Tips & Opinions
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Surname Searches
Hunting for places where surnames are prevalent can provide and set of useful start locations from which to start a genealogical search. But before you start here are a couple of points worth considering… Remember most, if not all, surname search tools use current data. So you need to know whether a location has been through major population shifts since your family was ‘there’ (where ever that might be)? If like me, your family came from an area that was ethnically cleansed, a surname search may not be very useful. Consider whether your family surname may be mis-spelled using local standards versus original location standards. Does the name end in…
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Ethnic German Genealogy
If you are interested in getting and sharing information, tips & pointers regarding the search for German Ancestors, Ethnic German Research may be the “perfect” LinkedIn Group for you. As many of you already know, I have a “small” but “abiding” interest in conducting German Research. My primary areas of interest include (but are not limited to) West Prussia (today part of Poland), Prussian and Swiss/Alsatian Mennonites (Amish), and the Ostgebiete des Deutschen Reiches oder auch ehemalige deutsche Ostgebiete (former Eastern German Regions). I, also, have been and remain highly interested in researching the area(s) formerly known as Darmstadt-Hesse (in today’s Western Germany). If like me, you have discovered these regions…
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Examining Photos for Clues
For a long time, I have been looking for a specific set of genealogy clues. (If you read this site, you might even be able to guess where this particular search belongs.) It is ‘safe’ to say that these images could be central to solving some of my mysteries. Because of this mystery and search, I thought I’d ask a knowledgeable population, what they saw in these images. Would others see things that I’d missed. The answer is, Yes, they did see many things I did not. What follows is a summary of what I learned from my discussions with several dozen genealogists. Enjoy! Here’s what I gathered from the…
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FHISO announces its first chairperson- Drew Smith
Yesterday I received the following email from FHISO: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 8 June 2013 Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Drew Smith as the first Chair of FHISO, effective 1 July 2013. Drew is currently the Organisational Member Representative to FHISO from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). “I am deeply honored to have been given this opportunity by the FHISO Board,” Drew said. “As someone who has made a career in information technology and librarianship, I recognize the critical importance of information standards, and as a long-time genealogist, I understand the needs of the world’s genealogy product and service vendors,…
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Anabaptist-Mennonite DNA project participation
As many of you may have already guessed, our families and ancestries are crowded with Mennonite and Amish peoples- Anabaptists. For years, we knew of the Rich (Henss Family Branch) connections to the Swiss- Elsass/Alsace, Montbeliard/ Bern communities. More recently, we have come to understand quite a bit of the Senger (Rabideau Family Branch) connections to the West Prussian / East Prussian Mennonite communities. Because of the smallish nature of these original communities, we (Becky, my wife, and I) have elected to purchase DNA tests from 23andMe and submit our DNA test results for inclusion in the Mennonite DNA Project. This past weekend our 23andme DNA test kits arrived! Now…
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“Our” Mennonite Churches in Europe
As you may have noticed, a “goodly portion” (to quote my father-in-law) portion of both sides of the Henss & Rabideau families have roots in Amish/ Mennonite/ Anabaptist traditions. Out of curiosity, actually out of a desire to find church building photos, I did a little web research on our families’ past church homes. As you might have guessed, nothing identifiable remains of our Prussian/ Poland Mennonite congregations, the Second World War took care of that. However, I have stumbled across a number of our families’ Alsatian congregations on the Internet. It is wonderful to see that many of our predecessors’ beliefs and traditions live on and that our family’s…
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Finding Former Eastern German Place Names
One of the great challenges in researching areas like the former German Eastern Provinces is that they are all gone- governments, people, Churches, libraries, Universities, and yes, in many cases, houses and villages as well. In an effort to help me, and perhaps others, identify place names, I am creating this document with its eclectic cross reference materials. Hopefully these documents, websites, etc. will prove useful to those of us who have difficulty in finding ‘our family’s’ former German places and locations. Former Prussian Places & Locations (Westpreußen u. mehr/ West Prussia & more) Documents Ravenstein’s Atlas des Deutschen Reichs 9000-Village-Names-in-Prussia 1.5 MB Errata for document: Zeyersvorderkampen = Kępiny Małe…
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Swiss- Alsatian Mennonite- Anabaptist Research
This page contains information regarding source materials I am using from across the Internet to conduct Henss/ Rich family research. These links and pages will change ‘automagically’, over time, as I add, change, and delete materials in Mendeley. If you wish, you may also join the group and contribute to the research library. Related Anabaptist- Mennonite Sources Prussian Mennonite Research Materials Mennonite/Amish/Anabaptist Research Materials
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Mennonite/Amish/Anabaptist Research Materials
For those interested in following my Anabaptist information gathering process/ results, I will publish my Mennonite Mendeley related folder contents on this page. Because of the rather extensive listings, over time I will create numerous sub-pages that will be accessible from here. These links and pages will change ‘automagically’, over time, as I add, change, and delete materials in Mendeley. If you wish, you may also join the group and contribute to the research library. Related Anabaptist- Mennonite Sources Swiss- Alsatian Mennonite- Anabaptist Research Prussian Mennonite Research Materials
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German Genealogy Research Aids
Based on email traffic I have seen lately, it seems to me that all too many people think they are doomed to failure with their German genealogical research simply because they are unfamiliar with the German language (dialects) or unaware of German speaking peoples’ histories. Knowing something about German and “the history of German speaking people” can certainly be very useful in conducting research. But in all honesty, there are simply not that many folks out there, no matter their daily language skills or history knowledge, who are familiar with everything about ‘old Germany’. The Germans, like most European ethnic groups, have a long and complex history, one which is…
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Another perspective on Ancestry hints
I think that in the past almost all of my postings on Ancestry member hints have been negative. Well in the interest of fairness and sharing, I think this posting is perhaps a bit past due. I have to admit that as with most observations, there are many perspectives possible. So here is a personal tidbit offering a counter-point to my earlier Ancestry Member Tree Hint observations. Like most genealogists, I make mistakes. I think it is safe to say that my mistakes are almost always simple accidents. At least, I can not think of a single situation where I have made an error on purpose. I don’t like admitting…
