those two and the "reference"
is not clearly explained in the instructions, but I think it pertains in
these two entries to the 1870 (U7F) census in Ferdinand and the 1880 (U8F)
census in Ferdinand. I'm hoping the second set of numbers might be the
page number on the census and will check it out later on Ancestry.

Will let you know of any further discoveries. I wouldn't be surprised if
there are still some descendants of the Niehaus couple still living in the
Ferdinand IN area. Perhaps the Rootsweb mailing list or Message Board for
that area would be helpful - I believe that's Dubois County IN.

Later,
Ann

Yep. There they are. According to the Ancestry.com census info, Dubois
County (Ferdinand) IN:

1870 page 69B and 70A
Niehause, (looks like) Hara age 50, male, farmer born Oldenburg
  " Agnes age 50 born Oldenburg
  " George age 22 farm laborer b. OH
  " Mary age 20 born IN
  " Bernhard age 18 b. IN
  " Frank age 17 b. IN
  " Elizabeth age 14 b. IN
  " Josephine age 10 b. IN

(relationships not given, but most likely they are all children of Agnes and
Henry)

1880 page 47C and D
Neihaus, Henry age 76 farmer born Oldenburgh
  " Agnes age 76 born Oldenburgh
  " Mary age 26, daughter, single born IN
  " Bernard age 27, son, married b. IN
  " Anna, wife, born OH (par. b. Oldenburgh)
  " Henry, son b. IN

Looks like Henry and Agnes gained some age between those two censuses, but
errors like that are common. Also, Anna and Henry would appear to belong
to the son Bernard, but that's not made clear.

Let me know if I can help further with any of these references.

Ann

Hello Barbara,
the records of all Niehaus in Ferdinand we have - also pictures of the tombstones.
Our problem ist, that the date of birth

Henry Niehaus born 17 Apr 1814, died 24 Dec 1901 B1-3

must be wrong.
He should be born in Damme (Oldenburg province), but the church book in Damme shows not this date.
Some years before and after of this date shows the church book some other Johan Henrich Niehaus, for identify the right person we need his parents, but in Ferdinand or Cincinnati we could not find a notice.
Thank you,
Werner

Werner,
    
   Ann is sending more of her research, but nothing directly helpful. Was
it common in Oldenburg to name the children after the grandparents? That
can be helpful at times.

   I have personal experience about wrong birth dates on tombstones! My
great-grandmother Susanna Gügelmeyer's tomb stone has the wrong birth date -
even the year was wrong.

   Have you ever contacted this person?
       Anne (Steltenpohl)Racicot
       dracicot@psci.net
    This is from a Niehaus mailing list on Rootsweb. Her great grandfather
is Henry Niehaus as well.

     The Catholic church in Indiana is this:

St Ferdinand's Church
(812) 367-1212
341 E 10th St
Ferdinand, IN 47532

    That's about it! Sorry we can't find the answers. Ann's remarks below.

Barbara;

In the 1808-1849 index, there are two possibilities, but neither is as early
as you mentioned (and one is an adult):

A.M. Niehaus buried 30 Aug 1846, age 15 mos, Old St. Mary's CAth. Ch.

Anna Maria Niehaus bur. 11 Oct 1847 age 22, St. John the Baptist Cath. ch.

also a Maria Niehaus bur. 9 Jul 1849 age 4, Old St. Mary's

There are other small children in the list as well, but most of them do not
have any indication of parents' names. Those who do, don't match
Johan/Henry or Maria/Agnes.

Don't think I have anything else that early, but will keep checking and let
you know if I discover anything.

Ann

Hello Barbara,
some of the records came from Anne Racicot we have contact with her.
Thank you for help,
Werner

Dear Werner,

In the index of the book Cincinnati Jetzt is a Joseph Neihaus, page 315. I don't see any variety of the name Grevenkamp in this index. There is Rowekamp surname. The O in Rowekamp has umlaut.
I don't know if perhaps old printing equipment and handwriting could mistake a G for an R? Would need to study up on that. If you wish me send this data ... let me know.

Barbie-Lew

Hello Barbara,
some of the records came from Anne Racicot we have contact with her.
Thank you for help,
Werner

> Werner,

> Ann is sending more of her research, but nothing directly helpful. Was
> it common in Oldenburg to name the children after the grandparents? That
> can be helpful at times.

