Cress (Kress) Family History
Every Family Has a Story
A Note on Who We Are
We must first communicate that the Cresses and the Kresses are the same family. In ancient times spelling changed quite a lot. As a matter of fact, names were quite often spelled in various ways in the same document. While some records indicate the occasional use of the Cress spelling with a C, the most common spelling was Kress with a K among the earliest bearers of the Kress name especially in the areas of modern day Germany where the K was more commonly used. When this same Kress family was referred to in Latin, the spelling "Cress" or similar was used. When the Germans immigrated to America, some of them adopted the Anglicized spelling of their names. For example, the name was changed to Cress by Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress for each of his children after he immigrated to America in 1752 AD with 3 of his brothers. Even Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress seems to have multiple variants of his name. (Johann/Johannes/John Nicholaus/Nicholas/Nicolaus Heinrich/Henrich/Henry) It appears his brothers' descendants continued using the Kress spelling. It also appears that other members of the Kress family immigrated to America as well. It is possible that they or their descendants altered the spelling to Cress.
In addition to the descendants of Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress who anglicized their surname to Cress, I have found another related line who did the same. He had an uncle who immigrated to America in 1740 about 12 years before Johann and his brothers. His father, Johann Peter Kress, had a younger brother named Jurich Philip Kress born 1696 who immigrated to America. Some of Jurich's descendants anglicized their surname to Cress. This is another branch of American Cresses. Our most recent common ancestor would be Philipp Caspar Kress born 1666 who married Anna Maria Ehwald born 1663.
It is possible that several other related branches of American Cresses/Kresses also exist. This website is updated as new information is discovered.
Other Cresses
There is evidence of other American immigrants who used the Cress surname and various variants of our surname such as Kreiss, Gross, Gress, Grass, Criss, etc. There is also a Cress family originating in France. We cannot determine at this time if all Cress families originate from the same family. It is possible that because the family roots can be traced back so far that some ancient family ties from before this are simply without historical record and lost to the dark ages. For example, at the time of the earliest known Kress ancestors in Nuremberg, there were also Kresses or those with similar surnames living in the nearby town of Wurzburg. It was believed that they were related in some way to the Kresses at Nuremburg, but no documentation has survived to establish how they were related. It is also possible that they are distinct families especially concerning those originating in France (although the ancient peoples of France and Germany may have intermingled). This site focusses primarily on the Kress family originating in Germany of whom some members, specifically Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress and 3 of his brothers, immigrated to America eventually using the Anglicized spelling "Cress."
For other Cress families, please see our section on other Cress families.
About This Cress Family History Website
Site Creator: Nathaniel (Nate) J Cress
I am a descendant of a great family! I became increasingly interested in our family history after discovering that my grandfather had come into possession of a family history book that he claimed we were connected to. In 2011, I created various online social groups sharing images of the family coat-of-arms and buildings from Germany finding many Cresses and Kresses who were interested in this history. When my grandfather passed away in 2016, I first got my hands on the book while over at my aunt's home. It was quite fragile, and I remember being fascinated by all the information not knowing how I was connected to it all.
Around this time, my in-laws had the opportunity to travel to Germany. I had already collected some information on places like Schloss Neunhof, and sent them the information, so they could visit. While there, they saw many beautiful sites and castles in Germany while taking some time to visit Schloss Neunhof to bring me pictures and stories of their experiences in Germany.
After 6 years had passed, I had spent time researching our ancient family on and off and wondering about my own connection to it. In 2022, I decided to dive in and do some research using various genealogy websites, and I was quickly surprised to see that much of my family history was somewhat easy to discover. I did not know it then, but this was due to those Cress family members who have spent years upon years collecting, organizing, and publishing our history.
I was talking to my dad about my discoveries as I was making them, and he mentioned that the family had already determined that I should be the one to receive the history book which I had only seen once before. My uncle brought the book to my parent's home, and I made a special trip to pick it up. I had only seen it for a few minutes before. This time however, I had the opportunity to really look into the book. The book was Kress Family History by Karl Friedrich von Frank. I was amazed at the extensive detail. I remember opening the giant family tree included with the book for the first time. I told my mom that I would be amazed if I actually found our family branch in that tree.
Because of my experience using genealogy websites, I already had an idea of who my ancestors were. (This I believe is mostly due to the work published by Bernard W. Cruse.) After opening the giant family tree on the dining room table with ends draping over both ends of the table, I remember finding our family branch. I was ecstatic! This was the first time I realized that I was indeed connected to the ancient Kresses. Later, I found my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather's names in the publications from Bernard W. Cruse. Since then, I have continued to uncover more and more about our great family. I felt the best thing to do was to attempt to create a place to organize and share these discoveries in a way that helps other Cress family members in their personal research and genealogical discoveries.
Kress coat-of-arms woodcut design by Albrecht Dürer
Coat-of-Arms
Many people take interest in coats-of-arms and family crests. The Kress/Cress family have displayed a silvery sword on a red shield as their arms for hundreds of years. Medieval funeral escutcheons show this sword with a black hilt topped with a barred helmet topped by a golden crown and five feathers of a peacock in their natural color. On top of this helm is the red torso of an armless heathen with black hair and beard with a sword of the same type as used in the shield clenched in his teeth. He has two tusks/fangs of a boar and wears a black cap/hat with the brim turned up lined in ermine with five peacock feathers set in the brim. The image shown here is just one artist's interpretation of this "coat-of-arms."
Dr. Thomas Cress
Dr. Thomas Cress (1559-1636 AD) is one of the first of the Kress family to have proactively spelled his name as Cress rather than Kress. He began spelling his name this way after having studied in France. I have heard that a Cress family comes from France. I am not aware if there is or ever was any connection to Dr. Thomas Kress/Cress. Thomas was not a medical doctor. He was a lawyer. Interestingly, this coat-of-arms is drawn incorrectly. The sword should be inclined to the right (bearer's perspective). This was a common mistake artists might make, but it is interesting that the well-educated Dr. Thomas used it this way. I do not know whether it was intentional or not, and he certainly was not the only one to display this coat-of-arms with the sword pointing in the other direction. Dr. Thomas returned to Germany and his descendants used the Kress spelling until the children of Johann Nicholaus Heinrich Kress began using the Cress variant spelling for their surname.
