The month of August always reminds me of my grandmother, Laura (Huber) Bockhold. She was born in this month and she passed away three days after her ninetieth birthday. My niece, also born in August, carries her name. Grandma had a deep faith in God and family members believed that her prayers were always answered.… Continue reading Grandma’s Red Book
Chicago Street Address Renumbering
In my last post, I explained briefly how to find Chicago street names that changed. That is not the only aspect of Chicago address changes that you may encounter. On 22 June 1908 Chicago’s city council passed an ordinance to use a new street numbering system. It went into effect 1 September 1909. The city… Continue reading Chicago Street Address Renumbering
Browse for a Specific Chicago Address in the Census
Street addresses first appear on U.S. federal censuses in 1880 and every census year after that. To find a specific address you need to know the enumeration district (ED). In the years 1910, 1920, and 1940, you must also know the ward. Recently I helped someone search for 427 Beethoven Place in the 1920 census.… Continue reading Browse for a Specific Chicago Address in the Census
IGHR and IGGP – A Busy Week
This week I taught six sessions in the Intermediate German Course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Athens, Georgia. I very much enjoyed the people and the beautiful setting. Plus, I love to teach, so this is a fun week. If you are not familiar with the Institute of Genealogy and… Continue reading IGHR and IGGP – A Busy Week
Regional Portal on CompGen
Do you know the history of the village where your German ancestors came from? Are you aware of resources that might exist overseas for them? One way to find information about your village is to explore the Regional Portal in the GenWiki at CompGen. This may be accessed from the home page at CompGen or… Continue reading Regional Portal on CompGen
GOV (Geschichtliches Ortsverzeichnis) – Historical Gazetteer
You may be asking yourself, “What is a gazetteer and why do I care?” A gazetteer is like a dictionary of place names. It tells you valuable information about the place in question. There is not necessarily a map component in a gazetteer. A historical gazetteer, such as the GOV, tells about places that historically… Continue reading GOV (Geschichtliches Ortsverzeichnis) – Historical Gazetteer
Ortsfamilienbücher (Family Lineage Books)
This week I want to talk about Ortsfamilienbücher (OFBs), which are books that are compiled for a German village. They show the familial relationships of the people who lived there in the past. Typically, an Ortsfamilienbuch is compiled using the church and other local records for the town in question. Each family unit is numbered… Continue reading Ortsfamilienbücher (Family Lineage Books)
Dictionaries on CompGen
If you do German research, there is a German website that you want to become familiar with, if you aren’t already. CompGen.de is the website of the Verein für Computergenealogie (Society for Computer Genealogy), a German genealogy group that has created a goldmine of free online information. There are so many treasures tucked away, that… Continue reading Dictionaries on CompGen
The Chicago Genealogical Society and City Directories
A couple of weeks ago, I presented “Reading Between the Lines of the City Directory” for the Chicago Genealogical Society’s monthly meeting. I was pleased that they enjoyed it enough to post a video collage. This included photographs from the meeting interspersed with video clips of my presentation. If you haven’t seen it already, you… Continue reading The Chicago Genealogical Society and City Directories
Family Reunites
This past Sunday my family attended a reunion of the Bockhold Family at the Bockhold’s centennial farm in Quincy, Illinois. The designation of “centennial farm” is granted by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Successful applicants must own an agricultural property that has “been owned by the same family of lineal or collateral descendants for at… Continue reading Family Reunites
Lind Street Research 