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Finding Genealogy Software (more) pointers…
In keeping with the theme of my previous posting, here are some additional pointers to genealogy software and software reviews. Be aware that none of the listings are complete, nor do they over-lap to any significant amount. Each list is “somewhat” to “a lot” unique. Additionally you should note, not all the listings or reviews have been “conducted” or “written up” by software professionals or genealogists. Many are simply a compendium of personal opinions or available happenstance; but that does not mean they are not helpful or informative. In total the articles should paint a reasonably complete portrait of options and considerations. The bottom line is, if you are in…
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When considering new Genealogy Software…
As most of our readers know, I belong to numerous on-line forums and discussion threads. Lately there have been numerous requests for assistance in the selection of Genealogy software. Hopefully this post will provide some help in that vein while making the responses obtained via email from the discussion forums both more meaningful and valuable. The first thing to be aware of when you ask for help in picking software is that you will get your respondents biases along with their recommendations, even if they don’t mean to provide you their biases. Software after all is a reflection of both its users and authors. To help you sort through that…
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Automated Translations
We all have languages we do not understand or read. Some of us struggle along in our native tongue only; others have a small or large suite of languages with which they are able to work. In the end though, we all hit a language wall and need to rely on tools other than our personal skills. And… that’s where the challenge begins. Today, I was translating a small German paragraph for use here on ManyRoads. So for grins and laziness reasons, I thought I’d attempt to use Google Translate to help speed up my effort. Boy was I surprised! Let me explain what happened. The paragraph I wanted to…
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Samuel Ferdinand Recht- Caroline Henriette Sczepanski
Note: additional source materials are currently being sought. Aside from the birth records of Samuel Ferdinand Recht and Caroline Henrietta Sczepanski we have very sparse information regarding the lives and existence of our couple and their family/ children. Caroline Henriette Schepansky- Birth 16 March 1844 7.6 MB Samuel Ferdinand Recht- Birth 12 February 1841 7.9 MB The second place we find the couple mentioned with certainty is in the marriage record of their son Johann Hermann Recht to Auguste Kunz. There we find mention of them and their deaths having occurred before the Recht-Kunz marriage in Ellerwald, Kreis Elbing. Additionally, we have found evidence of one Samuel Recht living in…
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Eastern Germans, a cold case?
Searching for missing or lost family members from the former German Eastern Provinces can be quite a challenge. As you may already know, following the WW2 defeat of Germany by the allies, almost all ethnic Germans were ‘cleansed’ from their former homes in East/ West Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, etc. (as well as much of Eastern Europe). In both the Expulsion process and the bombardments that preceded the Expulsions much was destroyed. Churches, City and Governmental records, family bibles, photographs, keepsakes, books, notes, were almost all gone. In the case of my opa (grandfather), he was able to salvage the bottom half of a coffee can worth of keepsakes and treasures.…
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Presenting family genealogies on the web
Presenting readable, genealogical information, data, and stories is a complex challenge. It seems to me that people’s lives ought to be expressed as more than family trees, dates, and lineages. I have been struggling with this problem for quite a while. Perhaps you have as well. Over the years, I have noticed a few ‘special’ difficulties in making this type of information, useful, accessible, easy to find not to mention human. The major problem areas, for me, have centered around the following: genealogical data & stories can run deep & wide (they may, and often do, involve a lot of data from many locations, sources, and media) genealogical data/ information…
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Johann Recht Family(ies)
Note: This material/ history is incomplete. Any/ all suggestions or pointers are most appreciated! Johann Recht had two, perhaps three, marriages. His first documented marriage was with Elisabeth Barwich (Baarwich)- our progenitor; his second documented marriage was with Florentine Barwich (a cousin? of Elisabeth). As far as we can tell, Johann and his families lived in and around the Zeyer ev. Kirche until Johann’s death. Johann’s death record indicates that he died on 7 September 1854 at the age of 54 years and 10 months (0 days). He was buried evangelisch in the Zeyer ev. Kirche graveyard. Based upon Johann’s documented age at death, we calculate his birth to have been…
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West Prussia (near Zeyer) Mennonite Births, Deaths, Marriages
