Rolle VD - birth - abt.1815 - Kaufmann - confirmation
Hello and good day,
I have been researching my ancestor from Switzerland, Frank Kaufman (~1815 - 1887), and just recently confirmed his date of death and resting place in Buffalo, New York, based on city and cemetery records. This was an exciting find as these facts at least are now confirmed.
My next research track is to try and trace Frank's origins back to Switzerland with a baptism record. Per Ancestry.com, someone found a possible connection to Elias Francois Christian Kaufmann, baptized in Rolle in Canton Vaud on April 1, 1815. It is possible that Frank may have simplified his name and dropped the second ending "n" on his surname (changing Kaufmann to Kaufman) upon entering the United States, a common practice. I have made a note to this effect in Frank's record. It would be very exciting to confirm this connection and match.
Unfortunately, I have not determined Frank's exact date of birth, although census and burial records, etc. state Frank's birth year was possibly as early as 1813 or even as late as 1819 in some cases. There is a possible ship manifest record here as well.
Would anyone have any ideas on how I could confirm whether Frank is, or is not, Elias Francois Christian Kaufmann? Is this the correct first step?
Thank you for any help!
答え
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Let me make a technical comment first: your original topic title "Trying to research Swiss family tree and confirm a possible matching person" has been modified to make it more specific, attracting the attention of readers involved in the region or surname. See also my corresponding suggestion.
Now for your questions.
To drop an n (…mann to … man) is very common, as you state yourself, when people emigrate to an English speaking region - so this doesn't bother me at all.
The system of first and middle names doesn't work in Switzerland the same way you are used to in the USA. The "first" name is not necessarily the name actually used by the person - so a simplification from "Elias Francois Christian" to Frank is certainly plausible - but it would be nice to get further proof.
The problem is that Kaufmann is a very(!) common name in the German speaking regions of Switzerland - see the Register of Swiss Surnames. Consequently this family will not have been a long established line in VD, but likely just living there for a rather short time. Could you post a copy of the baptismal entry? This will usually mention the parents' place of citizenship.
Not being citizens of Rolle the sources on them will be less numerous. In VD "citizens' registers" were introduced in 1822 - so if the parents would have been citizens this family should be listed, as they most likely were not, I am not sure: you could still enquire at the Civil Registry Office of Rolle, if they hold this register and (if yes) if a Kaufmann family shows up … then quite likely an emigration will be mentioned.
Best regards for now - Wolf
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Hi Wolf, thank you very much for your help, it's greatly appreciated.
Yes, the parents of "Elias Francois" ("Frank") are indeed from a German region. According to FamilySearch here, they were married in 1814 in Grindelwald, and his father Peter Kaufmann (FamilySearch link here) has a line that goes way, way back in Grindelwald. It seems that after their marriage in Grindelwald, they moved to Rolle (perhaps for a job?) and then had "Frank" and other children, and then moved back to Grindelwald around 1825.
Also, just fyi that the only baptismal record entry I found is the one from a FamilySearch source record linked here.
The big question for me remains if I should even try to confirm my ancestor Frank back to this person "Elias Francois" born and baptized in Rolle. One thing I have going for me is that my ancestor Frank spoke German, so there's that connection for sure. Still, being certain may not be possible without some reference documentation from the USA which specifically references his birthplace. On a side note, I have another ancestor who had his European home town identified by his church pastor in an entry in the pastor's Status Animarum. Without such an entry from my ancestor Frank's church, I'm not sure it's possible.
Well, I must say, I do love the thought of my ancestor Frank's line potentially being from Grindelwald. Visiting the village is on my bucket list. Bern and Zurich were wonderful, but it will be amazing to get out into the Alps and visit the famous Eiger-Nordwand.
Thanks again, Wolf!
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If you have a link to Grindelwald (where Kaufmann have been citizens since before 1800) I recommend you post your information and questions on Kaufmann von Grindelwald in Geneal-Forum. There you'll get in contact with other people interested in this family. Whilst the discussion so far is in German, English is fine on the Forum. Reading is open for anyone - in order to post yourself you have to be registered, which is free and without any obligation.
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Hi Wolf, thanks again for the guidance and link.
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