From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman): Whether we are researching in the United States or in Germany, identifying your research goals is crucial to conducting efficient and effective research. This is particularly important when embarking on a trip to Germany, where you want to ensure that no minute is wasted!… Continue reading Germany Research Trip Goals
Category: Methodology
Lawrence Huber in Indexed Records
In my last post about Lawrence Huber, I showed how I finally found Lawrence’s baptismal record in Butschbach. Now that indexing efforts are making records more findable, there is another way (today) that I could find where he was baptized. FamilySearch [FS] has been indexing its records for years now. Always keep an eye out… Continue reading Lawrence Huber in Indexed Records
Lawrence Huber – Where Was He Baptized?
In my last post about Lawrence Huber, I showed how I researched the Catholic records in Oberkirch. I found Lawrence’s sister’s marriage and her baptism in 1810. I did not find any baptism for Lawrence or any of his other siblings. This is when you go back to the drawing board, so to speak. It… Continue reading Lawrence Huber – Where Was He Baptized?
Research in Oberkirch Records
In my last post about Lawrence Huber, I explained about finding a letter from his brother-in-law, Michael Doll. That letter was written in Oberkirch, which at the time was in the Kreis Offenburg in Baden. Today it is part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg. This was the only specific German town I’d found possibly relating… Continue reading Research in Oberkirch Records
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
State Archive of Baden-Württemberg
It’s a rainy day here and I can’t be outside, so today is a good time to prepare for my research trip to Germany in October. One of my stops will be at the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg (State Archive of Baden-Württemberg) branch in Karlsruhe and probably the branch in Freiburg, as well. I have a lot… Continue reading State Archive of Baden-Württemberg
German Surname Changes
Some historic regions in northwest Germany have a custom of surname changes. If you research in the historical regions of Hanover, Westphalia, Oldenburg, or Lippe it will be helpful to be aware of this custom. Farms of a certain status carried a surname and people who managed those farms used that surname. The right to… Continue reading German Surname Changes
Finding German Church Records
The third session of my Newberry class “Discover Your German Ancestors’ Origins,” focused on finding German church records. Why are church records so important, you might ask? Church records are the main category of records that document our German ancestors’ vital events. Depending on the specific town, these records may date to the 1500s. Civil… Continue reading Finding German Church Records
Gazetteers for German Research
In the second session of my Newberry class “Discover Your German Ancestors’ Origins,” I talked about historical gazetteers for finding the jurisdictions that define the ancestral home town. What is a gazetteer? It’s “a geographical dictionary” according to Merriam-Webster.[1] As genealogists, we use gazetteers to determine the jurisdictions to which a town belonged historically. Why… Continue reading Gazetteers for German Research
Where Did They Come From?
This weekend, I began teaching a four-session course at the Newberry in Chicago. The title of the course is “Discover Your German Ancestors’ Origins.” This first week, I focused on best practices for finding an immigrant ancestor’s town of birth. Without this piece of information, the ancestral line cannot be extended further back in time.… Continue reading Where Did They Come From?
Lind Street Research 