For a while this man, Conrad Nagel, my 2nd great-grand father has been a huge brick wall for me. I have spent many hours of research on him. I have pulled just about every record I can think of, hoping to find that illusive name of the town he was born in Germany. But I was constantly frustrated.
That is until Thursday, when a little bit of luck, and those hours of research finally paid off. Part of my problem has been searching through church records in Germany. 1) I don’t speak German, so I am overwhelmed when I even attempt such a process and 2) I don’t even know where to begin. Most of the records are on microfilm, not indexed digitally, and I don’t know where I would start to look to wade through all those records. The only clues I had was a pretty solid birth date of July 9, 1832 based on his Civil War Pension records, and that he was born in the Hessen State of Germany.
The break came on Thursday, when I was looking for records through FamilySearch. Usually, you want to keep your search a broad as possible, but for some reason, this time I narrow my results in to only those from Hesse-Germany. The top result was a baptism record for a baby boy named Johann Konrad Nagel, baptized July 7, 1832 in Langd, Hesse-Germany to Johann Henrich Nagel and Anna Katharina Gerst. My gut said that this was the one. The date of birth was was so close. But I had no evidence to connect these two people.
I didn’t know the names of Conrad’s parents, or even any names of his siblings (there were three other children listed in the baptism records in Langd: Jacob, Katharina, and Anna Elisabetha). The family names were a good fit (Henry, Jacob, John, Anna, Katherine). So I spent a while finding every record I could on the family.
The records for Johann Konrad and his brother Jacob Konrad each had a notation: nach Amerika ausgewandert (immigrated to America.) I spend some time trying to find Jacob in America, to see if I could place him and my Conrad together. No luck.
And then I remembered an important clue from Conrad’s Civil War Pension record. One of the witnesses interviewed, a 50 year old man named Jacob Knorr stated that he had known Conrad for 40 years. At the time, I made note of that, wondering if he had known Conrad in German, since he had only been in the US for about 30 years. I had an approximate birth year for Mr. Jacob Knorr based on his age at the time of the interview. To test my theory, I searched for a baptism record for him in the town of Langd. And there he was. Some more digging, and I found a passport application for Mrs. Knorr, on which she gave her husband’s birthplace as Langd, Germany.
So the man who had known Conrad for 40 year, back in the old country, was born in the town of Langd. This was the missing link I needed.
It was like hitting the jackpot, because the records for Langd go back hundreds of years, and they are indexed online. Which means that I can trace the family back generation by generation all the way to another man named Conrad Nagel, born about 1640, who look to be the one who moved into Langd.
So the Nagel family lived in the small village of Langd for at least 200 years, located just east of Hungen. Langd (pronounced Lawnkt) is such a small village that I had some trouble finding the history on it. At least in English, but thanks to some Google translation, I was able to get a little bit of information.
The first time the village was mentioned by name was in 1242. The Evangelical Church was built in the 11th century. Since around 1770, the village has been mainly a mining village, for iron. The mining areas are partially visible today. Foundations of the workers barracks and some wash trays dams are located in the forest area between Hungen and Langd.
The first school was built in 1832, the same year as Conrad’s birth. In 1847, the first residents wandered – for economic reasons – to America. (I have yet to find more information on this.) Conrad came over to America in 1857, living in Ohio until the Civil War. His younger brother Jacob came in the US in 1863, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he lived with his wife Margaret and four children until his death in 1907.
Images courtesy of the Langd/Hungen Offical Website
From 1832 to 1640… that is quite a genealogical leap. And so exciting after so many months of frustration.
Our Family History 
Hi, My mother (bMary Martin Butler) named me after a Sister Mary Kevin Nagle from Marywood Seminary. I read here about two Mary’s . Do you know of the nun and her history at all? Thanks, I’d Love to know more about my namesake. Thank you for such a great history… Kev (b Mary Kevin Gallagher)
My name is Robert Duckworth a descendent of Jacob Knorr who immigrated from Germany and lived in Johnstown PA. After doing a little google search I came across your page and am hoping that your research can let me know if this is the same Jacob Knorr. My research has his date of birth 1846 and married to Mary Bosert 1st, then Annie Knorr after his first wife died. This would be a big lead for me, just like your information about Conrad Nagel. Your reply will be appreciated.
Thank You,
Robert Duckworth, My Grand Mother’s birth name was Marie Knorr.
Robert,
I’ll send you an email, but yes, I believe that this is the same Jacob Knorr.