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Enemy Alien Registration Affidavit for Mary Anna Kraus
The Enemy Alien Registration Affidavit for Mary Anna Kraus (4 graphic images) - includes her picture and fingerprints. To show you what kind of information is available I abstracted the information from the online images:
22 June 1918
Anna Mary Kraus of Richmond Kansas
Born June 1, 1864, Westphalia Germany
married to a "German"
Living Richmond Kansas since 1881
Maiden name Mary Anna Lohweg
Father Lou Lohweg, Germany
Mother Carolina Beck, deceased
Sister Anna Pauck, Ottawa Kansas
Farmer's wife, arrived USA at Baltimore 1881 on Ship Kohn
under name Mary Anna Lohweg
Her husband was naturalized 6 Nov. 1883 at Ottawa, Franklin
E, Kansas
age 54; 5ft 7 in tall; chin regular; mouth wide; weight 175
lb; forehead high; complexion dark; eyes blue; face long;
nose regular
Children:
William A Kraus born Nov. 25, 1884
Peter N Kraus born Mar 17, 1886
Anna Kraus born Dec. 21, 1893
Lena Kraus born Jan. 23, 1896
Frank Kraus born Mar 5, 1898
Nellie Kraus born Aug. 8, 1900
Henry Kraus born Sept 13, 1902
Lillie Kraus born Feb. 7, 1905
Marie Kraus born Apr. 6, 1907
Carrie Kraus born Aug. 9, 1910
Now What?
Let's search for Mary Anna in the census records. After quite a bit of searching, I found her
Listed as KRANS in 1910 census index. What a great example of how wrong indexes can be! The name is KRAUS on the actual census page.
Now we learn her husband's name - Henry. KRANS Henry 52 M W GERM KS FRANKLIN RICHMOND TWP 1910 Series: T624 Roll: 439 Page: 222
Here's some of the information abstracted:
Kraus, Henry, 52, married 24 yrs, b Germany, immigrated 1880, naturalized
Mary, 45, married 24 yrs, b Germany, immigrated 1880,
Annie, 16
Lena, 14
Frank, 12
Nellie, 9
Henry Jr., 7
Lillie, 5
Marie, 3
It's interesting that the year of immigration doesn't agree with Mary Anna's alien registration. This is very normal, the year of immigration and naturalization is one of the most MISremembered!
1920 Census Findings
They are listed as KRAM in 1920 census index. Another example of difficult handwriting and the transcriber doing the best they could. The census page does look like KRAM if you aren't familiar with the family
Kram, Henry
Age: 62 Year: 1920
Birthplace: Prussia Roll: T625_532
Race: White Page: 8A
State: Kansas ED: 102
County: Franklin Image: 987
Township: Richmond
Abstracted Information 1920 Census
Kraus, Henry, 62, immigrated 1881, NA is scratched out and AL [Alien] written in, b. Prussia, parents born Germany, farmer
Mary, 54, immigrated 1881,
Peter K., 24
Frank, 20
Nellie, 19
Henry, 17
Lillie, 14
Marie, 12
Carrie, 9
We finally have the same year of immigration that Mary Anna gave on the Alien Registration, but another puzzle crops up. Mary gave an exact date and location for her husband Henry's naturalization (6 Nov. 1883) but in this census he is marked as an Alien. (I don't have the answer, just the question...) To search the 1920 census on Ancestry, use this
Ancestry.com Free Trial or Ancestry.co.uk Free trial or Fold3 Free Trial
1930 Census Findings
Henry finally makes the index to a census under his correct name - KRAUS
Kraus, Henry
Age: 74 Year: 1930
Birthplace: Deutschland Roll: T626_703
Race: White Page: 4A
State: Kansas ED: 26
County: Franklin Image: 0449
Township: Richmond
Relationship: Head
Abstracted 1930 Census Information
Kraus, Henry, 74, widower, b Germany, farmer
Carrie, 18, daughter
Mary Anna's death took place sometime between 1920 and 1930 but what a wealth of information we found on this family! I also saw the children in the census indexes but I only wanted to demonstrate how we could start with the Alien Registrations and find more information on Mary Anna fairly easily.
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Schaefer, Christine. Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1997)
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