The links on this page have been sourced from the Prussian Mennonite Genealogy Resources site. I have rearranged the original links and grouped them for my convenience. Please note, these materials are used without permission because there was no copyright notice or location from which to request usage permission. All ownership and rights of this material belongs to its original author(s). If you wish to use the most current information and links on these topics and more, I encourage you to visit the original site. Any research queries should be directed to one of the Mennonite archives in Canada or the U.S. Elbing-Ellerwald Elbing and Ellerwald Mennonite Church Record Books:…
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Mennonite Histories of West Prussia
The links on this page have been sourced from the Prussian Mennonite Genealogy Resources site. I have rearranged the original links and grouped them for my convenience. Please note, these materials are used without permission because there was no copyright notice or location from which to request usage permission. All ownership and rights of this material belongs to its original author(s). If you wish to use the most current information and links on these topics and more, I encourage you to visit the original site. Any research queries should be directed to one of the Mennonite archives in Canada or the U.S. Danzig District The 1661 Census of Mennonites in…
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Cornelius Schepansky Family(ies)
At this point, we believe that our research has produced a rather complete image of the Families and Children of Cornelius Schepansky. If you know of additional source materials or information, we would love hearing from you. Our information and resources have been and continue to be packaged for submission to the Schepanski Family Archives in Delmenhorst Germany as well as to Grandma (The Online Mennonite Archives). CORNELIUS1 SCHEPANSKY was born on 11 Feb 1806 in Kerbshorst, Westpreussen, Germany 1. Cornelius Schepansky was baptized on 19 May 1823 in Marcushof, Westpreussen, Germany1. He died on 27 Feb 1861 in Ellerwald, Westpreussen, Germany2. He married (1) CORNELIA MARTENS on 14 Aug…
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Danzig- Westpreussen (West Prussia) Heimatortskartei
For those wishing to gain access to photographic images of the actual Heimatortskartei from the towns, cities & villages which were near what used to be Danzig in West Prussia, they are available on FamilySearch. (LINK to Danziger Gebiet (Area ) Westpreussen (West Prussia) Heimatortskartei). These represent images of a civil register (handwritten and printed works) of refugees from the former province of Danzig-Westpreußen, Germany, now Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz provinces in Poland. For those of us whose families were expelled from their homes by the allies after World War 2, this represents a set of documentation that could contain the handwriting of ‘our’ family members, from that place and time.…
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Genealogy & Data Management
Some of you may be aware that my ‘day’ job involves benchmarking organizations against various process and business improvement models (see: PEP) . If you are reading this note on ManyRoads, you most certainly are aware that I have a passion for genealogy (as my daughter might say: “No Duh.”). What I am curious about is… do you feel, like I do, that the genealogy industry (e.g., Ancestry.com, familysearch.org, etc.) would benefit from having more reliable, accurate, and predictable data management practices? If this thought piques your interest, please read on. Data Management Maturity Model The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Enterprise Data Management Council (EDM Council)…
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Another Mocavo offering
Mocavo is embarking on a new extension of their already exceedingly useful services; one where they conduct automated research and linking between family trees. According to them, once you upload your GEDCOM File(s) you will begin to taking part in the future of genealogy research. Mocavo plans to send out fully-automated search results to your email and will make new connections for your tree(s) from all over the web! Each uploaded Family Tree will be rolled in to the Mocavo search index to help the genealogy world discover each other and uncover some of the vast array of data/ information available. All you need to do to take advantage of…
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German Expulsions & the Diaspora
While doing some research for an email response, I came across a body of work related to Die Vertreibung (The Expulsion). These papers are presented on the website of Dr. Stefan Wolff. Stefan Wolff is Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, England, UK. A political scientist by background, he specialises in the management of contemporary international security challenges, especially in the prevention, management and settlement of ethnic conflicts and in post-conflict stabilisation and state-building in deeply divided and war-torn societies. Stefan Wolff, “Stefan Wolff,” political research, academic, Stefan Wolff, n.d., http://www.stefanwolff.com/. Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic: A Comparative Evaluation Co-authored with Karl Cordell and…
