• Three chiefs of the Huron
    Active Research,  New York- New England,  Quebec & Canada

    Native Peoples & Indian wars of 1665-1779

    I am in the process of gathering materials related to the North Eastern (New England/ New York & Bas Canada) Native Peoples, plus the wars between those Native Peoples and the European invaders encroaching upon them. My family, perhaps like yours, comes from both sides of that invasion. The libraries referred to on this page will change and evolve in the coming weeks. Currently our library is approaching 50 Documents (texts), images, etc., with more than 5,000 pages of information. I will publish another notice, both here and on social media, when I feel I have found the bulk of what I am likely to uncover.  As with most of…

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  • Fort Orange on the Hudson
    Active Research,  New York- New England

    Beverwyck, Rensselaerswyck, Fort Orange Research

    Long ago and far away, in an alternate universe, there were nascent Dutch Communities in what is today’s upstate New York. These were the communities of Beverwyck, Fort Orange, and Rensselaerswyck, all parts of New Netherland. My family (the Rabideau- Deyos) are directly descended from members of those early Hudson and Mohawk Valley European settlements. As with many communities which were absorbed and subsumed by others, plus with the advancement of time, materials and data become increasingly rare. Because I am actively researching this region, as well as, my ancestors of those times and places, I have scoured the Internet for useful materials. In order to make access to these materials…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Mennonite, Hutterite, Amish Records Coming Online!

      If you are interested in Mennonite, Hutterite, Amish research, this announcement is very significant. Archion.de is in the process of providing online access to a significant body of Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish records. The Mennonite Research Center operated by the Mennonite Historical Society (Mennonitscher Geschichtsverein e.V.) offers remembrance and a memory storage of the Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish. It includes a library and an archive and plus an extensive collection of material concerning the history of the Anabaptist movement. It also stores original church books of some German, Ukrainian and Polish Mennonite communities. Note: Mennonite church books are often in poor condition. Because of the records fragility, on site…

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  • Pioneers,  Quebec & Canada,  Rabideau

    Marie Olivier Sylvestre (Manit8abe8ich – Manitouabeouich – Manitouabewich)

    Source: article from America-Canadian Genealogist, Issue #96, Vol 29, 2nd Quarter, 2003 found on Rootsweb (here) Author: Lucie Bisson Morency #4893   Posting revision(s): 13 Feb 2021 Introduction Who is this Marie Olivier Sylvestre Manit8abe8ich? At the Bisson Family Reunion in August 2000, professor Marcel Clique, announced that the Bissons have an Indian in their genealogy and her name is Marie Olivier Sylvestre Manit8abe8ich. She was a young Huron Indian or maybe Algonquin. This seems to start us with a little problem that could prove difficult to affirm. In most genealogical and historical sources that I came across during my research at the American-Canadian Genealogical Society, Marie Olivier Sylvestre is acknowledged as…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    East Prussia – Ostpreußen

    A Brief History (Background) East Prussia (Ostpreußen), a former province of Prussia and the 2. und 3. Deutsches Reichs (2nd & 3rd German Empires), was located in extreme Northeast Germany (existed prior to 1945; it was dissolved in 1945). The region of East Prussia has low rolling hills that are heavily wooded, and it is dotted by many lakes (especially in Ermland, Polish: Masuria) and drained by several rivers including the Nemen (Nieman). Its Baltic coast is deeply indented by the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) and by the Gulf of Kursh (Kurisches Haff). Historically, East Prussia was at the center of the development of historical Prussia. Up to the 16th…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Services

    Finding Genealogy Data in Central & Eastern Europe

    Lately, I have received a significant number of inquiries regarding how to ‘best’ approach the conduct of German- Prussian- Polish- Shoah research. The questions I have received point to a number of common questions, without specifically re-stating the questions, I will detail their responses here: I understand that English-speakers want European Records written and searchable in English. However… I am obligated to point out that our European ancestors may have spoken and written in languages other than English; and so… their records will ‘most likely’ be in their native languages (or perhaps Latin, Hebrew). As for genealogy and/or data search functions, I personally do not totally trust or rely on…

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  • WW1

    Casualty Lists of World War I Austria-Hungary 1914-1919

    A century ago, Austro-Hungarian forefathers fought, lived, and died in the horrors of World War I. Many sons, brothers and fathers were drafted into the military. Millions were wounded, captured or died. Their fates were published in the casualty lists of Austria-Hungary. Unfortunately, there is no effective index for these lists. Any full-text search yields unsatisfactory results due to the poor print quality of the lists. Therefore, GenTeam has decided to create a fully searchable index for these records. This enormous task cannot be accomplished without your help. Will you, please, help the GenTeam through your assistance? Please help keep these soldiers from being forgotten. Particulars on how you can help are available from the…

