Need help with Handwriting on German Birth Certificate - Twins?

[Laura Smith]

I found the Hesse German birth certificate for my GGF and all his siblings but two - KARL (middle name unknown) Schmidt and HENRY Charles Schmidt. The family immigrated to the US in 1883 and grew up in Jersey City. I do not have a birth date for Karl - just an estimated birth year of 1878. Since I had a confirmed birth date of June 18, 1879 from multiple documents for Henry, I decided to start looking for his birth certificate today. I was surprised to see the name on the record as KARL Adolph Schmidt with correct parents. No other BC for June 18, 1879. I'm wondering if Karl and Henry were twins and if they just listed the name of the first twin born. Can any one read this and let me know if it mentions whether one or two boys were born? Thanks!

[cockney rebel]

Hi
I'm not good at Old German handwriting, but there is definitely no mention of a second child.
"Charles" is of course the anglisized version of "Karl"....is it possible they are one and the same person?
Perhaps a Baptism record might provide more informatio.
Rebel

[Zefiro]

This is what it says:
birth of Karl Adolph Schmidt on 18 June 1879 at 2.30 pm
son of carpenter Philipp Schmidt & his wife Karoline Hofmann, living in Breithardt

There's no mention of twins. But, to be honest, I don't know how twins would have been registered back then. Would they both be on the same certificate or each of them on a separate one? In the latter case I would expect a reference in either of the certificates stating they were twins.

[davecapps]

These are the chidren i could find

[Laura Smith]

Thanks for the replies!

I have seen where 1) each twin may be registered separately on their own certificate; 2) both may be listed on the same certificate; 3) there may be only one certificate with one name for various reasons - admin error, parents choice, etc. I didn't see another certificate for that date.

Here's what I know so far: My GGF's parents were Philip(p) Schmidt & Caroline Hofmann and they immigrated from Germany (no further info).

They arrived in NYC Aug 1883 with Philipp Jr (nine); Christian (eight); Marie (six); Carl (five); Heinrich (four); and George (6 months).

I have found obits, death certificates and cemetery records on both parents (yay!) and all children, except Carl and George. Thankfully I have a paper trail on George until 1945 so I will eventually find his place/year of death and where he is buried.

Carl is my biggest mystery. I have only found him on the passenger list and the 1885 NJ Census. Since he is not mentioned in any of his brother's obits, I'm theorizing he died before Philip Jr in 1925.

I decided to see if I could find German records for any other insights into the family. Here's what I've found so far:

- Michelbach (Aarbergen) Hesse BC for Christian Ludwig Schmidt born Dec 1, 1875 (exact BD match) to Philipp Schmidt and Karoline Schmidt (nee Hofmann). Maybe not my GGF bc middle name Ludwig is different than the Alfred I found on one record.

- Michelbach (Aarbergen) Hesse BC for Marie Elisabeth Schmidt born July 17, 1877 (exact name and BD match) to Philipp Schmidt and Karoline Schmidt (nee Hofmann). Promising!

- Michelbach (Aarbergen) Hesse BC for Philipp Georg Schmidt born Feb 11, 1883 (exact BD match) to Phillip Schmidt and Karoline Hofmann. I could use a little help interpreting this attached certificate - especially the writing in the margin. I think it says they didn't name the child at birth but came back later and named him Philipp Georg?? Was surprised to see Philipp as the first name but have learned that it was not uncommon for siblings to have the same first names in Germany during this time period.

-  Michelbach (Aarbergen) Hesse BC for Karl Adoph Schmidt born June 18, 1879 (the same date as Henry's. I do not have a known birthdate for Karl - only an estimated age in 1883) to Philipp Schmidt and Karoline Schmidt (nee Hofmann). So...not my guy/wrong family? Twins? Philip Sr mixed up C/Karl and Henry's birthdates (sadly his wife died in 1884 just 10 months after arriving in the US)?

I'm new to German genealogy research so still have a long way to go to confirm/exclude any/all of these records. I know all these names are very common so I have a challenging journey ahead of me. I greatly appreciate everyone's input!!

[Zefiro]

- Michelbach (Aarbergen) Hesse BC for Philipp Georg Schmidt born Feb 11, 1883 (exact BD match) to Phillip Schmidt and Karoline Hofmann. I could use a little help interpreting this attached certificate - especially the writing in the margin. I think it says they didn't name the child at birth but came back later and named him Philipp Georg?? Was surprised to see Philipp as the first name but have learned that it was not uncommon for siblings to have the same first names in Germany during this time period.

That's exactly what it says.

on 11 February 1883 at 2 am was born to carpenter Philipp Schmidt & his wife Karoline Hofmann from Breithardt a male child, not given a name yet

right margin:
Michelbach 26 March 1883
carpenter Philipp Schmidt appears before the registrar and states that the newborn has gotten the names Philipp Georg

[Zefiro]

@Laura Smith
You've allready done a lot of research. If you continue like that you'll eventually find your solution. I like it that you're trying to be as thorough as possible, keeping an open mind to not miss any clues.

If some documents cause you problems or if you just want a second opinion, post them here. We'll help you with them.

[Laura Smith]

@Zefiro

Thanks! I really appreciate your taking the time to reply again and help me out with the translation. I can put it in my research notes now.

After I exhaust my US searches, I'm sure I'll be back with more translation questions.