The Gross Family Tree Henry Gross Hannah Bauer Gross

Reference List  People Index

The Gross’s came to America from Königheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden, now a part of the State of Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany.  Königheim is a small village located about 5 km west southwest of Tauber-Bischofsheim in the northern part of the State.  We know only a little of Hirsch and Hannah Gross (nee Marx), my Great-great Grandparents.  They had at least two sons, Isaac and Raphael, both who emigrated to America.  Königheim. 

The evidence for the Königheim information herein is based on the Grand Duchy of Baden emigration records (which includes the official record of his birth) the American marriage in Boston, MA and the death in Worcester, MA of Raphael Gross.  We also have a postcard sent him by his brother Moritz who travelled in that part of Germany in 1929.

We understand that in 1809 the Grand Duchy of Baden, in concert with some of the other German States, passed laws requiring their Jewish (Israelite) residents to adopt surnames.  It was at this time that Hirsch, who was not a "citizen" but was a leader of the Jews of Königheim, received his surname of Gross.  As a consequence, tracing the family history back from that date would be next to impossible and subject to excessive speculation.  We will then start the Gross Family Tree in 1809 with Hirsch Gross.  We are indeed fortunate that during this period of German history, that the Nation States then existing required all migrations into and out of each State to be documented in detail.  These records form a base of information for that era, especially for those who were not members of either the Roman Catholic faith or the Lutheran movement and therefore were of no consequence to their records.