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John Hall c. 1732 – 1794
This page is under development; research is on-going Note: additional source materials are currently being sought. The Grandfathers Vol.I, The Hall and Overstreet Families Carrol Carman Hall, Springfield, IL, 1981 Section I Chapter 3, Page 19 From his will of 1794 John Hall c. 1732 – 1794 Miller on Rockcastle Creek It is common among Hall family searchers to say with a great deal of respect, ‘Our John Hall.’ This is the way they distinguish him from the numerous John Halls they meet with in their researches, within or outside the immediate family. Well, he was ‘quite a man.’ But — we are not descended from him. We are descended…
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William Hall 1707? – 1757
This page is under development; research is on-going Note: additional source materials are currently being sought. The Immigrant Grandfather Source: The Grandfathers The death of William Hall on the first of May, 1757 at the hands of the Cherokee Indians, not only thrust upon John Hall, his oldest son, the responsibility of heading the family but also the settling and managing of his estate. Many of the old-timers made their Wills on their deathbeds, but in the case of William Hall, death came suddenly and as a consequence he had no Will. Fortunately, Bedford county which had been organized just three years prior to the fateful Spring of 1757 had…
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Christian and Mary (Roth) Wenger- A Brief History
This page is under development; research is on-going Note: additional source materials and records are currently being sought. Christian Wenger was born 2 DEC 1799, Basel, Switzerland Mary Roth was born 15 NOV 1807, Dornach, Switzerland They were married 7 SEP 1830, Burgfelden, Elsass Christian Wenger and family migrated from Germany through Basel, Switzerland to near Hamburg, Ontario in 1835. The family lived here for 9 years. In 1844 they moved to Washington Co., Iowa north of Wayland by covered wagon, stopping overnite in Chicago where they could not find a place to stay. All the clothing they owned was on their backs as their clothing had been stolen before…
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August Ferdinand Kunz – Catherine Elisabeth Albrecht
The family of August Kunz and Elisabeth Albrecht lived in Neuteicherwalde in Kreis Marienburg, Westpreussen (West Prussia). August was a Hofbesitzer (Farmer). It is believed that Hermann Recht and Auguste geboren Kunz inherited the family farm with their marriage three plus years following the death of August Ferdinand (facts are being sought to confirm this). We do know that as late as 1895 Elisabeth continued to live in Neuteicherwalde (even after Hermann and Auguste Recht had moved to Pietzkendorf). This fact is confirmed via the birth and baptismal record of Erich August Albrecht. August Ferdinand Kunz (was born on 7 Feb 1844 in Neuteicherwalde the son of Andreas Kunz and…
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Hermann Recht- Auguste Kunz Family History
Hermann Recht and Auguste Kunz were married in Baarendorf ev. Kirche Kreis Marienburg, West Preussen. To quote from the church records: Johann Hermann Recht, born 16 June 1869 in Zeyersniederkampen, married Auguste Alvine Caroline Kunz on 10 March 1891. (page 192 Baarendorf ev. Kirche). Based upon an oral family history/ tradition obtained by me from Luise Rabideau geboren Senger, their grand-daughter, the Recht-Kunz marriage took place just after the death of Auguste’s father, August Ferdinand Kunz. The truth of the matter was that the marriage actually took place some three years after August’s death. Hermann and Auguste had five children, that we have identified, four of which lived into adulthood.…
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New FamilySearch Film Ordering
This week I used the new FamilySearch.org microfilm (microfiche) ordering system for the first time. As you might expect, like any new service there are a few wrinkles but overall the new system is simply a magnificent advancement. Here’s what I learned with my orders. NOTE: If you did not already know, recently FamilySearch.org placed a new online ordering mechanism on their site. According to their site this offering is being rolled out across the world and is currently available in my area (Colorado). Click this link to read the complete announcement. As most of you know, I do a lot of Prussian research (which means I order quite a…
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Sometimes… magic happens
Today was one of those amazing days. It is often unbelievable what the universe has in store for you. Today, I received a small insight. A cousin of mine, Norbert Grohmann contacted me. Mind you, I had no idea that I had a cousin by that name or that his part of the family had even survived the Second World War. My mother, my primary source for such information, had not even known. But today a message (comment) came to me here on ManyRoads and it was Norbert… my cousin (Gott sei dank!). Since early this morning, we have numerous email exchanges. I have gathered photos and information from Norbert. …
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Auguste Alvina Caroline Kunz