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Remote Desktop Sharing (Free)
For years I have had the need to share information, applications, and desktops across the miles. Just recently, I stumbled across two viable, and affordable solutions that should work for people like me who are: poor (and prefer to stick with Open Source – Free- software), multiplatform (Win, Mac, Linux) users and who also… desire a better “hands on approach” to sharing information and coaching folks on system’s usage across the miles. The applications I have found to be most workable for me are: Google Chrome Remote Desktop Beta Teamviewer 7 Google Chrome Remote Desktop Beta Briefly, Chrome Remote Desktop offers the following functions, including: OS independence (it runs on Win, Mac,…
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Using Cyprien Tanguay’s texts…
Over the past few weeks, I have received numerous requests for guidance on how to use Tanguay’s texts for genealogy research (and where to get them). I have to admit that it does seem a bit odd to me that these genealogy texts are not well understood. But after having received the requests, I did some searching on the web only to note that there are no real guides readily available for novices, so here’s my feeble attempt at creating one. By way of a bit of background, the texts discussed here are called: Dictionnaire généalogique des Familles Canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours (Genealogical Dictionary…
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Prussian Mennonite Research Materials
As many of you may know, my Recht family line (Hermann Recht’s family) has strong roots within what was once the Mennonite Community resident near the former Elbing and Marienburg, Westpreussen. As I conduct my Prussian Mennonite family genealogical research, this page will evolve and develop into something a bit more robust. I am using Mendeley to gather and manage my research findings and source materials (I am also using the tool in an effort to evaluate its effectiveness for genealogy work.) If I end up writing something profound, perhaps Mendeley will also manage my writings. In any event for those interested in viewing and accessing most of my source…
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Copyright, copyleft, protect your stuff…
Assuming you write materials and you’d like to get protection and/or keep some credit for your work, here are a few thoughts. (Note: do not confuse this Blog posting with any manner of legal advice.) Firstly, you ought to decide if you really want your materials to be shared and/or protected. No matter what you do, remember that anything placed on the web is subject to being copied and reused. Having said that, protection and ‘legal’ sharing of your materials really need not be an all or nothing proposition. You can, if you are so inclined, offer your writings or other creative content to the world with varying degrees of…
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Pre-WW2 Maps of Poland & the former German East
In keeping with my map theme, I have provided links and pointers to what I consider 4 of the Internet’s best sites for genealogically useful maps covering the regions of pre-WW2 Poland (Polska) and the former German Eastern Provinces (mainly, Ost und West Preussen, Silesian, Pommern). When used in combination with current map tools such as Google Maps, you should meet with fairly high success in finding old place locations, names, etc. At least, I have had that good fortune. Kartenmeister The most comprehensive database of its kind in the world. It contains 90820 locations with over 38.691 name changes once, and 5,500 twice and more. All locations are EAST…
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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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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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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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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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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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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…
- 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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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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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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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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“Un-German” German Names
Last evening, my wife and I watched a documentary on Poland, it covered the Gdansk (Danzig)- Szczecin (Stettin) area in particular. Baltic Coasts – Hidden Treasures: Explore the coastline from Vistula Lagoon via Gdansk Bay to the sandy beaches and steep cliffs of Pomerania and West-Pomerania. The reason for this post involves what I learned from one of the featured individuals, a talented young Photographer; his name- Michal Szlaga. Looking at his name never made me think of German descent or Germanic heritage but then the announcer pronounced his name and it was Michael Schlaeger / Schläger (exactly). You can imagine my surprise. I certainly would never have pronounced his…
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Understanding the German Past
German Genealogy is not much different from any other genealogy. You really need to have a plan as you begin your research, especially if you are unfamiliar with the region/ area or time period. Never assume that one locale looks like or offers information or data in the same as another. Each area, region or time frame offers its own unique idiosyncrasies, its own information. German research is really no different in this regard from other places; it is not the US or Canada and the available data is different from that commonly available in North America. Having said all that, this posting is more of a concrete example on…
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Finding German Genealogy Data
So where are the best places to find German Genealogy data? I hear this question, or something similar, often. Perhaps it is because I am an American that I notice, but it seems most Americans I hear from expect to find German Genealogical record keeping and data ought to mirror that in the US. Unfortunately, they do not. A number of historical factors impact the quality and type of genealogical records to be found in Germany today. What follows are a few points regarding German history that merit understanding: A number of fairly destructive wars ran over German lands. These wars not only destroyed people and buildings, but also innumerable…
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German Name Spellings
For those unfamiliar with, or simply wishing to learn more about, conducting German/ Prussian genealogical research this is my second posting in a series on the topic of German-Prussian Genealogy Pointers. One of the greatest difficulties people have with researching Germanic family members involves name spellings. This is especially true for those English speakers. Over the centuries, Germans who emigrated into English speaking lands have either tried to spell their names in ways that would be pronounced correctly or had assistance with their name spellings upon arrival or ‘later’ in Census takings. This ‘help’ has lead to numerous challenges in finding the right folks in the old homeland (Heimatland). Here…
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