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Is there anyone that can do a quick search for me the next time they are at the Maryland State Archives? There is a specific record that I need to search but I live in California and have no way to get there. I also don't have money to pay someone to check. But I will be happy to reimburse for copies if there are any.
Here is what it is - I have been trying to find out information on my 3rd great grandfather for YEARS, with no avail. His name was John David Guerraz, born in the French Occupied area of Geneva, Switzerland on August 11, 1805 (according to his death information). The next record I have for him is his marriage to Elizabeth Bridges on October 23, 1835 in Clay County, Missouri. The family lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a while, had a short stay in Little Rock, Arkansas and moved to California in 1847 where he died December 6, 1893 in San Jose, California.
I have not, however, been able to find any information about his life prior to his marriage or his family in Europe, until now. Just yesterday I found the following newspaper article.
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The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - July 30, 1828
Baltimore, July 14
Extensive Robbery and prompt Apprehension of the Robbers.
On Saturday afternoon about three o'clock, Messrs. Ross and Riggs, two of our most efficient police officers, received advices that on the night previous, at 11 o'clock, the locked room of the dwelling of His Excellency the Chevalier Huygens, the minister near the United States from the Netherlands, at Washington, had been opened by three of his servants, and plate and jewellery of great value, and money to the amount of about $300, taken therefrom; The officers above named with their usual promptness and sagacity at once deliberated and decided on the course most proper to be pursued; and at half past six, (in three and a half hours from the time they received the information, had two of the culprits in custody, and probably nearly all of the valuable effects of which they had purloined from their master. Mr. Ross having taken a different direction, Mr. Riggs took the York road, and about 4 miles from the city, at a tavern, caught the three in a room, napping, but one of them succeeded in making his escape. Their names are Francois Auguste Michand, Ferdinand Michand, and Jean David Guerraz; the second one escaped; but will probably be apprehended - his stature is about 5 feet 6 inches. The property found in their possession, consists of three boxes of jewellery, a trunk of silver plate, and $131 in notes, principally of the Georgetown Bank.
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It's kind of odd and fun to find out that my grandfather may have been a theif, but I'm not worried about that. I'm sure this Jean David Guerraz is the same as my John David Guerraz. I had assumed for some time that his first name must have been Jean, since he was French speaking and from French occupied Geneva. That, and the name Guerraz, with that spelling and of French origin (rather than the variations that are of Spanish origin) is very VERY uncommon.
So with this information I can assume that Jean David probably came to the United Stated with his employer, Mr. Huygens, a Dutch Ambassador to the United States, sometime before 1828. But! I would like to know more.
Since Jean David Guerraz was arrested, there should be criminal records for him. And since the theft was of a high nature (silver, jewels and several hundred dollars from a political figure), it would have been taken very seriously. I believe he would have been imprisoned in the Maryland State Penitentiary which had opened early that decade.
Therefore, can someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check the following records at the Maryland State Archives for the name Jean David Guerraz, arrested in Baltimore in July, 1828.
Maryland State Archives -
Maryland Penitentiary (Prison Records)
MSA S275-1 Accession Number 5655 - Records for 1811-1840
MSA S275-2 Accession Number 5656 - Records for 1811, 1826-2869
Thank you thank you -
Dale Sheldon (mlitsonata@hotmail.com)
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