It was another one of those days a genealogist only dreams of… one, when a huge brick wall comes tumbling down. Today my daughter and I were reading through our latest bunch of 11 Family History Center tapes, hoping to eek out a simple clue regarding our Prussian German forebears. We had already viewed 9 tapes when on our 9th tape we saw a birth/baptism record for Eduard Ferdinand Kunz. The name Ferdinand Kunz had appeared as being in attendance at my great aunt (Tante) Ella’s baptism. Did we have the right family? As readers of ManyRoads may already know, Auguste Kunz (my Uhr-Oma) on my grandmother’s line has been…
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The Former German Provinces & Missing Persons Search
If you, like me, research and search for family through the area of West Prussia (Westpreussen)- East Prussia (Ostpreussen) and Pomerania (Pommern), these sites will be of interest. I have also listed all these sites on the links page of ManyRoads. (Please Note! the links to external webpages are in the headers themselves and they appear before the individual site descriptions, when one exists.) If you are looking to find information on missing relatives from the Second World War, these sites are most helpful: DRK-Suchdienst (German Red Cross Tracing Service) The German Red Cross Tracing Service has always been on the side of those in need and by taking this…
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Sharing Notes, Tasks, Todos
Keeping notes, reminders and tasks synchronized as I move from place to place has been a real dilemma for me. Not surprisingly, I really need a place to take notes, add reminders when I am browsing the web or reading my email. I also need these notes, reminders, todos to be available wherever I am and on whichever PC I use. Recently, I found what seems to me to be a good solution. Perfect no, good, yes! This solution involves the use of several free, open source tools: ThunderBird (email system of choice) FireFox (internet browser of choice) ReminderFox (todo list and reminder system) and one file synchronization (Cloud) toolset:…
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Quebec Genealogical Tutorial
I will be presenting a tutorial on conducting Quebec- Francophone Genealogy Research, September 10, 2011 at the: Parker Colorado Genealogical Society Stroh Ranch Fire Station 19310 Stroh Ranch Road Parker, Colorado 10 September 2011 Business Meeting: 1:30pm – 2pm Speaker: 2pm – 3:30pm I have created the following materials for use in the session for both: advance preparation (awareness) –as well as– for the session itself. The materials will form the basis of our discussion and an advanced reading will ensure that we can have a more in-depth set of discussions and mentoring activities. I know that it is unusual to assign homework for a session but hopefully folks will…
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Quebec Historical Documents & Newspapers- Quebec Research Tip #3
Here are lists of Quebec-related Online Historical Documents and Newspapers I have come across while performing data gathering searches. Please let me know of others as you stumble upon them, so I may add them to the list here. Getting Started with Quebec Research (from FamilySearch) Links to articles on getting started with Quebec research. Step-by-Step Quebec, Canada Research How to Locate Your Ancestor in Canada How to Recognize your Canadian Ancestor Name Variations in Canadian Indexes and Records Quebec Search Strategies Canada Online Genealogy Records Quebec Research Outline – Contains out-of-date links Mary’s Genealogy Treasures – Quebec research resources Originis – Stories of parishes, baptisms directories, marriages and burials, census, clergy biography…
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9 October Presentation- Parker Genealogical Society
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Francois Lafaye & Marguerite Foret/Forest
I have encountered yet another Quebec genealogy mystery. As you might expect, this “new” mystery also involves the Deyo line. Nothing new there, I guess! Here’s where things stand currently. The family in question are the Francois Lafaye/ Marguerite Foret family- my gggg-grandparents down my grandmother’s maternal line (mid 1700s). Marguerite Foret/Forest appears ‘likely’ to have been the daughter of Bonaventure Foret/Forest and Marie-Claire Rivet. She as well as her entire Forest/Foret family were deported by the British ultimately landing in Louisiana as part of le Grand Derangement; deportation records (on Ancestry.com) support that assertion as does a database on the Acadian-Cajun website. Additionally I have found the following history…
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French Canadian Source Materials- Quebec Research Tip #2
Canada has some of the world’s best documented family history information. This is especially true for Roman Catholic French Canadians. They were wonderful record keepers and the materials have been excellently preserved. Over the years I have had the great good fortune of finding a number of small publishers/ booksellers who have, in their own ways, been most helpful. I hope you find some of these links and pointers useful in your New York and Quebec research. Quintin Publications– Quintin Publications provides a wide array of professional genealogical research texts and document collections. Most of their texts focus on French Canada although they also publish materials from the British Isles…
