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Contents:
• First Recorded Hartung Family of Mühlhausen
• Johann Christoph Hartung Family Origins
• Short History of Thüringia, Germany
• Locating Your Ancestor's Ship Information
• German-American Mailing List
First Recorded Hartung Family of Mühlhausen
Although there was a Hartung family dating back to the First Crusade A.D. 1096, the earliest recorded Hartung family of Mühlhausen, Thüringia, Germany, was originated by Thomas Hartung, circa 1545.
Johann Christoph Hartung Family Origins
The earliest of my Hartung ancestors located so far is Johann Christoph Hartung, born 1775 in Mühlhausen, Thüringia, Germany. Johann was a servant to a local nobleman. He married Johanna Elisabeth Regina Umbreit (1782-1832) in 1807, at St. Marian (BMV) church in Mühlhausen. She was the daughter of Johannes Andreas Umbreit (1757-) of Gotha, Germany.
Johann and Johanna had six children, Marie Elisabeth (1807-), Eva Elisabeth (1809-), Friedrich Rudolph (1812-), Johann Gottfried (1818-1819), Marie Salome (1821-), and Johann Christoph (1825-1874). Johann's son, Johann married Martha Elizabeth Hertz (1822-1867) in St. Petri-Margareten Church, Mühlhausen, in 1848.
Johann and Martha (Mary) left Germany for Baltimore, MD in 1863 along with their four children, John Adolph (1847-1906), Frederick (1850-), Henry William (1855-), and John Christoph (1860-1931). Soon after arriving their fifth son, Theodore (1864-1945) was born.
After arriving in Baltimore, Johann continued his trade as a woodworker. John Adolph "Frank" later became a saloon keeper, John Christoph "Charles" became a shoemaker and Theodore a barber. Frederick and Henry disappeared from the records in the 1870s. In 1867 Martha died and Johann married Catharine Buder. Johann died in 1874.
Short History of Thüringia, Germany
Thüringia, state and historic region of central Germany. It was named for the Thüringins, a Germanic tribe that established a kingdom there in the 5th century AD.
Thüringia was founded in 1130 as a landgraviate, land governed by a German count. It was an important principality during the 12th and 13th centuries. The seat of the landgraves was the famous castle of Wartburg, near Eisenach, noted as the site of contests of minnesingers (German poets and musicians of the 12th to the 14th centuries). The old line of landgraves then passed to the house of Wettin, which ruled in the margraviate of Meissen.
In the 15th century the house of Wettin also acquired the electoral duchy of Saxony. When the Saxon dominions were partitioned in 1485, most of Thüringia passed to the Ernestine branch of the Wettin house. During the Reformation, in the early 16th century, the Saxon duchies and principalities were separated. They again merged into the state of Thüringia after the end of World War I in 1918.
After World War II, which ended in 1945, Thüringia was included in the Soviet Zone. It became a state of East Germany in 1949 but was dissolved in 1952. After German unification in 1990, the state of Thüringia was created. The state is bordered by Saxony, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. The chief cities of Thüringia are Erfurt and Weimar.
Locating Your Ancestor's Ship Information
If you are trying to locate information about the vessel on which your German ancestors journeyed to the United States, you might be interested in this page. It describes the steps I took to locate information about the ship, the Adolphine on which my ancestors traveled to America. All that it takes is a little time and persistence. If you think that your Hartung ancestor landed in Baltimore from Germany, check this Passenger List of Hartungs arriving at the Port of Baltimore between 1820 and 1897. It was compiled by the WPA during the 1930s.
To see a list of passengers who arrived on the Adolphine on 5 May 1863 along with my Hartung ancestors click here. This list is from the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild. There are no photos or paintings of the Adolphine but these are copies of original sketches from the pencil of Oltmann Jaburg, a marine painter in Vegesack, Germany of the last century. Click on the thumnail to view the full size picture.
This is a list of researchers interested in Hartung families unrelated to my line. If you would like to have your Hartung family lineage listed contact me with a short outline of your earliest Hartung ancestor.
You can subscribe to the German-American Mailing list here. German immigrants and their families AFTER their arrival in America. Please note that this mailing list is not intended for discussions of genealogy materials, sources, and places in Germany since other mailing lists exist for these purposes. Rather, this mailing list focuses solely on the genealogy and families of these immigrants AFTER they came to America.
German & Baltimore Related Genealogy Sites
• Cyndi's List of German Genealogy Sites - The place to go!
• FEEFHS (Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies)
• Sacramento German Genealogy Society
• Hartung-Ritter Family Home Page
• German-American Corner German Genealogy
• Mediaeval Germany and the Causes of German Emigration
• Hartung Family Genealogy Forum
• Thüringen, Deutschland World Gen Web
• Maryland Historical Society Photos
• Baltimore City Nineteenth-Century Photos
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
• Freund-Mannheim (Hartung Family of Thüringen, Bad Dürkheim und Kallstadt)
Comments and Suggestions
E-Mail: Jim Hartung
Copyright James C. Hartung
