From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): This week, the Erie Canal celebrates the 200th anniversary of its completion on 26 October 1825. It stretched from Buffalo, New York to Albany, New York, where it connected to the Hudson River. On that day, New York’s Governor Clinton began a celebratory voyage… Continue reading The Erie Canal Turns 200
Author: Lind Street
I am Teresa Steinkamp McMillin, Certified Genealogist(R). I am a professional genealogist specializing in helping people discover their German ancestry. I also specialize in Chicago genealogy and other areas of the Midwest.
Meet Lawrence Huber
Lawrence Huber was my great, great grandfather, a German immigrant who lived in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois. My grandmother, Laura (Huber) Bockhold, always told me he came from Baden-Baden. I am starting this series of posts to explain how I found Lawrence Huber’s town of origin. But first, let me tell you about Lawrence and… Continue reading Meet Lawrence Huber
Learning from Case Studies
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): This week, we have finished the second day of our German Phase 1: Identify the German Hometown. We have a wonderful class with engaged students. Locating the German town of origin can be a challenging research journey. One of the ways to learn effective… Continue reading Learning from Case Studies
Midwest German Aid Societies
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): Aid societies were created in the 1700s and later in major cities as a way of helping fellow immigrants. When someone fell on hard times or needed a job, aid societies were there to help. Many ethnicities had their own societies and Germans were… Continue reading Midwest German Aid Societies
Finding Church Records in the US
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): In the last few posts, we’ve talked about the importance of church records in the US for finding a German town of origin. In today’s post, I’ll give you some tips on how to find those church records. Identify their Affiliation The first step… Continue reading Finding Church Records in the US
Deciphering Misspelled Place Names
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): Last week, we talked about Debra’s ancestor, Wilhelm Heinrich Weber, who was born in Wahlen, Alfeld, Hessen in historic Germany. She found the name of his birthplace in his church funeral record. That record gave his birthplace as “Whalen, Kreis Alsfeld, Hess. Darmstadt.” To… Continue reading Deciphering Misspelled Place Names
The Value of US Church Records
The German town of origin is necessary for conducting research in Germany because Germany was not a unified country until 1871. For later immigrants to the United States, this information may be easier to find on passenger lists than for earlier immigrants. For those early immigrants, United States church records can be a great source… Continue reading The Value of US Church Records
Finding German Emigration Records
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): In my last blog post, I showed my great great grandmother’s emigration record [Auswanderungsakte] from Baden in 1854. In this post, I am going to show you how I found her record on the Baden-Württemberg State Archive website [Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg]. The images of these… Continue reading Finding German Emigration Records
German Emigration Records
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): When a person was leaving historical areas that became Germany, they were often legally obligated to get permission. This differed by time and place. Usually, nineteenth century migrants were under some obligation to register. The requirements generally ensured people paid their debts and men… Continue reading German Emigration Records
How to Determine Which Town of Origin is the Right One?
From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): As we noted in the last post, conducting research in Germany requires knowing the German town of origin. Unfortunately, sometimes when you find the name of the town, there are more than one town with the same name! How do we narrow the choices… Continue reading How to Determine Which Town of Origin is the Right One?
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