STONEWALL SUGGESTION :An area to search then, would be for a Protestant
Ferdinand Krouse.
Hi Kurt:
Research the religious history, practices and prejudices prevalent from 1800
to 1850. I'm pretty sure that there was great pressure to be a Roman
Catholic in Muhlheim. If Ferdinand Krouse was the father...and a Protestant...it
could be he was not of the approved religion nor had the money. In order to
marry you had to pay a great deal for that right..It was an oppressive tax and
resulted in many emigrating to Australia and the USA.
All, or some of what I noted, could be why the birth of your ggg
grandfather Herman and ggg granduncle Cosmos was recorded as illegitimate. Their
father did not have sufficient funds to pay for the right to marry...and , or , he
might have been a Protestant from a neighboring town.
That occurred in one of my lines. My 3rd great grandmother, born 1826 in
Niederweiler, Baden (today...Wurttemberg)...married with great difficulty...a
Catholic from Hondingen, Baden.
It was a common practice for the German Princes to demand a large sum of
money before you could marry....and they also demanded that you be a member of
the church of their choosing. So the ordinary citizen had a double hardship.
In order to marry...you needed more money ...and had to be of the correct
religion. So, my 3rd great grandmother bore two children by a Catholic from
Hondingen, Baden The Protestant pastor did not recognize nor approve so the
first two children were recorded as illegitimate...the father then converted and
all subsequent births were recorded as legitimate.
Nancy Gerbino, NY
In a message dated 10/16/2005 10:34:43 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
kurtkrouse(a)hotmail.com writes:
Hello All!
I am writing for some advice. I have exhausted every avenue that I am aware
of in locating the father of my GG Grandfather (Karl Herman) Harmon Krouse
(Mayer). He was born to Maria Magdalena Mayer on 5 Nov 1851 in the
adminstrative district of Tuttlingen, and the village of Muhlheim an der
Donau, which is located in the German state of Wuerttemburg. He was
illegitimate along with his brother Kosmas. They later took the surname
Krouse. The only reference to a name I have is located in the record of
births, marriages, and deaths at Saint Aloysisus Catholic Church in Yoder,
Allen Co., Indiana and is mentioned in both brothers entrys for marriage as
one Ferdinand Krouse (Crouse)/father. I have since obtained the parish
records from Muhlheim and no mention of a name is recorded (probably due to
illegitimacy). Further, I have been unsuccessful in finding a reference in
the Wuerttemburg emmigration records (the script is difficult and it is in
German). Any ideas on how I can navigate this roadblock would be
appreciated. Thanks for the help in advance!
Kurt Krouse