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French Canadian Genealogy Searches- Quebec Research Tip #1
Finding “French Canadian” North American ‘relatives’ can be quite a challenge. My searches most often lead me to southernmost Quebec (Bas Canada, near La Prairie and Lacolle areas) as well as to Northern New York (specifically Clinton County, NY). It seems that is the general area where most of my French-speaking forebears lived (from 1780- 1925); on occasion they manage to spill into the Quebec or Montreal areas, but that is almost always in the years before 1780. As you might know, the area I search is rather small geographically, as well as from a population perspective. But my observation has been, even though folks did not move around very…
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Clyde Ross- photos found
If you know of anyone related to and/or seeking images of a young Clyde Ross born in Cambridge Illinois, USA in the year 1896, we have 5 original photos of Clyde. The photos show Clyde at the ages of 3 months through 7 years (approx.). We found these wonderful photos in an antique store in Denver and simply could not let the collection be broken up any more than it already had been. Besides, the images of Clyde growing up simply charmed us. If you are related to and are seeking images of Clyde, we’d love to send digital copies of Clyde’s photos back to…
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Alexis Menard- Louise Pageau family history
Notes: For those of you who follow ManyRoads, you will recall that I have been looking for years for my great-grandmother’s family (Exina Menard- Deyo). I am sharing my work and data as it evolves (I hope much like a tutorial or case study.) for three reasons: to help me keep things in one place (a running log?) share the process of research with anyone interested in seeing my work as it stumbles, jerks and ultimately unfolds to use in my September tutorial Be aware, this page is being actively worked and its content will change! This material grew in large part from a forum posting originally created by Bev…
- Ancestry.com Thoughts, German Genealogy Pointers, Quebec Genealogy Pointers, Search Tricks & Tips, Technology & Tools
Kick-starting your genealogy efforts
I have put this little reminder checklist together to help me and others quickly examine our obvious options when we either are stuck or just getting started. This list is hardly exhaustive and if you try everything here without success you should not feel like you have to throw your hands up in despair, there are still many avenues to examine. Hopefully though, using these tools will prove useful and productive and fun. Enjoy! Have you checked? For basic name searches try these out. Not all of these tools are genealogy focused but they are all quite robust and helpful. Google Mocavo FamilySearch Ancestry If the above hasn’t provided you…
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Polish Archives
For those interested in such things, a number of ‘online’ Polish Archives have recently come to my attention. They include: Archiwa Panstwowe- State Archive in Poznan Archiwum Archidiecezjalne w Poznaniu (Archidiocese of Poznan Archive) Genealogical Society of Great Poland “Gniazdo” Although many of these site pages offer English translations, I find the translated documents to be only marginally easier to use than the Polish original pages (and my Polish is limited to the ever present and marginally accurate Google Translate). Nonetheless, these archives look to be a very positive resource and representative of a very hopeful trend! Should you know of other online Polish Archives you believe we should share,…
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WW1 German Casualty Lists – 1.WK Armee-Verordnungsblatt Verlustliste
Since I originally wrote this article, a number of new source material sites have come online. Be advised the only records listed here are those for German War Dead or Wounded. In the event that you are unaware of key statistics involving German troops in WW1 here is a rough sketch: Killed in Action: 1.7 to 2 million Wounded: 4.2 million 65% of all mobilized men were casualties (killed or wounded) A word of caution, Austrian or other German Central Power Aligned Troops are listed elsewhere, as are those of the Allied Powers. As of 8 Feb. 2015, you may find WW1 German Casualty Lists online at (but be aware…
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Revised Tips & Pointers
For those of you who are interested in the tips etc. I have been writing, I have begun the process of both adding new materials and sorting my lists of articles into more useful (I hope) groupings. You can see everything as it evolves here or you may directly access my newly sorted areas from the lists below: Search Tricks & Tips: German Genealogy Pointers: Quebec Genealogy Pointers:
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Google Search “Automated Tricks”
Randy Majors has created a genealogy Google query tool that seems quite helpful. His search tool attempts to optimize Google searches. You may test it directly below. If you prefer to use Randy Major’s site directly, please use this link! Thank you Karl for the tip!
