I need help with a man's name

Question

I'm researching the Kellinghausen family.and I've come across a conundrum. The father's name is Heinrich Paul Kellinghausen, sometimes styled Paul or Paul Heinrich. His wife is A. Johanna G. Muller in some documents Almude or Almuth Johanna in others, and Almuth Johanna Gerhardine in others.

They had several children, but I'm interested in one in particular. On FamilySearch his birth is given as 25 March 1889 and his name is Henry Wilhelm Kellinghausen.

Ancestry.com has a Presbyterian birth record that has his birth date of 25 March 1889 but the name is Johan Georg Kellinghausen.

And the 1905 New Jersey Census (Ancestry.com) lists a John that is his age.

I'm struggling trying to figure out how Henry Wilhem becomes Johan Georg or vice versa.

Is this two different families? Am I totally confused?

This is his profile on FamilySearch.

Comments

Possible Henry W. and Johan G. are brothers? It really is possible for brothers to share the same birthdate - in different years. (Case in point - my grandsons). Just a thought.

Seems like Johan could easily be John on a census.

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I'm sorry. I screwed up. When I read what you wrote, I wondered how you could say that. Then I looked at the dates that I wrote. I miswrote Johan's birth year to 1899 instead of 1889. IOW, their birthdates are the same day. I considered the possibility of twins, but there should be a record of that in the Presbyterian records, and there's not. And the 1905 Census would show two children of the same age, and it does not.

It seems I'm stuck with two completely different names for the same person or I'm missing something obvious.

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I thought the years might have been a typo, but still needed to bring up the possibility.

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I wondered if there was an error in transcribing the church records, I looked at the record and only see Johan George, I was hoping to find Henry a few lines down with different parents, but nope!

There is still a mystery.

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What evidence do you have for concluding that a man who was baptized in the Catholic church is the same as a man having his children baptized as Protestants?

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The sources.

Let me tell you an interesting story. I have a Schmehl ancestor who was a Lutheran from Brandenburg. He married a Catholic in Iburg, and his marriage record actually states that he swore he would raise the children as Catholics.

My mother was Lutheran. My father was Catholic. She refused to marry him unless he changed his faith to Lutheran. Til the day he died, he said Hail Mary's but he attended the Lutheran church and raised all four of us children as Lutherans.

It happens all the time when men marry women of a different faith.

In this particular case, I have five documents showing that five different children were baptized in the Presbyterian church. I'm looking for the sixth now. And all five have the name of his wife and his name.

Answer 1

You probably already know all this, but I would take any family tree information on Family Search with a grain of salt. Especially so on Ancestry. That's just a suggestion as to what is the truth. Look at the original sources wherever possible (I can't see the Ancestry source you give).

In German tradition, Johann George would quite often go by George in common usage, but Johann/John would be a possibility. Henry Wilhelm would be a different person entirely unless something really unusual happened.

The German names Heinrich, Wilhelm, and Johann would be anglicized as Henry, William, and John, respectively.

Also, the 'th' sound in German isn't pronounced like it is in English, so an English-speaking census taker could easily write down Amulth as Amulde.

Comments

I built the tree, so I have a high level of confidence in it. Most of the sources for birth, death, and marriage dates are primary sources from the catholic church books. This particular individual appears in the birth records for New Jersey and in a Presbyterian record, which I have viewed.

I'd appreciate it if you could look at the sources I linked to and discuss those.

Is Amulth a German name given to females? Or Amulde? (I suspect Amulth.)

Answer 2

New Jersey birth, marriage, and death certificates for this period include parents' names.

When did he die? Where is he buried? Have you looked at newspapers for family obituaries that would name a sibling?

Comments

I don't know yet when he died. I've looked for them in newspapers but found nothing.

The NJ birth record says his name is Henry Wilhelm Kellinghausen and his parents are Paul Kellinghausen and Joanna Mueller. His birthdate is 25 Mar 1889 and his birth location is Elizabeth, NJ.

The Presbyterian Historical Society record says his name is Johan Georg Kellinghausen, geb (geboren=born) 25 Mar 1889, an abbreviation I don't recognize followed by 14 September 1890, Vat (Vater=father) Paul Heniz Kellinghausen, Muth (Mutter=mother) Almuth Johanna Gerhardine Kellinghausen geb. Müller

Not that I look at it, perhaps he was a twin, and he died in Sept 1890. But I think that abbreviation is get for getauft, which means that was when he was baptized. It is rather odd being baptized at 18 months. Most Germans baptized their children almost immediately - within two to three days.

And if he was a twin, I would expect to see his brother's record either preceding or following his, and it's not.

However, his brother, Georg Paul Anton was born 22 Sep 1877 and baptized 21 Apr 1878, so I suppose they may have adopted a more Americanized baptism schedule after emigrating.

i'm going to download this document and upload it to FS so others can view it without requiring an Ancestry subscription. https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/170627256?p=52164532&returnLabel=Henry%20Wilhelm%20Kellinghausen%20(9674-FM4)&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.familysearch.org%2Ftree%2Fperson%2Fmemories%2F9674-FM4

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Do you have a profile for Johan started yet?  It would help to list all the sources we've found there.

As you can see the Presbyterian record on Ancestry calling him Johan and two census records calling him John (1900 Federal and 1905 State), I would go with that rather than the the indexed birth record, the indexes are imperfect.

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I don't create profiles on Wikitree until I'm certain of my facts and sources. I haven't created his parents or grandparents yet due to questions I have. I do my work on FamilySearch, and when I'm safisfied with the sources I create the profiles on WIkitree.

I consider Wikitree to be the gold standard of genealogy, so I won't lessen its value by creating profiles with no verifiable sources.

Answer 3

I found what may be your Paul in the 1900 Census. It is not anything definite, but says that Johanna was the mother of 6 children, three of them living. Here are links to Ancestry:

"1900 United States Federal Census"<br/>Year: 1900; Census Place: Elizabeth Ward 4, Union, New Jersey; Roll: 995; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0099; FHL microfilm: 1240995<br/>{{Ancestry Sharing|2575173|e14be875492331bc8ca3fc25b6067fa3d9170a95553236d8ffac7d6be9686e14}} - {{Ancestry Record|7602|32057966}} (accessed 19 March 2023)<br/>Paul Killinghaney (53), married head of household in Elizabeth Ward 4, Union, New Jersey. Born in Germany.

Comments

I think this is the key to solving the problem. I shied away from this because of the surname, but after studying it, I'm certain it's this family. As you point out, the Census says that only three of six children were alive in 1900. Both Emma and Georg Paul have confirmed death dates before 1900. Of the remaining children, only Henry does not appear in the 1900 Census, which means he was likely dead by the time of the census. The other three, Johanna, Paul, and John, all lived long lives and appear in later census records.

So either Henry and Johan were twins and Henry died shortly after his birth or one of them was born a year later. Since they both have the same birthday and month, I suspect they were twins.

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The 1895 New Jersey Census (on Ancestry) lists Paul and Johanna Killinghausen, foreign born, and four children: George, Johanna, Paul, and John - all aged 5 to 10, and native-born.

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Here is my conclusion. Henry and John were twins, born on 25 Mar 1889. John was baptized on 14 Sept 1890. Henry was never baptized. (I went through numerous pages of the Presbyterian records looking for him.) So, I think Henry was stillborn.

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That makes sense, and is probably as close as you will be able to get to knowing the exact facts.