Hi Michelle,
Ferdinand
Kurz was my great,great grandpa. I am a descendent of William. William married
Minne Elizabeth
Eberhardt and they had 6 children including Vera, Olga, Albert (my grandpa), William (
Bud), Elmer, Leroy. William and
Minne also "adopted" Francis, an infant whose mother died as a result of his birth. Minne was present at the time and since there was no family to care for the baby, she agreed to take him. Unfortunately Francis' father, who had moved from
Nebraska to
Arkansas, returned to the
Kurz family to "visit" Francis when Francis was 3 years old. He took Francis without any discussion and never returned or reestablished contact with the
Kurz family. My grandpa said his mother never recovered from the loss of Francis, who was adored by his new parents and adoptive siblings. I have begun to search for more information about him based on the thin history I have but have found nothing new so far.
As for
Ferdinand, I believe that he was born in Orderbruch, New Barnem, Germany on 2/14/1841, the date of birth you stated. Immigration date is believed to be 2/1867. I would appreciate any other scrap of information you have about
Ferdinand (or Francis)including his military service, religious background, name of the immigration ship, etc. Anything. Tnanks! Please reply via e-mail.