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  • Henss

    Henß Familie aus Beuern (Henß Family of Beuern)

    This article is posted today in honor of what would have been my father-in-law’s  (Robert R. Henß) 90th birthday… and with gratitude and appreciation of our Henß Family in Germany (Ulrike und Günter). We are pleased to share a small number of Henß related images, photos, and sketches. I will work on translating and presenting numerous additional materials on ManyRoads during this next year (2017). But for now, I will provide access to the drawings, images, etc. here as I obtain them. Be advised these materials are in flux and will most certainly evolve and ‘grow’. Liebe Ulrike und Günter, vielen dank für deine Mühe! (Thank you very much for all your…

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  • Shoah,  WW2

    The beginning of World War 2- Beginn Zweiter Weltkrieg

    Adolf Hitler: Reichstagsrede mit Kriegserklärung an Polen vom 01.09.1939 Abgeordnete! Männer des deutschen Reichstages! The recording of Hitler’s address is below. Note: Adolf Hitler is first introduced and begins speaking about 55 seconds into the recording. Seit Monaten leiden wir alle unter der Qual eines Problems, das uns auch der Versailler Vertrag, d.h. das Versailler Diktat, einst beschert hat, eines Problems, das in seiner Ausartung und Entartung für uns unerträglich geworden war. Danzig war und ist eine deutsche Stadt.Der Korridor war und ist deutsch. Alle diese Gebiete verdanken ihre kulturelle Erschliessung ausschliesslich dem deutschen Volke. Ohne das deutsche Volk würde in all diesen Östlichen Gebieten tiefste Barbarei herrschen. Danzig wurde…

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  • Mennonites,  Shoah,  WW2

    Mennonites, Zeyer, and the Holocaust

    Sometimes genealogy research leads to unexpected places. It can dash assumptions and destroy illusions; such was the result of my casual search for information and photographs from the ‘former’ area of Zeyer in Kreis Elbing. I had hoped to find photos of churches and hidden information about the community; instead I uncovered something more ominous and disturbing. Perhaps like many of you, I had always assumed that Mennonites did their best to avoid military service as well as political involvement in more ‘earthly’ pursuits. I had assumed Mennonites were people of peace. I even have their pages labelled as such here on ManyRoads. But, I was wrong. The first revelation…

  • Kreis Elbing,  Shoah

    Demise of the Elbing Synagogue and Jewish Community

    November 9-10, 1938 – “Kristallnacht” Elbing, Germany (today Elbląg, Poland) On the night of 9 to 10 November 1938 in the presence of the Mayor (Johannes O. H. Woelk), of Elbing, Germany officials of the Gestapo, the SS, the Elbing Fire Brigade, set fire to the Elbing synagogue and Jewish community house. Jewish men were arrested, beaten and robbed of their property. Windows were broken in all the Jewish shops in the city. At two o’clock in the morning, Elbing was steeped in a damp darkness and fog. Lantern light barely broke through the darkness. A large portion of the city was awake. Dressed in long military coats, people marched…

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  • Histories

    Quick & Easy History

    By way of making history a ‘little bit’ more interesting and fun, here are numerous YouTube presentations. Hopefully they will help provide some historical perspective for what happened to your European/ North American forebears, and when. Be advised the form and format of these videos are ‘diverse’.  Their length and ‘professionalism’ (slickness) also varies greatly. Nonetheless, I hope you find the videos informative with easy to digest data. Contents Culture-Gene Interactions in Human Origins European History 3000BC to present History of Europe (3000 BC – 2013 AD) The Holy Roman Empire 1000 Years Time-Lapse Map of Europe (1000 – 2000 AD) Various Major European/ World Wars The Napoleonic Wars: Every…

  • Tools

    Clonezilla & GPartEd- your disks, your data

      If you use computers, there are times when certain rather daunting maintenance and recovery tasks need to be ‘undertaken’.  If you are like me, you want these tasks to be easy, straightforward, and ‘free’.  You also want the ‘tools’ you use to work regardless of the operating system installed on your PC/ CPU. I can’t guarantee that these tools will work in every situation, but they will work in most. They are also available to you at no-cost. The tools in this posting include: GPartEd: to partition and/or resize disks Clonezilla: to clone your PC environment GPartEd GPartEd is a free partition editor for graphically managing your disk partitions.…

