| My main goal is to research the Kirchdorfer name. I have found my grt grt grandfather Ferdinand Kirchdorfer came from the village of Schirrhein in the Alsace Region, a germanic enclave in far north-eastern France. He immigrated to America in late 1854. I received Ferdinand's Civil War Pension file from the National Archives. It was FULL of information! In the four years that I have been compiling my family history, this was the best $37 I've spent! It is a stack of photocopies 2 inches thick on legal paper. It held so much information that I now feel as if I actual know him as a familiar person. There was physical information about his appearance (which no one in the family had ever known before). Afidavits from friends and family (in their own handwriting) of his exploits while serving during the war. Family information that corrected and/or confirmed years of questions and confusion. I even found in the stack, an affidavit from Ferdinand's sister (Katharina Gittinger, 8 years older), which I never knew he had! This family association has allowed me to push back two more generations in Alsace. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone doing research on someone who served in the Union during the Civil War to apply for their civil war pension records. Go to : http://www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/veterans_service_records.html#nara I have reason to believe that further research will show that the Kirchdorfer family name originated in the south-western Black Forrest village of Kirchdorf (See link provided on this page). Due to the fact that families back then usually didn't move very far from where they were born. And being that Schirrhein is only about 110km (75 miles) from the German town of Kirchdorf, and there are no other German towns named Kirchdorf that are even reasonably close; it is a reasonable assumtion to beleive that this is the town that holds the origins of our family name of "Kirchdorfer" (i.e. "one who is from the town of Kirchdorf"). I will do more digging to confirm this. I have also found several branches in my family to other names that are quite interesting. The Crumpler family (my mother's family line) also goes pretty far back to England. Records from England appear to show that two of them (father and son) were archers for Henry the VIII around 1500! One of the Crumplers in my family was a hanging sheriff in North Carolina in the 1800's. The Spell family (my paternal grandmother's family) was also the sheriff for the same county in North Carolina. Any information that anyone can provide which I can add to this tree would be enormously appreciated. Please email photos or information (birthdates, stories, documents, photocopies, etc.) of any of the family members listed (or not listed) on this sight. GEDCOM files are welcome also. Every effort to verify data with more than one source has been attempted, however errors do occur. If you know of some data that is definitely in error, please email me with the source and I'll correct it immediately. Your help in maintaining the integrity of this data will be greatly appreciated and will help others searching in the future. I hope this site helps someone find a long lost relative or fact they didn't know. I am constantly updating and adding to this site. -Shawn |
My Family Throughout The Ages
Updated December 27, 2006 |
Louis Shawn Kirchdorfer |
|
Edit Your Page |
|
My Family History |
|
Family Photos |
|
|
|
Family Tree Maker Reports and Trees |
|
Related Links |
|
The content shown on this page has been submitted by a Genealogy.com customer, and is not subject to verification by Genealogy.com. Neither Genealogy.com nor its affiliates are responsible for the accuracy of any information contained on this page. The opinions expressed on this page are the author's alone and not the opinions of Genealogy.com.
|
|||||||||||
| © 2009 Ancestry.com |