Search Tricks & Tips

  • Thiensdorf Mennonite Church- Source Wikiwand
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Researching Mennonite Regions of Damals Preußen (former Prussia)

    For those who research the Mennonite areas of what was once Westpreußen (West Prussia) and Ostpreußen (East Prussia), you know it can be very frustrating. For numerous years I have performed these searches in what can be best described as: the best way I knew how! Recently due to a client opportunity, I decided to establish a more thorough, exhaustive, and rigorous approach to conducting my Mennonite research. Do not confuse this approach with being easy, simple, or highly automated. It is, rather, much more disciplined and focused. To begin with, I use three major Genealogical Resources for obtaining Mennonite source material(s). I have listed them below in order of…

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  • Old Books
    ManyRoads,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Library Updates

    I am pleased to announce that ManyRoads now provides much easier access to our Free (no-cost) European resource source materials. Convenient links to the materials are not only accessible below in this document but also are available from our banner menu as European Libraries under the “Libraries” menu link. Our European Library currently contains some 1500 European Genealogical and Historical texts including the following historical/ genealogical research topics: Amish-Mennonite Austria-Hungary England Huguenots Jews of Europe Middle Ages Poland Prussia-Germany Roma & Sinti Scandinavia Switzerland Wales  

  • Matricula Online
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Matricula Online

    Just today, I stumbled across an excellent source for Free online “German” Church records. And to think, I thought I knew all the really best locations… The site is called Matricula Online. This site offers church registers (mostly containing birth, marriage and death records) from several “German or former German speaking regions in today’s European countries of Austria (with the most data), Germany, Serbia and Poland (around the former Breslau today Wrocław, Poland). It appears that Matricula has plans to expand, although I am not sure into which regions. To get an idea of their present coverage see the map (on the right) for more details on their current record…

  • Germans emigrate to America-1874
    Search Tricks & Tips

    Immigration

      If you have been researching your family’s genealogy for a while, I am pretty certain you have discovered that immigration documents are frequently scattered and difficult to locate. But that’s not the only problem, the quality and availability of any documentation is, also, quite variable: running the gamut from excellent to non-existent. Generally speaking, I personally, am not a “huge fan” of Passenger Lists and the like. In my experience, the materials I find are too often not worth the effort it took to track them down. Having said that though, I have to acknowledge that the occasional discovery can be truly amazing.  Quoting from FamilySearch.org (underlining added by me…): Passenger…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Search Tricks & Tips,  Shoah,  WW2

    Shoah Research (Holocaust) Resources

    For those conducting Shoah (Holocaust) research, you know how difficult good resources and information are to find. Recently I came across a number of ‘less well-known’ (to me) web sites that offer a wealth of source and context information.  Hopefully, these links will be of some use in your research efforts. Nazi holocaust documents found: 6,300 files discovered behind wall of Budapest apartment Many educators appreciate the value of using primary source materials in the classroom. The documents selected for this section provide many possibilities for classroom discussion or student activities. The Virginia Holocaust Museum BYU Harold B. Lee Library Shoah (Holocaust) Selected Digitized Documents Related to the Holocaust and…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Prussia,  Search Tricks & Tips

    NEHGS Searchable German Duplicate Records

    Today, I received an email from one of our readers (Beth Golden).  Beth’s note provided the following information: German Church Book Duplicates (Online at American Ancestors- New England Historic Genealogical Society) Germany, Baden, Church Book Duplicates, 1810-1869 Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates, 1794-1874 These collections of church records for the territories of Baden, Brandenburg and Posen, Germany, were obtained from church book duplicates that were annually provided to the German state for use by civil authorities. If a particular region had only one religious institution, the clergy often recorded the births, marriages, and deaths of all local individuals regardless of religious affiliation. Microfilm numbers noted in the…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Olsztyn/ Allenstein State Archives

    The Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie (State Archive in Olsztyn) are providing free access to genealogical records from many of the towns and villages of that area (formerly East Prussia).  These records are largely in German (as well as Polish) and are freely available as scanned images on the archive’s website. If your Polish is a little shaky, you may wish to access this page using Chrome (using Google Translate) or similar. The following link will take you to the archives: Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie Additionally, many of these same records (approximately 362,650) are available in a digitally searchable format courtesy of Bernhard Ostrzinski.  You may access his excellent work on the…

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Using a Semantic Engine for Better Understanding