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  • Tools

    Improve Internet Research Browsing & Safety

    Are you a person who worries about your browsing security, privacy, etc.? If you are, perhaps this post will be helpful. If your computing platform will allow, the following tools will certainly make you more secure and reduce the invasiveness of the sites you visit/ research. The advice that follows is geared toward those using Chrome (Chromium) & Firefox derivative browsers (I do not know if they will work with, or are even available on, other platforms). If you are worried about your browsing security/ privacy (and cookies are not the issue), you might benefit from installing HTTPS Everywhere.  To paraphrase their site: HTTPS Everywhere enables sites’ HTTPS protection which…

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  • 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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  • Services

    LinkedIn Groups- update

    Due to the new LinkedIn format and its horribly cumbersome and time consuming Group Management interface, I will no longer review status of my genelogy groups on a daily basis. Given the lack of activity in those groups, I plan to undertake management tasks only when I add new shareable materials. It is my long term intent to find a more friendly (technically speaking) location to host my genealogy groups. In the event I am unable to uncover a more friendly and free hosting location, I will discontinue the groups entirely. The Groups involved include: Ethnic German Genealogy Genealogy Guild Généalogie Quebecois Genealogy Polish- Prussian Genealogy – Polski- Prusy Genealogia…

  • Rabideau

    Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol

      The following material has been extracted and modified from the original published at Robidou Association of North America.  It is placed here under Fair Use;  the original article may be viewed in its entirety here. The bulk of this article was researched and authored by Guy Rabideau,the son of Clyde Rabideau.  Their website which offers access to their many outstanding genealogical texts may be found at clyderabideau.com. The following history details the life of Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol prior to and in New France: Circa 1636-1640- Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol is born in Sainte-Marie, Spain, the son of Manuel Robidou and Catherine Alue/ Alve. (Note: Sainte-Marie is noted as…

  • Tips & Opinions

    The White Rose Society

    It has been some 73 years since the White Rose Society released six (6) anti-Nazi leaflets.  By the time these leaflets were released in 1942, Nazism and World War Two were growing and spreading rapidly.  Millions were dying. The White Rose Society leaflets contain articulate and powerful ideas and arguments.  Sadly, the audience to whom they were provided chose to ignore their message; and, the world paid a horrible price. Arguably the German government’s actions of September 2015 regarding the mass migrations toward Europe echo a response to those times when tolerance, understanding, and inclusion were minority opinions in Germany. The German government today is providing a strong counter-point to…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Shoah,  WW2

    Shoah Research- Getting Started

      Are you embarking on Shoah (Holocaust) research?  Would you like a little coaching in this area of research? Although I can hardly claim to be a Shoah research expert, I am more than willing to share what I have learned. By way of providing some background, for the past nine months, or so, I have been helping folks attempt to unearth the stories behind their Jewish roots in Poland and Germany,  trying to discover ‘lost’ family records, and more.  It has been quite the adventure. Needless to say, the Shoah is an area of emotion, sadness, mystery, frustration, intrigue, and much more.  I thought that perhaps others might benefit…

  • Education

    Prussian-German Genealogy Workshop

    Do you have interest in attending a ‘distance’ Prussian-German Genealogy Working Group? By way of giving you some background, I currently hold a monthly Prussian-German Genealogy Workshop at my local Parker (Colorado) Family History Center (FHC). There are no charges for the current ‘in-person’ workshop(s). Recently, I received approval from my local FHC to host a remote session using their good offices. What I am attempting to assess is whether or not there are ‘potential attendees out there’ who are interested in adding a ‘distance’ workshop.  If there are, then I need to determine: whether I should blending ‘distance’ attendance with our current sessions, or simply create a new ‘remote’…

  • Tips & Opinions

    Special characters

    Do you struggle with your US keyboard in a vain attempt to type something in those “exotic tongues” such as: German French Norwegian Swedish Polish Do you find your ability to enter ß, ö, ä, ü, ø, etc. hampered?  Well, I have stumbled on a few options that might help you out.  Granted these work better with *nix based operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OS) than Windows but within these options you should be able to find, at least, one helpful approach/ tool. If you are seeking a “Desktop-wide’ solution, you can easily map a “compose” key to accomplish this function across your laptop/desktop (not all keyboards actually have one). …