> I have personal experience about wrong birth dates on tombstones! My
> great-grandmother Susanna G�gelmeyer's tomb stone has the wrong birth date
> -
> even the year was wrong.

> Have you ever contacted this person?
> Anne (Steltenpohl)Racicot
> dracicot@psci.net
> This is from a Niehaus mailing list on Rootsweb. Her great
> grandfather
> is Henry Niehaus as well.

> The Catholic church in Indiana is this:

> St Ferdinand's Church
> (812) 367-1212
> 341 E 10th St
> Ferdinand, IN 47532

> That's about it! Sorry we can't find the answers. Ann's remarks
> below.

> Barbara;

> In the 1808-1849 index, there are two possibilities, but neither is as
> early
> as you mentioned (and one is an adult):

> A.M. Niehaus buried 30 Aug 1846, age 15 mos, Old St. Mary's CAth. Ch.

> Anna Maria Niehaus bur. 11 Oct 1847 age 22, St. John the Baptist Cath. ch.

> also a Maria Niehaus bur. 9 Jul 1849 age 4, Old St. Mary's

> There are other small children in the list as well, but most of them do
> not
> have any indication of parents' names. Those who do, don't match
> Johan/Henry or Maria/Agnes.

> Don't think I have anything else that early, but will keep checking and
> let
> you know if I discover anything.

> Ann
> ________________________________________________________

> Well, Barbara;

> All I can recommend is that the St. Ferdinand Church in Indiana be
> contacted
> to see if possibly there are any cemetery records which indicate the
> parents
> of deceased persons buried in that cemetery, or perhaps using the
> Rootsweb
> mailing list or Message Board for Dubois County IN to see if any
> continuing
> family members might have that information.

> Has anyone tried to get the (civil) death records for either of them?
> Someone may have known who their parents were. With any luck at all, it
> won't say "unknown"!

> It's not in the indexes at all for the IN references, and I have not found
> anything in Cincinnati which would give parents for either Agnes or Henry
> Niehaus. The marriage is apparently the best bet, but finding that is
> like a needle in a haystack.

> By the way, that Maryland marriage is not too impossible to believe if the
> ship they came over on happened to land at Baltimore, as many from Germany

Dear Barbie,

Joseph Neihaus is an other person, but he could related to Johan Henrich Niehaus.
Röwekamp is a real name from the Oldenburg area too.
We assume, that Johann Henrich Niehaus married in Cumberland MD to Agnes Grevenkamp, therefore you can not find the name in Cinci.

Thank you for locking,
Werner

Dear Werner,

A longshot here....I believe Dubois county Indiana was mentioned as possible locality associated with your Niehaus/Grevenkamp search.

Looking at county map of Illinois...noticed that there is a Cumberland County, Illinois.. I believe if you travel southeast from the Cumberland County Illinois area for about 130 miles..you will find yourself in the Dubois County area of Indiana.

Cumberland County Illinois history note Wilkipedia :

Cumberland County was split off from Coles County in 1843. It was named for the Cumberland Road, or National Road, which passed through it.

The road ran from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois.

Dear Werner,

Quick search Illinois marriage index using wildcard: Gr%%%%kamp.

Don't know if will help on quest but these names perhaps are variatoin on Grevenkamp.

WILKING, CHRISTIAN
GRABENKAMP, LOUISA
12/09/1886 7 /310 1078
MONROE

BERGER, HENRY B
GREFENKAMP, MINNIE
04/29/1901 / 00010989
ST. CLAIR

TIPLING, GEORGE H
GREFENKAMP, SARAH C
07/12/1900 / 10198 ST. CLAIR

NIEHAUS, HERMAN ****
HECKENKAMP, MAMIE
01/01/1900 / 12359
ADAMS

Lots of Niehaus on database. The marriage Mamie Heckenkamp sort of interesting isn't it?

Barbie

Dear Werner,

A longshot here....I believe Dubois county Indiana was mentioned as possible locality associated with your Niehaus/Grevenkamp search.

Looking at county map of Illinois...noticed that there is a Cumberland County, Illinois.. I believe if you travel southeast from the Cumberland County Illinois area for about 130 miles..you will find yourself in the Dubois County area of Indiana.

Cumberland County Illinois history note Wilkipedia :

Cumberland County was split off from Coles County in 1843. It was named for the Cumberland Road, or National Road, which passed through it.

The road ran from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois.