Wondering if second great-grandfather's birthplace was Elfert, Alsfeld, or Hesse? Help, please?
U.S Army Enlistment records of 1852 and 1858, and later military records, show my second great grandfather, Charles Conrad Kraft's (alias Conrad Kraft or Craft), born in Elfert. Our family lore indicated he was from Hesse or Hesse-Darmstadt. Could it possibly have been Alsfeld, which was in Hesse? I have not yet discovered additional US records that confirm a birthplace. Thanks.
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Do you have a birth date for him? I'm sure there are Krafts in the Alsfeld district of Hesse and it's not unusual for American records to err on German place names so definitely possible. Search for him as Carl Conrad Craft or Karl Konrad Kraft.
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Elfert does not come up in Meyers Gazetter as a name found in Germany. That means it isn't the name of a farm/community/area or town in Germany.
If you can determine an approximate birth date there are many Alsfeld records on FS. There are both Evangelical and Catholic records: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/202954?availability=Family%20History%20Library
If you can figure out an approximate birth year you can walk through the records by hand. When doing so you may find a number of Kraft/Craft's and with some work and patience you can get a picture of how many Kraft's there are in the area. Once you find some of the Krafts - download the page and put it into the Community to have it translated. Sometimes it is amazing what a single record can show. All the best.
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Here is a suggestion for you. I looked in Ancestry.com for Conrad Kraft and found an extensive family tree, which included his birthdate of 27 June 1830. I assume this is the person you referred to. I searched Ancestry for that name and birthdate and found the following baptism record.
Hartershausen is in Hessen. See the Meyersgaz entry below. Just north of there is the village of Pfordt [Elfert?].
I did not find church records for Pfordt on FamilySearch, and those for Hartenhausen did not seem to include Pfordt. When I looked on Archion, I found several listinge for Hartenhausen, including one for Hartershausen - Pfordt. I found the baptism record for Konrad in that book.
Although the baptism date for Konrad was 4 July, his birth date was 27 June. The parents were Henrich Kraft, Schmidtmeister (master blacksmith) and Ackermann, and his wife Anna Margaretha Stephen. This was their third child and second son.
The reference to the baptism record in Archion follows. Note that this is a subscription site. Let me know if you would like a copy of the image.
Hessen-Nassau: Zentralarchiv der Evang. Kirche > Dekanat Lauterbach > Hartershausen Pfordt > Taufregister 1808-1841, image 112.
The marriage record for the parents is included in the Hartershausen records on FamilySearch. They were married on 16 November 1823 in the church in Pfordt, where they lived. Henrich was the son of the Schmidtsmeister Martin Kraft. Anna Margaretha was the widow of the deceased Schmidtsmeister Johannes Kraft from Pfordt (a brother?). Her father was Johannes Stephen.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4V-N52W
Let me know if you have further questions or need these records translated.
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Nice work Bob! I see that the 1852 enlistment record has his occupation as Blacksmith too!
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