  • Mennonites,  Quakers

    Quakers, Mennonites, and the Church of the Brethren

    Today whilst, reviewing my ‘multi-days’ old news feeds, I came across an interesting article with new ‘to me’ information and links. The article mentioned and provided a link to the Friends Collection and Earlham College Archives.  The Friends Collection at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana includes the college’s books and periodicals on Quakerism, manuscripts related to Friends, and Earlham College historical materials. As good fortune would have it, the first page I selected on their website provided the following list of additional links. These links go beyond Quaker information to include information regarding Mennonites and Church of the Brethren. I have added all these links to the ManyRoads Links Library .  …

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  WW2

    Why are so many records missing?

    Why is it so hard to find genealogy information in the areas of Prussia, Poland, and Germany? Where did all the information go? Was the information moved to some safe place? I hear this type of question and discussion often. The answers to those questions are actually quite simple and brief; although achieving an appreciation and understanding of their response is often somewhat more elusive. Question: Where did all the information go? Answer: Much was destroyed or lost, never to be recovered. Question: Was the information moved to some safe place? Answer: The truth is there were few, if any safe places. Early ‘on the eve of destruction‘, many ‘crucial’ records/documents…

  • 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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  • Mennonites,  Senger

    Thiensdorf Nachfahrenliste- 2015

    ManyRoads Related Materials ManyRoads Articles Cornelius Schepansky Family(ies) Hermann Schepansky Anna Heinrichs Family Hermann Schepansky Marie Claussen Family Source Documents Cornelius Schepansky Families Hermann Schepanski Anna Heinrichs Family Hermann Schepanski Marie Claussen Family credit for the following material belongs largely to: Alfons Szczepanski (the keeper of all things Szczepanski!) … I just added the English ‘bits’, the formatting, the photo, and our Schepansky links (above). Vorbemerkungen/ Introduction: Szczepanski Mennonitenfamilie Geschichte. Nach der mündlichen Familienüberlieferung war der Stammvater ein katholischer Knecht namens Szczepanski (Szepansky), der bei einem mennonitischen Bauern von der Mennonitengemeinde Plauschwarren, Kreis Gumbinnen (Ostpreußen, auch “Preußisch-Litauen” genannt) arbeitete. Dieser Knecht ließ sich mennonitisch taufen und heiratete eine Mennonitin. Als…

  • Expulsion - Vertriebenen,  German Genealogy Pointers,  ManyRoads,  Polish Genealogy

    70 years on…

    As everyone most certainly knows, this year is 2015. 7 May 2015 marks the official surrender date of German forces, some 70 years ago.For those who focus on 1945 as the end of WW2 in Europe, it was.  Sadly, 1945 was not just an ending; it was also the beginning of the total destruction and removal of a ~600 year old way of life, a culture, and the homeland for millions of Eastern Germans.  In the years following 1945, some 12 to 14 million people were forcibly removed from their homes and expelled from the recently surrendered German Eastern provinces. To place these events into a reasonably balanced historical context,…

  • Tips & Opinions

    Understanding and perspective

      Obtaining good genealogical insight requires an open mind.  As in the old saying: “Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open.” Thomas Dewar Getting good genealogical data and information requires a lot of work.  But perhaps the most challenging work involves developing a relevant, contextually accurate, frame of reference to help find and interpret any data you might find. Based on what I see floating around the Internet, I worry that too many people ‘out there’ are attempting to gather data/ information about their family past without developing an adequate understanding of time, place, or circumstance. The questions/comments, I see, seem to indicate a preference to having…

  • 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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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Old German Terms, Occupations, etc.

    Terms, occupations, and more change over time. If you are in the business of tracking down your German (Germanic) ancestors the following links may be of help to you.  These links include old terms for professions, diseases, occupations, and more. Many of these terms and abbreviations are not in common use today… so hopefully these lists will help ‘clear’ some confusion. A note of caution, many (most) of these linked pages are in German; put on your German language ‘hat’ or use Google Translate! If you have any links you would like added, please use our contact page to let me know. These links also appear on our links page…

  • Senger

    Luise Rabideau geboren Senger

      It is with sadness, pride, and love I provide the following obituary announcement. English: Luise Rabideau died after a long and valiant fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. She was born on 12 January 1923 in Zeyersvorderkampen, Kreis Grosses Werder, Freie Stadt Danzig to Richard Senger and Frieda Recht. Her death was on 4 January 2015 at 2335 (officially registered as 5 January 2015 at 0006). Luise grew up on the Senger family farm with her brother Erich, attending primary school in the village of Zeyer and secondary schools and Business College in Elbing, Westpreussen, Germany. Following her schooling, she served in the Deutsche Luftwaffe, completing her war duties in Munich…

  • Tips & Opinions

    What is an Ethnic Group?

    Lately, I have encountered a number of interesting discussions and comments regarding ethnicity.  People want to approach it from the aspect of Y-DNA testing; term meaning & definition; and more.  I thought that perhaps a brief discussion/ analysis of the subject might be helpful- for me if for no one else. Note: Actually this document is largely extracted and built from many other sources (because I am no authority on this topic). Hopefully my analysis and discussion will provide some useful food for thought and give some comfort in the imprecision associated with the use and application of Ethnicity as a concept, genealogically speaking. First let’s review a typical dictionary…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  WW1

    ICRC World War 1 Prisoner of War Database

    The International Committee of the Red Cross recently published a Free, online database of WW1 prisoners of war. The ICRC WW1 PoW Database contains some 5 million records and offers exceptional insights into the conditions and circumstances of the time, period and situation. Based on my testing of the ‘tool’, I think a few words of caution are in order: Be certain to read the instructions on How-to use the tool. (It might work in ‘unexpected’ ways; it did for me.) There is a nice tutorial (and it is easy to use). Often the print is faint; look closely at the records. Much of the text is in script; as…

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  • Deutscher-Volks-und-Kulturboden-1937
    German Genealogy Pointers

    German Genealogical Societies

    The following post provides a reasonably complete listing of German (meaning in Germany) Genealogical Societies and Groups. As I get and add new sites, this list will be ‘automagically’ updated. Note: Given the post- WW2 forcible expulsion of millions of Eastern Germans from former Eastern German lands and provinces, you may wish to examine Polish Genealogical Groups & Websites for pre- 1947 German forebears (N.B.: ManyRoads does not offer information on other Eastern Slavic or Baltic Societies) Familienkunde- Family Research (Links) Should you know of additional organizations we ought to included in our compendium, please contact me with the particulars and I will add them.

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    Polish Genealogical Societies

    The following post provides a reasonably completelisting of Polish (meaning in Poland) Genealogical Societies and Groups. As I get and add new sites, this list will be ‘automagically’ updated. Note: Due to the forcible expulisons of Poles in both 1939 and post-1945, you may wish to examine areas in today’s Belarus & Ukraine for information.  Unfortunately, ManyRoads does not have much information on those regions. Should you know of additional organizations we ought to included in our compendium, please contact me with the particulars and I will add them.

  • 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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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites

    Might your family be descended from Prussian Mennonites?

      Do you believe you might be descended of “Prussian” Mennonites?  Are you unsure?  Is it worth a look? To get a good idea of who the Low German Mennonites were (and whether you might be descended of this group) please review the Family/ Surname list provided on MennoniteDNA. If you find one of your family names on that list then please “read on.” For those who research family in West & East Prussia (today the area is in Northeastern Poland) an important, but ‘not very well known’, set of genealogical source documents should be included in your search – West & East Prussian Mennonite church record books .  I…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Using HADIS to search in Hesse

    If you are looking for family/ ancestors who may have lived in Hesse, HADIS (Hessisches Archiv-Dokumentations- und Informations-System) offers an outstanding and useful toolset. Since most people I  come into contact with are looking for genealogy related information and emigration, I will provide a brief explanation on conducting an emigration search. First, goto:  HADIS. Next, enter [Your Desired FamilyName] into the “Schnellsuche” box (menu bar on the left, near the bottom of the page).  Try the family name of Henss as an example. Wait for the search to return. When you see your search results, select the “Auswanderer-Nachweise” listed in the middle of the page to view Emigrants’  information.  …

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    German Illness/ Death Terms and Translations

    The following is a compiled listing of illnesses and causes of death gleaned from three primary sources. They are posted here in the hopes that they may aid family historians and genealogists in interpreting the conditions in which their ancestors lived and died. My role has merely been to find/ source the material make three small updates and then reformat the list into a pdf document which contains both type-written and German Sütterlin script.  Hopefully this will help you better recognize the script in source documents. German-Diseases 46.6 KB The credit for the translation work should go to Ann Rempel, Dora Epp, V. Lyle von Riesen, and Adalbert Goertz. This work…

