* Christophorus Darmstadt left Nackenheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, with his mother Apollonia(e), age 50, and two of his older sisters, Elise (Elizabethae), 22, and Elisa (Elizabeth), 19. The point of departure was Le Havre, France, on the American ship “Mercury”, which landed in New York on January 27, 1855. Christophorus was age 5. Between 1855 and 1865, Christophorus’ whereabouts are undiscovered at this time. Family information places him in Baltimore around 1865-1866 (age 16-17) where he married Barbara Ann Christina Souder, probably about age 17.
The family account is passed down that Christophorus (later Christoph/Christopher) became a cabinetmaker in Baltimore and was in partnership with another gentleman. Christopher appears to have left Baltimore with his wife and daughter Matilda around 1869 when the wife was pregnant with son-to-be William Godfrey Darmstead. Christopher came to Washington to settle his family and, while there, consulted with a German Home in Georgetown about establishing his own business in the Nation’s Capital, as Washington was flourishing with new businesses following the Civil War. He returned to Baltimore to dissolve his half of the business and planned to return to Washington with his proceeds of \$500. His partner saw him pulling away in a horse-drawn wagon never to see him again. When Christopher’s wife hadn’t received word of him, she contacted the police authorities to search his whereabouts, but to no avail. Christina Darmstead is listed with her daughter, age 3 1/2 and her son, age 10 1/2 months, in the 1870 Washington, DC City Directory and in the 1870 Census. Matilda died soon thereafter, though her burial place is undiscovered at this time.
As of May 2002, the mystery of our great-grandfather’s disappearance continues. I am still searching additional records in an attempt to fill in the gaps about this 5-year-old child who came to America and whose progeny continue here today.
Charles Martin Free, Jr.
Great-grandson