Confirmation of Nobility of the Kresses at Hesse

Carl Christian von Kress is of special interest for the history of the Kresses at Halle and later at Steinau on the Road in Hesse. On June 18, 1810, Louis I Grand Duke of Hesse (AKA Ludwig I) recognized and confirmed the old nobility of Carl Christian Kress' family and gave him permission to bear the Kress coat-of-arms with the sword and to write his name "von Kress" upon his entering the Life-Guard Regiment as a cadet-corporal. In the proposal of advancement of May 20, 1811, the cadet "von Kress," that is Carl Christian, was proposed for sub-lieutenant. His later officer's commissions, still in possession of the family, were all made out for "von Kress" and the title of nobility as well as the coat-of-arms were further on used undisputedly in court, military and state service.

Note: Carl Christian von Kress and his siblings all began to use the title "von Kress" but did not use the title "Kress von Kressenstein." Some of his ancestors did use the title or style "Kress von Kressenstein" in reference to the Kressenstein at Culmbach and not in reference to the Kressenstein at Kraftshof. However, this seemed to be more of the exception than the rule, as most of his ancestors did not use the title "Kress von Kressenstein" but rather "Kress" only. Carl Christian von Kress was a descendant of Dr. Thomas Kress.

Carl and his siblings would have been 2nd cousins twice removed of the four Kress brothers who came to America in 1752. This proves that even the line at Steinau on the Road in Hesse of which the four Kress brothers were part, were proven in 1810 to be of Noble ancestry and have the right to bear the Kress coat-of-arms.

Thus we can say with certainty that the four Kress brothers who immigrated to British Colonial America were surely of noble ancestry attested to by two countries, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Holy Roman Empire, though following the American Revolutionary War, there would no longer be any purpose for nobility within the new republic.

Biography of Carl Christian von Kress

Carl Christian von Kress was born at Buckeburg, May 30, 1786.

According to the statement of the clergyman Reinhard Becker at Albig Rhine-Hesse, a son of Anna Julia Becker, nee von Kress, who was already engaged in investigating the family history of von Kress, some important family papers concerning the proof of nobility of the family were in possession of the widow of Carl Ludwig von Kress, first counsellor of the appellate court. In later years she lived with her granddaughter, Hermine, a daughter of Captain Pfaff, who married Lisette von Kress; this granddaughter had married the merchant Kormesser and lived at Bensheim at the time. These important family documents, remaining in the possession of the said widow, must have been lost there.

Carl Christian took part in the campaigns to Russia in 1812 and to France in 1815 and was for over a year imprisoned in Russia. He died at Darmstadt, December 3, 1867, as a lieutenant-colonel in the service of the Grand-Duke of Hesse.

He married May 16, 1822 Baroness Elise Christine Roder von Diersburg, who was born February 9, 1785 and died at Darmstadt, April 3, 1864.

This biography was taken from "Kress Family History" by von Frank on page 426.