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Evolution of Germany from 1867
The territorial evolution of Germany from 1867 to today. This video is in German although hopefully the graphics will be understandable to those who speak no German. Die Geschichte des deutschen Staates seit 1867 – staatliche und territoriale Entwicklung. Didaktikvideo zur staatlichen und territorialen Entwicklung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
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Pre-WW2 Maps of Poland & the former German East
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Image Search “Google Tricks”
So you search for images as well, you say. I know I do. I find the search for images to be something of an obsession for me. I especially value those photos I am able to find that are of the German Expulsion or the area around Elbing in the former West Prussia, where my mother grew up. In keeping with my earlier article on Google Search Tips, I thought folks might appreciate some hints on Google search tricks for images. So here are a few. Firstly, it is important to note that the syntax for image searches is really not very different from the syntax for any other type…
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Ancestor Approved Award
Sassy Jane Genealogy: was nice enough a few months ago to give ManyRoads the Ancestor Approved Award. Sassy, I apologize for my delay in responding to the honor you offered ManyRoads. The honor is truly much appreciated and by now hopefully even a bit more deserved. The
 Ancestor Approved Award, for those who may not be aware, was created in March 2010 by Leslie Ann Ballou of “Ancestors Live Here” to appreciate and enjoy geneablogs that are “full of tips and tricks as well as funny and heartwarming stories….” Recipients provide a list ten things which surprised, humbled, or enlightened them about their ancestors and ten blogs to pass the…
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Google Search “Tricks & Tips”
Internet searching can be a wonderful adjunct to your genealogy efforts. Unfortunately most folks seem not to understand how to use search engines to their best advantage. Consequently they struggle and are often frustrated by their lack of accomplishments/ results. If you have not tried using some of the fancy features available in all search engines, I recommend that you consider doing so… In that spirit, I offer this posting. I can assure you that this brief article will not do much more than whet your appetite; but you might just come away with a few tips and an interest in seeing what else can be accomplished with just a…
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Searching for Texts (online)
Finding obscure, out of print texts covering low interest topics is an essential part of conducting genealogy research. Many of the texts you may want or need are not necessarily easily obtained from major book sources, like Amazon.com, ebay or your neighborhood bookstore. Rather than allowing difficulty associated in finding these difficult texts form a permanent road block, I thought I’d share a bit of an example search. I’ll point out in advance that our sample search will not be wholly successful; most are not. However, hopefully you’ll find the example informative. As our example, we’ll use is a nearly out of copyright WW2-era text entitled: Lend-lease : weapon for…
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Another Deyo adventure!
I guess I could have entitled this posting, out with the old, in with the new. But as with most genealogy not very much of this information is actually new; including the fact that I had yet another problem in my Deyo lineage. Here’s the long and short of what has happened. Barb (one of my Deyo ‘cousins’) reviewed my latest Deyo line and noticed that my information and hers were not in synch. She is the proud owner of many things Deyo including photos, death certificates, folklore and the like. And as luck would have it, Barb’s copy of Mary (Bonah) Deyo’s death certificate indicated that Mary’s parents had…
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100,000 Visitor
Today (a snowy Colorado day in May) ManyRoads was visited by our 100,000 visitor. What can we say except, thank you! We know that by big site standards this is not a high traffic rate, but for us 100,000+ unique visitors is both amazing and wonderful. If you find our little site of benefit, please consider joining as a member. If you are looking for something you think we might help you find, please ask. For those of you who might be interested, the following is a list of the 20 countries from which we have had our top 20 number of visitors. United States- 19,709 Germany- 17,944 Canada- 5,616…
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Worse than War
In keeping with our emphasis on die Vertreibung and Ethnic Cleansing, we recommend you either view Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s documentary “Worse Than War” or read his book of the same title. To quote Dr. Goldhagen: (source website- disappeared) I hope that you choose to have a look at it. Whether or not you end up agreeing with every conclusion and proposal in Worse Than War, the [documentary] offers a plethora of new information and perspectives not just on genocide or eliminationism but on critical aspects of humanity and modernity, society and politics. I hope to rouse your intellect and conscience, even if I at the same time challenge your views…
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A new ethnic group? Prussian-Quebecois.
