Mathias Petry Update

Back in August I introduced you to Mathias J. Petry, my great-great-great grandfather on paternal grandmother's family. I learned two things about Mathias recently. First, he was a presidential elector in the 1872 contest. It appears he may have met Frederick Douglass who was also an elector for New York in 1872. Second, I found Mathias was born in Rheinplatz, Germany, an area in west German along the Rhine River. This is a large area, but better than nothing. In doing some further research I found a baptism record for a Mathias Petry on June 2, 1833 in the town of Blankenrath, Germany. His father's names was also Mathias and his mother was A. Marie Hansen. Blankenrath is in the right region, but the dates are a little odd. My Mathias was born in April. I ran through a few contemporary German records and the average was about a one week time span between birth and baptism. Maybe this is the same person and there is a logical explanation? Perhaps, I calculated the birth date wrong? The death certificate does not give a birth date, but it lists the age in years, months, and days. Unfortunately, New York City no longer has his marriage record, so I cannot use that to verify. I will keep working on Mathias Petry and will keep you posted.