    Suppose, for a moment, that you had a problem for which you had little understanding. Something that just made you to quote Winnie the Pooh: “Think, think, think”; but, for which you had no good answer. Perhaps you have several “puzzlers” like that in mind already, but if you do not, imagine for a minute that you might want to better understand: why did Germans leave in the 1850s what was the economic situation in Galicia in 1870 how were Mennonites treated in Prussia during the 1850s Now let’s imagine, we could construct a tool that would analyze data from across the Internet and promptly provide us with information related…

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  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Genealogy: serendipity and good fortune

    Did you ever wonder where all those interesting family stories and anecdotes came from? Were you just a little bit curious about how some lucky folks have such interesting stories to tell about their ancestors? I believe that serendipity certainly plays a part in the evolution of the stories… but so does good fortune and perseverance.  Today, one of my RSS Feeds unearthed an article that provides a great example of why we should never throw our old stuff out… well maybe that is not quite right lesson.  But we all know that really interesting things can be uncovered in odd, hidden places.  As the late Paul Harvey would have said, here’s…

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  • books
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Oldenburger Adreßbücher online verfügbar

    For those researching Oldenburg what follows is some good news. (Remember to ready your Google Translate functions, if your reading of German is weak). Adressbuch Oldenburg, 1940 Nach einem Gespräch zwischen Dierk Feye und Mitgliedern des Vereins für Computergenealogie hatte der Vorstand im letzten Jahr beschlossen, sich an der Veröffentlichung von Oldenburger Adreßbüchern zu beteiligen. Dierk Feye hat dazu zwei Adreßbücher digitalisiert und sie dem Verein für Computergenealogie zur weiteren Bearbeitung zur Verfügung […] Click here to view original web page at www.familienkunde-oldenburg.de English: The 1940 Address Book from Oldenburg: after a conversation last year [2014] between Dierk Feye and members of the Association for Computer #genealogy of Board [Germany] it…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites,  Polish Genealogy,  Prussia,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Researching “Lost” Eastern German Provinces

    Many people get confused when conducting searches for their Eastern German forebears; this is especially true if those forebears purport to have been from Prussia (Preussen), Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien). Note: I have written a detailed article on helping you determine whether or not your family was Prussian and if so, what type. It might not surprise you that I encounter a lot of people having trouble doing, or trying to do, ‘their’ Prussian research. Given I have fairly extensive research experience in those regions of Europe, I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial, or key, for identifying and finding clues to those Eastern German ancestors ‘of ours’ who…

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  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Surname (Family Name) Discovery and Mapping

    revised & updated: 4 Dec. 2014 Are you hoping to identify and/ or discover where a family name or surname of yours may have originated? In the various facebook groups where I participate, I have recently noticed a “tsunami” of inquiries regarding this particular genealogical dilemma/ problem.  In order to provide a bit more robust guidance than that supported via a facebook discussion thread, I thought a blog post on ManyRoads might be helpful. Here are “summaries’ of the types of questions I have most recently noticed: Is [fill-in a name] spelled this way? What are variations for [fill-in a name]? Is [fill-in a name] a [fill-in the country group] name? I believe [fill-in a…

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  • Active Research,  Henss,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Finding Wilhelm Henss

    To say that finding Wilhelm Henss (William Henss) was difficult is an understatement. It seems like his German home and family had been lost to the US Henss family from the very beginning. The why behind that fact remains a mystery. We will probably never know if William choose to keep his origins “quiet” or if at all happened just as a “matter of course”. To read the history of William and Katharine Henss as we have it documented, please read William & Katharine (Kämmer or Kemmer) Henss- a brief history. (Please be aware their “story” is being revised regularly now, as new data is evaluated and digested.) But as…

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Possible paths around a brickwall

    So you think you have hit a brickwall, and there are no more clues to be found. If you have arrived at that spot and are frustrated, here are some ideas that might help you get ‘unstuck’. Did your ‘targeted’ person have siblings?  If so, have you researched them to see if their lives might provide you with useful clues and pointers? Are there local histories that were written about the area in which you ‘brickwall’ ancestor lived?  Do any of the biographical descriptions, within those local histories provided, offer clues as to where your person may have originated?  Did your ‘mystery’ ancestor live within a community of folks who…

  • Active Research,  Search Tricks & Tips

    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…

  • Ancestry.com Thoughts,  Search Tricks & Tips,  Senger

    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…

  • Search Tricks & Tips,  Technology & Tools

    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…

  • 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…

  • Search Tricks & Tips,  Technology & Tools,  Tools

    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,…

  • Search Tricks & Tips,  Tools

    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!

  • Search Tricks & Tips,  Tools

    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…

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    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…

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    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…