Hello All, I have the year that my grandfather's brother was confirmed as 1854 in Biebrich, Hessen. Can I verify that he was born in 1834 using the confirmation date? Thank you, Alan Rossing, Monterey, California, USA

Hello Alan, Hoping I understand your question correctly, please be advised that unless his confirmation documents specifically state he was 20 years of age, it is most unlikely that your grandfather's brother was confirmed so late in life. Confirmation for both Catholics and Evangelicals in Germany normally occurred around 9-13 years of age. Rev. Nelson R. Sulouff Retired ////////////////////////////////// ----- Original Message ----- From: Trains75buff@aol.com To: HESSE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 1:36 PM Subject: [HESSE] Confirmation Date Hello All, I have the year that my grandfather's brother was confirmed as 1854 in Biebrich, Hessen. Can I verify that he was born in 1834 using the confirmation date? Thank you, Alan Rossing, Monterey, California, USA

Alan & the List- I held off replying to your query in the hopes that others would do so. The Rev. Suloff has done this and I would second his comment. Most males and females were confirmed at 13 with the occasional male slipping to 14. There clearly were exceptions in western Germany 50 or so years earlier than your dates due to warfare and French occupations but by 1854 out and out foreign invasion was not an issue and all three Churches: Roman Catholic, Reformed (Calvinist) and Lutheran generally confirmed at 13. Rob Hausman At 04:58 PM 1/3/2005 -0700, Nelson R. Sulouff wrote: >Hello Alan, > >Hoping I understand your question correctly, please be advised that unless >his confirmation documents specifically state he was 20 years of age, it >is most unlikely that your grandfather's brother was confirmed so late in >life. Confirmation for both Catholics and Evangelicals in Germany >normally occurred around 9-13 years of age. > >Rev. Nelson R. Sulouff >Retired > >////////////////////////////////// > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Trains75buff@aol.com > To: HESSE-L@rootsweb.com > Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 1:36 PM > Subject: [HESSE] Confirmation Date > > > Hello All, I have the year that my grandfather's brother was confirmed as > 1854 in Biebrich, Hessen. Can I verify that he was born in 1834 using the > confirmation date? > Thank you, Alan Rossing, Monterey, California, USA ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Robert E. Hausman hausman@bu.edu www.familytreemaker.com/users/h/a/u/Robert-E-Hausman/index.html HAUSMANN, ROUSSELET, HEERE, LAUBER, LATUS