Everyone claims an ethnicity. Me, too. So far as I know, my sister and I form a rather distinct, maybe even a unique, ethnic group. Yep, we are Prussian-Quebecois. We like to think of ourselves a being fairly unique and special. After all our parents said we were special, and they wouldn’t lie. Would they? The really sad thing is it looks like our ethnic group is about to die out. Today, we are both approaching 60 and in our youth we demonstrated immensely poor ethnic planning skills when it came to choosing our spouses. Neither of us remained within our ethnic group! My sister chose an Irish-German guy; and…
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“Dit” Names
The use of Dit names in French Canada (Bas Canada) is both very common and confusing. Currently, I am working with another Deyo cousin to attempt to unravel yet another Deyo mystery. This part of my family line is now being reworked for the fourth time! I think I might be getting good at it. Briefly here’s the mystery… It appears, now, that I might be descended from a woman we believe was named Honoree Beaulac. Her family name (surname) has the following common dit names (there may be others as well): Desmarais Lake Lefebvre Marest Beaulaque Hertel (a nice German sounding name, eh?) By the way you will also…
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Quebec Historical Documents & Newspapers- Quebec Research Tip #3
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Rituel du Diocèse de Quebec
If you are performing research in Quebec, the Rituel du Diocèse de Quebec may prove useful in providing clues regarding the name or names of your ancestors. To quote the PRDH: Among Catholics, choice of first name wasn’t left to chance or parents’ imagination. On the contrary, the church liked to control the attribution of first names to ensure that on the day they were baptised, children received the name of a saint who would guide them throughout their life. In the Rituel du Diocèse de Quebec, which laid out the rules to follow for writing baptismal, marriage, and burial certificates in Quebec, Monsignor de Saint-Vallier stipulated, “The Church forbids…
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Flucht aus Polen
They said, the war was over. Still, the suffering continued. They were hungry. Alone. Afraid. Father had never come home, from Stalingrad. Brother, an infant, was dead. Home was gone, given to others. Of the family, Mother and the two sisters survived. They had their fear, their lives, their uncertainty, and each other. Mutti had sent Lilli to beg a cup of food from another expelled family… (photo, Lilli, age six or seven, is in the dark coat with cup). Her face shows the the feelings of humiliation she still remembers. This poorly written piece is true. Circumstances such as Lilli’s Vertreibung can never be justified; yet, they continue. Different…
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Finding German War Dead
If, like me, you seek relatives who fought on the German side of a war, you might have experienced difficulty in finding information about these forebears. One of the most useful online services I have encountered in this area is the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (link below). It is through the wonderful efforts of the Kriegsgräberfürsorge that I have been able to find information about two of my great-uncles, who lost their lives in WW1: Adolf Senger Albert Senger and three cousins who died in WW2: Willi Wedhorn Egon Recht Erich Recht To quote the Kriegsgräberfürsorge site: The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. is a humanitarian organization which is charged by…
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Castle Rock Genealogical Society Presentation
Well yesterday was one of those wonderful experiences for me. I had the opportunity to meet with and speak to the Castle Rock Genealogical Group about Technology and Genealogy. (My presentation materials are online here: Survey of Genealogy Related Technologies) For me the group was huge; okay, not really huge but larger than any I have ever the pleasure of speaking to before. The folks were congenial, enthusiastic and engaged. Their facilities (a spacious and well equipped meeting room in the Castle Rock Library) were wonderful. And their singing (yes they sang happy birthday to a member whose big day it was) was, well, a bit off key- probably because…
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