In a prior post, I talked about accessing German church records on Ancestry. In this post, I want to talk specifically about the Lutheran records for the historic region of Württemberg. The collection that I will be talking about does not include records for historic Baden. These two regions joined in 1952, along with some… Continue reading Württemberg Church Records on Ancestry
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?
German-language Newspapers
Researchers in the United States are spoiled with access to newspaper “mega sites” like Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank, and News Archive. They’re not free, but they do have a broad geographical reach. They do not hold all available newspapers, but they represent at least some newspapers from every U.S. state and sometimes other countries. A one-year subscription… Continue reading German-language Newspapers
Grandma’s Red Book
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
Lind Street Research 