Philip M. Gruss b. 1845 my gr.grandf. more info please on any Gruss connected.

Question

My ID  is 423964

I would love to learn more about my gr.grandparents, You have sent me sooo much information on Margaethe A. Fuchs. she married my gr.grandfather, which his info

a little more difficult. You found his parents names. Sebastian Gruss & Catharina

(AMEND). Gruss.  Some documunts have his name as Philip Michael Gruss,

others have Michael P. Gruss, I've also found Phil Gruss on passenger list to N.Y.

  I've been doing this for acouple years, have not yet learned how to get info. on

how or where they lived in Germany,  Or abt. my other gr.grandp. from Germany

 I would like to learn more about them more than just facts etc. All the older one's in my

family have passed away. I would love to be able to pass my ancestry/genealogy down

to our next generation in our family.    (skeltoncb)

Answer 1

With German names, particularly per-1900, it's not surprising to find first and second names "swapped" or used singly.  

I encourage you to find death records for both husband and wife.  Death records and obits will often mention place of birth.  Try civil (death certificate), church (funeral), cemetery (burial) and newspaper (obituary) records.

Also try familysearch.org for CLUES as to place of origin. Good luck.

Comments

With the info Matt provided you, I went looking for Philip's death. Looks like he died January 3 or 5, 1902. His birth year is listed as 1845. Unfortunately, in the index, it only lists Germany as a place of birth. But the certificate might have more information. Age at death: 56y 9m 13d. Ugh. The image is difficult to read, but he died in a hospital in what appears to be Kirkwood. He was a watchman (which corresponds to the 1900 census) and died of asthma-related bronchitis. I don't see a death certificate # unless it's #82, the number at the beginning of the line of his information. (SourceMissouri Death Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives, Record images for St. Louis, 1902, page 4) 

 

P.S. I can't speak for Matt, but I'm finding all of this through a subscription to Ancestry.com. They offer free trials or you may be able to access a free subscription through your local library.

 

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Death certificate found. Also on Ancestry.com. 

He'd been in the Missouri Pauper? Hospital for 2.5 months; he'd been struggling with chronic bronchitis for 2 years. He's buried at Pacific Mo..? cemetery. Unfortunately "Germany" is listed as the place of birth for both himself and his parents. His wife is not named on the certificate (I didn't see a place for it).

(Source: Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. Original data: Missouri Death Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm. Image 486)

If this was indeed a Pauper's hospital, it's not likely he had an obit. But I could be wrong about that.