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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…

  • Polish Genealogy

    Polish Genealogy Sources

    Recently, I decided it was time to begin researching my Aunt Annette’s family.  For the record, my Aunt Annette was my grandfather’s second wife.  Although she is of no genetic relationship to me, 30 years after her death I remain emotionally linked to her. Anyway, her family line was from Poland. She married my grandfather in the 1940s and I met her first in the early 1960s.  So although I knew she was a nice woman who could hardly cook, none of that went very far in aiding my genealogy efforts on her behalf(which continue today). To begin my research, I had an awareness that her family was from Poland;…

  • Henss,  Johnson

    On the wind

    10 May 2014 was day of commemoration and celebration.The sun, wind, skies, and Rocky Mountains were all in attendance, as were the four daughters and two sons-in-law. Deer, birds, and the fresh, green sprouts of spring promised renewal and life. God was there and spoke for Himself. No intermediary was needed. He made his presence known to each in his own way. His words and message were heard by all present and His message was understood. No filter, discussion, or interpretation was required. There was joy and remembrance. Memories were recounted, the family was fortified. Marion Alice (Johnson) Henss was a good mother, daughter, and wife; she will be missed.…

  • Irina-translations
    Thoughts

    Exercising your brain

    For those of you who follow any/ some/ all of my adventures and misadventures I have something a bit different to share. My newest mental exercise… Like most everyone, I need to learn new languages. Also, like everyone I can make a thousand excuses about not learning a new language. I should note, although a language is new to me chances are pretty good the language has actually been around a while. I could say I have heard all the excuse and certainly there are probably too many reasons for me to list, nonetheless I’ll offer a few of my favorite language comments: I don’t have the time to learn…

  • Kreis Elbing

    When paths cross

    This article is cross posted from the PEP, Inc. website. There are times in life when paths cross.  As many of you may know, among my greatest interests are both process improvement (my ‘day job’) and my family (not just those living but also including my past, meaning my ‘genealogy’). Well, yesterday was one of those days where my day job and my family genealogy passions crossed. A couple of years ago through my genealogy work, I had the good fortune of meeting a young man (by my standards pretty much everyone is young).  His name is Pawel. As it happens, Pawel and his mother attended some of the same…

  • Prussia

    Altpreussische Monatsschrift (von 1864 bis 1913)

    AltPreußische Monatsschrift (original source materials located here – here – here) hrsg. unter Mitwirkung der Königlichen Deutschen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg und des Vereins für die Geschichte Ost- und Westpreußens. – Königsberg, Pr. : Thomas & Oppermann Abkürzungstitel: APM. – Digitalisiert von Google Books. – ZDB-ID: 506912-9. APM Register 1-40, bearb. von Max Perlbach (1905) Almost all are also located at the Biblioteka Elbląska. APM 01 (1864) APM 02 (1865) APM 03 (1866) APM 04 (1867) APM 05 (1868) APM 06 (1869) APM 07 (1870) APM 08 (1871) APM 09 (1872) APM 10 (1873) APM 11 (1874) APM 12 (1875) APM 13 (1876) APM 14 (1877) APM 15 (1878) APM 16 (1879) APM…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Pommern Genealogy Research of Egon Giese

    A few weeks ago, Egon Giese contacted me to ask if I was willing to post his largely Pomeranian genealogy research (Pommern Ahnenforschung) on ManyRoads. Naturally I could not refuse his exceedingly generous offer. This posting is the official announcement of his research materials availability on ManyRoads. For those who would like access to Egon’s original emails and data submissions, you will find them in the ‘bottom’ section of this posting. Kreis Schlochau 1 Kreis Schlochau 2 Kreis Schlochau und Umgebung Kreis Neustettin Hinter Pommern Geburten und Taufen Wurchow Gross und Klein Kuedde, Kreis Neustettin Kreisen Bublitz, Neustettin, Rummelsburg Schlochau und Schlesien Westpreußen In the event that you are not…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    digibiblio German Database

      The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek a project (subsidiary) of Genealogy24.com is offering Free user registration through the end (28) of February 2014.  The digitized data they offer generally consists of digitized Ahnenpässen (passports), Familienstammbüchern (family books) and GEDCOM files. The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek If you are looking for “a needle in the haystack”, this could afford you an unexpected/ free opportunity to search additional data.  None of my family names are listed, but that doesn’t mean yours won’t be! Viel spass beim forschen! (Have fun in the hunt!)